Full auto bus

[MidWesty]

I've got an opportunity to add an automatic bus to my stable. Runs well, little rust, has middle and rear seat intact. How are these tranny's? Good thing, bad thing, anything in particular I should watch out for or expect to go wrong? Seems to shift well between gears as of right now. What's the life expectancy on an auto tranny? Any suggestions, info, experiences welcome.

Thanks!

[Amskeptic]

The auto buses have robust transmissions with a reputation for knowing when to shift. There is an early transmission and a late transmission. The earlys were based on the Type III/IV and the lates were based on the Rabbit's. What year is the bus you're looking at?
Test drive should yield crisp shifts and sweet smelling fluid, not soggy shifts and crisp-smelling fluid.
Colin

[spiffy]

I've got an opportunity to add an automatic bus to my stable. Runs well, little rust, has middle and rear seat intact. How are these tranny's? Good thing, bad thing, anything in particular I should watch out for or expect to go wrong? Seems to shift well between gears as of right now. What's the life expectancy on an auto tranny? Any suggestions, info, experiences welcome.

Thanks!

My 78 has 190K miles on the 010 (rabbit version) automatic. Bus depot sells the filter and gasket sets for them. To this day it shifts smoothly and is a coffee drinkers best friend. The nice thing is that the shift points for 2nd gear are alot like 3rd gear on the manuals.....ie you can hang out at 45mph going up a hill in 2nd and have lots of pulling power.

[hambone]

Interesting, because the autostick Beetles were notorious pieces of crap. I'm glad they got the "bugs" (hillarious!) out with the type2.
I for one, enjoy a manual transmission.

[Amskeptic]

Interesting, because the autostick Beetles were notorious pieces of crap. I'm glad they got the "bugs" (hillarious!) out with the type2.
I for one, enjoy a manual transmission.

I drove the autostick bug when it was brand new. . . as a ten year-old.
It was a pleasure to drive, but you had to know what was going on. Many people did not realize that it was a torque converter through a clutch to a manual 3 speed. If you took off in high gear it was a dog. I liked manually shifting it for more sprightly performance, and it was a joy in traffic with that torque converter. It was easy to double clutch by using a light tap on the gearshift, and it was fun for a brat to sneak a hand over to disengage the clutch on an unsuspecting driver.
It only was "crap" on older bugs when vacuum leaks made the clutch engagement violent.

[MidWesty]

Cool! I thought my topic was lost in the chaos.
It's a '73 passenger bus with both sets of seats. Dual carbs have been switched to a single Weber. Engine runs well. I haven't test driven it yet but I know the guy drives it daily right now. I'm trading a Squareback and some misc Bug parts I've got for it. I'm not normally an auto fan myself but have been looking for a decent passenger bus to tinker with. My 78 Rivi is dead stock and complete so I've been looking for another bus to start on. Thanks for all the info as of yet!

Steve

[vwlover77]

I always used to say that I had the "air-cooled automatic curse". Anytime I ever found an air-cooled VW that I was interested in buying, it was an automatic.

I owned a '79 Bay for 19 years with the Rabbit automatic and I LOVED it. In fact, I prefer it to the manual in our '78 Westy. The torque of the 2-liter engine was very nicely matched to the automatic box, making it easy to keep up with normal stop and go traffic flow. I always feel like the 1-2 shift in the manual box slows things way down. The shifts were very smooth, and downshifts only happened when absolutely necessary - no hunting around between gears like so many small car automatics are prone to do.

The '71 Super Beetle Convertible we own is an Autostick, and far from being a piece of crap, it works quite nicely and smoothly. I always tell people that it's the original Tiptronic!

[Amskeptic]

The torque of the 2-liter engine was very nicely matched to the automatic box, making it easy to keep up with normal stop and go traffic flow. I always feel like the 1-2 shift in the manual box slows things way down. The shifts were very smooth, and downshifts only happened when absolutely necessary - no hunting around between gears like so many small car automatics are prone to do.

The '71 Super Beetle Convertible we own is an Autostick, and far from being a piece of crap, it works quite nicely and smoothly. I always tell people that it's the original Tiptronic!

I agree on both counts. VW did great things with the auto bus.
I want to drive that autostick super beetle, it is a lot of fun to pull off a double-clutch tapping the gear shift.
Colin

[vwlover77]

We need to arrange a test driving session at Sean Gallagher's pub the next time you swing through Ohio!

(First the test-driving, THEN the beer! )

[Amskeptic]

We need to arrange a test driving session at Sean Gallagher's pub the next time you swing through Ohio!

(First the test-driving, THEN the beer! )

He has the quintessential beetle there, mid 60's.
It could be a Volkswagen smorgasbord
Colin

[hambone]

I've just heard somethin about torque converters exploding, or the clutch plate, I'm not sure it's been a while..but I've had 2 different people tell me they've had problems - with the Beetle anyway. What a weird solution, that whole auto stick thing.

[VWBusrepairman]

We need to arrange a test driving session at Sean Gallagher's pub the next time you swing through Ohio!

(First the test-driving, THEN the beer! )

I second this.

Back to the auto trans- I drove a '77 with an auto and it shifted smoothly and was not doggy at all. I'd get it because it's a bus and well, no more are being made. You could always repair whatever it needs and sell it to someone who refuses to shift gears.

(Colin- I got you close to an inch of freeplay on my magic bus, incidentally- had the wrong amount of washers in place, it turns out)...