I've had a '63 splittie van and a '67 bug. Hated the brakes in both of them and hated the pedal setup in the van. They were such primative beasts but the look of them was endearing and the mechanicals were very simple to work on. The van was pretty much rust free and it is surprising to see what they go for now. Mine had no windows cut in the sides so it looked like a panel van. I found it totally useless for transporting bikes other than dirt bikes which you could muscle in sideways. Sold the van and bought a Beddie which I found far more practical and more powerful once I bunged a 186 into it... And before you all get the rose tinted specs on, they also had skinny tyres and it was hard /expensice to get wider wheels for them, tyre choices were limited due to the sizes, they changed gear terribly even with the linkages shimmed, the bugs rolled easily (been in one that rolled on the gravel) and would either roll or spin out if pushed, the steering and link arms could fail witout warning and were weak, They rusted from the inside out, no decent heater for winter, under powered, poor suspension...and all that compared to other cars of the 1960's let alone the 1970's where everything else got better and VW stayed shittier than ever
a 63 splittie panel with almost no rust.... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-350634249.htm you'll never see a Bedford with this asking price and I've seen the earlier ones sell for over 40K....here!!!!
I seem to be the only one here who has not owned a VW at some time (though I nearly bought a Karmann Ghia once).
Nah Keith, you're not alone. The closest I've come to owning one was a VW-powered spaceframe offroader thirty years ago. I've never owned a road-going kraut. Having said that, my dad briefly had a '58 Kombi with an 1100cc powerhouse back in the mid '60s, and followed it up with a '64 Kombi 1500 which was only three years old at the time. I do remember regular trips to Volks Services in Keeling Rd, Henderson. Neither one inspired me to own one personally, but i can understand their appeal.
As close as I got was a space framed beach buggy with a VW front suspension, Avenger welded centre diff and 2 litre cortina engine. Looked like a little stock car, not as strong as one tho......................Went well until the front end broke the bit that the tie rod end bolts on to on the stub axle. That crash hurt ! Used the engine in a Escort, cant remeber what happened to the rest of it
The closest I got was a share owned early VW buggy. It was fitted with a 12A bridge ported Mazda rotary. Went like stink, but handled and braked dismally. Rear mounted rotaries also require a lot of cooling aids!!
It was fitted with a 12A bridge ported Mazda rotary bet you hanker over an RE5....
We bought a VW once, it cost us one dozen beer (most likely DB), the only catch was we had to pick it up from Lake Taylor, We drove in there in my VC Valiant and hooked up the tow rope and away we went back To Cheviot We started of with a few metres of rope which got shorter as we had a few "incidents" along the way including the VC getting rear ended when we stopped due to the VW brakes not working as well as they could We'd broken the rope so many times that by 1/2 way between Waikari and Greta Valley when we got rear ended once again which made the front VW bumper hook over the VC tow ball we had just enough rope to tie the bumper to the tow ball and carried on like that We hit 70-80mph at times towing it like this and it worked a treat Ended up pulling the body off and using it for off roading which did result in a trip to the doctor after a jump when someone fell out (seatbelts are for pussies) and got a minor concussion VW number 2 we fitted with a 1400cc Subaru and raced it as a class 9 (Baja) quite unsuccessfully but had a lot of fun doing so
My 2nd VW was a '61 or so - stuffed engine,and no rear guard,unfortunately the same one damaged on the '54.We needed to go to Taranaki for Xmas,so I fitted an engine I had prepared earlier,and on the 23rd took it into a mates panel shop - we welded up the rotten A pillars,fitted the guard...it was too stuffed to fit a tail light,so welded one on,and a bit of red cellophane for a lens.My mate had to drive it,as I didn't have my license (see earlier entry),and he had never driven one before.Going up the big hill out of Ohaupo (ok,so it's not a big hill to you,but it is to a 36hp VW) and he had it rung out to 3,600rpm in 3rd,and I kept yelling at him to put it top...''It won't pull top gear at these revs'' he said...'Yes it will,put it in top!'.So he did and then it dropped a valve. The rest of the trip is a story itself...and we came back for the VW 3 weeks later,towing it home with my International truck I'd sold to my panelbeater mate.It was a pub crawl,the rope broke so many times we ended up with it on a short length of chain....man that was a harsh tow.I solved my lack of usable engines by fitting a 1300cc unit - some real power at last.The skinny wheels and crossply tyres were the best thing for gravel,I tried some radials and just couldn't control it,they don't get down to the traction area. Then I got a '58 Kombi with no motor - I parked them on the road outside my mothers house,and would swap engines with them back to back.With lack of tyres I used Kombi wheels on the bug,more traction and a bit more speed,in 3rd anyway.It wasn't easy changing engines on the side of the road with the Bug,so I made it into a Baja...with a gas axe and tinsnips.I just cut the rear section off,cut down the engine cover and trimmed the rear guards.No finishing work,and none of these cars ever had a WoF.The Bug met it's end in Riverhead forest - taking a long left hander wide open in 3rd...65mph on the speedo - I had the choice of backing off a little and tightening my line to stay on my side of the road,or just keeping it nailed and going wide...as I could see clear road ahead I just let it all hang out.I was full lock sideways as I hit thick metal at the edge of the road,the wheels dug in and got max traction...and the car took off where it was pointed,into the inside of the corner.It went though the ditch,the rear end was so high I was hanging from my seat belt holding myself up from the steering wheel...all I could see was green grass out the windscreen...stuff was coming out from behind the rear seat and bouncing off the screen.I felt it start to roll and thought I was going to be in serious trouble,but the rear end hit the bank and it come down again - I hit 2nd gear and powered out of the ditch.I drove it for a few more weeks,but the front end was totalled,the link pins had ripped out of the arms,and the front suspn was all distorted and pulling out of it's mounts. So that left me with the Kombi,not nearly as much fun to drive - we called the driving position the Kombi Krouch.It carted a lot of stuff around - but was no good for hauling bikes,you had to remove the front wheel.I built up a couple of Triumph engines in the back,just keeping everything in there,doing stuff at work or home.It wasn't used as a shagging wagon,although I did drive from Opunake to Hawera and back with friends rooting in the back all the way.The engine had a leaking pushrod tube,but it wasn't much,and kept an eye on the oil level.I fitted a big tacho (why,on an engine hard pressed to do 4,000rpm) and rather than run a wire all the way back there,used one already supplied - the wire to the oil pressure switch.The engine started to rattle on the Newmarket flyover,and I parked it next to the phone boxes on the corner of Wellersly St and Queen St on saturday night...and walked away.I thought I might rebuild the engine,but the cases were distorted....and so ended my days of VW fun.
drove around europe in a kombie.......horrible thing..........made worse by sharing it with the mother -in-law.....father in law was a kombie mech (Qualitat)...so he looked after it.....i lasted about two weeks before telling her what i thought of her .....she never spoke to me after that......the rest of the trip was ok...........
Big day yesterday, fitted the motor to the car, now I have someone else to do the grovelling under the car its much easier. flattened the battery getting the motor primed....charged it up and it started first time... Look on Declans face priceless....then we took it for a spin up and down the road.....first impressions.....runs nice.....now onto the panel work. Declan: " wow all those parts I fitted and torqued up spinning around....at thousands of revs..."
