Super Project '71: Part 3

When we last left our Super Beetle, it was being ultimately prepped for paint, and the initial tear-down was taking shape. We experienced a few setbacks, namely our arch-enemy Evil Rust, but it went smoothly. Towing the car down to Jon Chabot at Topline in Anaheim, we handed our car over to the professionals for the next few segments. This insures two things: It'll be done right and we won't have to do it twice. The plan is to remove the front suspension and steering mechanism, check them for wear and clean them up.

The front end of a Super Beetle is like no other Beetle prior to 1971, as Volkswagen finally ditched Porsche's patented torsion bars and entered the modern era of car building. The new suspension allowed for more total trunk space (14.1 cubic feet from 8.9 cubic feet), a longer wheel base (95.3 inches from 94.5), a wider front track (54.3 inches from 51.6 inches) and a narrower wall-to-wall turning radius of 29.5 feet instead of the 36 feet of its brother Beetle.

If there was one thing that set apart a Super Beetle from any other Beetle in the whole history of the Volkswagen, it would be the MacPherson strut suspension. Though synonymous with the Super Beetle, the strut suspension is actually a system modified from the 411 to fit a Type I chassis. The coil springs (Part No. 113411105) surrounded a double-acting shock absorber and came in three different weights: one red paint stripe signifies pressure between 500-515lbs., two red stripes, 516-530lbs and three red stripes marked a pressure between 531-545lbs. Odds are good that your Super's springs, underneath all of that dirt and undercoating, sports two red stripes / look in the neighborhood of the third or fourth coil down. Both springs must match, so make sure you've got a pair before returning them to the car (though they're mostly indestructible, might as well get new ones, you're going to all of this trouble to remove them).

The springs were held by two plates at the top and the bottom, and a special spring compression tool is required to change out the springs. Important Safety Tip: Don't ever unbolt the nut at the top of the piston rod (under the ball thrust bearing dust cap). The pressure of the compressed spring can inflict serious injury to not only yourself, but to anything that happens to get in the way. If you don't have the proper tools, take the strut to someone who does. Remember, we warned you, so don't come crying to us when you break your arm (or worse) because you thought twine would hold it. Safety first.

The suspension strut fits under the wheel well by three 14mm bolts, and at the bottom to the steering knuckle via three 15mm bolts. The steering knuckle attaches to the tie rods and the ball joint, which is supported by the control arm. Sounds kind of confusing at first, but once you get down there and see it all, it's pretty clear. Though the mounting point of the suspension strut is different for the 1974 model, the principle is the same. Attached to the front frame head via two brackets (133-411-333) and rubber (or urethane nowadays) bushings (113-411-313A) and to the control arms via two rubber bushings (113-411-315) and mounting plates (113-411-319) and nuts to the control arms is the stabilizer bar, which is unique to Super Beetles. This bar provides anti-roll properties but also helps keep the suspension struts in line.

The steering system for a 1971 Super is a worm and roller type which was used through 1974 ('71 and early '72 featured different internal bushings but it doesn't affect the overall function). Since rebuilding a box is next to impossible because of the necessary close tolerances, you'll have to replace it if needed. If yours is anything close to ours, you will.

We started this section of the series by removing the front fenders. You don't have to, but we wanted to show you the clearest view of the undercarriage as possible. For you, this is unnecessary at this point; just pull off six bolts from each fender, leaving two at the 11 and 2 o'clock positions. This will make it easy to pull out the fender beading while allowing room for the painter to get in all the cracks (or paint the fender detached-which is recommended).