I have an opportunity to buy a 1963 bug in good original condition except for the engine, the owner has replaced the 1200 engine with a 1600cc twin port.
My question, is this likely to overheat running it on a hot Sydney day? Is there something I can do to prevent this from happening (not including the hood-jacking thing some people do)
Secondly it still has the original drum brakes, should I consider replacing these with disks all round? Is this a big expensive job?
Thanks for any advice.
Blair.
greedy53 ·
no to overheating althrough you cat a set of standoffs to let the top of the engine lid up
as for drum brakes install is very very good idea but a well setup drum is good
trickysimon ·
Make sure you have all the tinware, your oil cooler is working and the engine is tuned properly. This will make sure it doesnt overheat. I run all round drums and they do the job just fine after you get used to using them.
monster ·
okay thanks guys...
What is tinware?
Joel ·
the sheet metal on the engine that direct the cooling air
u shouldnt be able to see the ground anywhere from inside the engine bay
so many clueless ppl throw out the tinware pieces cos hell, motorbikes dont need it why should vws.....🙄
if its a twinport motor and the engine lid is standard 63 then yeah its gonna overheat in hot weather
twinport engines need vents in the engine lid so easiest fix is get in touch with VWCOOL for some hood jax
monster ·
okay thanks.
I was wanting to keep the outside as stock looking as possbile and the hood jax will definatly change that, are there any other options?
eraser ·
buy a 68ish deck lid and put it on.
pod ·
buy a late decklid with the vents in it and cut them out and have them put in the early decklid👍
hellbugged ·
if the engine is anygood, overheating is NOT VERY LIKELY AT ALL
hoodjax are removable, like takes one minute!...........you wouldn't need them year round anyways.........
over heating or a "look" ?........... hmmm, i know which i'd choose!
how are you going to tell if it's too hot anyways?😎
drum brakes, kept in good order and adjusted regularly are fine........
Yogie ·
Our 68 has a 1641cc twinport in it that has done 180,000 kms since we rebuilt it without any overheating. The only vents we have are the ones under the rear window. The deck lid is solid and we don't run hoodjax and we are in Brisbane so it gets hotter here. You MUST have ALL the tinware on it though.
Yogie.
monster ·
okay thanks everyone!
Bizarre ·
if you are THAT worried get an oil temp gauge put in
Getting vent cut in is a good idea
Hood jax even better
In between is a tennis ball over the latch holding the bottom of the lid open
71superbeetle ·
how do those hood jacks go with the rain though???
Bizarre ·
Like all buggies and bajas
Yes - the back is open but shouldnt make any difference
Didnt when i was running mine
Maybe is you are running IDA's with no filters you might have problems
Joel ·
like Barry said unless u have an open intake or a dizzy cap full of cracks stand offs are fine in all weather or just run them in summer
i have to run them all year round cos my blower wont fit under standard and have no problems with moisture
yogie, just cos there isnt flames coming off ur engine doesnt mean its not hot, u would probably scare urself if u had a head temp gauge
the wider twin port fans pull in alot more air than single ports
vw put 2 sets of vents in when they went that way and realised even that wasnt enough and went 4 vent the next year
throw some twin carbs in the mix makes problem worse
even with the 4 vent decklid on my Lbug my oil temp drops 15C with standoffs and thats running a working factory thermostat setup
Yogie ·
Joel wrote:yogie, just cos there isnt flames coming off ur engine doesnt mean its not hot, u would probably scare urself if u had a head temp gauge
the wider twin port fans pull in alot more air than single ports
vw put 2 sets of vents in when they went that way and realised even that wasnt enough and went 4 vent the next year
throw some twin carbs in the mix makes problem worse
even with the 4 vent decklid on my Lbug my oil temp drops 15C with standoffs and thats running a working factory thermostat setup
Joel, there is hot and there is too hot. The point is he has a 1600cc twin port. Nothing said about twin carbies or any form of hot motor. He doesn't seem to want hood jax and wants to know if it will get too hot.
The point of keeping the engine cool is to make it reliable and let it run for a long time. Ours is set up like his (we do have electronic ignition though). Our car was a daily driver for the first 155,000 kms and was (and still is) very reliable. We pulled it down at 155k when we restored the car and did nothing to it except tidy up the heads a bit. Still very reliable for the next 25k. It is no longer our daily driver but still does about 5k per year.
This info was to let him know what WE have found with a set up like his, not what would happen if he does things to his car that he doesn't want to do. If he thinks 180k+ out of an engine isn't enough, then he can also add full flow oil and remote oil coolers etc without adding hood jax if he doesn't want them. Our 72 beetle has the 4 louvres and, although it is not scientific, the engine lid feels about the same temperature after a drive as our 68 without the louvres.
Yogie
Joel ·
yogie, sorry that will learn me for posting half asleep
classic joelism is tact generally MIA
point i was just trying to make was ive had to deal with a couple of 6volt beetles that have been fitted with twin port 1600s but still had the stock decklid
they were fine thro winter but when its hot on the motorway they were getting so hot
i fitted an oil temp gauge to the first and temp at 65mph settled around 245F on a 35C day which is getting pretty toasty for a vw
fitting some decklid standoffs got it down to 210F
i think problem was amplified more by the old 6volt 4.375 tranny and 14" rims makign it rev its tits off at 65 more than a stock superbug would have been turning
71superbeetle ·
so getting a bit of water thru the gap wouldnt be too much of a problem? A friend of mine fitted one of these hood jack things and had to bend the brackets about 5mm, im thinking you wouldnt be able to take them off and re-attach the lid in winter to the original brackets then. Has anyone got pics of how the brackets fit?
hellbugged ·
no, water is not too much of a problem, you wouldn't drive or park in torrential downpoors for extended amount of time, but it's not so hot then anyways😂....
mine saves around 10 to 15 degrees oil temp, so a good difference.........i don't need it in the cooler months
with hoodjax you bend the new braket to fit, so closed position doesn't alter.....i don't know why your friend did otherwise or wether it wasn't a "hoodjax"
honestly takes less than two minutes to install/remove, once the initial setting up is done (1/2 hour?), the only "mod" to your car being the two holes at the back of the hood hinge brackets........hinge pins are removed from the lid and replaced with race clips, so deck lid is easily removed forever more!