Can shimmy be fixed?

lovebus (jack) · September 05, 2011, 07:21:36 AM

Oh ya, anything can be fixed on them.

Beetleboi -Greg- · September 05, 2011, 08:49:28 AM

My bus won 2nd place in a people's choice show. 1st place was a lambo? 3rd place was a Jaguar. Oh, and don't worry to much about the shimmy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=5Ke5wcne20Q

kvbug (karen) · September 05, 2011, 10:04:30 AM

Wow Greg, you were in good company! Congrats on that win clap2-*

Video was great...although of course I was expecting it to be about the Beetle shimmy... lol (what was I thinking?! }dunn-- )

Mrs Baha (Tracy) · September 07, 2011, 08:02:19 PM

well... did you get it? }dunn--

lovebus (jack) · September 07, 2011, 08:25:07 PM

Did ya, did ya?????????????

kvbug (karen) · September 07, 2011, 08:53:38 PM

Just got home from the appt with Dr George... and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. Structurally and body-wise it's great... BUT it has a whole list of mechanical issues. ( oh where to begin..)

Ok here goes: (remember, Im not mechanically inclined..)
Vacuum advance not hooked up
No pre heat system
#2 &4 cylinders have a "light response"
Has a small carb which is out of adjustment

Shimmy is REALLY bad per George:
Track arm bushings bad
Steering dampers bad
Maybe balance front tires to fix? (or new tires & wheels)

Needs serious brake work
Master cylinder leaking all over the place
Right sides have heavy drag

Those are the big things..there are some smaller ones like horn doesn't work, Convertible rail has small rust spot covered over, small top seals missing, head liner has very small tear, front seats not original, hood release screws missing/ bracket loose, and the caps for the holes for the top are missing. The other thing is the paint.

Cosmetic things I can live with... mechanical and brakes,not so much. They would need to be addressed immediately.

Sooooooooo... what do I do? I don't really feel like spending thousands in mechanical repairs when the guy has such a high reserve.

KV not a happy camper bawlin)0 Any words of wisdom?

Dasfusca · September 07, 2011, 09:16:16 PM

Is this the yellow car on ebay? I don't understand :confused04:; is KV bidding on that car or is it another?

kvbug (karen) · September 07, 2011, 09:20:12 PM

Hi Das.. it's this car that I put a bid on and went to see in person since it's a couple of miles from me.Auction ends tomorrow.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180718741352

Dasfusca · September 07, 2011, 09:22:57 PM

Okay. What was the buy it now.....or did you have to wait for it to end?

kvbug (karen) · September 07, 2011, 09:24:50 PM

There's no buy it now, he has a reserve of 7K, and the auction is still running.

Dasfusca · September 07, 2011, 09:31:53 PM

My advice is to let it run out see where it goes. There is some interest in the car, it may hit the reserve. if not you can deal with the seller. What did George think it was worth? most of that stuff sounds like bolt on repairs. Rust is the true monster as you know. if you don't love it keep looking. with a 7k budget there are plenty of cars out there.

matt · September 07, 2011, 10:10:05 PM

Just got home from the appt with Dr George... and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. Structurally and body-wise it's great... BUT it has a whole list of mechanical issues. ( oh where to begin..)

Ok here goes: (remember, Im not mechanically inclined..)
Vacuum advance not hooked up -

no biggie

No pre heat system
not sure what that means, no preheater tube for manifold or is this part of the heating system?

#2 &4 cylinders have a "light response"
Not sure what that means, but engine does have 100k on it, does it have sufficient power? Does it blow blue smoke?

Has a small carb which is out of adjustment
No biggie

Shimmy is REALLY bad per George:
Track arm bushings bad
Steering dampers bad
Maybe balance front tires to fix? (or new tires & wheels)

I dont know what people charge for that, can be done by home mechanics, least I did mine.

Needs serious brake work
Master cylinder leaking all over the place
Same as above
Right sides have heavy drag

Those are the big things..there are some smaller ones like horn doesn't work, Convertible rail has small rust spot covered over, small top seals missing, head liner has very small tear, front seats not original, hood release screws missing/ bracket loose, and the caps for the holes for the top are missing. The other thing is the paint.

Cosmetic things I can live with... mechanical and brakes,not so much. They would need to be addressed immediately.

Sooooooooo... what do I do? I don't really feel like spending thousands in mechanical repairs when the guy has such a high reserve.

KV not a happy camper bawlin)0 Any words of wisdom?

Was the seller made aware of the above? He should def list these things in his ad, buyer would be pretty darn angry about these not being mentioned.

Hard to tell you what to do....

Evil-Tunes (Glen) · September 07, 2011, 10:24:40 PM

whistleegi For 7k........ I think you can do better....... }dunn-- The autostick makes it hard. You still have to shift some what. I would think about learning how to drive Stick Shift :confused04:; It will open alot more choices.

Celly · September 07, 2011, 10:29:29 PM

pass

lovebus (jack) · September 07, 2011, 10:34:36 PM

What Martin said..... And

QuoteStructurally and body-wise it's great..

Thats a Big plus.

Every thing else isn't a big deal except the indication of

Quote#2 &4 cylinders have a "light response"

May or may not will need a valve job at most 2 new heads.

manifolds are a dime a dozen.

No one wants to say buy it and then it turns out to be a real money pit like a lot of VW's are. I know I would feel really bad if I told you to buy it and it turned out to be a piece of chit.

I know I could fix everything you mentioned for 2 grand BUT in all honesty

You should bite the bullet and learn how to drive a stick, it would open a whole world of more cars for you at much better prices. 2@cent