This weeks Classic Irish bargains that I'm not buying

Duke O Smiley

kadman wrote: »

Beetle has had no work done really. It has no timing belt.

I think thats a bit unfair to say.

I doubt very much that the ad is in any way intentionally disingenuous.

Seweryn

kadman wrote: »

Beetle has had no work done really. It has no timing belt.

People can't write a sentence in their (sort of) own language. Well, the majority can't. And this is why you read description like this one:

"New timing and fan belts"

Then you read it again and again... It possibly means:

"Newly adjusted ignition timing and a new fan belt".

Also, the seller calls the car "Volkswagon". Whatever that is...

kadman

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

I think thats a bit unfair to say.

I doubt very much that the ad is in any way intentionally disingenuous.

Fair point.

Of course I am looking at it from a VW experienced point of view,

New battery (2019)
New spark plugs & fuel system (2017)
New timing and fan belts (2016)
New tires (2015)
New dynamo (2016)

All of which takes about the length of a decent service in my opinion, but granted I am VW experienced.

oceanman

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

https://www.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/volkswagon-beetle/23936263



This looks like it could be a bit of a bargain. Same owner for the last 20 years, nice bit of recent work done, €3500

it looks a good example alright, but vw,s tend to rust from the inside out so care would need to be taken.

kadman

oceanman wrote: »

it looks a good example alright, but vw,s tend to rust from the inside out so care would need to be taken.

True and plenty of supply of reasonably priced panels, and replacement parts.

Seweryn

kadman wrote: »

All of which takes about the length of a decent service in my opinion, but granted I am VW experienced.

I can't see anything about the brake fluid change, gear oil and of course the engine oil change. They are all critical for maintaining the VW properly.

The brake fluid should be changed every 1 - 2 years, gear oil 2 - 3 years, engine oil once or twice per year or every 2 to 3k km as minimum.

But then it says it has been serviced regularly. A quick look at the dipstick will tell a lot.

jmreire

kadman wrote: »

I was all ready to view a potential merc purchase this morning. Tools lamps,
mats jacks overalls, locked and loaded good to go, with one last online check to do for 10 euro.

To do check list all sorted (thanks W124man)

Online check resulted in an insurance write off, on 2 occasions over the last 10 years,
last one being extensive accident damage.

Category C and D write off.

Not what I am looking for. I dont want to buy a potential headache

Well spent 10 euro.

Anyone currently looking at potential merc purchases in the classics, and this might be the one
pm me for the report.

Would this one were going to have a look at, bear any relation to a certain gold coloured, red upholstered one being discussed here? With two different shades of gold paint on the side???

kadman

jmreire wrote: »

Would this one were going to have a look at, bear any relation to a certain gold coloured, red upholstered one being discussed here? With two different shades of gold paint on the side???

There were 2 or 3 I was considering this week, and was lucky enough to get the Uk mot history on them all, as well as some other history details.
This being one of the ones I considered.

But after consideration of all the info I uncovered, I am still not a member of the MB fraternity........yet;)

kadman

Seweryn wrote: »

I can't see anything about the brake fluid change, gear oil and of course the engine oil change. They are all critical for maintaining the VW properly.

The brake fluid should be changed every 1 - 2 years, gear oil 2 - 3 years, engine oil once or twice per year or every 2 to 3k km as minimum.

But then it says it has been serviced regularly. A quick look at the dipstick will tell a lot.

I think its fair to say classic beetles will go for a considerable length of time without any servicing at all. Thats why the farmers loved them back in the day.

And then finally rustworm sets in, then you have all the makings of a full on resto on these cars.

Brake fluid change on a beetle is unheard of in the general scheme of things. Its hard to find a properly serviced beetle out there.

And of course they rust in all the usual places, unfortunately the serious issues remain hidden from view in the eyes of a newbie classic vw owner. He only really gets the shock when he brings his purchase home, and starts the vacuuming under the back seat:eek::eek:

jmreire

oceanman wrote: »

it looks a good example alright, but vw,s tend to rust from the inside out so care would need to be taken.

