OK, time for my dumb-arse question for the week (everybody's allowed one......).🤪
If it's good to have all the tinware sealing up the engine bay in a Beetle, and by all accounts it is, so the thing doesn't suck in hot air from under the motor and overheat, then why don't all Baja's run hot? I'm not talking about the big open airy space that most have, but the "fix-the-dented-back-panel" type Baja's where the rear bodywork is just cut away only up to the tail-light level (uhmmm, please see attached avatar photo! 😂).
I've been up since 2am (on watch), so naturally it's driving me nuts........
Maybe they do overheat and no ones aware of it, just shortens the motors life,
Your garden variety Baha has an air scoop at the bottom of the rear window for this purpose.
Mine hasn't got the scoop as described. However, despite the motor already being tired, i take hope and comfort in that the area is open enough to allow plenty of ventilation and the tinwear below the heads (as long as you have it still) curves around towards the back of the car, it shoots the hot air to the rear of the motor, away from the fan intake at the front sucking in cool air in the shade above the gearbox 🙂. This is useful during slow cruising/driving or in traffic/idling.
During normal driving, you always have that vacuum at the back of the car drawing plenty of cool air constantly through all openings with no sealed compartments like a stock beetle engine bay.
If the baja concept has worked for this long without heating issues being a direct link to the kit design, it shouldn't be a worry.
(ô_!_/ô) (ô_!_/ô)
69' baja: kombi box, thing spindles, irs, disc front, type 3 rear drums, 2 inch lift kit, 31x10 rears. 👍
New engine in process: 94mm p&bs, 74mm C/w chomol Crank, 35.5x39 SP heads, turbo. Wierd combo, hopeful torque monsta!
bajachris88 wrote:...and the tinwear below the heads (as long as you have it still) curves around towards the back of the car, it shoots the hot air to the rear of the motor, away from the fan intake at the front sucking in cool air in the shade above the gearbox 🙂. This is useful during slow cruising/driving or in traffic/idling....
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seems to confirm my experiences. In the late 70's me and my Baja, which was done proper with the full fibreglass kit, 'improved' engine, big tyres, did many trips up and down the west coast, from the Bluff at Quobba Station, to Black Point in the south, and the oil temp gauge never looked like getting near the red (and yes I checked it for accuracy). So it should be ok, providing the engine doesnt have some other underlying issue.
but get an oil temp gauge anyway.
A Baja should still have all of the tinware fitted to the engine. It aids in the cooling of the engine and helps direct the heat to the back of the car where it is sucked away by the wind.
More often than not the standard heater boxes are not run on a Baja to increase the ground clearance or because you are running a more performance-y exhaust. So it's a good idea to fabricate some tinware to fill this gap. It once again directs the air backwards, helps prevent the rear wheels throwing mud and crap onto the fins on your cylinders and heads and also helps protect the pushrod tubes somewhat.
I'm going to be making some for mine soon, here are some ideas.
The only bits of tinware that you can leave off are the front and rear apron pieces that seal to the inside of the engine bay on a Beetle. It's not a bad idea to leave the front one on as it can help reduce crap getting into your fan. It mainly depends on how cut up your car is at the rear.
My Baja has never ever gotten hot, not flogging it up dunes or hauling down the highway. There is a massive amount of airflow getting to your engine when you have no engine compartment!!
Louvers on the rear window can disrupt the airflow into the vents below the rear window. This is why I'm not running mine anymore.
I think you'd have to have a fairly bad combination of things to run into overheating problems in a baja.
Smiley 🙂
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.
Well done Smiley on the tinware mods. I agree totally, for prolonged engine life the barrel must stay round by maintaining even temperature all the way round.
I also fit the vanes normally missing in new tinware
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
Thanks for all the reply's guys!
I didn't mean losing the engine tinware, just the engine bay tin, like the transmission shroud. I pulled that off at one stage (numerous engine-in/engine-out stuff, it was already bent up and a pain), and even though it helped with a bit of airflow the red mud followed as well.😊 I ended up making my own mud/dirt shield, sat flat with the top of the motor and ran across the bottom of the firewall to keep crap out of the fan intake, but allow fresh air to flow around both sides.
I always ran with the lower pieces to give the pushrod tubes some protection, adding to them is a good idea.
Hey Mat, have you seen any of those vanes available anywhere, net, store, whatever? Getting hard to find some of that stuff now.
im with you was looking at those vanes in the shroud as well would like to know where you can buy some
bugzla wrote:im with you was looking at those vanes in the shroud as well would like to know where you can buy some
I make them for the engines I build. I have my last set of VW flaps I use as pattern. I can supply sets if you wish, but not too hard to DIY.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
