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Fri Jan 29, 2016 7:49 pm

Hello,

I just bought a 1961 beetle and am looking for some good mechanics / car shops for air cooled VWs in Orlando. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

Fri Jan 29, 2016 7:55 pm

Welcome!

Plan to check out the Lakeland VW Classic show in March:

http://www.lakelandvwclassic.com/

Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:23 pm

There's a guy on YouTube that posts VW videos from time to time and it looks like he's from the Orlando area. I don't have his contact info but you might find it on his YouTube channel. Search for vwdarrin.

Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:35 am

Zylinderkopf wrote: There's a guy on YouTube that posts VW videos from time to time and it looks like he's from the Orlando area. I don't have his contact info but you might find it on his YouTube channel. Search for vwdarrin.

He is in Orange City (South of Deland). Google "another option paint and body". Should give you his contact info.

Also check out Triangle Auto Parts in Winter Park and K & K Foreign Car Parts in Orlando on Tiner Ave.
Scooter at R&S Performance in Orlando gets a lot of praise for his work as well.

Sat Jan 30, 2016 6:27 am

Before I got convinced to do my own work I had talked to the guys at Full Throttle over in the Lockhart area. They said there is a waiting list for air cooled but they seemed knowledgeable.

Depending on what you need done, you really might want to try and do the work yourself. My original plan was to buy a car and send it to FT to have them go through it but after talking to the guy at Triangle and some others here I was convinced to try the work on my own. It's actually very rewarding so far. Granted I won't be tearing apart a transmission anytime soon but most other things I am tackling. Near future plans are to tackle replacing the stock front beam with a lowered/narrowed unit. One thing to consider is at $60-70/hour labor charges will add up very quickly.

Sat Jan 30, 2016 10:41 am

You might also consider joining a club, many hands make light work.

Sat Jan 30, 2016 10:41 am

Thank you all! This gives me a great start! Plan to do most of the work my own but for the big stuff this will be great!

Sat Jan 30, 2016 11:04 am

buguy wrote: You might also consider joining a club, many hands make light work. supposedly there was one that meets over by the altamonte mall but I've never made it out. Might me worth checking into.

Tue Feb 02, 2016 5:20 am

Ok, I have my first problem and want to try to tackle it myself. When I got in the main road today, my type 3 engine started "slipping". I'm not sure how else to describe it. It felt like a belt was slipping in a cyclical fashion. I lost power quickly and as soon as I put it in neutral the car died.

Any idea what happened / where to start? I checked the belt and it felt tight. Maybe bad lifter or valve?

Thanks all in advance!

Tue Feb 02, 2016 5:43 am

Just out of curiosity, have you done anything to it? Did it do this on your test drive? Do you have any repair manual? Get the John Muir book " How to Keep your Volkswagen Alive". Its a good primer for VW beginners and will help with a lot. Learning from experience, I would check/set the spark gap, set the timing, adjust the valves, change the oil and clean up any connections in the engine compartment just for a start.

Usually "slipping" is referred to when talking about the clutch not engaging properly. Does it feel like the car is taking a long time to engage? Could be it needs a new clutch.

Tue Feb 02, 2016 10:27 am

Haven't done anything to it yet. Previous owner mentioned one of the valves or lifters might be going bad.