December 2012

Well, winter is upon us, which makes my garage very cold and my ambition wane a little bit because I'm busy with X-mas stuff and shoveling snow.

That being said I was able to get my heads cleaned and rebuilt.  Glen at Competition Engine did the work and they came out great.  Glen was very nice to talk to because he is the of the old school variety so he knew a lot about these engines and asked me some great questions I hadn't previously thought about.

I've decided that I'm going to try and get a 1385cc big bore kit for my 1200cc, it'll give me a little extra oomph with no mods necessary to the block or fuel system.

I also got a great magazine from my wifes Uncle, it is an issue of Volkwagen Classics from 1981 and it has a wealth of information in it to cheaply and safely modify a stock engine to get a little extra push.

Hope everyone a safe and happy x-mas season.

jd

May 2013

It's been a while...winter is cruel.  Too cold to work on Beetle in the winter.

Anyway I have made some progress, as I was gifted some Christmas money which I've tried to stretch out a long way...but on paper looks like nothing.

I've decided to go with a little hotter 40hp 1200cc engine, it'll be a sleeper of sorts.  Anyway I searched high and low to finally find 1385cc (83mm) jugs and pistons.  I bought it from the good people at eVW Parts.

I'm going to go for a performance cam (probably Engle) as the cam that came out had some wear on the gear and a new stock is almost the same price as an after market Engle.  With all that and a bigger carb then the 28PICT that I currently have I should be able to get a reliable 65hp, which is still 15 more hp then the 1600cc.

I got my crank polished at Competition Engine in Winnipeg, Glen is the owner and I've bounced some ideas off of him and he has been great to work with.  He has an automated parts cleaner so I sent over my block for a cleaning too.  Both pieces came back great.  The block after being washed is for sure magnesium and is showing it's age.  I will need to put some elbow grease into getting some crud out of certain areas.

So to reiterate I have everything completely torn down, I now need the following before I can start the rebuild:

1) Distributor gear set (mounts on crank)
2) Crank bearing (STD)
3) Cam bearings (STD)
4) Cam (over course)

I have a b-day coming up so I'm hoping for a good haul that I can get the above.

jd

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Well, a few things have changed that have taken me away from my Beetle, firstly was that I had run out of money to purchase any parts (as I stated before I'm only allowed to spend money that is gifted to me, I have a small commission from work and I get 5% of that too).  Secondly, my 28PICT carburator was missing a cover for the choke...

I searched high and low for a cheap beat up 28PICT with no luck, I did however find someone on www.thesamba.com that was selling carb tops (looks like for a 30PICT), which I bought for $50US, it has the cover I need and so that is one small victory, because my carb is completely rebuilt, I'll cover it up nicely so as not to get plugged with spiders and cobwebs.  Lastly I recently had an addition to the family in the form of a new baby girl, so obviously some things have been put on the back burner for a bit.  My next milestone is to finally split the blocks of my two engines and get a tally of what I need internally for one good engine.

Magnesium or Aluminum?

Imagine my dismay as I remove the oil drain plate (bolts came out nice I think to myself).  Peel back the gasket and voilà, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?!

I initially thought that the block was cast aluminum, but I think now it is magnesium, I haven't found anything on-line to tell me what it is exactly but I've never seen aluminum do this.  Magnesium however will corrode and dissolve into nothing.  It is a sacrificial metal on pontoon planes that is put on strictly to corrode so the aluminum doesn't.

Anyway, there was that and this:

This picture is of my 28 PICT carb, I had just resealed it and...I'm missing this very important piece off of the carb top.  Can't buy it separately, a whole carb isn't cheap and hard to find (not many people stick to the original 1200cc 40hp engines of the 60's).  I did however find a person on www.thesamba.com who was selling carb tops!  One small hurdle is overcome.

Now back to the block, well I did get two engines in this deal, except I thought the other was a 36hp 1200cc (which is designed differently) but upon furhter investigation it is what looks like a 40hp and the oil drain is a perfectly machine surface like it should be.  It is in rougher shape, some pitting on the outer cast and so on, but overall it's usable.

