How many?

phxjohn · 08 December 2016, 01:12

Hi everyone,

All that I know is that the supply of autosticks for sale is dropping quickly. I wish that the conversion of autosticks to 4 speeds would stop. But that will not happen. Maybe I am overreacting. Anyone care to comment ?

Thank you,
John

Dave · 08 December 2016, 19:37

I would agree but the conversions are probably done a lot of the time where if the car body is in such good condition a buyer just goes for that knowing that they have no intention of leaving it auto. Someone should start a YouTube channel about autosticks and the most common issues & fixes.

phxjohn · 08 December 2016, 23:21

Hi Dave,

That is a good idea. When I see a picture of an engine compartment and the vacuum lines are hooked up incorrectly, I send an email to the seller. They rarely respond. My opinion is that clutch slamming is damaging. When I got my 1973 Super Beetle autostick, the vacuum lines were hooked up incorrectly and the clutch slammed violently. I corrected that but I think the damage was done. The torque converter was damaged and that led to it destroying 3 flexplates before the cause was determined. At that point, I got rid of it.

68autobug · 08 July 2017, 11:38

I knew that was happening in Australia back in the late 90s but I don't know if it was a common practice later on.
The main reason it was done in Australia, was to get the Independant Rear Suspension rear end that all autosticks had.
We didn't have IRS manual cars apart from the supers plus a few 1976 manual cars with IRS rear end . So to have a torsion bar front end and IRS rear end with constant velocity joints etc an autostick was used, otherwise they would have to use a SUPER beetle to get the IRS as the manuals still had the old Swing axles. All autosticks imported into AUSTRALIA had front disc brakes... I don't think any autosticks were sold in Australia with the 1300cc engine. they were 1500 single port or 1600 twin port engines. Then again, No one knows haw many autosticks were sold in Australia, but it was nothing like the USA. Also a lot of autostick Karmann Ghias were sold in the USA, but none in Australia as far as i know. Very few Karmann ghias were sold in Australia as they were nearly DOUBLE the price of a Beetle and only a few were sold around 1960....

Lee in Australia

68autobug · 08 July 2017, 11:53

Quote from: phxjohn on 08 December 2016, 23:21
Hi Dave,

That is a good idea. When I see a picture of an engine compartment and the vacuum lines are hooked up incorrectly, I send an email to the seller. They rarely respond. My opinion is that clutch slamming is damaging. When I got my 1973 Super Beetle autostick, the vacuum lines were hooked up incorrectly and the clutch slammed violently. I corrected that but I think the damage was done. The torque converter was damaged and that led to it destroying 3 flexplates before the cause was determined. At that point, I got rid of it.

Hi Dave,
My car used to slamm into gear for about 6 months or more, until I found the problem as I wasn't using a Solex carburetor... I cannot see how you can damage the torque converter with the slamming... as the clutch is either In or OUT so there is NO slippage at all... I did however damage My torque converter after I took the engine out and whilst it was out I must have turned the crankshaft or moved the axles etc as when I went to bolt the torque converter onto the flexplate the SPLINES were NOT Aligned, so I damaged the inside of the TC and it made a racket when I started the engine... so, I had taken the engine out a few times without ever moving the rear axles or crankshaft... so, it was a learning curve when that happened... but if the bolts were done up with out the splines aligned and then adjusted correctly, the damage had been done, so re-aligning the splines would NOT repair the damage.... When I asked a local Mechanic about the noise when I started the engine, He knew right away about the splines being mis-aligned... so it may have been a common occurance in auto cars many years ago... I don't believe that the slamming has any effect on the torque converter... but that is just Me... lol

LEE in Australia

itskyle · 08 July 2017, 21:08

A bit late, again, to the party but I can confirm the u.s. convertibles did have autostick as an available option. My dad got my mom one for their anniversary. That car is long gone now, unfortunately.

68autobug · 02 August 2017, 11:17

Quote from: phxjohn on 08 December 2016, 23:21
Hi Dave,

That is a good idea. When I see a picture of an engine compartment and the vacuum lines are hooked up incorrectly, I send an email to the seller. They rarely respond. My opinion is that clutch slamming is damaging. When I got my 1973 Super Beetle autostick, the vacuum lines were hooked up incorrectly and the clutch slammed violently. I corrected that but I think the damage was done. The torque converter was damaged and that led to it destroying 3 flexplates before the cause was determined. At that point, I got rid of it.

Quote from: Dave on 08 December 2016, 19:37
I would agree but the conversions are probably done a lot of the time where if the car body is in such good condition a buyer just goes for that knowing that they have no intention of leaving it auto. Someone should start a YouTube channel about autosticks and the most common issues & fixes.

How was the torque converter damaged?
maybe it was damaged by the previous owner - NOT by driving it?

only guessing.... I damaged My torque converter by tightening the 4 bolts to the flexplate with the splines NOT MESHING...... I thought it was odd, as the 4 bolts were much more difficult to do up.... When I started the engine, there was a strange noise as the torque converter was way out of balance... If I had found out about the splines not meshing earlier on the torque converter could have been slightly damaged inside but not making the noise...
Maybe that did happen... some times...?? Did the flex plates crack or break??
After jogging My memory about the 610 thousand autosticks being made, that was probably the total made... although I believe Most went to the USA and were mainly LHD.
Where many thousands were sold in the USA only a hundred or so [or much LESS] to Australia and New Zealand. I have bought autostick parts from about 4 people whose beetles were destroyed and no longer on the road. I know of a few more that were made into manuals and used to obtain the IRS rear suspension that wasn't available in Australia with a torsion bar front end. [until 1976 when autosticks were no longer sold here after 1974].

I don't like to think of all the autostick gearboxes and other good parts that have been trashed over the years, many probably not having anything major wrong with them, or had a rusted out body.... We don't have the problem of salt and other chemicals being used on the ICY ROADS in Winter here in Australia. It it gets too Icy over here they just close the roads... lol [mostly in the snow fields although there is a local road only open to Four Wheel Drive Vehicles [with chains]
Apart from the vacuum and Automatic transmission hoses being replaced every 20 years or so, most autostick only parts lasted longer than 'normal' beetles...

LEE in Australia