Getting the ‘57 beetle back on the road in 2024

[bosco659]

Wow Vic, you are doing some really fine work on your cool old car. It will be the talk of the town next summer!

Thx, I’m going to inspect the cooling tin pieces that surround the cylinder heads to see what I need to do to clean them up. I might break down and send them out to be blasted and then I’ll do a quick paint job. I was looking at the engine this evening. I think I’ll move it from the basement to the garage soon. I don’t expect I’ll start working on it until the end of the winter though because of the Supra motor swap.

 

[bosco659]

Prior to taking in the engine tin for cleaning and Powdercoating I assembled the bits to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Here’s that the cooling tins look like. There’s a belt driven fan on the back side of the generator. Basically sucks in air and blows it around the cylinders. Inside the rectangular vents are cable operated doors. When no heat in the car is needed, these doors remain open. If you want heat you close these doors and a combination of engine air and exhaust manifold air is sent through channels in the rocket panels to heat the cabin. Nice in theory but I understand it’s quite inefficient. Since the car will be driven in summer only, I’m thinking about deleting the doors for the heating system.

The air cooling system for the engine is quite simple too. Whatever air gets sucked into the housing should blow by the cylinders however there’s a deflector in the fan air intake than can restrict the opening for the fan = engine warms up quicker. This deflector is actuated by a brass bellows that expands when heated and an attached linked move the deflector. More primitive technology.

 

[Jim]

This deflector is actuated by a brass bellows that expands when heated and an attached linked move the deflector. More primitive technology.

I does work though... 3 Bugs, a Squareback and a Ghia. Cooling worked on all of 'em without ever touching any of it.

 

[bosco659]

Mock up of engine bits ; fuel pump; oil cooler; distributor; generator / fan. All needs to come off though to cart the motor upstairs and out to the garage. I think I’ll seal up the block, add jugs and heads, then do the rest of the assembly in the garage. I think on a good day I may be able to muscle up and take it out by myself. It’s starting to look like an engine again!

 

[bosco659]

I does work though... 3 Bugs, a Squareback and a Ghia. Cooling worked on all of 'em without ever touching any of it.

I didn’t know you had so many of them!

 

[Jim]

I didn’t know you had so many of them!

My little brother and I used to build dune buggies too. The fiberglass one and tube framed ones... prolly about 10 or 15 in total. Good fun when you're a kid. Got a pic around here somewhere. I'll put it up when I find it.

 

[bosco659]

My little brother and I used to build dune buggies too. The fiberglass one and tube framed ones... prolly about 10 or 15 in total. Good fun when you're a kid. Got a pic around here somewhere. I'll put it up when I find it.

I think you may have posted that pic when I started this thread. Lucky for you that you don’t live nearby, I’d be bugging (excuse the pun) for help all of the time. lol.

 

[gggGary]

a combination of engine air and exhaust manifold air is sent through channels in the rocket panels to heat the cabin.

If you're an "up Norter" of a certain age you remember seeing a Bug on winter roads with the drivers face jammed to the windshield, peering through the tiny circle the defroster managed to clear.

 

[TX650A Van Islander]

If you're an "up Norter" of a certain age you remember seeing a Bug on winter roads with the drivers face jammed to the windshield, peering through the tiny circle the defroster managed to clear.

On the very rare occasion I drove my Corvair in the Ontario winter I experienced that. Fun memories!