VW bus/westfalia question

[Colt45]

My buddy has decided he would like an old VW... older the better.. Well anything before they went square.

Anyhow, I think he is too incompotent to drive a standard.. and are any of the pre-square westfalia's atuomatic?

I can't remember ever seeing one.. but then again I don't know too much about them.

Does anyone have a year-spread of the generations?

 

[nakedfrog]

Well, I know for a fact some of the 70s models had autos, but they were pretty uncommon. I'm not sure I've read about any of the pre '67 (split window) that had an automatic. They rob a bit of power, and those engines weren't exactly powerhouses to begin with.
[edit]
By square, do you mean the 80s or 70s model? Or both?

TheSamba - Great VW site
Type2.com - Specific to VW Type 2 (Buses)

 

[crab]

Closest thing I've seen is the autostick.

edit: never seen it in a bus, though.

 

[Colt45]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
By square, do you mean the 80s or 70s model? Or both?

Thanks for the links and stuff.

I never knew much about them, but I've always like the split window ones.

My family had a 70's one for a while when I was a kid. It was cool too, but not as cool as the pre- 66 (?) ones.

By square/brick I mean the 80's one.. im not sure of the years of the production run.

 

[nakedfrog]

I'm working my way up to owning one. Practicing on a Super Beetle someone was kind enough to give me.
I did a little research, and it looks like the first year for the AT was probably 1972, the "bay window" era. Personally, I'd recommend a 78-79 Westfalia. Then again, there's a couple other VW guys in ATOT that know far more than I, and they may have different thoughts.
But honestly, it shouldn't take more than a couple days to learn to drive manual. I just learned this year, on the Beetle. Probably better off with a manual anyway.

 

[DurocShark]

Bay windows only came with AT as an option. Fairly rare.

If your "friend" lives in Cali, get a 72 - 75 ... No smog checks.

Otherwise, a 78 or 79 will have a bigger engine, and fresher tranny. Less rust most likely as well...

I have a 73 and love it (when I don't kill the electrical).

 

[Patt]

Put it this way ... I spent a year in Australia a couple of years back, and purchased myself a 1972 Transporter convertered into a camper. Keep in mind we're driving on the other side of the road, and that the manual stick shift is almost a yard long. Eventually, even my wife came to be able to drive it decently enough.

With all the other folks we met driving VW buses, and now that we're back I always check them out, I haven't seen many automatics that are that old.

 

[Colt45]

Yeah, it didn't take me long to learn either. It's just hard to convince someone that has never tried it I guess.

What does the 78-79 have over the rest of the second generation??

I wouldn't mind a superbug either. I'm going to have a german car farm some day
Right now I have two Audi 5000's. one quattro/5spd, the other one fwd/at.. I dont really drive the AT one anymore. it's sort of a family car for whoever.

 

[Oger]

Raises hand

I own a 1974 Westy with a 1966 Chevy Corvair flat six in it

All pre 1972 busses only come with manual trannies, a '72 and up auto can be adapted to the older busses by completely swapping out the rear suspension (from swing axle to independent) along with the engine and tranny.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Colt45
Yeah, it didn't take me long to learn either. It's just hard to convince someone that has never tried it I guess.

What does the 78-79 have over the rest of the second generation??

I wouldn't mind a superbug either. I'm going to have a german car farm some day
Right now I have two Audi 5000's. one quattro/5spd, the other one fwd/at.. I dont really drive the AT one anymore. it's sort of a family car for whoever.

74 or 75 was the first year that adults could sleep comfortably in the pop-up top, and in addition to having less wear and bigger motor, 78-79 have hydraulic lifter that save you from adjusting your valves every few months. It's not that big of a hassle to do, but if it gets cold where you live...
I've enjoyed my Super Beetle quite a bit, anemic engine and all. If what the Chilton's guide lists for engine codes is correct, I got basically the weakest engine possible for 73. But it's still fun to drive
My Bug

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Colt45
Yeah, it didn't take me long to learn either. It's just hard to convince someone that has never tried it I guess.

What does the 78-79 have over the rest of the second generation??

I wouldn't mind a superbug either. I'm going to have a german car farm some day
Right now I have two Audi 5000's. one quattro/5spd, the other one fwd/at.. I dont really drive the AT one anymore. it's sort of a family car for whoever.

74 or 75 was the first year that adults could sleep comfortably in the pop-up top, and in addition to having less wear and bigger motor, 78-79 have hydraulic lifter that save you from adjusting your valves every few months. It's not that big of a hassle to do, but if it gets cold where you live...
I've enjoyed my Super Beetle quite a bit, anemic engine and all. If what the Chilton's guide lists for engine codes is correct, I got basically the weakest engine possible for 73. But it's still fun to drive
My Bug

The cars of today have to complicated instrumentation.
:thumbsup:

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: Oger
Raises hand

I own a 1974 Westy with a 1966 Chevy Corvair flat six in it

All pre 1972 busses only come with manual trannies, a '72 and up auto can be adapted to the older busses by completely swapping out the rear suspension (from swing axle to independent) along with the engine and tranny.

