A toad to be
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Freelander
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When I was in Germany I was playing with my new telephoto lens and I pointed out the barracks window at a street sign 1/2 block away, and when I looked at the picture on just that 1 corner there were 4 VW beetles.
The VW's the Germany police had, had Porsche motors and under carriage in them.
The VW's the Germany police had, had Porsche motors and under carriage in them.
^
My older brother was stationed in Germany in the '60s and bought a bug that Uncle Sam shipped back to the states.
He paid like $1000 for it over there.
He was driving it from New Jersey to Kansas City but somewhere in Indiana he got rear-ended by a semi.
He wasn't hurt but the VW was totalled and he had to hitchhike back to KC.
With the insurance money he bought a '66 Corvair convertible.
My older brother was stationed in Germany in the '60s and bought a bug that Uncle Sam shipped back to the states.
He paid like $1000 for it over there.
He was driving it from New Jersey to Kansas City but somewhere in Indiana he got rear-ended by a semi.
He wasn't hurt but the VW was totalled and he had to hitchhike back to KC.
With the insurance money he bought a '66 Corvair convertible.
Every few years we have an organized group of vehicles come through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It is always fun to sit on the side of the road and be amazed some of them actually make it. I have noticed most organizers arrange their route to go “down” the Moki Dugway not up. I had to wonder when the Jaguar group had several stopped at the top topping off their brake fluid though! Old cars are great but most require much more maintenance than modern cars not just due to their age but also due to their design. Be sure you know their limitations as well as how, when and what is necessary to take care of them before choosing one for a primary vehicle.
Tom_M said:
Nice. Glad to hear they make good toads. And yours is a fun little convertible! Those hold resale value really well to boot.
Mine is in lot rougher shape but it was cheap. Now starts all the nickel-and-dime expense to get it roadworthy and looking decent.
Freelander
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VW engines had a problem with burning out cyl #3, (front left side when viewed from the rear) its the one behind the oil cooler. Also some people remove the sheet medal around the metal and makes them run hotter. the sheet metal IS the cooling system.
Freelander said:
My sister found out the hard way about that. She had a used engine installed into her '72 bug by a community college auto class. They cleaned it up well but forgot to reinstall the 2 small pieces of sheetmetal that go under the cylinders.
It lasted about a month in the summertime before it overheated and blew up.
Which is why the later Mexican bugs used improved cylinder tins and offset oil cooler based off the type 3 engines as well as a type 3 slotted oil control piston in the lubrication system. A 009 Bosch distributor has the #3 cylinder lobe ground a few degrees retarded to help with the problem, which is why it must be installed properly. By using the later Mexican cooling tin with the offset oil cooler a 050 Bosch distributor with all lobes ground at 90 degrees can be used for maximum power. It is a pretty much accepted fact that liquid cooled engines are easier to get more power out of as cooling of the cylinders is more uniform and easier to control. Building a high performance air cooled engine sort of becomes an art form.
More cooling fins but blows warm air back over the engine by mounting it that way, better to get it in the air stream with a thermostat and cooling fan. Heavier weight oil takes longer to warm up and causes some power loss. Higher oil pressures can damage bearings as well. One reason modern cars use synthetic oil is there is less resistance in the crankcase so better fuel mileage as well as available power at the wheels. Air cooled VWs have very high tolerances and bearing clearances which allow them to keep running in extreme conditions, even things like having a vandal put gravel down the oil fill causing a broken crankshaft sometimes don’t stop them from getting you home but not an ideal situation! If you can’t hold the oil dip stick long enough to check the oil you are running too hot.
Just gotta love those boxer engines, whether they are in a motorcycle, a car, a dune buggy, or an airplane.
:thumbsup:
:thumbsup:
tx2sturgis said:
I worked with a guy who was an ex-Navy pilot and he built a little plane with a VW motor. Several times a year he would fly it from Kansas City to a plant we had in Del Rio.
He said he just followed I-35 down there. It was handy pavement available for an emergency landing.
The clips are for brake lines where a hard line goes into a rubber line at the front wheel well and rear trailing arm area. There are little tabs welded to the pan with a large hole in them. The rubber line goes through the hole and the clip slides into a notch in the rubber hose fitting to hold it fixed in place. The 4 bolts if they were together would likely be the four bolts that hold the front beam onto the pan, if not and the washer makes me think of the main body bolts one in each rear wheel well that attach the body to the shock tower and two underneath the gas tank that attach the body to the front beam. Long bolts are rather rare in VWs other than on shocks (which they could be also) and suspension.
