1970 Marathon 1302S Automatic Stickshift in Malta

Started by gejtu22, 03 November 2008, 20:30

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gejtu22

Hi Everyone!

I'm sharing some pics of my car and the restoration it went through during 2003-2005.
I bought the car in early 2003 in a terrible shape. It had been garaged since 2000 and needed lots of investment!

The starting point!




After a few services and repairs, i used it for a year as daily transport.

Then i started gathering mechanical parts and accessories for the restoration....

discs and suspension bushes

1303 Big Wheels at 5.5inch width not to be confused with Gt 4.5s!

rear pop-outs and some seals

Kamei tunnel tray

rear vent trims for 2 slot decklid


Rare aluminium rain guard for 1971 four slots decklid!

More vent trims (4 slot) and auto emblems

yet more emblems

rallye grilles and yellow lamps


new dash cover to replace the old one

Kamei front spoiler

and the restortion started soon afterwards :

dismantling and rust removal:


rear bulged apron in place and stock exhaust fitted

panel beating and major works:
front quarter panel manufactured from a single sheet!


(some of the original colour coming through!)

treated to some undercoat:


Under-backseat area:

Reconstructed:


Once the repairs were done, it was time to some coats of fresh Marathon paint:
Prep time:

More original paint under the dashboard cover!

Laying the paint :


Once dry :
Hauled to my mechanic Chris

on his tow truck

Suspension revamp, Chris at work!



forward a couple of months, treated to some upholstery!


Rare Vw inertia rear seat belts

Final choice of emblem and trim.

Finally on the road again!

Sporting 2inch oversize fiberglass fenders, M3 mirrors, Kamei spoiler and indicators in bumper.

Hope you like it, I Do!! ;)
Gaetano

Bookwus

Hiya Gaetano,

Good to have you back on the forum!

You have been a busy boy!  The car looks great!

How's it running for you?
Mike

1970 AS Bug

gejtu22

Hi Mike!

Thanks for the re-welcome!! :)

The car is running great, and i really enjoy driving it!

I don't know how some people say autosticks are slow, mine can keep up and overtake any standard-engined beetle! Granted it's a 1585cc engine and that probably the car lost quite a few kilos when i changed from metal to fibreglass fenders and lighter bumpers, but it's quick! On the 15inch Big wheels, with 195/65 rubber it reaches 130km easily.

I was toying with the idea of installing a pair of type3 PSDIT32 carbs i used to have on another 1.6 engine but not too sure i really need them and about the advantage of the dual carbs on the AS, when it come to setting the idling etc. Future plans might include lowering the ride around 2.5 inches and maybe using some nice Azev 16/17inch type As!

Over the years i've owned it i managed to set nearly everything right and it shifts smoothly and idles well! However what i'd like to do is change the bearings inside the nosecone, because they make some noise most of the time. When i restored the AS, i was influenced quite a lot by the germanlook movement and painted the interior to the same standards as the exterior and have no carpets or soundproof material under the back seat/over gearbox. Maybe that's why it is a bit noiser too!

I hadn't driven it since last June and only started it again in October, used it once to get to work and once to attend a show. When i went to refuel after that, it shot the the wire from the stickshift to the solonoid. Right now the clutch wasn't operative because the points and wire need replacing! When i earth the wire to the base of the gearlever the solonoid works and i can shift , but otherwise it just grinds! So by next week i'm hoping to have it back on the road and then change those bearings asap!

Can't wait to drive it again!
Gaetano

Bookwus

Hiya Gaetano,

Good luck on those bearings..............keep us posted on how that goes for you.

About the dual carbs on an AutoStick..........that's certainly possible.  However, you would need to "re-engineer" a part of your vacuum system for your control valve.
Mike

1970 AS Bug

gejtu22

Yeay!!! The clutch is working again! ;D
I resoldered the contact to the solonoid wire and tried the gearlever off the car, on a battery with an inline bulb! good to see the bulb go on and off using Vw's fabulous stickshift!!

Then it was just a matter of re-installing the whole thing back on the car, a good 15 minutes crouched under the steering wheel! Worth every second though, as now i can enjoy the car on the road again!! 8)

Gaetano

68autobug



Great work

Beetle is looking Great

You spent a lot of money on Your beetle...

and it shows....

I can see from inside the car that it is the STandard Version Beetle 1302
the Hoodliner only covers the roof....

cheers

LEE

-- Helping keep Autostick beetles on the road --
   -1968 Silver metallic 1600 single port Beetle - with BOSCH  SVDA and new BROSOL H30/31 carburetor with GENIE Extractor exhaust system with a quiet thunderbird muffler

http://photobucket.com/68autobug

gejtu22

Thanks for the comments!

As i said, i was influenced by the germanlook scene during the restoration and opted for the standard headliner, which lets all the work done for reconstructing the rear luggage area be seen.

Lately i installed the  factory rain tray to my 1970/1 decklid and i can say it does its job very well!


I was missing one grommet but managed with an alternative piece of tubing.

