G’day

Is it OK to cut the pre-heater pipes of my 1600-now 1850cc twin port beetle motor?

I have asked around a lot of VW enthusiasts and everyone seems to have a different opinion. So I thought I would through it up on here before I attack my inlet manifold with a saw.

I know that this may leed to my inlet manifold icing up but when I talk to people that have done it they say it’s only a problem if the car sits idling for 10 or so minutes.

Any info is appreciated

Cheers Alastair

depends on what carby you have fitted

as yr in Tassie i wouldnt suggest it

I am running the original carby at the moment with plans of a single twin port Webber.

Silly question but Why? Vw spent thousands of dollars developing these engines,I have seen them ice up and stall in cold weather and it is a pain in the proverbial waiting for them to thaw out.I suggest that you leave them in place as they also stabilise the manifold.

bad idea. there, question answered,

you will regret it if you do.

Thanks for the quick feedback. Looks like they’re staying on.

Why would you??

If they are there leave them on

If you really want them off get a stuffed one and use that.
Dont cut up a good one
(well its yours cut the car if you like )

My first comment still stands - why??

The inlet manifold that I pulld off the motor has corroded through in several spots. And I don’t want to buy a new inlet manifold as I only plan to use this carby to run the motor in.

Luckily I have another inlet manifold in much better condition (no holes) so the plan is to use that manifold instead of cutting the rooted pre heater pipes off the old manifold.

How stupid do you think I am, cutting up a perfectly good manifold.

I think I will still try it with them cut off to see how it does affect the motor as I know of many people cruising around tassie without them.

not this one again

as grumble said they wouldnt have it if it wasnt needed

it was one of the really old books, i think the how to hotrod vw engines that reckon they got a power improvement by slipping a coke can ontop of the gasket to block it off.....

icing still happends even in warmer climates, its just due to the change of state, the fuel going from a liquid to a vapour makes it refrigerate

i had a single weber without preheat but with an electric heater and even in the middle of summer the difference to around town driving and economy was dramatically improved. highway driving wasnt much different

also unless you have one of those rarer 71-72 manifolds that bolt to the case they also use the preheat pipes for support. cut off theres nothing holding it in place except the rubber boots and all the movements causes them to fail alot sooner