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engine work - advice needed
monster - January 5th, 2009 at 07:04 PM

Hi,

I am about to pickup a 63 bug with a 1600cc twin port engine in it. I have posted another question about the potential of overheating and gotten some good advice there.

But I am also interested in some other engine modifications that will give me greater performance and reliability nothing too fancy though and a guesstimate on the cost of doing so.

any tips?

hellbugged - January 5th, 2009 at 07:13 PM

just leave it standard and enjoy the simplicity and consequent reliability.

maybe just search for a extractor exhaust, 009 distributor/electronic ignition system.......$500

then kadron carbs.......another $500

Sides - January 5th, 2009 at 08:22 PM

Yeah, have to agree with what Daimo's said... that's basically the mods I did to my old 1600 years back, and I was pretty happy with it.

Gives a noticeable improvement in grunt, without really affecting reliability or economy.

monster - January 5th, 2009 at 09:36 PM

but if I do that stuff I should consider better shocks and springs?

VWCOOL - January 6th, 2009 at 06:50 AM

yeha then paint, swaybars, seats, trim, gearbox, new chrome.. and on it goes :lol:

Sides - January 6th, 2009 at 06:50 AM

Yeah sure - eventually. Based on how you drive, what your budget is etc. you'll probably be tweaking things for a while.

The mods above will give you only a mild performance gain - like MAYBE 10hp - so it's not like you're going to need to do everything all in one hit, providing what you have is in good condition. I used to drive my 70 swinger around with basically standard suspension - I'd just gone to some heavier shocks, wider rims and good tyres - and that kept me happy for quite a few years.

monster - January 6th, 2009 at 08:16 AM

thankfully the paint and body are in excellent condition, but excluding the engine everything else seems to be stock. I dont not want a racing bug, but I want the engine to match everything else, if you know what I mean.

Hey sides what did it end up costing you to do the shocks, rims and tires? Did you do the shocks yourself?

Sides - January 6th, 2009 at 04:33 PM

Prices not really relevant now - we're talking the best part of 15 years ago - but from memory it was about $60 per corner for shocks (I just went heavier duty oil Monroes) and about $350 for rims and about $400 for the tyres... I had VW centers welded into new ROH 14x6 and 14x7 steel rims that were then wrapped with some nice sticky 195 and 215 Bridgies.

To do the same sort of thing now, sorry - no idea sorry.

And yeah, I did the shocks myself - pretty easy job really, even back then when I didn't know anything !!!