New addition to the garage

I've always replaced them with spares from extra control assemblies, starter or horn button, they're both the same. There used to be a guy selling nice aluminum replacements but his web site seems to be gone. If I had to buy one, that's probably what I'd get.
 
Bike looks great.
Thanks Bowling…

Today, the following was done:
- set cam chain tensioner with engine at operating temperature
- set dwell
- set timing
- synced carbs

Engine not running smoothly and needs plugs for sure. Carb rebuild will most likely be required. The “clacking” noise I first experienced seems to be gone now.

Disappointing discovery though… after all the adjustments were made, I detected oil seepage between the head and jugs as well as between the jugs and crankcase (this may be oil that leaked from the top and migrated down around the base). I’m hoping a head retorque will reduce or eliminate the leakage. If not, looks like the engine needs to come out after all. The oil “spray” could have been the loose left exhaust blowing on the leaking oil. The oil half way down the jug on rod right hand side was probably me spilling some when I poured oil into the cylinders when I first bought it.

The leak….


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Head nuts were quite loose. Retorqued, will test engine again to see if leaks have slowed down. Also did a “duct tape” repair of the rip in the seat. Not pretty but will hopefully minimize further damage. Looks great from 50ft with one eye closed. Lol
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I spy...
with my little eye...
VW jugs and a head. :sneaky:

Ahem.... sometimes it'll take a hundred miles or thereabouts for the oil to quit weeping after a retorque. Don't get discouraged if it still leaks for a bit.
 
I spy...
with my little eye...
VW jugs and a head. :sneaky:

Ahem.... sometimes it'll take a hundred miles or thereabouts for the oil to quit weeping after a retorque. Don't get discouraged if it still leaks for a bit.
Nothing gets by you guys. Lol. 36hp from my ‘57. Slow process. Tough to get parts.

I’ll keep the faith on the head gasket. All fingers crossed on that. Don’t mind pulling the motor if I have to but it will slow my beetle project down.

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I had a '59 bug with it's 36 HP engine back in my HS days,(some decades back). 75mph top speed. I had the shortblock rebuilt and I assembled the rest of the engine and installed it myself. Wish I still had that bug.
I’d be amazed if mine will do 75. I’m hoping for 60 lol.
 
Had a 59 Karmann Ghia that would do about 75, a late 60's Squareback was about the same. Me and my little brother used to convert Bugs to dune buggys. Several of 'em would do 85-90.... and that was exciting sittin' in an open tube frame. :sneaky:
 
I had a 70's 1302 that topped out at 160KPH (about a 100mph) on the Autobahn. Any additional headwind or uphill, it slowed down. 1300 dual port engine classic beetle.
Oh yeah, that '59 had a header from JC Whitney. Probably a EMPI brand. Wasn't that loud
 
Met up with a guy on line that races his beetle. Apparently there’s a class for 36 hp engines like mine. He said he goes to the Bonneville salt flats to run his machine and his top speed so far has been 149 kph or 92 mph. Pretty impressive for 36 hp!
 
As per an earlier post I was missing the factory electric start button. I was looking through my bins and found one that I’ll install tomorrow. In the same small plastic bag as the button was this plastic piece. Can somebody ID it for me?

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Plastic bit is for the seat stay
Ok thanks.

Worked on the bike today and got the factory electric start button installed. Put on new fuel lines and filters but I need to redo them because the current routing kinks the lines a bit. New AGM battery installed - starts well. Dropped the fuel bowls and put them, along with the jets, in the ultrasonic cleaner. The carb bowls had some sediment but nothing really bad. Put them back on and did another carb sync. Got it running not too bad but I think a complete carb rebuild is in order.

Oil leak appears to have slowed down but I wasn’t sure if what I was seeing was residual oil coming off the hot engine parts. I gave it a bath of brake cleaner and next test start up should tell the tale. Last run, there was air leaking from the head gasket because of loose fasteners. Now the nuts and bolts were tight do I ran another compression test. Last time cold, numbers were 115 and 120 psI cold. Now with a warm (not hot) engine, 140 psi both sides. Tensioner was still a bit noisy so I snugged that up a bit.

When idling, there isn’t any smoke, but rev it a bit and the right side blows some smoke. Could be rings stuck from sitting so long? I was tempted to start to pull the engine but I think I’ll take everyones advice and pour some snake oil down the cylinders and valve train and let it soak. Then a good run on the road one day may free things up. PB Blaster was suggested or Marvel Mystery Oil?

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140 both cylinders with a bit of smoke is nothing to worry about. Doubt it is stuck rings with such high PSI, Could it be the valve guides are wearing. That's usually some smoke on start up and goes away once the oil has burnt off
 
140 both cylinders with a bit of smoke is nothing to worry about. Doubt it is stuck rings with such high PSI, Could it be the valve guides are wearing. That's usually some smoke on start up and goes away once the oil has burnt off
Yes you’re probably right. Guess the best thing would be to ride it once the weather cooperates. Maybe another 6 weeks? Fingers crossed.
 
That metal polish works well eh? Nice work Bosco. Looks great. I was thinking of swapping the head washers from the rubber ones as well. Did you just do them one at a time and torque down the spec or is it necessary to back everything off and redo in sequence like first assembly? I won't do it immediately but may do so this year.
 
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