1975 Volkswagen Super Beetle Convertible

Price: - Item location: Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Description:

1975 Volkswagen Beetle - Classic

1975VW Super Beetle Convertible

  • Start-up & walk-around video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/D0LwD3CeI_8

WARNING: DO NOT buy this car if you are not ready for the attention that comes with it.Be prepared to get photographed and asked lots of questions because this one turns heads! These cars are getting harder to find as the years go by, so don't missout on this one!

Lots of New stuff!

  • New vinyl top (kept under carport or cover since new in 2011
  • New carburetor
  • New starter motor
  • New Continental belt
  • New accelerator cable
  • New center console
  • New seat covers
  • New tires (80% tread)
  • New chrome exhaust tip
  • New professionally-installed electrical wiring
  • New 12v(cigarette)outlet
  • New auxiliary oil filter system
  • New Bosch oil filter
  • New Bosch fuel filter
  • New fuel pump
  • New secondary in-line fuel filter
  • New cork valve cover seals with each oil change
  • New Scat oil pan plate
  • New NGKIridium spark plugs
  • New spark plug wires
  • New Bosch distributor cap
  • New Bosch rotor
  • New Compu-Fire electronic ignition system(no points!)

Lotsof extra& spareparts (not installed)

  • New rear windshield seal
  • New clutch cable
  • New accelerator cable
  • New Continental belt
  • New Bosch oil filter
  • New cork valve cover seals
  • Partial case of synthetic oil
  • New visor clips
  • NEW in box OEM door panels from Wolfsburg West
  • New rubber mounts for door panels
  • New in-line fuel filters (2)

This 1975 Super Beetle convertible is in good running condition. It starts, runs, drives, turns, and stops. I bought this car on eBay in 2011from a seller in California. He installed a brand new vinyl top prior to shipping the car to me.The odometer is not accurate--it was not working when I received the car, so the actual mileageis unknown.

While inmy care, I did alot of work to the car. With the extensive assistance of my city's resident VW guru (everyone with an air-cooledVW knew Derek...EVERYONE) we removed the engine and converted from 1970's era computer-driven fuel-injection toa much simpler carbureted system. The previous owner was anaircraft engineer who had installed (2) TWO oil filters to the car; one of those was a HUGE Amsoiltruck filter the size of a coffee can! So this car had extra oil capacitywithDOUBLE-FILTERED oil running through it for years and most definitely never rantoohot!We removed that setup and simplified it by installing a single oil filter setupthat takes a regular Bosch filter available at anyauto partsstore. (This way you still get good oil filtration and extra oil capacity without having totrack down a replacement for thatmega-overkill truck filter!)This was a full conversion with heads off a donor car and the oil inlet off of Derek's old VW bus (we left it blue in honor of Derek's old bus.) The car now runs Havoline's synthetic high-mileage formula oil.

We installed NGK iridium spark plugs, a Compu-fire electronic points system, newplug wires, and a new carb& Empi air filter setup with a chrome air filter cover. I replaced the fuel pump when it died, adding an in-line plastic filter and replacingthe main Bosch filter at the same time. Then,I had a professional air-cooled VW shop rewire the electrical to resolvea difficult-to-find short...so Ijust had him do it all because, you know, new electrical is a good thing. While he was at it,I had him wire in a new 12 volt outlet because you've gotta charge that cellphone. The battery was installed in the past few months, so it's good.

The tires are in pretty good shape. I had 4 new ones--nothing fancy--put on about 4 years ago and probably no more than 2,000 miles put on them since. There is plenty of tread left. Mechanically, thisis a greatcar. When we got it running right, my wife & I drove it from South Carolina to Maryland--about a 1200 mile round trip. We hadno mechanical issues the entire trip.

Issues - (AKA Full Disclosure):

The paint isn'tperfect. believe it was originally a bright yellow. Youcansee some of this in discrete places and where there are light scratches. The front is bright, shiny red, but fades as you go back, to a sunset orange-ish. I believe it sat in a carport in California and got that rear end baked in the sun. It actually gives the car some cool character. There are a few small rust spots--dime& nickel-sized. One of the front fenders has some bubbling of the paint that's relatively new. The floor pans will probably need replacing--there's some rust, which I pictured as best I could. (The front strut mounts look fine.)

The interior isn't perfect, but it can be worked with for restoration.The dash has one moderate-sized crack. The front seat covers are pretty good covers, but the seatsthemselves need redone. The passenger seat is a bitwobbly on the track. The backseat isgood. The front seat adjustment levers need knobs, but they do work. I don't know howold the carpet is. Some of it is fine, some of it could use replacing, depending on your plans. The interiordoor panels are a bit warped, but I have nice OEM replacements new in box that are included with the sale. Some of the window cranks need knobs and/or retainingscrews...nothing major. The chrome on top off the passenger window has come loose and needs fixed...also not major.

The convertible top, as I said before, wasreplaced just before Ibought it. It has mostly been kept under either a cover or a carport when notin use over the past 5-6 years. Thetopitself does not leak at all. The rubber around the rear windshield is the original rubber and is dry rotted--it does leak andneeds replaced. YouTube can show you how to do this--it doesn't look too bad. Again, it's been covered up to prevent this being a problem.I thinkI have the replacement seal. I will includeit if I can locate it. Pretty much all of the rubber on the convertible frame needs replaced. The frame rubber is mostly dry-rotted, but any water runs off the top like a canopy. Even in a pouring rain, water doesn't come in if the windows areopen.

There are no heater hoses installed--we live in South Carolina on the coast(it's Christmas and I'm wearing a t-shirt,shorts & flip-flops!) The mechanic at the VW shop said that my heater channels looked to be in good shape. He tack welded some plates over the plates on the floor of the engine compartment and temporarily sealed offthe hose outlets sothat hotair wouldn't blow into the engine compartment. This could all be un-done quite easily so that you could have heat in the winter.

As I said before, the car starts, runs, turns, and stops. Occasionally, the carburetor needs a little adjustment for the idle or depending on theoutsidetemperature. A better carb would probably be less fussy. Just letting you know. The brakes work, but I recommend new pads. There's no stereo, which just means youget to pick your own.

A couple of years ago, I was using thiscar as a daily driver until the starter went. Too many projectsput the Red Baronon the back burner. I recently installed the new battery & starter and he's running great again. Now, I just have other big projects going and need for this car to get the love it deserves.