ok now that i have decided to put a golf motor into my beetle, (which is bolted in by the way), does anyone have pics or some advice on where to put the radiator, how to duct the air, and where to run the pipes?
also what type of radiator do others use?
i have golf radiator which does fit in the wheel well.
the car is a 1500 beetle

heres a pic

First I must say that the golf engine is probably not the best choice of engine for a beetle. It has a cast iron (heavy) block, and if it's an older golf motor it doesn't make much in the way of HP. It's only advantage is it's cheap and can be bought for nearly nothing.

As for the radiator, I use an MX6 radiator to suit my MX6 engine. It has two large thermo fans, each fan has two speeds and are computer controlled (by the ECU).

I chose to put it above the gearbox cos I had the room and it is the safest spot for it to be while offroading. All my transplant details are on my site.

If you are using a golf motor and golf radiator up the front, I would consider investing in an electronic booster pump as I think the golf water pump will struggle to pump enough water all the way down to the other end of the car and back again.

the reason im going with a golf motor is because its the only vw motor in which i can get decent horsepower for minimum cost.
i thought of the popular subaru conversion but i decided not to go that way.
the weight of a golf engine is 16 pounds heavier than a complete type 1 engine so this is not a problem.
i plan on fitting a 1.8 GTI motor from the 91 GTI's using the digifant injection which in stock form produces 110hp

A GTi motor would be good, but it's not cheap anymore.

The old 1600 golf motors are heavy, I have moved a few around. They are pretty prehistoric internally. I wasn't impressed when I pulled one down.

man I helped build an old 8valve golf engine running 12:1 with twin 40mm side draft webbers and that thing would ping on avgas and get wheel spin in third cheap as chips and a bit of fun...well till it sucked in its carb sock and busts intro flames in from of the needle exchange LOL but that another story

i think from memory the 1.8 is around the grand mark

keep your radiator up the frount although you can get big fans and stuff, look at every other car millions can't be wrong

Those millions of other cars put their radiators at the front because they also have radiator grills.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not a fan of Whales tails but I have seen a clever intercooler packed into a whale tail and though it would be a handy spot for a radiator provided it was thin and not to heavy.

Hi

Im using a custom Ford Transit radiator in my bug, go as big as you can, its good to have something in reserve. Give the Golf motor a whirl and save up for a 1.8 Audi turbo.

Im running stainless pipes under my heater channels, they are kinked to follow the chassis 8 mm bolts. Im not to worried about ground clearance though.

Check out Shoptalk go to the conversion perversion section, you will find some like minded soles there with some good information.

1302Steve