My '63 Beetle is currently fitted with what is believed to be a 1600 SP (I say 'belived' because it was removed from a wreck and dropped into my '63 at short notice and without any testing or measuring) and was only supposed to be a temporary measure until I had time to build something better....

It has actually turned out to be a really reliable engine, so the need to build another engine has lost some of it's urgency, however it has one very annoying problem that is getting worse now that the weather has turned cold...

The manifold pre-heat tubes are damaged (burnt-out) and have been blocked off where the manifold meets the exhaust. This, coupled with a rather worn 30PICT carb causes it to cough and backfire at low revs almost all the time - although it does improve once a little heat has soaked into the manifold.

I was thinking of fitting a different carb to the car to eliminate the problem with the worn 30PICT (which is a 1300 carb anyway), and I may as well fix the manifold pre-heat problem while I am there...

I have a 34 PICT-3 from a later model 1600 TP that has been recently rebuilt but this does not fit onto the SP manifold (mounting base is a diferent size), so I was wondering what my options are....

I have a number of TP manifolds (the 3 piece ones) kicking around in my shed... does anyone know if it is possible to make a single port version, using the center of the TP manifold and by cutting the ends off a SP manifold? Has it been done before? Did it work OK? I imagine that the only issue will be getting the manifold ends to seal to the TP centre section... or is there more to it than that?

My other option is to fit dual carbs, I have a set of Type III carbs and manifolds off a 1500 Type III motor, but I would have to create a throttle linkage and come up with a set of air filters that will fit inside an early Beetle engine bay....

What would your choice be?

R