Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi Guys,

Ok, I have eventually found and bought a beetle

There are some things which I would need to sort out before it can go for a road worthy test and the shocks might be one of the things.

Now my question is which shocks to buy:
-Gabriel
-kyb
-bilstein if my wife allows

O, it is a ‘75 1600TP and I might tinker with the engine at a later stage, but for now its stock standard.

The upside if the bilsteins are they are serviceable. I also have bilsteins on my bakkie and are very happy with them.

Bilsteins are best if you can afford them. The Gabriels are cheap and they work ... for a while.

For Bilsteins contact Imcomech in Midrand, Ted Garstang 0826006615. He'll give you a good price.

Thank you fig.

Another question: It would seem that the front and rear Bilsteins have different part numbers and my assumption is then that there must be a difference. Are front and rear shocks different in length or are the rears just more damped due to engine and gearbox?

I might have it wrong, but from what I understand is that the Gabriels are the same front and rear.

You will probably find the shocks are OK,

What I would do before you go, is to fully service each and every grease nipple under the car.

As these cars go neglected, you will find the front end dry and unpleasant to drive, pump the grease till the old is out and you can seethe new coming out.

You will find you need a lot of grease to fill then up complete.

Boy what a difference that will make to the handling of the car.

Just remember to wipe the old grease off as these white coat guys do not like it hanging around.

Herman

Riaan.N wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:34 am
I might have it wrong, but from what I understand is that the Gabriels are the same front and rear.

Yes, Gabriel quotes the same part front and rear for both Beetles and split buses.

Thank you Herman!

fig wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:18 am Bilsteins are best if you can afford them. The Gabriels are cheap and they work ... for a while.

For Bilsteins contact Imcomech in Midrand, Ted Garstang 0826006615. He'll give you a good price.

What do these go for ballpark?

Have always found the OE VW shocks to be the best set for the aircooled ride, but have replaced all my back shocks on all my cars with coil overs from Volkspares, as it handles the speed bumps better.

Enjoy your ride.

Herman

beetlepower wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:58 am

fig wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:18 am Bilsteins are best if you can afford them. The Gabriels are cheap and they work ... for a while.

For Bilsteins contact Imcomech in Midrand, Ted Garstang 0826006615. He'll give you a good price.

What do these go for ballpark?

I've never ordered Beetle shocks, but Bilsteins for Porsche and G-wagen were over R1k each. I expect Beetle shocks would be less than that, but you can probably get a full set of Gabriels for the price of one, or maybe two Bilsteins.

Its about R1800 for one Bilstein. The front and rear are priced differently, but this is ballpark.

retrovan wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:25 am Have always found the OE VW shocks to be the best set for the aircooled ride, but have replaced all my back shocks on all my cars with coil overs from Volkspares, as it handles the speed bumps better.

Enjoy your ride.

Herman

Are the OE shocks still available?

beetlepower wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 3:28 pm

retrovan wrote: Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:25 am Have always found the OE VW shocks to be the best set for the aircooled ride, but have replaced all my back shocks on all my cars with coil overs from Volkspares, as it handles the speed bumps better.

Enjoy your ride.

Herman

Are the OE shocks still available?

As far as I know, get hold of Grand Slam he is the agent for VW Classic OE parts.

But Monroe make a excellent replacement, PE factory made the local production under their old name for Beetle production, but what I mean is that nearly all my old shocks still work perfect and are just painted and re-fitted.
Their ride is just perfect.

Herman

Just be careful with the term OE.
It means "original equipment" and thus OE VW would mean original equipment from VW.

But there is now a company who is cashing in on this, since they have called themselves OE.
So yes, you can buy OE parts for our cars, but they are made by a company named OE, however, the parts are not original equipment (OE).

On the topic of OE/OEM... which shops sells quality parts...all kinds of parts for beetles e.g. points, strainer gasket kit, carb service etc?
Volkspares (if its not empi)
Goldwagen
Grandslam
Aircooled spares

I have seen Klassic Fab panels on the the VW Classic parts website.
https://www.volkswagen-classic-parts.de ... e&dir=desc

Many of the parts on the Classic parts site is overpriced and are not old stock, remanufactured for VW that they sell now as genuine parts.