My 1302 -efi conversion! Running Finally!!

Thought id finally start a post on my car, I'll get some pics next weekend but here's a start
1302 which has lived out in orange all its life, I bought it off the original owner, a 91 year old lady. Its had a very easy life!

Ive just rebuilt the engine, dont think it had ever been apart! At the moment its just a 1600 and I've added 1.4 rockers to the stock cam, ceramic coated headers and twin muffler setup I bought off here, twin 35pdsits and some minor port cleanup work. Should be able to install and start it next weekend! Hopefully goes a little better than stock.

I just placed an order today with Topline parts in the states, maxx struts new sway bar and urathane everything! Its staying on stock rims at the moment but I have the option of 17's when the budget allows with the maxx's. Still trying to work out the tyre combo, at the moment im thinking 145's front 185/65's rear. Also thinkng of spun moon discs for an old school salt flats look! Thinking about 4 inches lowered at the moment but i'll have to try it. It needs the suspension doing either way because its got bad shimmies.

Only other thing i want to do is change the steering wheel to something that doesnt rub my knees and some sort or shortened shift setup. Maybe a hidden stereo later on as I dont want to remove the original AM radio. Other than that justa general tidy up.



.

... nice!

That's a nice colour, car looks pretty straight and rust free too.

Looks nice. By the low back front seats I'm guessing it's a '71? Is that the original owner in the first pic?

All the best with it and welcome to the forum! 😎

yes that is the original owner in the first pic,she is a nice lady and she loved her car , 91 years young and still loved driving her vw. niice old 71 super bug, shame to change it so much owell atleast it will still be on the roads and I dare say going a bit faster then it has been 😂.

Hope you replaced the window rubbers so the rear glass wont fall out when your powering it off at the lights lol😂

Im not doing anything to it that isnt 100% reversible, and the interior etc wont be touched. Next weekends project is the spot of rust in the rear and replace the seal while I'm at it. It wont be much faster, but Jean did say she never went over 40mph because she didnt like the shakes! lol
Its nice to pick up an original car where nearly everthing still works nearly as good as it did back in the day!

Nice and clean 👍

Very neat clean car. Same as our 1302 beetle, low backs seats too.

What are your rear window inner trim vents like?

helbus wrote:Very neat clean car. Same as our 1302 beetle, low backs seats too.

What are your rear window inner trim vents like?

Missing! I saw the repro ones the guy was making on the samba, did you end up getting a pair?

Package from topline arrived last week with maxx struts, lowered swaybar and urathane everything, will be a few weeks before I get a chance to fit it all. Also picked up some 17" wheels so they'll go on at the same time.

Engine wise, the new 1600 is going, but im not happy with it yet, the ignition timing doesnt feel right, dont think its advancing enough at higher rpm and load, still running the stock dist so I'll have to do some research on this one. On the plus side the exhaust is so quiet! twin stainless mufflers, I bought off the forum, very happy with it.

All the suspension work has been done, ended up setting the struts at the highest setting, it seems a lot lower than the 2 inches that settings meant to be. Rear has been slightly lowered (3 up 3 down) and i bought a set of boxster wheels on ebay tonight so they'll be fitted up asap. The ride and handling seem really good for a daily and thats without being wheel aligned yet.
The engine feels really strong, rejetted the carbs and fitted a compufire setup. Its really smooth and pulls well. Unfortunatly I sail for 5 weeks tomorrow so wont get any more done for a while but she's nearly there! Rust has been attended to as well so shes ready for next rego!

Couple of pics, havent gotten a lot done with work and all.
Picked up the correct boss kit at the nats for my Nardi steering wheel, also put in a cheapo shifter, shifts nicely for now.
The wheels are just on there for mock up purposes, getting the discs redrilled whilst im away and might end up with discs on the rear while im at it.
Seats are my next concern, need something that holds me in on the twisty stuff!
Engine is pulling nicely but im feeling the temptation for some real power already....

ian.mezz wrote:yes that is the original owner in the first pic,she is a nice lady and she loved her car ,

That's what they all say, at least your mates wouldn't be hitting on her all the time. 😂 With you being so tall it's lucky she's so small so when you get jiggy in the back seat there's still room. 🤓

Thought Id put a couple of pics up now shes back on the road.

Lookin good 👍

Hi

Looks nice, go the struts

Steve

Thanks, the pictures are a bit flattering, shes a bit rough around the edges in real life, but very solid.

Does anyone have suggestions on what size front tyres work with the above wheel combo/ride height? the struts are all the way up and it scrapes a bit cornering with 2 people in it (or one if im pushing it!) It has 205/55 16 at the moment which needs replacing. 205/50's would be about 20mm shorter overall but not sure if thats enough?

im going to have to look at what im running but im sure its 195/55 16 on the front.

