Unintended Acceleration Issue
- Thread starter jhwilson
- Start date
Pat Anderson
New member
I have a bag of parts that probably has that reflector - I just found the original rearview mirror a little while ago and replaced the Schucks mirror that was glued to the windshield (it fell off actually).
"Sudden acceleration" is NOT a problem with this puppy, as noted! It is pretty much unmodified.
Patty and I drove a '61 VW Bug from '65 to '75 (it sat in my parents' driveway from '68 to '70 while we were overseas, strangely the "Eugene McCarthy for President" bumper sticker was missing when we came home!). We drove it cross-country a couple of time, from N.J. to Nova Scotia and back, and everywhere else. Sold it in N.J. when we came back to Washington in '75. Big mistake...
Safety? It is safer than any motorcycle, and apparently safer than a Lexus gone bananas. The mechanical simplicity is the strength of the Bug.
"Sudden acceleration" is NOT a problem with this puppy, as noted! It is pretty much unmodified.
Patty and I drove a '61 VW Bug from '65 to '75 (it sat in my parents' driveway from '68 to '70 while we were overseas, strangely the "Eugene McCarthy for President" bumper sticker was missing when we came home!). We drove it cross-country a couple of time, from N.J. to Nova Scotia and back, and everywhere else. Sold it in N.J. when we came back to Washington in '75. Big mistake...
Safety? It is safer than any motorcycle, and apparently safer than a Lexus gone bananas. The mechanical simplicity is the strength of the Bug.
localboy":2k63tjss said:
Indeed. They have become more difficult to find and thus valuable although their not worth THAT much, depending on condition. I was actually looking for a bone stock '61 to restore, since it's the yr of my birth.Pat Anderson":24gnb69k said:
Yep. All you need is some VERY basic tools to keep them alive.
..... simplicity
My 84 Toyota Tercel 4WD Wagon had:
No electronic computer anything
No airconditioning
No cruise control
No sudden acceleration issues, :lol: (hardly had acceleration :smiled
but it did have 580,000 miles on the original engine, :thup :thup still got 30+ MPG at ~60mph, :love had tons of load space, :idea never failed me, :dog and ..........
went fast enough to get me a speeding ticket, one time, 68 in a 55 zone, but the officer had to follow me up the other side of the hill at 45 for a mile and a half before there was room to pull me over
:twisted: :roll: :disgust
then I screwed up and sent in the check for the ticket, when my court date was on Thanksgiving morning a 11:00 :shock: :embarrased
Harvey
SleeepyC :moon
My 84 Toyota Tercel 4WD Wagon had:
No electronic computer anything
No airconditioning
No cruise control
No sudden acceleration issues, :lol: (hardly had acceleration :smiled
but it did have 580,000 miles on the original engine, :thup :thup still got 30+ MPG at ~60mph, :love had tons of load space, :idea never failed me, :dog and ..........
went fast enough to get me a speeding ticket, one time, 68 in a 55 zone, but the officer had to follow me up the other side of the hill at 45 for a mile and a half before there was room to pull me over
:twisted: :roll: :disgust then I screwed up and sent in the check for the ticket, when my court date was on Thanksgiving morning a 11:00 :shock: :embarrased
Harvey
SleeepyC :moon
Pat Anderson
New member
localboy":1x7k9pwo said:[/img]
I wish I was really good at Photoshop, Tyboo and a few other folks could do this, but I can't, so you will just have to imagine it!
This photo is the base, next layer is large flames shooting up from the engine, last layer is Mark's face behind the car looking at the fire extinguisher on the other side of the engine compartment. The balloon has him saying "Oh SHIT"!
How is this for a modified VW.
More info on it here. http://www.ronpatrickstuff.com/ Also check out the scooter he is building at the bottom of his page.
_______
Dave
www.tolandmarine.com
More info on it here. http://www.ronpatrickstuff.com/ Also check out the scooter he is building at the bottom of his page.
_______
Dave
www.tolandmarine.com
Localboy Mark's discussion of the VW Beetles brought back a lot of fond memories from the 60's. I had a '63 Beetle and my younger brother a much older one. His finally started using lots of oil and the 36 horses were losing steam. We decided to rebuild the engine and bought a shop manual.
We convinced a local automobile mechanic to let us use his garage facility, good thing we had our own metric tools as he thought they were taboo. After we had the engine out and on the bench all the local mechanics and shade tree types gathered around to observe.
It was like a surgical threater in medical school. One of the town's prominent mechanics opined that when the engine block is seperated (as it is in those engines rather than droping the oil pan to get at the crankshaft) that springs would fly in all directions. All shielded their faces as we split the block, nothing!
They were intrigued by our using a book to do the rebuild and repeatedly stated that they could "feel" the proper tightness of the bolts much better than my torque wrench which apparently facinated them. The event was the talk of the local wrench pullers for months and us "college kids" got their respect.
Went on to rebuild several VW engines. Only thing I didn't enjoy was dealing with all the air cooling sheet metal and having to adjust the valves every 3000 miles or so.
Harper
We convinced a local automobile mechanic to let us use his garage facility, good thing we had our own metric tools as he thought they were taboo. After we had the engine out and on the bench all the local mechanics and shade tree types gathered around to observe.
It was like a surgical threater in medical school. One of the town's prominent mechanics opined that when the engine block is seperated (as it is in those engines rather than droping the oil pan to get at the crankshaft) that springs would fly in all directions. All shielded their faces as we split the block, nothing!
They were intrigued by our using a book to do the rebuild and repeatedly stated that they could "feel" the proper tightness of the bolts much better than my torque wrench which apparently facinated them. The event was the talk of the local wrench pullers for months and us "college kids" got their respect.
Went on to rebuild several VW engines. Only thing I didn't enjoy was dealing with all the air cooling sheet metal and having to adjust the valves every 3000 miles or so.
Harper
I remember them, up to 55. My dad had the 3rd bug in North Dakota. Many crazy memories, (Think C=Dory attraction in a parking lot). Saw one coming from the other way on the hiway. Both pulled over and stopped, to swap stories and turned into an impromptu afternoon picnic and they became very good friends. I remember sleeping in the suitcase slot behind the back seat. And the gas pump jockeys, (remember them?) trying to find where to check the oil. And a dozen other things.
Harvey
SleepyC
Harvey
SleepyC
Westfield 11
New member
dotnmarty":30uj5irp said:
They are called "trafficators" and were standard equipment on many English cars in the 30's, 40's and even the 50's.
All great stories! I love the springs will shoot out of the case story! Funny. :lol:
Speaking of bugs: I wonder if it can tow a 25?
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/localboymark/?action=view¤t=Camper.flv : :shock:
Speaking of bugs: I wonder if it can tow a 25?
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/localboymark/?action=view¤t=Camper.flv : :shock:
dotnmarty":21knp9yz said:
I think that video is from ~1974 or so looking at the bug. I think the concept was to market them, but I don' t know if they ever made it to market or not. The bug's drive components and brakes are NOT designed for towing something so large IMO. But the video is a blast from the past.... :wink:
Since a few of you have such vivid memories of VWs I thought you'd like to spend some free time (it's winter after all) perusing this website; it has more info on VWs than any other I know.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/ Enjoy. 8)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/ Enjoy. 8)