In my younger days I had a '61, '64 & '66 Type 1 (Bug); all at different times. Rebuilt several engines on the kitchen table. When my oldest son turned 16 he had a '67 Bug and a '71 Type 3 Squareback Wagon (which he destroyed at almost 80 mph on a residential street and lived).
'Dubs were some fun vehicles. Every so often over the years I had kept my eyes open for a Bug rag-top for Money Penny. Seems as though about 10 years ago they priced themselves right out of my budget.
If I shut my eyes I can still feel the seats and smell their interiors. One of the easiest 4 wheeled vehicles ever produced to perform a one-man push start on....;)
I worked with a guy in the '80's that told me about his VW Bug. Back in 1957, his dad bought a new one. A year later he wanted a new car and took the year-old VW in for trade. They offered him $100 in trade so his dad said that his son was going to turn 16 soon so he just gave it to him. His old broken-down shell of a car was sitting in his yard in the 80's and some guy knocked on his door and asked if he could buy it. I don't remember what he sold it for, but I'm sure it was more than $100.
Words you didn't want to hear while riding in the survey chariot with delinquent co-workers................SLUG BUG!!!!!!!!!
paden cash, post: 429893, member: 20 wrote: and smell their interiors.
The smell is something I'll never forget. Eau De VW. Quite unique
A forest ranger I was acquainted with had one. We piled in his one day to head off fighting fires.
It was well suited to racing over the rough terrain. I remember wondering when the ground was going to come through the floor. The VW scraped up and over terrain with relative ease except for the noises one felt quite comfortable.
Driving thru town today, a VW Thing came up the street and turned in front of me. Looked like new showroom condition with the top down and flo green paint job and a young seeet thing at the wheel. Haven't seen one if those in quite some time.
Had a rather portly civics teacher (Mr. Hurlbutt. I apologize) who drove a late 60's version of the bug. On occasion we would pick it up and put it tight to a pole or turn it cross ways in the parking slot just to make his life as difficult as he did ours.
paden cash, post: 429893, member: 20 wrote: Rebuilt several engines on the kitchen table. 😉
I worked on mine on the back porch. Dad didn't have a shop...or concrete slab.
So we worked where we could. Most mechanic work was done laying on a sheet of plywood in the dirt driveway.
In the winter I can remember driving to town to find some dry pavement to lay on while I did some sort of maintenance or repair.
Usually an old abandoned gas station or car wash worked pretty well because they had a roof over them.
In this picture you can see a brand new regulator mounted on the dog house. Right after I got it running, I had the back seat out. This is where the battery is mounted. I was driving down the freeway and noticed a hissing noise coming from the back of the car. I turned around to look to see what was making the noise and suddenly the battery exploded sending a cloud of battery acid in my face and all over the interior. I could taste it in my mouth and my eyes were burning something horrible. I knew I had gotten a bunch of acid in my eyes and I had to make a decision as to what to do.
I was about 2 miles from the nearest exit, which had a gas station. I made the decision to get there as fast as possible so as to minimize the damage to my eyes. With tears streaming out of my burning eyes, I floored the gas pedal and never let up.
As a side note - when I replaced the transaxle, I had close ratio gears installed for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and a higher final gear for freeway driving.
I distinctly remember where the speedometer needle stopped moving as I was speeding to the gas station.The engine would not rev any higher.
For those that have never driven a bug - passing cars at this speed on the freeway is a weird sensation. They are not the most aerodynamic due to the windshield drag. It had to have also been a weird for the people I was passing.
When I got to the gas station, I ran into their bathroom and rinsed my eyes out for 20 minutes. I was sure I was going to be blinded. Fortunately no lasting damage to either my eyes or the engine.
The cause of the explosion was a faulty regulator putting too many volts to the battery.
[USER=7286]@imaudigger[/USER]
I thought I could see where the battery acid had indeed affected your face, in that last pic...
Ha! Yup, something I have to live with every day.
I'm so used to it, I hardly notice it anymore.
I see, I see, said the blind man, to the deaf man, over the telephone! (Grin!)
N
I had a rather portly good-time buddy that I use to run with when I was driving a bug. One night we had a bug-full of folks and Bobby wound up in the back seat. His weight busted the wire springs in the seat upholstery and shorted out the battery underneath him. He finally realized the car seat was smoking hot (his 'seat' too). We poured beer on it to put out the fire. I remember it fried a couple of wires on the generator relay and blew a fuse or two. Nothing expensive though.
I don't remember where I got the replacement cushion....but my bet would be out of a similar year unlocked bug parked at the shopping mall....that was during my "felon-in-training" years...
In Alaska in the late 60s I saw several VW Bugs under unusual circumstances. I was on board a Boeing 737 once that landed at a place called King Salmon. They rolled a wheeled stand up to the plane, opened a door forward of the passenger area, and pushed out a Bug. It had evidently been riding sideways just behind the cockpit.
When I was working in Barrow one summer there were some Bugs in town. All of them had been fitted out with fat tires made for DC-3 aircraft. They were said to be very good for driving around on the tundra or the beach, fording small streams, etc.
An interesting article about a bunch of old VW cars and busses. It's about 3 miles from one of our jobs.
It looks like a good place for Nate's clients to check out.
Nate The Surveyor, post: 429995, member: 291 wrote: I see, I see, said the blind man, to the deaf man, over the telephone! (Grin!)
N
An old friend always had: "I see said the blind carpenter to his deaf daughter, as he picked up his hammer and saw". I thought that was stupid.
JA, PLS SoCal