The same care would need to be taken with every car...they all have tendency to rust from the inside out...The difference between VW Beetles and the more normal chassis platform cars is that the VW chassis is a steel beam running between to heavy "Y" shaped frames, and it is all a single unit construction, surrounded by a box frame running around the " perimeter" and linking up at the "Y" frames which carry the front axle and engine and gearbox at the rear. I have never seen one of the centre beams rusting to the extent that it had to be replaced....the surrounding box frames, yes, they can and do rust and need replacing, as shown in kadmans pic's. The section of floor under the back seat where the battery is, would be a common site for bad rust issues, due to acid / distilled water /vapours etc leaking out of the battery. Over time of course, the car will rust every where ......same as any other make.
In contrast, with any of the "standard" platforms...twin chassis rail's, these can and do rust, much quicker than the VW set up.
In general, the Beetles or any of the earlier VW'S, with the air cooled engines, were designed to run in the Arctic or the Sahara, with minimal servicing. And they did. The amount of abuse they could take, and still drive was astonishing. Missing a service ( or even two or three ) was not necessarily a death sentence for them. The Red Beetle shown above, I'd consider that a fine example, and even the 98'000 Miles would not put me off, if I was in the market for one, and I'd be more than happy to take a chance on the servicing history.

Seweryn

kadman wrote: »

I think its fair to say classic beetles will go for a considerable length of time without any servicing at all. Thats why the farmers loved them back in the day.

Sure, they will. Any one I have seen was very neglected mechanically. And it takes so so little to take care of them properly.
My last one that I bought in 2016 was polished to the primer in places by the last owner, but the gear oil was unchanged for about 20 years. Some people have their priorities in their own order.

kadman wrote: »

Brake fluid change on a beetle is unheard of in the general scheme of things. Its hard to find a properly serviced beetle out there.

I know . Surely, why would you change any fluid in your classic car? A bottle of brake fluid can be as much as 8 Euro...

Seweryn

jmreire wrote: »

The Red Beetle shown above, I'd consider that a fine example, and even the 98'000 Miles would not put me off, if I was in the market for one, and I'd be more than happy to take a chance on the servicing history.

True, this a rather good example.

I would never bother looking at the mileage on the VW. It can be 98, but may as well be 298k miles, who knows? And it makes little to no difference. You buy one of them on current condition. The mechanical bits are very easy to sort out anyway.
If I was buying one I would like it to be in its factory colour and with no modifications or very little.

Seweryn

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I'd did the best part of two laps of Mondello with little or no oil in a Beetle powered race car. Solid little motors in those VW's.

Yeah... They are really tough motors.

I could probably write a book about driving one, or two, or three, or... . The VW was my only car between mid 1990s and late 2000s. Used in the middle of hot summers, in the snowy winters, driving across Europe or through a... field or forest in the earlier days. Some memories we have.
Now She is only my second car, but still being driven weekly.

jmreire

Seweryn wrote: »

True, this a rather good example.

I would never bother looking at the mileage on the VW. It can be 98, but may as well be 298k miles, who knows? And it makes little to no difference. You buy one of them on current condition. The mechanical bits are very easy to sort out anyway.
If I was buying one I would like it to be in its factory colour and with no modifications or very little.

Agreed 100% +. In the VW Dealership that I worked in, the storeman covered 45 miles per day, weekend mileage excluded. Engine oil changed every 3'000 miles, mesh filter cleaned, and two new gaskets fitted. That car covered 300'000 miles...and he was not the only one, another long term customer who was a commercial traveller, also broke the 300'000 Mile barrier, and fitted a new engine at that point. In terms of servicing, they were simplicity itself...getting grease into the front axle beam via a blocked grease nipple being an occupational hazard, as was clearing the brake dust out of the hubs using compressed air:rolleyes:....no mask or other protection...."ASBESTO'S" was not at that time recognised as a health hazard.....:(

Seweryn

jmreire wrote: »

Agreed 100% +. In the VW Dealership that I worked in, the storeman covered 45 miles per day, weekend mileage excluded. Engine oil changed every 3'000 miles, mesh filter cleaned, and two new gaskets fitted. That car covered 300'000 miles...and he was not the only one, another long term customer who was a commercial traveller, also broke the 300'000 Mile barrier, and fitted a new engine at that point. In terms of servicing, they were simplicity itself...getting grease into the front axle beam via a blocked grease nipple being an occupational hazard, as was clearing the brake dust out of the hubs using compressed air:rolleyes:....no mask or other protection...."ASBESTO'S" was not at that time recognised as a health hazard.....:(

The other thing is, the odometer in them only displays 5-digit, so without history you never know how many times it was reset .

Servicing is dead simple and very cheap. A 5 litre oil container does two services. Check the valve clearance every other service, timing, fan belt tension and it runs for ever. Well, at least until the body rusts away .

jmreire

Yes, the odometer was a bit confusing...... 4 pints of engine oil, and 4 thou, valve clearance.. add/ remove shim's on Dynamo pully to tighten fan belt, also turn pully left or right when crankshaft / engine housing marks were aligned, and with the distributor cap off, see where it sparked relative to the marks. But biggest horror servicing wise, was a plug that stripped the threads in the cylinder head on the way out.......:cool:

Seweryn

jmreire wrote: »

4 pints of engine oil, and 4 thou, valve clearance...and biggest horror servicing wise, was a plug that stripped the threads in the cylinder head on the way out.......:cool:

Yeah, been there as well . Threads are soft (alloy heads). Got the engine out on Friday night, the head off and re-done on Saturday morning and off she goes again after a few hours.
I had some difficulties removing the spark plugs from my current VW just after buying it. Obviously, they have been sitting there for decades. Applying copper grease to the spark plug threads just to make sure they can be taken off again is a good idea.

jmreire

Seweryn wrote: »

Yeah, been there as well . Threads are soft (alloy heads). Got the engine out on Friday night, the head off and re-done on Saturday morning and off she goes again after a few hours.
I had some difficulties removing the spark plugs from my current VW just after buying it. Obviously, they have been sitting there for decades. Applying copper grease to the spark plug threads just to make sure they can be taken off again is a good idea.

Yes, the copper grease was standard practice when servicing them..and you learned that very quickly......especially with customers who only had a service done when they had a problem, and HAD to bring it to the workshop ( or had it collected ) :rolleyes:

w124man

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I'd did the best part of two laps of Mondello with little or no oil in a Beetle powered race car. Solid little motors in those VW's.

I used to race FVW ......

kadman

Them old beetle engines, rough as fek.
:D

elperello

https://www.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/audi-gt-coupe/23943064

Lovely looking Audi.
A keeper for someone.

kadman

How would i check a northern ireland regged vehicle mot history.

According to this,

www.check-mot.service.gov.uk

Its not been tested in 14 years, but looks immaculate


Sorted.

kaizersoze

elperello wrote: »

https://www.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/audi-gt-coupe/23943064

Lovely looking Audi.
A keeper for someone.

***DROOL***

macplaxton

kadman wrote: »

How would i check a northern ireland regged vehicle mot history.

You can't online.

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/mot-scheme#toc-1

I guess you'd have to see the seller's MOT paperwork.

Seweryn

kadman wrote: »

Them old beetle engines, rough as fek.
:D

They are rough for a few reasons, but the engine is surprisingly well balanced as long as it is in good condition and correctly set up. Nice test, will try on my VW one day .

A piece of string should always be in the boot. Saved me a few times when the battery died in the middle of the night while listened to the radio with my girlfriend. But I find it easier to wrap around the crank pulley with a piece of straw string.

BTW, the plastic fuel filter should never be installed in the engine bay.

w124man

elperello wrote: »

https://www.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/audi-gt-coupe/23943064

Lovely looking Audi.
A keeper for someone.

Another car spoilt with the wrong plate! Whats wrong with an '87 plate?

kadman

Seweryn wrote: »

They are rough for a few reasons, but the engine is surprisingly well balanced as long as it is in good condition and correctly set up. Nice test, will try on my VW one day .

A piece of string should always be in the boot. Saved me a few times when the battery died in the middle of the night while listened to the radio with my girlfriend. But I find it easier to wrap around the crank pulley with a piece of straw string.

BTW, the plastic fuel filter should never be installed in the engine bay.

I was joking, I like the beetle engine:)

That one in the vid had polished and ported heads as well as balanced pistons, thats why it was running so well.Used to get 40 + on a run with it.2 euro was put on the fuel pump while running for a laugh.

kadman

Audi reminds me of these vdubs


url]https://www.donedeal.ie/adview/view/22969248[/url]

Seweryn

kadman wrote: »

I was joking, I like the beetle engine:)

That one in the vid had polished and ported heads as well as balanced pistons, thats why it was running so well.Used to get 40 + on a run with it.2 euro was put on the fuel pump while running for a laugh.

Nice one. My fuel pump isn't flat at the top, so that trick wouldn't work unfortunately...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM4CRBmYKBs

elperello

w124man wrote: »

Another car spoilt with the wrong plate! Whats wrong with an '87 plate?

Spoilt ?
It's drop dead gorgeous.
All about the car in my book.