Find or Sell Used Cars, Trucks, and SUVs in USA

1978 Vw Super Beetle Convertible Champagne Edition Ii on 2040-cars

Year:1978 Mileage:29435
Location:

Los Angeles, California, United States

Los Angeles, California, United States
Advertising:

I’m ready to part with my 1978 Super Beetle Convertible, Limited Champagne Edition II. Only 1100 cars of limited champaign edition II were imported into the US. It’s a beautiful car with a completely rebuilt fuel injection engine that starts and runs great and has only 1000+ miles on it. The car still needs some work to return it to it’s original glory, especially a new paint job. I sell it as a project car. Altogether the car has only run less than 30.000 miles since it was built.


Everything works in the car. The seats were reupholstered by the previous owner with white vinyl. The dashboard is in very good condition with no cracks. Even the little clock is still ticking.


Three years ago I had the engine replaced with a completely rebuild engine based on a 1976 motor which now has around a 1000+ miles on it. The new engine + installation was $3000. Further down you’ll find a long list of everything that was done during the rebuilt.


With the new engine I put in new brakes, brake drums, wheel bearings, brake cylinders, and flexible break lines in all four wheels, as well as a new master brake cylinder, fuel pump, bushings, and ball joints.


It has a set of Coker BF Goodrich Silvertown radial white wall tires that have only run a 1000+ miles and are in great condition. The tires alone coast around a $1000. The original wheels have been sand blasted and powder coated.


The car has very little rust. Only a few small spots. There’s a little hole under the rear seat next to the battery compartment. Apart from that I couldn’t find anything major. The convertible roof has small tears in it but apart from that still works great. I have a new white boot for it that still needs to be installed.


Unfortunately I was not able to get the car through smog and it has been standing in my driveway for a year. I worked on solving the problem on and off but didn’t succeed. That’s why I would prefer to sell the car out of state where the smog regulations are different than in California.


I just talked to a veteran VW mechanic in the LA area a few days ago hoping that I could convince him to help me fix the problem, but he said California regulations are too tough when it comes to the late model fuel injection super beetles. He says California just doesn't want the FI super beetle on the streets and he doesn’t want to deal with them anymore, so I finally decided to let it go. Hopefully there is someone else out there who knows these engines better than I do. I still see a few of them driving around. I don't know how they get them smoked, but there must be a way. Maybe it's just my lack of experience.


Here is what I did in the last year to solve the problem:


I tuned the car after I put in new spark plugs, ignition coil, distributor cap, points and condenser. I checked all the fuel injectors and replaced one. I put in a new used wiring harness, EGR valve, EGR filter, and resealed the EGR and exhaust system. Every part of the EGR system is working as it’s supposed to. I had an exhaust shop put in a new cat and had them wield a bung into the exhaust system so I can install a wideband oxygen sensor. I used the oxygen sensor with an Innovate LM-2 digital air/fuel ratio meter to tune the engine and make sure it has a stoichiometric combustion of 14.1. I’ve put in a tach so I can check and fine tune the air/fuel ratio at 1500 and 2500rpm, the same rpm they check during the smog check. Unfortunately the car still failed due to it’s NOx being too high.


I will sell the car with the $250 Innovate LM-2 air/fuel ratio meter and wideband oxygen sensor. The LM-2 is also a great OBD-II scan tool.


It was my ambition to make the fuel injection system work they way it should and make this 35 year old car drive as clean as it possibly could, but I don’t have the time anymore to achieve that goal so I hope someone else is going to take over.


Here’s another con. Unfortunately that car got into a small accident and received damage about two years ago to it’s front left side. I had a local body shop repair and repaint it. There’s a photo from under the hood that shows signs of the repairs. It’s also the reason why just the front left fender and the hood has new paint on it. I didn’t have the time and money back then to take apart the whole car and have it completely repainted. The steering wheelis still a few degrees offset but the car runs completely straight, so I guess it’s just the wheel that needs to be readjusted.


Please feel free to ask any questions you might have or contact me if you want to take a look at the car. With a little work and patience this classic could be turned into a real beauty. Ideally you pick up the car in Los Angeles, Pasadena area. I have the clean title in hand. This is a true auction starting at $1, with no reserve. 


$500 non refundable deposit with 24 hours of end of auction to be paid via Paypal. Remaining balance to be paid within 3 days of end of auction either via PayPal or certified check from a bank that I approve of. The car is also for sale locally and can be purchased locally while the auction is ongoing. I retain all rights to end auction or deny selling to anyone at any time for any reason. 


Just to remind you what you see is what you get and you cannot return this car or expect a refund. I have explained everything to the best of my knowledge and offer it "as is" and "where is" without any warranty as to the condition.


Here’s the list I was given from the guys I bought the rebuilt engine from.


The engine came out of a 76 beetle. The engines are the same from 75-79. The engine was completely disassembled and hot tanked to remover any foreign matter. The Brothers Machine shop in Ontario, CA did the work on the block. Go online and check them out. We have used them on several engines and been to there shop and very impressed to there attention to detail. I had them line bore the block. That means that all the main bearings surfaces have been re sized and trued and this allows the crankshaft to spin freely. Another important step is to deck the block so the cylinders are parallel to the block and the crankshaft. These are very important to building a reliable engine.

The engine block has been drill to accept an external oil filter and that has been added.

The crankshaft has been reground with new bearings.

4 reconditioned connecting rods with new bearings(They have been re -sized and straightened.)

New Mahle pistons and barrels.

A reground Fuel Injection camshaft and new lifters with new bearings.

2 new fuel injections cylinder heads.

