1978 VW Volkswagen Super Beetle Convertible

Description

For sale is my 1978 VW Super Beetle convertible. I bought it in 2013, I want to sell it to make room in the garage for my latest project. The car runs and drives well, transmission upshifts and downshifts smoothly. The only things I have done to the engine since I'veowned it are replaced the two pulleys and the ignition coil, a new starter and battery, oil changes and tune up. The engine is a stock 1600cc dual port with the stock fuel injection on it. The odometer says 58,348, I don't know if it has turned over 100,000 miles or not. All lights, turn signals, wipers, horn, speedometer, fuel gaugework. The radio and windshield washer do not work. The fresh air knobs below the radio do not seem to work. The heat works well, best I've had in an air cooled VW. The interior is complete and presentable. The carpet behind the rear seat is pretty worn out, but the rest of the carpet looks decent. There is a small crack starting in the center top of the dash. Vent windows feel a little loose when open, fine when closed. Always garaged since I've owned it.It is a recent repaint of an older restoration.
Other things done since I bought it:
New professional two stage base and clear coat paint. Cobalt Blue picked from a Porschebook. It looks great! Only the exterior painted, interior surfaces are original blue. The car has had some previous body work in the usual place behind the doors near the bottom.
New Robbins top professionally installed, original padding in good shape, frame works well, new seal on top of windshield, headliner looks to have been made by an upholsterer sometime in the past, nice job looks good.
New windshield and seal.
New rear window (without defrost wires) and window seal and frame installed with top.
New front disc brake conversion installed with new front wheel bearings, all new brake hoses, some but not all metal lines replaced, new wheel cylinders and shoes in the rear, new master cylinder and fluid reservoir. The car stops very well.
New 914 replica wheels, new tires.
New aftermarket wood steering wheel.
New sun visors.
New Hurst copy Empi shifter, works nice.
Stiffener bar between the strut towers.
New triple chrome "show" bumpers with impact strips, mostly for looks only. Originals were no good.
New rubber base floor mat frontand back.
Many new rubber parts, under turn signals, door handles and the like, new side window scrapers.
Included with the car but not installed:
Set of four original wheels and tires. The tire in the trunk is one of these.
Claimed new old stock clock I bought to replace the non working one in the dash. These are hard to find. This was a feature of the Champagne Edition cars, which this probably is but no documentation to prove it.
New plastic covers for the top frame to replace the broken ones by the back of the rear seat.
New interior door panels and clips to install them.
New driversside floor pan. Some one has repaired under the driver's seat with flat steel sheet sometime in the past, seems solid but doesn't look original (see pictures). I was going to cut out pieces from the new panel as needed to replace but never got to it. Tiny bit of flaking forward of this area in the foot wellindicating a thin spot. Might be a thin spot right in the center under the battery too. I put seam sealer around the welded edges to clean it up some and fill some gaps and undercoatedit. Leave it as is, I'm sure it's not going anywhere, or use the new pan. Also the rear part of the lower frame head looks to have been replacedwith a factory part, looks good (see pictures). The passenger side floor looks good.
New fiberglass panels for speakers in the foot well.
New in boxes set of injectors and seals. It doesn't need them, the car runs great, I thought I'd replace them some time anyway. Save them untilyou need them.
New in boxes pair of lower steering ball joints. The steering feels tight, but the boots are torn and the car has a slight shimmy in the steering wheel at about 60 mph. Also included are a second used set of lower control arms, my plan was to have the joints pressed into the spare control arms, get the bushing set and swap them in all in one go.
Extra Karmann badge! Some people put one on the other side.
There is a reserve, but it's not too high, probably lower than you think. I just don't want to lose my shirt on it. Buyer is ultimately responsible for pickup, I'm flexible I'll help where I can. Let me know if you want to look at it ahead of time. Car is sold as is, I can't guarantee anything, after all it's almost forty years old, but having said that I expect you could probably drive it home any distance you want if needed. It's a good driver, about sixty five on the highwayfeels good, it'll go faster but it feels like it's pushing it. Five hundred due at auction end via paypal, balance cash on pickup. Clear Illinois title. Ask many questions. Good luck!