On 73's did they use the 72 suspension up front? Or was 73 a one-year only? I thought the 73 and 74 Supers were completely different than the 71 and 72 but shared most things the same. Did they not introduce the energy absorbing bumper brackets until 1974?
I don't have the serial/vin handy. Maybe since I've owned Li'l Red for so long, I figured that 73 and 74 Supers were the same. Maybe the only thing that is odd is my lack of knowledge. I've seen plenty of 73-on Supers but this one struck me as odd. Something about it is just different underneath. It's an extremely early 73 Super and the fact alone that it's a May of 73 Super with a curved windshield is weird enough all of it's own. It shouldn't have been curved until July of 73. I found the stock bolts were rusty and one did snap off (front driver's side.) I was super careful with the rest of them and did replace them with longer bolts (had no choice of grade) because the stock bolts were way too short to hold the tow-bar bracket on. I never went over 45mph with the bug and made sure all braking was done in a straight line. Gravel towing is the scariest because when towing with a FWD car, the rear is so light, the weight of a beetle can make you break traction really easy and cause a jack-knife no problem. You can tow about anything with anything, but you gotta keep the speed down and think way ahead. I've pulled my brother's 1969 Chevy Impala with my 74 Super and it's still on the clutch I put in it back in 1997 before I drove to Jeremy Vreeman's in Chicago. I've driven all over the U.S. with that bug and the clutch isn't going to get changed anytime soon. It's all in how you drive it. I'll make sure I pass on your words to my wife Bill. We own quite a few VWs now on our acreage. We have a 1960 panel, 1960 Kombi, 1960 beetle 61 beetle, 63 beetle, 62 crew cab, 74 super parts beetle, another 1960 beetle, 1973 super parts beetle, a rear 1/2 of a vw crew cab and other body panels, 1972 baja bug, and a Spatz dune buggy. On another farm, I've got a 1969, 1972, and 1973 bus and I gotta get them moved over here sometime. After I get another shed built for parts storage and the like, I'm going to make a nice corral with rock and railroad ties and move them all in a line. The intent is to sell parts off of them to those who need them. It's "merchandise." If I ever get to where I can't work or lose my job, I've got a great side-line business ready to go. I just want them lined up nice beacuse as they sit, they're scattered about in the weeds and I want them looking lined up nice and accessible. Enid loves VWs and is looking forward to helping me restore a 1963 for her to drive. She really wants to use it for her daily driver during the warmer months and so I'll be glad to oblige. She doesn't fight me on any VW purchase and knows that it's mechandise. I want to be that old guy with the VWs who has a stock pile of old parts. Heck, I'll be 41 in August and that makes a lot of my VWs closer to half a century old already. I'm almost there! <GULP> NQ _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