NICE super
Great choice of wheels

What springs are you running??
10" or 12"

I am running 10" with a helper ( i think)
The helper adds about 1" when compressed

I have 205/55's on the same wheels

Mine is a R&P 75L bug and running 2 bolt struts



This is 195/60 series without the helper - but 15"

No idea on the spring size, Topline struts so whatever comes woth those. Ill have to get under it and work out exactly where its rubbing and go from there. Wanna sell that shifter back to me? 😂

SuperOwen wrote:Wanna sell that shifter back to me? 😂

That is one of the nicest things i have bought 😍

Just thinking - you have Topline

I am always arguing the toss on SBO about the spriing rating with them
I wonder if they are just too soft

I will get under and confirm what size i have on mine

Pretty sure they would be softer than your struts. There firmer than stock but not heaps, thats half the reason i went with them, didnt want a race setup. I know they run these with combos that come out around 600mm rolling diameter so id say thats my answer. Def need one of those shifters again!

here are a couple of sites that give the wheel info

http://www.magrowheels.com/sizing.calculator.htm

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/mult_tire_calc/mult_tire_calc.htm

BTW
600mm is 23.6"

Think you want more 24.75" - or 630mm

Thought Id update my ride.....
Got the front suspension sorted with some 195/50 tyres. All clearance issues solved and it steers nicer as well, much less tracking etc. They look a bit small in the pics but the car looks a ton better with them. The previous l205/55 tyres looked far too tall.
Also converted back to stock exhaust and carb. The standard air filter keeps things nice and quiet and the original german heater boxes actually work. Lost a tiny bit of poke but not enough to worry about, overall nicer to drive. Put the stock shifter back in as well.

Next job is a rear sway bar, some decent rear shocks and some sort of bucket seats so I can try the handling out properly. Might aim to put in a big motor and gearbox later in the year....

I just won some seats off ebay, they should be good but ebay seems to be the best place to get cheap seats.

Yeah, im keeping my eyes open for bargains now and a second set of seat bases so I can slide the originals back in when I want to. Trying to drive round corners fast in the original lowbacks is......interesting.

I know what you mean my drivers backrest is broken and leans inwards so lefthanders are messy as insode.

I thought this car was for sale/sold...??

+ I hear prelude seats are a good option. talk to 1303 steve, he's a super man....

and, i couldnt help but notice that you went back to stock exhaust and carb for the noise factor, but want a bigger engine...... Am I sensing some sort of subaru action?

No, this motor will stay as my stock motor that I can throw in anytime, Stock everything makes it nice and easy to work with. If and when I build something bigger it will be aircooled, about 2l and something I can drive to the track and home again, nothing too wild. I like some subaru conversions but not for this car. I think a lot of people forget how nice a stock 1600 goes for normal driving when they're in good nick, not fast but smooth and tourquey.

I was trying to sell it last year when it didnt look like I would have anywhere to keep it, but thats all sorted and she's a keeper now.

Did some more work on her today. Finished off the suspension work with a set of KYB rear shocks and a 3/4inch empi rear sway bar. Quite happy with the quality of the empi rear bar.

The shocks have firmed up the rear just enough to match the front and my heavy understeer bought about by running a heavy front bar and no rear bar is gone, so im happy. Have to wait for some dry weather to really test it out.

Also picked up some seats out of a 99/00 Toyota Levin. Import Corolla with the 20valve engine. Decent side support in these so i shouldn't have to hold on to the wheel for dear life around corners. The picture turned out a bit weird, the pink is hardly noticable in normal light. Just need a pair of bases to mount them on now.

looks like a decent amount of side support on the seat. 🙂 Something I'm totally over is stock seats where you just slide around. no good at all.

Finally got the seats mounted on a spare pair of frames. They fit real nice, perfect width for the car. I was running out of paint so didnt have any option except galmet silver for the bases. (brilliant paint btw, sticks to anything!)
Took it for a drive up the mountain and the feel of the car is totally changed, I can throw it into a corner with confidence now and the car seems to have endless grip! Not having to hang on to the steering wheel makes so much difference. A new engine might be sooner rather than later as the oil light is coming on round corners now, and I dont want to trash my little stocker.
I'll be building up a megasquirt system in the next few months and ill probably throw it on a 1916, something fairly simple. Thinking about turbo but I might keep things simple for now. Also need a decent gearbox built so Ill be living on 2 min noodles for a while......

Looks great and I bet you cant wait to get into it every day now.

Go the turbo and efi if you can afford it, I love turbo's 😁

Kev

Ill definatly go efi, MS2 and piss the distributor off as well. Its not a huge job to go turbo at a later date once the injections sorted. At the same time I keep thinking about trying to build a screaming 1600 so we'll see what happens.

alk to stanley about a screenming 1600.... with turbo!

