Semi auto beetle motor

Hi guys,
I have a 1970 semi auto beetle,
I was told the motor in it is a 1300, but i dont have a clue,
All i know is that its in pieces and was when i got the car.

Now for my question,
I have an 1800 that i want to put in it,
Is it a matter of simply bolting the 1800 onto the semi auto gearbox?
or is there more to it?
I am fairly new to vw's, and i have never seen a semi auto in person untill now, So be patient with me 😊

Any help would be much appreciated.

heres a picture

The Semi auto Beetles originally came out with a 1500 single port. So unless someone has done a swap and downgraded it shouldn't be a 1300.

Is the 1800 a Kombi engine? If so it will be a type 4 block.
The Semiautos have a special oil pump that has an additional pair of gears that pump the oil to the converter. I'm not sure if this can be swapped into the type 4 engine or not.
plus you also need to have a vacuum point on your manifold for the clutch control solenoid.


Smiley 🙂

hope you have the tanks and solenoid parts

Convert the car to manual 👍

This^.

Unless you got a gimpy left leg the semi auto is not worth the trouble.
An 1800 type4 engine wouldnt work with it anyway, the crank patterns flanges are different so the flex plate and torque converter wouldnt fit up.
Plus why go to all the work of fitting the type4 to kill its performance.

There would be plenty of people willling to take the semi auto parts of you.

Smiley wrote:The Semi auto Beetles originally came out with a 1500 single port. So unless someone has done a swap and downgraded it shouldn't be a 1300.

Is the 1800 a Kombi engine? If so it will be a type 4 block.
The Semiautos have a special oil pump that has an additional pair of gears that pump the oil to the converter. I'm not sure if this can be swapped into the type 4 engine or not.
plus you also need to have a vacuum point on your manifold for the clutch control solenoid.

Smiley 🙂

Yea I had the feeling it probably was not a 1300, I was also told that this was a 74 model...
Guess it shows that you should not trust some people lol.

Not sure what the 1800 is, yet to pick it up.

Thanks for the help.

pod wrote:hope you have the tanks and solenoid parts

Im not familliar with all the parts of a semi auto, but i would assume they are in the box as i removed some bits from the engine bay when i was cleaning it out

Craig Torrens wrote:Convert the car to manual 👍

looks like i have no choice haha

Joel wrote:This^.

Unless you got a gimpy left leg the semi auto is not worth the trouble.
An 1800 type4 engine wouldnt work with it anyway, the crank patterns flanges are different so the flex plate and torque converter wouldnt fit up.
Plus why go to all the work of fitting the type4 to kill its performance.

There would be plenty of people willling to take the semi auto parts of you.

Thanks man
Your a great source of info!
I will have to try and get my hands on a manual box then.

So who wants my semi auto parts?

AndrewB wrote:So who wants my semi auto parts?

Shotgun!! 😂



Smiley 🙂

An even better question is do you want the parts for the conversion?😵I have an early L bug that is a rolling chassis with gearbox and the other bits.

Smiley wrote:

AndrewB wrote:So who wants my semi auto parts?

Shotgun!! 😂



Smiley 🙂

but your in qld? how the hell would you get them,
I have to call another bloke to see if he wants it, but if your serious then you are in line.

grumble wrote:An even better question is do you want the parts for the conversion?😵I have an early L bug that is a rolling chassis with gearbox and the other bits.

Interesting, tell me more....
what conversion are we talking about here?

I am actually very much regretting my purchase of this beetle now that i have sat in a 60's beetle, thats what i wanted, but the 1970 popped up so i grabbed it,
so im at even more of a cross roads lol 😬

The parts to convert from semi auto to manual,ie. transmission,drive shafts,gear linkage & lever,pedal cluster and most of the other parts necessary. The other option is to sell the vehicle and buy what you want.

Drive shafts are the same 👍
Same gear lever can be used, but different lock out plate.
Gear linkage is same, except shift rod is shorter.

Smiley probably has all those bits sitting in his yard he could give you for a straight swap :P

bajachris88 wrote:Drive shafts are the same 👍

Not true. The semi auto has slightly longer axles.



Smiley 🙂

Shift rod is longer too.