well, I must first admit that my first vehicle was a 1974 super beetle, and after all these years, I decided to once again live the air cooled life =P
I found this one from a guy on soddy mountain for $1,000, and from what I can gather this 1974 bus has always lived its life in Chattanooga. It still has a sticker on the back from Don Wood VW of Chattanooga, as well as various City of Chattanooga Stickers on the from windshield from the early to late 80's. The bus has a virtually rust-free pan and only surface rust around the windows with maybe a few pinhole spots here and there. The only bad area on the vehicle is where the battery tray rusted out, but I have another tray on order already, as well as a new exhaust.

Right now, other than the exhaust issues, I am addressing the rear bearings, cv joints, and brakes (currently 10% brakes due to leaking master cylinder)  I do apoligise to anyone who saw/heard me on my trip down Hixson Pike to budget brakes Saturday as I know it was rather loud on the road lol!

Anyways, enough with the rambling! Here are the pics!



Here she is, on the day I bought her:







Here I'm teaching my son about air cooled engines... NEVER TOO YOUNG TO LEARN!




and a couple of the city of Chattanooa stickers on the front windshield:



Dealer sticker from the back of the vehicle:
 


and also here are some pics from the beginning of the restoration up to where I am now...
 


and a couple of the passenger side...notice the side step!




and finally a couple of the interior floorpan!





FYI: I am looking for a nce set of divers and pass. side belt line body panels (that go under the rear side windows)if anyone has a decent set.. I also NEED a rear seat as well as a middle seat if anyone has a set to sell... Let me know!

LOL I just picked up a seal today from Mainly Foreign... I'll be installing it tonight...  :lol:

oops, I installed it slick side up... oh well... for as much work as it was it will have to do for now..  hope that doesnt hurt anything but its a little rough getting that thing put on in the back area around all the wires  :lol:
I did ask Raymond at foreign car parts before leaving which side up and he said it didnt matter... lol  

this model was not fuel injected... that was not offered on buses until dec 1974 from what I have read, and mine rolled off the assembly line in dec. 1973. someone has replaced the original carb setup for 1 dual progressive carb...  

It runs pretty good for now other than an idle that seems a little high... and the LOUD exhaust due to all the holes in the current header + single quiet muffler setup (read: holes in header and the muffler is missing the whole exit side)I will try to adjust the idle some after my new exhaust comes in later his week.

Does anyone with a bus know where the hose goes that splits off to the metal tubes that run up the sides of the bus to the vents along the top sides?

lol funny thing you posted that as I was outside flipping the seal over... I will remember shiny side down from now on  :lol:

Well, after getting everything fixed this saturday, I'd be up for a cruise or two.... even with the side windows out  

my new exhaust will hopefully be in and on thursday... does anyone know the bolt/ nut sizes that hold the exhaust header to the heat exchangers? I'm planning on saw-zawwin' the old rusted up ones off....  :twisted:


Did these bus's come with an oil filter?? I'm not used to seeing one on an air cooled vw but I noticed what looks like a black ol filter next to my oil pan underneath... I will try to take a pic and post it...

Yep, you have an oil filter. Best ones are the German Mann/Mahle filters, which you can get from Bus Depot: http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=021115351A

I've actually got three on order now, if you need one let me know.

Does anyone with a bus know where the hose goes that splits off to the metal tubes that run up the sides of the bus to the vents along the top sides?

Got a picture? I'm having a hard time visualizing. Unless you're talking about the hoses that connect to the blower at the top of the engine compartment? I noticed at least one of those is missing on yours.

Like this?

Oh, those sound like the vent lines for the fuel tank. Do you smell gas?

This is a diagram for a fuel injected system, but as far as I know it's similar.

They should somehow connect to a charcoal canister. I think I see it mounted to the firewall in one of your photos above.