Completely Green and now a VDub owner...

Hi all,

My name is Josh and today I have come to possess my very 1st Volkswagen Beetle. It is a 1972, with a new 1600cc engine and a pretty decent interior. Thing is, it needs a full tune up I believe for it will not run right. I traded my previous car for this Bug and the previous owner was not the person who did the work on it. I'm looking to see if there are any "Bug Clubs" in my area or at least a Bug "Guru" who would be willing to teach me the basics of maintenance beyond what I can find in books/ manuals. I know this is the beginning of a true love affair and want to be skilled enough with the wrench to be worthy of being called a VW owner. Any info or insight will be greatly appreciated!

First off, congratulations on your new acquisition. Secondly, welcome to THE best club/group for VW's in Northern California! There are many gurus here and are all willing to give you a hand. My best suggestion is to hook up with us at our next tech day. See the events section for the info!

Hey Josh, Nice to see you found the site. Hey all Josh is my oldest son. Since the car is not running right and Josh lives in Ukiah the next tech day prolly wont work. What we need is someone in our club who lives close to his area. Other than Kyle in San Fran...... any ideas.
Josh is looking for someone local who can help teach him how to do basic maint til I can get up there. This tech day I will have Pete torn down installing the lowering kit and have a rough work schedule. I have had to work the last two Saturdays and hope it does not happen again. If it does than Pete wont get the work done. Also there seems to be no parts source in his area. Anyone know of any VW shops in and around his area??? Josh call me after work and we can figure out a parts list...Oh and Welcome to the site.

"How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive" by John Muir. Search Amazon for it. Used copies under $20
AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE.

VWs have specific issues, like valves that need to be adjusted manually. This is the MOST overlooked and important maintenance tidbit.
They also require manual brake adjustments.

The book will take you through the entire tune up procedure. Non VW mechanics will not know what to look for, and having an idea of what needs to be done, or doing it, will get the car running well and keep you from being ripped off or disappointed.

One thing that helped me was to get rid Of The points and get an electronic ignition. One less thing to worry about.

Bahabuggin wrote:

One thing that helped me was to get rid Of The points and get an electronic ignition. One less thing to worry about.

Thats what I am saying!!!

You might look up a place called 'Vintage Tech' in Santa Rosa.

I have no idea if they are still around or if they are any good. I just remember stopping there to see if they might have some wire for one of my quads years ago on our way up the coast.

There seemed to be a few air cooled vehicles around the place.

Other than that, Ukiah is like over 2 hours from any flat 4 shop I know of.

And if you are going to make that commitment you might as well bring it to Ray's and have the master himself work it out.

But welcome to the gang!

If there is anything we are all very full of it is SH... um... information. And we like sharing!

Thanks for the warm welcome and info. I found out about a place called Bernards Autobahn close to me today. I hope to go check it out sometime this week. I picked up a copy of Muir's book and am currently reading and re-reading the maintenance sections lol. Also found a few videos on Classic VW bugs site. Very detailed. Dad I wasn't able to find the link for that video series so I will have to make you a set and send it down. Hopefully I will get this thing road trip worthy in time to make one of the upcoming tech days. I have gathered most of the required parts, tools, and instruction to begin tuning the valves and timing so I'll keep ya'll posted!

[quote="Jim Douglas Jr"]"How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive" by John Muir. Search Amazon for it. Used copies under $20
AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE.


great book





Welcome

Just got back in town welcome to the group ....