OK guys, I've got a couple of questions that may have been answered on here before but,

1- I've seen bonnet & boot rubbers that fit on the bonnet not in the groove on the body. Can these fit my 1970 1500 bug and where can I get them as I'd like to delete the rubber groove around the openings.

2. I've also seen on this forum & in magazines cars with holes or louvers cut in behind the number plate on the engine lid with the plate spaced off the lid.

Does this help with the cooling as I was under the impression that with all engine rubbers in place that the engine compartment was a sealed area. If it does work then I'll cut some holes behind my plate before paint.

I don't really want cabrio vents in the lid as I'd like to pinstripe the smooth decklid. Thanks guys

The rubbers you are seeking do exist. They are commonly called Mexican seals. I'm not sure where to get them, but vintage might be a starting point. I don't think classic sell them as I have asked George before.

I know some guys have found suitable rubber seals at Clark rubber.

Deleting the original seal channels is a good idea in my opinion. I've done it to my beetle and found a bit of rust behind that you would never have known was there otherwise.......until it started bubbling through from the inside.

I found the seals you are looking for. You can get them from pierside parts in the US. Just search for werksberg.
http://www.piersideparts.net/ 

Ok, Thanks cam070. I thought rust might lurk under the seal channels as dirt and crud seam to catch there. I'll search for Mexican rubbers then.

Thanks Bizarre, Yep, I pulled the engine seal off today and the channel had some rust. Just surface at the moment but it was there. I'll look into the rubber stores.

Poe, If you're planning future engine upgrades it is well worth adding the holes behind the plate.
As soon as you put a twinport doghouse cooler engine in a car with no decklid vents you're gonna create problems.

Those vents in 70s decklids weren't put there for no reason....
A 70 bug would have originally had a vented lid anyway unless it was the 1300 pov pak.

Thanks Joel, My bug is a German 1970 and as far as I can tell it has the original decklid but it has no vents just a 1500 badge.( which I have removed ). The car has had a respray in a slightly different shade of blue but the underside of the lid is still original Space Blue. Do you think the German assembled bugs may have had a smooth lid with no vents? I am planning engine work further down the track so I will add some vents behind the plate now.

We had an Aussie built 1300 and it had the smooth decklid.

Is it a 1969 1500?
The '69 didn't have vents in the engine lid.

I have a 60 beetle with all the tin in place and good rubber seals on the engine lid and around the engine, it runs a 2054 with dual webers along with large valve heads 1 5/8" exhaust dog house cooler ect,ect. oil temp never gets above 190 degrees F and the cylinder head temps reach about 350 degrees F this is all with out deck lid stand off,s or any holes cut any were, the car was designed to have all of this inplace to have positive air pressure in the engine bay and to date i have not had any issues with cooling on any of my cars even in the hottest weather.

^^^ no additional oil cooler??

All of my cars have aditional oil coolers, but all of them have all the tinware fitted and no mods to the rear of the car, i built a 2276 for my 60 karmann ghia with 10.8 to 1 compression ratio 48 drla,s, engle fk87 and street eliminator heads all with the boot closed and no temp issues or running on, a lot of it has to do with how the engine was assembled, choice of components that do not work well together that actually cause the issues.it is very important that all the seals are in place around the engine and the boot lid is sealed.

We have a 68 with no engine lid vents. It is just a standard 1600 dual port with the dog house oil cooler and it never gets too hot, even in the Qld summer. We do have all of the tinware and seals in place though.

Yogie

I have a '61 beetle, stock 1300 twinport with doghouse fan and cooler and all tin and seals (no external oil cooler). First time I took it for a run of more than 2 hours highway driving it overheated on me.

Propped the lid open to finish the journey, then later cut holes under the no. plate. Haven't overheated 7 years since.

Regards,

Matt.

you should find out why it overheated as proping open the boot lid did not solve the cause of the over heating.

All well and good, but my 60 beetle with the 2054 ,44 idf's, 1 5/8' exhaust, 94mm bore, 74mm stroke, big valve heads, 9 to 1 lives in a 36 hp engine bay with no stand offs and all the tin in place, no dog house cooler but a oil cooler at the front of the car, head temps are about 350F and no over heating, oil temp max on this car is about 200F, a lot of over heating is in the engine with incorrect bearing clearences ect ect, if you have to solve a over heating issue by proping the boot open it needs further investigating, the oil does not do a lot of cooling in the cylinder head area and you need a cylinder head temp gauge to see what is going on there, when you build a engine the more care that is taken in the measuring and assembly the better the end resault including having the engine running cooler no matter how modified it is.

Thats the problem when people make statements with out the experence to back it up, see it all the time, as i said it is how you build it and set it up, my ghia has a 2276, 10.8 to 1, 48 drla with a set of heads that flow very well, revs to 7500 RPM, same again, boot closed, all tin in place and runs cool, all the way to valla and back, close to 2000 klms.

All my engines have the wider fan fitted to a aftermarket 36 HP shroud, the one in the Ghia has a doghouse cooler and the one in the beetle is a shroud without the cooler tinware. over thirty years of building modified vw;s tells me it works if you pay attention to detail. proof is in the end resalt for me.

It's funny reading about you guys saying the same things, but arguing about it nonetheless!
Even putting 2 extra degrees of timing in a stock motor will slowly add heat to an engine, it will take over an hour but it will happen, a motor that is too tight even stock or a seal that is slipped by 1/2" will also do it. BUT, a 200HP motor cruising on the highway at 110kph only needs under 25 of those horses to maintain that speed, trying to go up Bathurst hill flat out lap after lap it would get hot without any extra airflow pretty quick.

What us the opinion of you guys (coz you've been there done that by the sound of it) to adding some little holes or vents right at the bottom of the engine bay lid? It's not for drawing in cool air, I was thinking more about letting the hot engine air out, because it's so low on the back of the car it's probably a low-pressure area, will help draw out some of the heat, and possibly help draw in cool air from the top in the high pressure zone behind the window. Would this work do you think?
I've just been thinking about using the high-pressure and low-pressure zones at the back of the car to full advantage.

Regards,
Dave

Maybe you need a GoPro and some little bits of wool (tufts) and sticky tape. You could then use the old school method!

http://autospeed.com/cms/title_Ultimate-DIY-Automotive-Modification-ToolKit-P...

Below the number plate light housing is obviously the best spot for extra vents.
The factory started installing thermostatically opened flaps there on 74 and later decklids.



They wouldn't have gone to so much effort if it wasn't worth while.

The stock cooling system is very well engineered and can support high HP engines if everything is in check like timing, jetting, CR etc, there's no need to reinvent the wheel just be wary of crappy aftermarket parts.
Most of the tinware fits terribly and many shrouds are lacking the proper internal vanes.