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Fixed my brakes a tad, and doing my first oil change, so I was wondering what your expert opinion/experience is when it comes to getting the oil kit with all gaskets and washers and what not. Where should I shop for this?
Also I've no idea what the current oil is in the car, and could use a little advice on what I should buy for this 67 beetle, I'm located in Florida, and gets pretty hot right around now. Thanks for the help guys.
Anyone? I hear that once you go synthetic, you can't go back to normal oil, and at the same time that a lot of oils aren't really designed for the air cooled engines anymore...
For a good explanation of synthetic oil debunking, read this article from aircooled.net. I would also recommend them or Wolfsburg West for oil changing kits. As far as what type of oil to run, there are as many opinions about what oil to run as there are engine oils. Over the years, I’ve run non-synthetic 20W50 and synthetic 10W40. MexiBeetles (TomB, correct me if I’m wrong) like 5W40 synthetic, and the last Beetles produced recommended 15w40 non synthetic.
All that having been said, I’d run 10W40 (it survives Texas summers, which can see days at a time of over 100 degree days). Whether to go synthetic or not depends on the shape of your engine. If it has any leaks that aren't realted to a bad gasket (e.g. valve cover, oil strainer), they’ll be worse with synthetic. If not, synthetic would be my choice. You might also do a search on “engine oil” in the new and old Technical forums on this site to see what others have to say.
Good luck,
-David
As David says, I like synthetic and have used it in all my cars for 30 years. Synthetic lubes better with both cold and hot engines (flows better when cold, thins less when hot), and doesn't sludge. I like Amsoil 5W40 (European car formula...)
Wolfsburg West has silicone sump-plate gaskets that seal very well and don't need to be replaced. My MexiBeetles use a spin-on filter, so I don't drop the strainer to change oil, just pull the drain plug.
WW also has silicone valve cover gaskets. Their early ones had problems swelling in hot oil, but the new ones seem OK. (Standard valve cover gaskets work well enough..)
Jake Raby (of Aircooled Technology) used to think synthetic oil was bunk... until he tried it on his Type 4 engines. After much dynamometer testing and comparison tear-downs, he began using it in all the engines he builds.
I got some kits from bughaus, and actually found one that i had stowed away from the PO of the bug. Never tried them before, and there's only one way to find out! On the oil front, I've basically come to conclusion that as long as I change it often, and get some for my climate, (hot in florida right now, probably 10/40), I should be okay. I also hear that using some zinc additive is a good preventive thing to do as well, so I'll use some STP additive and see how it runs. Thanks guys.
Also I've no idea what the current oil is in the car, and could use a little advice on what I should buy for this 67 beetle, I'm located in Florida, and gets pretty hot right around now. Thanks for the help guys.
I like to keep things simple & as inexpensive as possible (of course without being cheap)! 
You're driving a 41 year-old car...and unless you know...the last engine rebuild could have been a long time ago.
If the engine has low miles...then you could spend the extra cash for synthetic. But if it's an OLD high mileage engine...and if it "eats" oil...you may be better off with the "regular" stuff. I'm not saying don't go with synthetic...but with an older high mileage engine...you don't want to "feed" a worn out engine costly synthetic.
- Nick
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