bought a '66!

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vintagetin
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Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 9:21 pm

bought a '66!

Post by vintagetin »

I'm 23, have owned nothing but old school american cars since I was 15 (newest car was a '73 duster) and this is my first beetle. It was may favorite car until I turned about 13...then it was all muscle cars and tail fins. I got the oppertunity to buy a decent (and by decent I mean RUSTY) '66 with the 1300. Runs like a champ! Between driving my '66 Charger and '62 Chevy C-10 to school which is an 80 mile commute I figured I try and snatch something up a little better on gas. Starting in the 22nd of August I'm going to be making this drive 5 days a week!!!
My little beetle is pretty much beat right now, as the heater ducts/body floor suppports are rotted through. Not really sure what I should start checking to keep carbon monoxide out of the cab this winter as I'm sure it's going to get cold on my 80 mile commute. So far this little car has been a learning experience. I've already managed to weld in some ghetto new floors and patch up some of the body support/heat ducts up front. Despite the floors and body corners being trash the spine of the car looks perfect! And the fuel gauge is cable controlled?!? So many interesting little things about this car!
First off...this crazy 6volt system :roll: :
Can I raise the voltage with some sort of converter for an after market stereo, or do they make a 6 volt radio? I'm not looking for a booming radio, just something that can pick up fm stations. I have an fm converter box, but it's only for a 12v system too of course.
I noticed alot of guys complaining about the headlights not being bright enough, they seem fine to me.
I also noticed the generator light glowing very faintly when the car is on. I put a volt meter on the battery at 2,000rpms and it's only at 6.4volts. At idle it drops to 6.2 volts. I read that it's supposed to be between 7.5-8.3 volts at 2,000 rpms. Seems like it is wired up properly and I'm suffering from a bad generator since the volts DOES increase when the engine speeds up, just not enough. Should I just rebuild it and reuse the voltage regulator? or should I just replace them both?
The oil pressure light is not coming on ever, even when the engine is turned off so I'm supposing the bulb is blown out. I even shorted the sending unit wire out to see if that would make the light glow and it still didn't.
Is there a common auto parts store I can get 6v bulbs from? I think Napa can get them.
I would like to convert it too 12volts, but the job seems kind of expensive for my budget right this minute. And I read there is an issue with the 12v starter bushing not working unless you pull it from a convertable. True?
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jmartini
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Post by jmartini »

Hi Vintagetin! Welcome to the forum!!! I would suggest you re-post your technical questions in the mechanical forum, you will have a better chance of getting them answered there (More traffic).
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fourcylinder
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Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:28 pm
Location: San Antonio, Texas

Post by fourcylinder »

Welcome to the forum vintagetin!
Phil
San Antonio
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