Oh, and before I forget, I was removing my old heads of the "bad" engine block and the head bolts were seized extra specially tight so once I cut the bolts to remove the head, and now I'm hammering the head bolt out..."CRACK" broke off a fin, to close to the bolt hole so much that I don't feel comfortable with it.  I was originally told these heads were the "new" style square boss, but again upon investigation I find out that they are the lesser round boss style which are prone to valve seizure when running hot, so no real big loss.  I was able to get a pair of used square boss heads off of www.thesamba.com for $15/ea plus shipping.  Not bad, that is until I had to look at the "older" thought to be 36hp engine and I instantly realized that the square boss heads are on there...I'm thinking this engine as old and rough as it looks has been rebuilt at least once before and I probably should have started with it.

Oh well, I AM learning.

jd

The Pick Up

I make no claims that this isn't going to be a lot of work.  It is, no doubt, going to be a royal pain in the posterior and wallet.

I bought it under the impression it was a 1962, but after doing some studying, when I went back for my second look (and to purchase it) I noticed somethings that told me it was older.  For one, the '62 does not have the "snow flake" brake lights, also there is no fuel gauge which came with cars in '61.  When I got home and looked up the chassis serial number it came in at 1960.

I received two engines, I was told that they were both 1200cc 40hp engines, but the serials numbers said otherwise.  I was also told that one engine was original but again I did some studying and the "original engine" was a 1965 1200cc 40hp engine (good for me, except it is seized solid).  The other engine though was a 1960 1200cc 36hp but by the serial number is not the original engine either.  It's for that reason I'm not going to return this car to factory (or a numbers car) because I simply can't due to the engines.

I have started the tear down of the 40hp engine, and I'll right more in another post but it has been trying to say the least.

Truck #1, Car #2, Van#1, Car #2.5?, Car #3

With money in hand I went to shop for a truck, I decided on a 2001 Mazda B4000 (basically a Ford Ranger re-badged).  It was a good truck, but there were some issues, mainly I'm fairly confident it was in a flood because it had severe rust on the interior of the cab under the dash.  Also the Ford 4.0L is a BIG TIME PIG on fuel.  I went out of town for school, so I took a more fuel efficient car (my wife's) she called me the first week and said the truck had to go, she won't drive it anymore, period.  Admittedly it needed some work and I had no money to repair, so good bye truck, hello Chevrolet Malibu Maxx (2007 I believe).  I loved this car (in case you couldn't tell I have a thing for hatch backs) anyway, this was a great car, great power, options for the $$$, good fuel economy.  Biggest down falls were rear disc brakes in this climate are terrible no matter the vehicle so higher maintenance costs and the trunk was sub par as the main vehicle, and after about one month of having a new child we parted ways.  I still regret it but at the time it was what we thought the right thing.  Anyway, now the Maxx was traded in for a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan SE 25th Anny Version.  But it isn't my vehicle anymore, no I got the fuel efficient Toyota Echo (2003) and my wife got the van...weird how that works in life.  Fast forward to today, I still have the Dodge, the Echo and now the 1960 Volkswagen Beetle.

Car #1: Nissan 240SX SE

Let me first start with my first car, everyone has a love affair with their first car.  Unless it was a Hyundai Pony...but who am I to judge.

My first car was a 1991 Nissan 240SX SE, I paid $3000 for it.  It needed tires and a windshield to get road worthy.  When I bought it in 2001 it had low Km's, don't remember the exact number but it was in the range of 60,000km or maybe less.  The woman who owned it kept it because it was given to her as a present from her late father and she didn't want to part with it even though she hadn't driven it herself for many many years.  She must've liked the cut of my hair or something that day because she let it go.  It was red, 2.4L inline 4, with rear wheel assist steering that worked BUT no A/C...every other option but A/C?!?  Sunroof though.  I instantly fell in love with this car, I was 20-21 bought with my own money.  But the very First car I tried to buy was a Chevette, then an Omni (couldn't find a link/picture) and to come full circle a VW Baja Beetle, the Beetle was sitting the back lane of my sisters neighbour I pestered him to sell it to me.  He unequivocally denied me everytime, reason being...he was saving it for his then 4yr old kid...dammit.  But all roads led me to my 240SX.  It was a great car, all I did was change engine oil and tires I had it for MANY adventures and Km's until I sold it (with a couple of tears) in 2005 to a 17yr old kid who had it as HIS dream car.  He shortly totaled it.

jd