Hello to all, I have a 1966 VW Beetle with a 1500 engine and I am looking to modify it to get better performance out of it, will twin port heads from a 1600 fit? Does anyone have suggestions on what I can do? What cam to use? What exhaust to fit? What carbies to use? Any help and or advice would be greatly appreciated. The car will be used for daily driver when finished.
Yes it's 1500, took he original 1300 out and got a 1500 to put back in when the car is painted. Does anything else need doing, do i have to change pistons ? As you can probably tell I don't know much about VW's yet but want to learn
If you want to go 1600 the 1500 SP heads will slip right onto the 1600 barrels. You can buy 1600 barrels and pistons from most VW shops for a reasonable price.
If you want a decent set of twin carbs for a daily driven 1600 it is hard to beat the Kadrons.
For the exhaust a simple 1 3/8" extractor or even better a vintage speed muffler would be ideal and just as quiet as stock without the drawbacks.
Regarding cam well that comes down to ALOT but if your keeping SP heads I'd look at getting a Engle 100 or a Tighe 356C; also you'd want to sneak the compression ratio up a tad
If you are going to split the case then you may as well do a propper rebuild
If you are going to do that you may as well get a sick 1600 and rebuild that and keep the 1500 as back up
How healthy is the 1500
No point hotting it up if it is shagged
I would go as modnrod suggest - but hold back on the 1.4's for the time being
The 1500 is sweet, but bog stock. I like the look of the twin carbs. Might look at electronic ignition too so a dizzy swap is on the cards as well. I am interested in this. 214100-212162-KIT
ENGLE W100 CAM AND 1.25 ROCHER ARM SET. W100 ENGLE CAM
EMPI ADJUSTABLE ALUMINUM CAM GEAR
EMPI 1.25 ROCKER ARMS
ORIGINAL ENGLE CAM LIFTERS
EMPI HI REV SINGLE VALVE SPRINGS
EMPI CROMOLY VALVE SPRING RETAINERS
EMPI VALVE LOCKS
Is it worth the effort?
gulf blue1966 Beetle,1500 manual.
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
The cam is in the centre of the motor, so to change that you're looking at a complete engine tear down and rebuilt...........this becomes costly.
If the 1500 is running ok, then the best "bang for buck" is to replace the piston and barrels with a 1600 or 1640cc kit, put on a good set of extractors and muffler, and rejet the standard carb (if you're keeping the Single port heads). Kadrons would be a better option, but its hard trying to find 2nd hand Kaddies with single port manifolds......I guess you could buy new. You will be surprised at how well this will go.
The other option is doing the above and also putting on some twin port heads, this will enable the use of twin carbs like Kadrons. You can source used carbs and heads cheaply if you want to keep the budget under control.
You can do this conversion in a day or over a weekend (easily), its cost affective, and it will give you a more responsive car.
Part No
VW8700T1
Part Description
Beetle 87MM X 69MM 1641CC TYPE 1 PISTON CYLINDER KIT AA PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS.
Will this fit without changing crankshafts or conrods? Can I still use the single port heads with this setup
gulf blue1966 Beetle,1500 manual.
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
Adam debiasi has the AA brand barrels on his hill climb car, that gets hammered pretty solidly....
If you keep the single port heads, the Kaddie shack in the us can still supply single port manifolds. I believe they are no longer being made new however.
Even if you bought a set of Kadrons and single port manifolds and an exhaust and just bolted it up to your 1500 for starters............then change to 1600 after that.
Great thread. I am going through the same thought process. I have a 64 and have a 1500cc engine sitting in the garage, contemplating similar mods. Any more info would be great.
Hi i am in the middle of fitting the rockers and i need to assemble the chromoly pushrods any idea how to do this, do they need to be pressed in ?
Did you run a motor like this how did it go?
modnrod wrote:1. Exhaust.
2. 1.4:1 rockers.
3. Carb set-up (either CB Performance centrebranch and new Solex34 or twin ICTs).
4. Dizzy - try to get a SVDA to suit.
I wouldn't worry about the 1600 big-bore, only 5% in it really.
It's the usual and well-trodden path to making a stocker good fun, with heaps of stick. 🙅
BizarreModeratorThe artist formerly known as blue74l
gazzac wrote:I am going to remove the heater boxes because it won't be driven in winter anyway. What exhaust are people using to get a better sound and performance
gotthebug65 wrote:Did you run a motor like this how did it go?
modnrod wrote:1. Exhaust.
2. 1.4:1 rockers.
3. Carb set-up (either CB Performance centrebranch and new Solex34 or twin ICTs).
4. Dizzy - try to get a SVDA to suit.
Yep. Went really well.
Never got hot, sat on 110kph and had plenty left for overtaking trucks, good squirt off the line (I had a 1300 box), kept ahead of traffic easy-peasy.
Easy to live with nice all round motor.