New timing gear.

New chrome moly push-rods.

New solid rocker arm shafts with swivel feet on the rocker arms.

Aluminum valve covers.

The engine was completely balanced to 1/2 gram.

The cylinder heads were cc'd to determine the size of each chamber.

The engine was assembled in a clean environment and torqued to manufacture specs.

Th distributor was cleaned and lubed.

It has new spark plug and wires. The fuel lines are new Goodyear fuel line that has plastic inner liner and a rubber outer to insure a better and longer lasting seal.

The throttle body seals have been replaced.

New clutch and throw out bearing.

All new vacuum lines.

It comes wiith good wiring harness, electric fuel pump and new filter and fuel pump relay, air flow meter. A new 55 amp alternator.

I am sending a few pic's on the engine.



Good luck with the bidding!


Auto Services in California

Zoe Design Inc ★★★★★

Automobile Parts & Supplies, Tire Dealers, Automobile Accessories
Address: 730 Salem St, Temple-City
Phone: (818) 549-9700

Zee`s Smog Test Only Station ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Inspection Stations & Services, Automotive Tune Up Service
Address: 143 E 16th St Ste A, Newport-Beach
Phone: (949) 650-2332

World Class Collision Ctr ★★★★★

Automobile Body Repairing & Painting
Address: 12228 6th St, Rancho-Cucamonga
Phone: (909) 944-2777

WOOPY`S Auto Parts ★★★★★

Automobile Parts & Supplies, Auto Body Parts
Address: 501 e. Sixth St, Woodcrest
Phone: (951) 340-0001

William Michael Automotive ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Inspection Stations & Services, Automobile Electric Service
Address: 1800 Richard Ave, Monte-Vista
Phone: (408) 970-0466

Will Tiesiera Ford Inc ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, New Car Dealers, Used Car Dealers
Address: 2101 E Cross Ave, Goshen
Phone: (888) 221-4938

Auto blog

Regulators consider adding more carmakers to Takata recall

Tue, Sep 29 2015

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal has been getting a lot of press recently, but the Takata airbag inflator affair could be grabbing headlines again soon. According to Bloomberg, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is contemplating an expansion to the campaign that could add seven automakers to the 12 already affected. They are Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Spartan Motors, Suzuki, Tesla, Volvo Trucks, and VW Group. To be clear, there's no recall for any of these automakers, yet. The government is simply asking for a full list of vehicles that each of them have with Takata-supplied inflators containing ammonium nitrate propellant. The agency is concerned this substance could play a roll in the ruptures. "NHTSA is considering not only whether to issue an administrative order that would coordinate the remedy programs associated with the current Takata recalls, but also whether such an order should include expansion of the current recalls," the letters say. All seven can be viewed, here. From a report supplied by Takata, the government already knows that the company supplied 887,055 inflators with ammonium-nitrate propellant to VW and 184,926 of them to Tesla. In an incident during the summer, a side airbag allegedly burst in a 2015 VW Tiguan. In early September, NHTSA put out a revised report that there were 23.4 million inflators to be replaced in 19.2 million vehicles in the US. An earlier accounting from the agency had about 34 million of the parts in 30 million cars. High humidity is still believed to be among the biggest risk factors for the ruptures. Although, if ammonium nitrate also gets the blame, some already recalled models might need to be repaired again. Related Video:

Volkswagen could build plug-in hybrids in China

Sun, Apr 6 2014

When you're Europe's largest automaker and your largest global market happens to be the one most notorious for its pollution (China), some solutions just present themselves. Volkswagen may be heeding that call. During the upcoming Beijing Motor Show, the company is expected to announce plans to produce plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in China, Reuters says, citing sources within the company. Few details have emerged, though the plug-ins will likely be produced at VW's Foshan factory in South China, which currently makes the Golf and Audi A3 and has plans to eventually make 600,000 vehicles annually. News has been percolating for a while, as Oliver Schmidt, general manager engineering and environmental office for Volkswagen Group of America, said last March that the company was planning at least two plug-in hybrid lines under the VW badge (and another three with its Audi and Porsche affiliates), including possibly a Touareg and Jetta PHEV. VW said late last month that it was looking to speed up development of "particularly eco-friendly models" made by Shanghai Volkswagen as well as developing a "new, very eco-friendly vehicle" with First Automotive Works (FAW). Earlier this year, VW unveiled its Golf GTE plug-in hybrid at the Geneva Motor Show. That model has a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and an electric motor to provide 201 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The car can travel as many as 81 miles on electric power alone.

Jay Leno brings a rotary-powered VW Beetle to the garage

Mon, Aug 1 2016

It takes something really unique or inventive to pique Jay Leno's interest. His show, Jay Leno's Garage, has featured everything from concours-worthy classics to completely custom, home-built machinery. How do you get Leno to feature one of more than 20 million Beetles on his program? Stick a turbocharged rotary engine under the hood. The Beetle's owner, Mario Markakis, swapped the car's stock flat four-cylinder for the Wankel engine from a 1990 Mazda RX-7 Series 5 Turbo. The engine's 250 horsepower are fed through a reinforced version of the Beetle's stock four-speed transmission. That's about five times the original engine's output. It works well, with the car putting down some impressive times at the drag strip. Markakis did most of the work to the Beetle in his garage. In addition to the engine swap, he's modified the car's brakes, suspension, and interior. Check out the video to hear all the details of this custom Wankel-powered Volkswagen. Related Video: Celebrities TV/Movies Mazda Volkswagen Classics Videos Jay Lenos Garage rotary mazda rx-7