John/Horace Posted November 1, 2021 Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 (edited) Edited November 1, 2021 by John/Horace 5rebel9 and jkeaton 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted November 1, 2021 Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 $3.58? Thats probably a $3500 accessory these days! John/Horace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5rebel9 Posted November 1, 2021 Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 Good Lord, and I remember them in catalogs of the original offering years! AND many folks actually having one. My dad found an even cheaper alternative by using a thin mens' belt that were the norm back then (and not the "wide" ones that came popular in the later 60's . My dad was auto tech for a Buffalo, NY VW dealer from '57 - 67, and then started his own shop in the early 70's (where I got my start! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted November 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 (edited) My first car was a very beat up 1969 beetle. I rolled the car with door open and jumped in and dumped clutch to manually start it several times. The trick was to not do a Flinstone and drive over your self with your own car. Pull start would have been safer, didn’t know it existed. Beetle engine exhaust was the trickiest thing to work on. Four wrenches you could disassemble the whole car I think. Edited November 1, 2021 by John/Horace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted November 1, 2021 Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 I had a 1963 bug while in college. Had a sunroof and a sticker on the back that said "Air conditiong by Volkswagon". LMAO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5rebel9 Posted November 1, 2021 Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 Needless to say that I lost count of the number of VW's that I owned over the years from my first being a 65 Beetle to my last being a '74 Beetle with just about every offering in between( but NO "THING")! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted November 1, 2021 Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 I would have loved to have a Thing. So cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted November 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 (edited) Had a 1969 rag top for three weeks that I flipped for 300% more money offer. I was in college and needed the cash. Top needed replacing any way. Also a 1971 Westphalia for a little while as well. Duel Sollex carbs, what a bear to set up. Bettle total was 5, I converted a 3 speed semi automatic to a regular 4 speed std over a thanksgiving long weekend. It leaked so much fluid I was given orders by dad to ditch it or fix it. Semi auto parts were too scarce. I still prefer metric cars because it’s what I started on first. Oh yeah the thing, never even sat in one, very cool for its time. Edited November 1, 2021 by John/Horace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted November 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 (edited) Rebel9 your 1965 was 6 volt system unless you converted to 12. Solid front axle and torsion bar rear no macpherson struts. I loved the 60’s chrome trim bugs. The gas heaters if you ever got one were hilarious. I sold my 1971 super bettle gas heater to a construction crane guy for more than what car was worth when scrapping it. They ran with a glow plug and their own tiny electric fuel pump. The rear exhaust heat exchangers didn’t produce much heat because they were usually rotted out by salt. It was amazing how well they handled the deep snow with the skinny tall factory tires. Edited November 1, 2021 by John/Horace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5rebel9 Posted November 1, 2021 Report Share Posted November 1, 2021 YUP, dealt with all that stuff and right up thru '87 when we closed shop. those aux. gas heaters were something else when they worked! BUT I did not mean to "go on" about my past with another make on a Journey FORUM YES we did some pretty neat stuff on our own rides and for a number of customers, was a shame when VW went water cooled and lost their way about '85 . People stopped buying the brand around us and the specialty of the air cooled ones was dying out. Not to mention a rather large difference of opinion on business plan between family and myself that helped bring about our shops' closing. Let's get back to our JOURNEYS John/Horace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appalachian Journey Posted November 5, 2021 Report Share Posted November 5, 2021 High school buddy had an old headlights behind glass type. Barely enough heat to melt frost off half the windshield. Smoked like a mosquito fogger. A ragged out, rusted death trap. It was great. John/Horace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted November 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2021 A 1973:VW thing, very cool weird design. Super beetle 1600 cc air cooled motor in it. Sealed beam no bulb headlights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appalachian Journey Posted November 6, 2021 Report Share Posted November 6, 2021 VW ad from a documentary I watched long ago. John/Horace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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