driving a bug

Chris Miller kirjoitti:

60mph sustained, short bursts to 70 if it can do it :) The low 67 gearing makes the engine rev higher, helping acceleration but reducing top speed.

I thought the 'stock' beetle was designed to run with your foot to the floor all day long ? Self restricting intake and exhaust.

?

Rich

I've heard of a "Freeway Flyer" trans-axle. higher gearing. I've also heard of a 5 speed tranny. One of the biggest "strains" on a VW engine is lugging. going too slow in a gear. Maybe get a tachometer.?? I sometimes run the piss out of the Ghia. I just rebuild the engine more often, but have a little fun. the first 36 hp. were happy running all day "pedal to the metal" 70 mph +/- and those ran the cam in the case. no bearings there. Have fun. Don't Worry/.

Hold on guys. I have never driven any of my vw's under 65 unless the speed limit is less. The 36 can be driven all day wide open and I have when I had my 57. Same thing with the 1300. The only engines I have had heat issues with by driving to fast are the 1600s so I use good temp guage set ups to monitor the running. This covers the time period from 1963 to today. I have never blown an engine. I once drove a 63 vw from wisconsin to rapid city SD and back wide open every mile possible. This was over 1800 miles with no problems during the trip nor in the years that followed. This is my personal experience which of course my opinions are based on. By the way guys, Have a Merry Chistmas....Dennis

Ah..... Jan, actually, the 67 US version had the higher gearing. It was the first year. My first VW was a '67.... now my '65 is like a woman. It will do what I ask... it will go 70, maybe even 80, but later it will declare that it was not happy doing this. She will not run as smoothly; there will be little, subtle protests. I then have to baby her for a while, spend some time adjusting things, maybe even keep it at 55 and under, and then all is forgiven and we are back to smooth running like before. KWW

I have owned three air cooled engine VWs before.The first one was a 1961 VW van I bought at Steakley Chevrolet used car lot in Killeen,Texas in

1965 when I was in the Army at Fort Hood.The second one was a 1963 VW beetle car I bought in 1965 when I came home on a three day holliday leave from Fort Hood.The third one was a 1970 VW van I bought I bought in 1979.

There is a guy about a mile from me who owns his own VW shop, mostly he only works on old VW air cooled engine vehicles.I pass right by his shop whenever I go to the Wal Mart store.A few months ago, I saw a red VW Karman Ghia car sitting in front of his shop.The car had masking tape and paper on it as though he had recently painted the car.I have never been to his shop before.I might get over there someday soon and see if he has any old air cooled VWs for sale.I wouldn't mind owning another one again, just for the heck of it if the price is right.. cuhulin

I wouldn't worry about it too much, worry about the other drivers on the freeway instead :-( You get clocked by an SUV while the driver is checking their email on their blackberry and you probably won't survive. Any damage to your engine from going "too fast" will be a moot point.

My 1600 71 loves to go 60 - 80 on the hwy. It gives me an unatural feeling going 90+ in a bug. But, I'm sure it's not a problem for the car.

Jakalope kirjoitti:

I've done 115MPH in my standard -74. Swingaxle and drum brakes, stock suspension. Didn't care to try it twice :)

Jan

Back when my 65 still had the stock engine and tranny it would max out at 68 MPH. That was enough to get along on at 65MPH on the level sections on Oregon interstate freeways. It would run maxed out like that for hours on end and never had any problems I could detect. But alas my 1300 died an early death when a crazy old woman rear-ended my poor little Baja Bug. The pulley end of the crank was bent and I was afraid to continue running it after that.

To shorten up a long story, it now has a later model transaxel and a slightly hotted up and a balanced & blueprinted 1600 DP engine. It will now comfortably hit 65 in third. I got more performance than I was looking for but it easily climbs hills at highway speed (no more backed up and pissed off traffic behind me climbing out of the canyon on hwy 26 out of Portland, OR. On the other hand, I sure do miss the 40 MPG of the old set up.

T> My 1600 71 loves to go 60 - 80 on the hwy. It gives me an unatural

I used to run my 1966 Baja up to 85 MPH but after reading the article in the back of "how to hot rod a VW," I found out why the font end felt so light... Now I won't drive it much past 70 MPH.

I don't think anything less than a full body swap would make a VW Bug safe to drive above 75.

T> Jakalope kirjoitti:

Did the 1965 Beetle have the 1200 engine or the 1300 engine?

Those 1200s, when properly tuned, should push your Beetle easily past 70 mph. At least that has been my experience.

If you are to sustain higher speeds for periods of time, make sure you do NOT run an oversized oilpump.

The higher pressure will bypass the oilcooler, and the engine will overheat.

Try restarting after a fuel stop... No compression until cooled down, hence no start.

And how do I know this?

MMmm, there once was a Swedish Vw meeting along way from home, even remember meeting this skinny Finish fellah...

J.

That was a typo, it's 1966 and the only year for the 1300. I never could get mine past 70.

Tony

I now have a later model tranny adapted to take the swing axle differential. The gearing is higher than optimal but it sure flies down the highway.

Tony

On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:10:53 -0600, snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net scribbled this interesting note:

Drop me a line. I'd love to sell a pair of 1964 VW Beetles.

-- John Willis snipped-for-privacy@airmail.net (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

Have you ever seen those fiberglass bodies for air cooled VW cars? There are three of them I like.Beach Buggy and a Devin and a fiberglass body that looks sort of like a World War Two Jeep.If I could find one of those bodies at a good price, all I would need is an air cooled VW running gear.It would be a good project to work on. cuhulin

=2E. =2E. 115 MPH in a standard 1974 Beetle

=2E. =2E. =2E. Jan

1) How do you get a standard Beetle to go that fast?

2) I would assume it has a regular 1600 engine.

3) I am lucky if I can reach 80 or 85 MPH

Ross Virg> Jakalope kirjoitti:

Hmmm a 1974 Beetle does not come with a swingaxle standard in the USA AFAIK.

So this happened elsewhere in the world. I guess that might be in MPH but maybe 115 KPH. Please correct me if I am wrong but I agree with rvirigin22 about a "stock" Beetle has a hard time even getting to 100 MPH even downhill with the wind.

.. .. .. Jan

1) How do you get a standard Beetle to go that fast?

2) I would assume it has a regular 1600 engine.

3) I am lucky if I can reach 80 or 85 MPH

Ross Virg> Jakalope kirjoitti: