Type 3 VW - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

tobybul · #1 01-13-2010, 03:27 PM

Anyone happen to have one of these cars?

SwampYankee · #2 01-13-2010, 03:54 PM

I don't but a Squareback has been on my want list for quite some time.

There's a guy up the street from me who dabbles in old VW's much like Tyler does Benzes.

He had a powder blue Squareback with a surf rack for sale a couple years ago. Sadly that was when I decided to become financially responsible.

PaulC · #3 01-13-2010, 04:47 PM

I always liked the VW 411/412, the type 3's successor.

The Clk Man · #4 01-13-2010, 04:50 PM

I use to have a squareback that was converted into a truck. I will try to find a pic to post.

tbomachines · #5 01-13-2010, 04:59 PM

I used to see one driving around my area with a Subaru engine in it...sounded like an EJ22 or 25, heard the turbo spool up and the telltale "fart" subie sound.

Hatterasguy · #6 01-13-2010, 05:27 PM

I don't like VW's and they don't like me.

my83300cd · #7 01-13-2010, 07:49 PM

Parents had semi auto (Mom never learned to drive stick) red fastback when I was a kid. I had the Matchbox car of the same color...

Mark DiSilvestro · #8 01-13-2010, 08:12 PM

If you're really into pain, by all means acquire a Type III Volkswagen!
My family was afflicted with a VW Squareback for 13 unlucky years. Purchased new in 1970, because my Mom wanted one, but had to wait until they were availible with an automatic tranny.

The 'experimental' early Bosch electronic fuel injection was wonderfull - when it worked! Wiring problems and sensor failures were common. Then one afternoon, the high-pressure fuel line blew off it's tee-fitting, dumping a half-tank of gas over the engine, because there were no hose-clamps!
To this day I don't know why it didn't burst into flames.

The dealer-installed AC worked less than two years. The AC hoses were routed through holes hacked in the firewall and protected from jagged sheet-metal only with black AC-tape.

One morning, the engine's left-bank rocker-shaft snapped it's studs and fell off into the valve-cover. An attempt to change the long-overdue sparkplugs (if you ever have to change plugs in one of these 'pancake-motors', you will know why they were long overdue!) resulted in one plug snapping off, requiring engine removal.

And finally, the engine, designed originally to produce 28 horsepower, apparently wasn't up to the 55 horsepower that VW was extracting from Mom's '70 Squareback. By the time my brother inherited the car in 1980, the engine required removal again. The cylinder-studs were pulling loose from the block, allowing combustion leaks to burn holes through the cylinder head!

Now to be fair, amazingly we never had problems with the automatic tranny!

Caveat Emptor & Happy Motoring, Mark

davestlouis · #9 01-13-2010, 08:58 PM

My dad bought one new in 1968 or 69...red, black vinyl interior. Aside from the dealer putting 2, count 'em 2, engines in it due to draining the oil and not refilling it during simple oil changes, it ran a long time, with no issues, and was traded in in 1978 on a new Dodge Omni...now that was a POS. First and only Chrysler product my dad ever bought.

Larry Delor · #10 01-13-2010, 09:01 PM

One of my neighbors in Germany had one. She had that thing for many years, and never complained about it. (she was the type to let everyone know if there was something to complain about)

4x4_Welder · #11 01-14-2010, 01:10 AM

I wouldn't mind finding one of those, but I'd probably ditch the engine cover and just do a clear bulkhead in the same plane as the back seat so I could fit an EZ30 and see it- DOn't know where I'd stick the radiator though.

rs899 · #12 01-14-2010, 06:43 AM

Quote:

was traded in in 1978 on a new Dodge Omni...now that was a POS. First and only Chrysler product my dad ever bought.

...which, ironically, used a VW 1.7 watercooled engine in those days......

Rick

SwampYankee · #13 01-14-2010, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulC

I always liked the VW 411/412, the type 3's successor.

That's interesting marketing!

tonkovich · #14 01-14-2010, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rs899

...which, ironically, used a VW 1.7 watercooled engine in those days......

Rick

wow. did not know that. my father and brother looked at an omni ('78 or '79) - the younger brother (me) thought it looked crappy. then again, most small cars from that time period ... looked crappy! compacts of the time: chevy chevette, ford pinto, omni. how many of these do you see on the road today?

as to squareback/type III - the earliest simplest are the best - unfortunately, still need to adjust the valves every ffifteen hundred miles, at least according to my old vw mechanic. any later vw's are a little sketchy - ridiculous attempts to " modernize" an ancient design, like my 73 super beetle with struts??

BobK · #15 01-14-2010, 08:00 AM

Sister had a later 412. It managed to swallow the #3 exhaust valve (like a lot of them did). I swapped in a 914 motor. Not a big jump in power, but it helped. While later she was having some tranmission troubles so she took it in to a shop. They proceded to pull the automatic and disassemble the transmission (without her permission) and then tell her she needed a mega $ rebuild. She told them to pound salt, she was junking the car and they should put the transmission back in the car before she picked it up. They put it in the back seat. I pulled the engine and put it in my '75 camper bus. Only regret was not grabbibg the gas fired heater off the 412. Rest of the car was pretty much junk. My own opinion: No air cooled VW should ever have anything but a full manual transmission. Friend has a bug with auto stick shift. I think she wants to sell it.