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Best Year
VW for Buggy
"Q&A"
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Page 254 Front
Suspension S.A. Rear
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vw@vwhelp.comE-Mail Questions with AnswersAnswer:.... > That's a hard one to answer without knowing just what you plan on doing with the buggy and how much money you want to spend on the project. I will try to give a few good and bad points of the different years. First off let me say the cheapest way to get parts to build a buggy is to buy a complete car. When you strip it down you can haul off the Glass, tin and upholstery but keep every thing else until the project is completed. 1961 to 65 Bug ... Good -> it has King Pin Front end. Swing Axel rear end. Bad -> it's the old 40 hp 1200cc, 6-volt motor that is more expensive to work on then it's worth. 1966 ... Good -> it's the later style motor that can be up-dated to1600cc with P&C kit and rear axels were a little longer the 65. Bad -> it's still 6volt with small 180mm flywheel, Old style case with small 6mm oil pump studs, small Single Port heads, swing axel transmission, ball joint front end but still w/5-lug wheels. 1967 ...Good -> it's 12volt, 200mm flywheel, 1500ccP&C that can be replaced with 1600cc P&C kit Bad -> 6mm oil pump studs, single port heads, swing axel transmission, but with longer axels, ball joint front end, generator instead of Alternator. (really don't need Alt. unless running lots of off road lights) 1968 to 70... Pretty much same as 1967 but had I.R.S. suspension and 4-Lug wheels. 1970 last year of the single port heads and first year Bug to have 1600cc motor 1971 First year for Dual Port Heads and slightly larger carburetor. 1st year for dog house oil cooler. Also Super Beetle also came out in this year (S.B. McPherson front end not good for buggies so you would need to trade for KP or BJ front end.) Std Bugs & SB were made in 71. Case studs were 10mm up to 8-70 and then went to 8mm with case savers after that, 8-70 or later case must be used when installing 94mm P&C kit. Note: not all things listed as bad are bad for all builders. Swing axel rear suspension is generally considered stronger in the stock form then the IRS. The big thing with the SA rear suspension is that rear tire tread must be rounded for the suspension to work. (No big flat tread tires should be used) and the wheels are always working through an arc. (Note: Late model Mexican bugs used swing axel rear suspension) King Pin front suspension is better for the off road racer as it can be reworked for more travel and beefed up considerably but the Ball Joint front end has slightly stronger due to there larger diameter spindles. Big draw back of the BJ front end is that it must be run pretty much stock. If you find 10 K.P. front ends and 10 B.J. front ends in a salvage yard then 8 or 9 of the K.P. front ends will be good (not rusted out) and only 3 or 4 Good B.J front ends. This is due to the vent hole in the bottom of the B.J. front end getting clogged up and rusting from the inside out. This rust will be between the upper and lower tubs at the shock tower. Most buggies are very light on the front end and require less shock dampening, since the buggies support the front end close to these shock towers the strength is still ok but they look bad. Repair plates see #39a can be welded in place, but must only be welded on the outer edge or the internal bearings will be destroyed. One set of repair plates do one side. Single Port Heads are great for smaller motors and normally have more low end torque the DP heads. T-2 Bus used same as bug motor up to 1971. The Bus (T-2) 1968 to 1971 transmission can be bolted into bug suspension with special mounts and modified CV joints. 1972 and later Bus motors are the 411 type and parts are about 5 times more expensive then T-1 parts. Plus you can make more HP for less money starting with the T-1 motor. (this holds true until about 2300cc) Don't try using front or rear suspension from a Bus as the front is to stiff and the rear to stiff and weaker then the Bug, plus harder to beef-up. T-3 use the pancake motor and are basically the same as the T-1 motor but with different cooling tin. They are great street motors but when used off road, they pick up a lot of dust and dirt from having the air intake low and at rear of car. What Year and Model is it. ? --> *info
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