The rain water flows through the plastic pipes down to the 5 holes at the bottom of the deckid.

I tested it with half a litre of water and the engine was completely dry!

I noticed it also reduced engine noise! Somewhere i also read it directs the airflow to the fan too!

Whilst pondering on the rain issue i started a minor project....
I still had a few parts running around and decided it was time to bring everything together.

Some of you might remember the old Salzburg-Porsche rally beetles, which were very successful in 1970-72. These were also sprayed in Marathon colour, like the Worldchampion/Weltmeister series but had matt black bonnets and decklids with the austrian racing stripes!


For the Salzburg-Porsche rally cars to compete in Group2, the Vw-general importer in Austria offered a special kit for the 1302s, named the VwGt, including matt black bonnet and decklid and twin 32Pdsit carbs!  Having a spare 4-vent decklid and front bonnet at hand and since my autostick is sprayed in the correct colour i decided to finish the spares in VwGt Rallye Look scheme!



Staring off with matt black primer, i went on the finish the first white stripe:


followed by the red stripes :


Once the stripes were ready :


I masked them and sprayed the whole thing in matt black top-coat :


Once i peel off all the remaining masking :


I also had a post 1974 plastic ribbed license plate light housing and finished it to match :


Now i just had to fit everything together :


Light housing and 1302S script in place:


Original Kleft chrome trim for the 4-vent in place!


Fitting the aluminium rainguard! Bracket in place!


Underside of the rainguard showing rubber spaces:


Rainguard and rare black plastic decklid catch in place:


Finished :


Acbracadabra, they're still there!


Now that the decklid is ready, the bonnet will have the same treatment!
I already have the correct stickers for the Rallye-Look :


Now for the carbs:
I used to run these 32PDSIT-2 carbs on my 58 before switching to Dellorto 36s :

They were sourced from a Type 3 Variant. They haven't been used for 2 years now. I have got stainless steel braided fuel lines and K&N filters for them.


The manifolds have pick-ups for the balance pipe!

I think that if i use a t-piece connector i can connect the system to the autostick solonoid valve! There's a pick up for the automatic advance too, which i used to block because i was using a 009 dizzy.



It would be an interesting setup! However i still need a pick-up for the counter vacuum!! Will look into a linkage for it, because if i remember well the stock type 3 one used to hit the bottom of the dynamo. Was thinking of a Scat one? But i've seen Type2 crossbar linkages which have small brackets on the carbs! Any ideas?

Gaetano

gejtu22

Finally an update!

The AS barely covered 200miles in the last 12 months but now it's  back on the roads, having gone through a g-box restoration, maily due to mainshaft bearing hum!

Here are a few pics!


Upon opening the g-box, we discovered the oil looked like metallic paint, full of flakes from the deteriorating mainshaft bearing....



The clutch disc was past its better days...



The throw out bearing was restored using new ball bearings...


Some new goodies from evwparts ( i strongly recommend these people, they are very helpful)
including new clutch disc, torque convertor seal, mainshaft bearing all the bushes and gaskets.



Clean and started to reassemble...



bellhousing's ready too, used original mountings, still immaculate




Pics of the final drive

new seal on the throwout shaft


new seal on hockey stick


new torque convertor seal in place


cleaned heat sensors


Filled with Valvoline GL4 75/80 and ready to go!


Now it drives perfectly and very smoothly, My only problem is the reverse lights are coming on only in Drive 1. Hopefully this will get sorted soon!

Gaetano

Bookwus

Hiya Gaetano,

I see that you restored your throwout bearing using new ball bearings.  Can you tell us more about that?  What ball bearings did you use?  How did you go about it?

Throwout bearings (new) are very hard to find and we should all be paying more attention to making these parts last as long as possible.  So any tips, tricks, or hints you may have to help the rest of us restore our throwout bearings would be appreciated.

By the way, I really enjoyed going through the pictures of your rebuild.  Well done!
Mike

1970 AS Bug

volkenstein

'71 RHD A-S Super - "Klaus"

gejtu22

Latest additions before leaving Malta:
Formula Vee bonnet scoop and personalised plates!



Bookwus

Hiya Gaetano,

Leaving Malta?

What's up with that?  Why?  Where are you going?
Mike

1970 AS Bug

gejtu22

It's been some time i posted on this website, so here's a little update...

Last weekend some friends from Das Malteze Kruizers and I took some VWs for a 700km drive to Sicily.
The gang was made up of 3 bay window campers, a 57, a 60, a 68, a 70, a Renegade Beachbuggy and my 70 Autostick. Here's a pic of the AS on the Autostrada:

We were 3 adults, a trolley jack, a load of spares and oils, and luggage! We still reached a top speed of 110km/h!

Lately i have bought some nice rims for the AS, BBS E50s, can't wait to run them!



Future plans include a Porsche 911 cooling system, Type 3 PDSIT carbs and rear discs...

Hope you are all enjoying your Autosticks!

Gaetano