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1500cc Air Cooled VW Beetles

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  • August 20, 2009 at 8:58 pm #11901
    Shaun Audane

    Just wondered if anyone ran a 1500cc air cooled VW as a working vehicle on a regular basis, rather than a sunny days plaything? Tempted by a characterful classic but not prepared to pay “Nostalgia” prices and the 1300 is underpowered for me….Being the grandchild of a highly skilled welder,a little rot and time behind the darkshield doesn’t overly faze me but I want to avoid money-pits and doggy examples…

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Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • August 25, 2009 at 9:51 pm #630759
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    TRs Blurb n Blog

    Hey Shaun, I’m doing another
    Hey Shaun, I’m doing another project bike build at the moment with an old Giant CFR frame. I’ll get the pictures up as soon as it is finished then I’ll get my steel bike fixed.

    August 25, 2009 at 4:18 pm #630757
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    Shaun Audane

    Yes, you can even get a derv
    Yes, you can even get a derv powered T5 version of the Bus (made until the mid 90’s in Mexico). The T3 has always been an interesting beast 🙂

    August 25, 2009 at 4:06 pm #630755
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    Shaun Audane

    Hello TR, I’ll keep an eye
    Hello TR, I’ll keep an eye out for that gearbox. How’s the frame repair going?

    August 25, 2009 at 2:37 pm #630753
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    DaveP

    Agreed.. Undoing four nuts
    Agreed.. Undoing four nuts and tugging hard results in the engine lying on the floor. Swapping the engine is that easy! You can get ‘crate’ engines up to 1800cc that run on Unleaded. 👿

    For a bit of variety try a Type 3 Squareback, estate at the back and boot at the front. 😉

    August 25, 2009 at 11:09 am #630751
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    TRs Blurb n Blog

    You can get a beetle built in
    You can get a beetle built in south America with a 1500 engine.
    I have a ’67 12V 1300 VW Beetle based beach buggy. Loads of fun and very easy to work on. With a couple of spanners you can take apart the whole car! I would recommend finding a tidy(ish) car and not worry about the engine size because it is easy to swap the engine (to get that extra 7bhp from a 1600!).
    I’m after a new gearbox as it so happens as mine pops out of second when you floor the accelerator. If you come across one of those on your hunt could you give me a nod please.

    August 25, 2009 at 7:07 am #630749
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    Shaun Audane

    Research suggests there were
    Research suggests there were two and the 1600 was the same engine as used in the Bus. I am looking at a later model for the reasons you outline-need easy spares and easy mechanics!

    August 24, 2009 at 10:07 pm #630747
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    DaveP

    Having re-read your post…
    Having re-read your post… do you mean 1600cc not 1500cc?
    :B

    August 24, 2009 at 9:52 pm #630745
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    DaveP

    I had two.. One a 1968 12v,
    I had two.. One a 1968 12v, the other a 1967 6v.

    The 12v was my Grandpa’s car and kept completely standard, until it died due to lack of TLC and money ( poor student transport ). The ’67 I got shortly after starting work and spent lots of time and money getting it back to being a daily driver.. 12v conversion, engine work to improve power & fixing up the body work and brakes. It lasted for 5 years as my daily driver, until all the hard work started to wearout..

    The 1500 is not a powerful engine, all single port. But, they are strong! Twin port engines can crack the heads if tuned and not cooled properly. I used the standard capacity and parts, but swapped out the carbs, ignition and electrics for modern bits.

    All Great cars for different reasons, 6v ’67 hard to get hold of as E plate cars were only around for 6-8 months – makes them RARE. Good quality parts are even harder to get hold of as specific to that car only.. stuff like 5 bolt hubs with front discs on a single circuit system, the deck lid is longer then ’68 on and shorter then before ’67, door handles, rear view mirror & qtr window openers are E plate only…. 12v stuff is dead easy to find as it’s mainly standard for all after ’68.

    Have fun and find a good garage. 😉

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