Just ordered a Megasquirt 2 kit to assemble, hopefully be running injected in a few months time. At this stage Ill get it running with a single throttle body on the current motor before thinking bigger and turbo's etc.

Box of goodies on the way this week....

Also picked up a T25 from a ca18det but I think Ill wait a while before installing that, get the injection 100% first.

I think this is going to be a good thread...👍

Finished building the MS2 computer at work in down time. Would only take about 6-8 hrs max playing at home, fairly easy project. Impressed with the quality of the kit from diyautotune, everything was there and well labled etc. Next step is to set up the hardware side of things in the car, and put the new gearbox as well. Putting in a new gearbox as well 4.125 with welded 3rd and 4th and a 0.82 top gear. Standard diff for now as Im not planning on drag racing this setup. New CSP shifter as well!

Great car.Nice thread.👍

well done mate 👍

This arrived in the mail today, vintage speed 38mm SF muffler and header pipes. Looks nice, hopefully it fits!!

Making very slow progress on this, but its getting there, engine back in with exhaust on, knocked up crank sensor mount. Its only made from thin aluminium but seems fairly stiff the way its been bent so we'll see how it goes.

It Lives!!! Finally got her started and running tonight, had some issues with the polarity of the VR sensor etc, but once sorted started and idled first kick!

I'll have some updates coming in the next few days as I get the tune sorted and also some pics of the new bits I've been buying for later fitting....

Nationals supersprint here we come!!!

Nice work Owen. I look forward to more details as I would like to go down this route.

Nice work mate! how does she drive with the injection? this car is getting better each day

wow! hadn't looked in this thread for a while..........nice stuff going on here, cool ride

👍

Nice work Owen, always good to see a solid DIY

neato
yeah go the super, way to go

Been a bit slow to update here, some of you may have seen the issues Ive had with the throttle cables in another post. Thats semi sorted and I was hoping to get it registered just so I could race at the nationals. Unfortunalty it looks like my new fuel pump has died. It's a walbro copy from summit racing, Ill replace it with a bosch 070 next week but I doubt ill have time to get it registered now. I got it driving for a bit before it started dying. The autotune VE analyser in tuner studio works great.

The other bits Ive bought for it are a full porsche 944 turbo set of calipers and vented discs, and I picked up a new but unused CB performance turbo kit, so all that will be fitted later in the year. Engine will stay 1600 I think but I may pull it for some minor upgrades before turboing it.

Main priority is to get the thing registered still!! Unfortunatly It looks like Ill have to ride the bike to wakefield and watch.

Ive been scratching my head trying to figure out why i couldn't get stable fuel pressure on this thing since may. I ended up installing the 070 pump, then going up to a 1/2 inch supply, then going up to a pierburg lift pump pushing through to a surge pot at the back feeding the 070, then i tried another regulator. After all this I still couldn't get stable fuel pressure, would go up to something near where it should be give or take a few psi, fluctuate wildly on revving the engine and then slowly sink down as the engine ran for a few minutes. I was at my wits end and managed to keep the thing running long enough to idle ok and noticed the fuel pressure on the gauge was sinking all the way to near zero, yet the car was idling with a 4ms pulse width? (small injectors, thats acceptable). Chucked a new gauge on the rail and suddenly everything's ok!! I may never have had a problem in the first place. At least my fuel system is nicely over engineered now. Lesson learned here is don't buy important things like fuel pressure gauges off ebay. It was supposedly a sard gauge but im sure it was a knock off, once i pulled it out I could see all the liquid had leaked out of the gauge face as well.
That was over a week ago, since then Ive started from scratch on the tune to get the priming and cranking settings correct. Tonight I took her for a drive and let autotune do her job. In a 20 min run around the back of bondi and rose bay I went from an afr of 8:1 when i planted the throttle to a drivable tune. Still felt a bit dead so I decided to throw another 5 degrees of timing on it and that really woke it up. No signs of detonation yet either so I think the low comp motor is going to like a lot of advance. Idles smooth as butter already, seems to like 13degrees at idle. I can get a bit more vacuum if I go up to 15-16 degrees but the motor gets a bit intrusive.
One of the nicest features of megatune/tunerstudio is the idle advance. When it comes down to an idle condition it locks on a set advance figure, so i can write the ignition map with much higher advance at low rpm and still have a nice idle.

Also thanks to shimo for the new gearbox, shifts smooth as silk even with a badly adjusted shifter!

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the Megasquirt? Did you buy the pre assembled unit or solder all the sheezy together yourself? My friend is thinking of getting one for his 2TG powered KE20 corolla

Great Job

love it
😉

the megasquirt computers are around 260 plus a relay board plus a stimulator if you build it yourself. www.diyautotune.com I did the solder together version but in future I wouldn't bother, for about 100 bucks more I think you can get the v3.57 board where most of the components are surface mount.