Still drooling over that Corvair Westy....

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Colt45
My buddy has decided he would like an old VW... older the better.. Well anything before they went square.

Anyhow, I think he is too incompotent to drive a standard.. and are any of the pre-square westfalia's atuomatic?

I can't remember ever seeing one.. but then again I don't know too much about them.

Does anyone have a year-spread of the generations?

Well, that is a perfect vehicle to learn to drive stick on!!!

 

[Oger]

Duroc, wait till you see the completed MegaSquirt fuel injection system and the new HiPo 3.0 L Corvair engine that will be going in next spring

 

[Colt45]

Originally posted by: FrustratedUser

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Colt45
Yeah, it didn't take me long to learn either. It's just hard to convince someone that has never tried it I guess.

What does the 78-79 have over the rest of the second generation??

I wouldn't mind a superbug either. I'm going to have a german car farm some day
Right now I have two Audi 5000's. one quattro/5spd, the other one fwd/at.. I dont really drive the AT one anymore. it's sort of a family car for whoever.

74 or 75 was the first year that adults could sleep comfortably in the pop-up top, and in addition to having less wear and bigger motor, 78-79 have hydraulic lifter that save you from adjusting your valves every few months. It's not that big of a hassle to do, but if it gets cold where you live...
I've enjoyed my Super Beetle quite a bit, anemic engine and all. If what the Chilton's guide lists for engine codes is correct, I got basically the weakest engine possible for 73. But it's still fun to drive
My Bug

The cars of today have to complicated instrumentation.
:thumbsup:

Hehehe.
100MPH gauge. 0-100 in 5 minutes with the pedal to the floor down a 50% grade eh?

 

[Colt45]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: Colt45
My buddy has decided he would like an old VW... older the better.. Well anything before they went square.

Anyhow, I think he is too incompotent to drive a standard.. and are any of the pre-square westfalia's atuomatic?

I can't remember ever seeing one.. but then again I don't know too much about them.

Does anyone have a year-spread of the generations?

Well, that is a perfect vehicle to learn to drive stick on!!!

Why??

I've never driven a westfalia so i don't know if you're being sarcastic or not.

 

[Oger]

Why??

There is not enough horsepower to burn the clutch up


52 horses pushing 3,500 lbs empty.

 

[crab]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Colt45
Yeah, it didn't take me long to learn either. It's just hard to convince someone that has never tried it I guess.

What does the 78-79 have over the rest of the second generation??

I wouldn't mind a superbug either. I'm going to have a german car farm some day
Right now I have two Audi 5000's. one quattro/5spd, the other one fwd/at.. I dont really drive the AT one anymore. it's sort of a family car for whoever.

74 or 75 was the first year that adults could sleep comfortably in the pop-up top, and in addition to having less wear and bigger motor, 78-79 have hydraulic lifter that save you from adjusting your valves every few months. It's not that big of a hassle to do, but if it gets cold where you live...
I've enjoyed my Super Beetle quite a bit, anemic engine and all. If what the Chilton's guide lists for engine codes is correct, I got basically the weakest engine possible for 73. But it's still fun to drive
My Bug

Kinda reminds me of one my dad used to drive.

Me

 

[Colt45]

Originally posted by: Oger
Duroc, wait till you see the completed MegaSquirt fuel injection system and the new HiPo 3.0 L Corvair engine that will be going in next spring

Some guys on a Audi forum I go to are megasquirting their audi turbo I5's.
I've thought about it, but I'm cheap.

I'm thinking about ripping the EFI setup off an early 80's chevy V6 and toying with that.

They were batch fired injection rather than sequential, so unless I overlooked something it *should* work rather easily. I remember seeing a site about a guy converting a slant 6 to old chevy batch EFI somewhere.

 

[aircooled]

I'm garaging my bus for the winter ('76) so I can do some projects on it. The megasquirt looks awesome.

 

[DurocShark]

Anybody waiting for the "Ultra MegaSquirt"?

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: aircooled
I'm garaging my bus for the winter ('76) so I can do some projects on it. The megasquirt looks awesome.

LOL @ MegaSquirt name.

 

[Thump553]

VW bugs were great vehicles to learn standard transmission on. Very forgiving and can take a lot of abuse.

I drove a few VW buses back in the day but don't recall anything unusual about their shifting.

If you end up buying a 30-40 year old vehicle (especially an economy one) you better be pretty good at auto repairs, especially bodywork. The VW buses were pretty easy to work on-I had friends who could swap out an entire engine in 40 minutes (which made parking your VW bus in a student commuter lot a dicey thing).