Potential new Bug owner needs help and advice URGENTLY!!

[nicodinho]

Hi my name is Nick and I am very interested in getting my first Bug but I am very green when it comes to how, when and why etc. I live in SE London and I am a capable person but no experience tinkering with engines but could easily follow manuals etc. I would idealy like one that needs a little bit of work with room for some customisation but nothing too extensive.

My initial budget is low I am afraid. I am not wanting to spend more then £1k then ongoing probably another £2k.

Is this even possible? Can you guys out there in the VW Bug world offer any help and advice? What model or age should I go for? What should I avoid? Any tell-tell death trap issues i should know about?

As an example I have seen one on ebay that caught my eye, but I am worried that my lack of knowledge means I would be buyng a real Turkey. Although this is maybe a little too much work for me.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-1303-Beetle-wi ... 1|294%3A50

Any help greatly appreciated

Nico

[nicodinho]

Just realised I may be confusing people as I wrote "new Bug", I obviously didnt mean a "new" beetle. Thanks

[Crasher]

This is a huge subject and not one that I can cover here but the most distressing condition any Bug suffers from is rust and do 1303’s rust! I have a 1972 1302LS automatic that I bought in 1983 and it was seriously rotten, I spent months rebuilding it and have owned it ever since and I am currently stripping it down again to have it acid dipped to start from scratch again but thankfully it is not so rotten any more, just that my standards and skills are much higher than they were 25 years ago. I strongly suggest that you have any prospective purchase thoroughly checked over by an experienced air cooled specialist before buying. Thankfully the spares situation is better now that it was 25 years ago, you can get just about anything you need, at a price.