Well working on the engine I finally found a use for an 11mm wrench as well as 15mm sockets. I wonder if I’ll ever use a 16mm wrench or socket?
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Getting the ‘57 beetle back on the road in 2024
- Thread starter bosco659
- Start date
Late night report. Flywheel seal installed with crazy expensive tool that didn’t work as planned; crankshaft end play set at .005”; flywheel torqued to spec; new points and condenser; icing on the cake - dipstick paint job. 
Well I got the motor out of the basement with a friend of mine. I should have but didn’t take pics of it strapped to a two wheeled cart.
Back on the stand and final assembly will take place next week.
Oil cooler permanently mounted. New clutch disc clamped in place.
The motor is reunited with the car after a 26+ year separation.
Getting close, one day at a time….
Back on the stand and final assembly will take place next week.
Oil cooler permanently mounted. New clutch disc clamped in place.
The motor is reunited with the car after a 26+ year separation.
Getting close, one day at a time….
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Yeah, it's like a mullet: Business in the front, party in the back. 
You know it’s been a long time. Appreciate the heads up Jim. That would have been a huge waste of time trying to shoe horn it in!Ummm.... Vic... that's the wrong end buddy.
View attachment 367153
Yeah, it's like a mullet: Business in the front, party in the back.
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Last work on the car for today. I got the air cooling tin down from the rafters and started test fitting the pieces. Some will have to be removed to install other parts in order. It’s beginning to look like a complete motor
This old technology was called the stale air heater. Engine cooling air is either ejected out the back or flaps are closed and air is directed forward to the interior of the car.
This old technology was called the stale air heater. Engine cooling air is either ejected out the back or flaps are closed and air is directed forward to the interior of the car.
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1957 was a good year. Not just talking V-dubs.
More stuff done.
Intake manifold painted.
Thermostat and cooling system hooked up.
Dog house installed over oil cooler and fan.
Generator mounted.
Coil mounted.
Oil filler attached but I’ll probably paint it.
Tomorrow I’ll mount the carb, fuel and vacuum lines. Then all that’s really left is the exhaust and hooking up the heater flaps. Oh I still need to torque the front pulley nut.
Intake manifold painted.
Thermostat and cooling system hooked up.
Dog house installed over oil cooler and fan.
Generator mounted.
Coil mounted.
Oil filler attached but I’ll probably paint it.
Tomorrow I’ll mount the carb, fuel and vacuum lines. Then all that’s really left is the exhaust and hooking up the heater flaps. Oh I still need to torque the front pulley nut.
For those who don’t know but may be interested, this is how the cooling system works….
Air is drawn into the back of the fan shroud into the air ring - a hinged doughnut at the back. Air flow is created by a fan mounted at the back of the generator (inside the housing).
The amount of air that goes past the motor is regulated by the thermostat, which is a liquid filled brass bellows. The thermostat is connected to the air ring via rods, shaft and linkages. As the motor heats up, the bellows expand and pushes the air ring out of the back of the housing allowing more air to flow through the system.
As the air travels through the fan shroud, it is forced through the vertical oil cooler. Then it splits in two directions into the cooling tin that wraps around the cylinders. Once it’s done it’s thing, the air heads out to either atmosphere or if redirected by cable controlled flaps, it heads towards the interior of the car into heater channels on either side of the floor pan.
It’s a simple system but works. Better for engine cooling than interior heating from what I’ve been told. I hopefully won’t have to use the wipers or heater often although then will both be functional.
As always more pics (same as posted before but will follow the above narrative)
Air is drawn into the back of the fan shroud into the air ring - a hinged doughnut at the back. Air flow is created by a fan mounted at the back of the generator (inside the housing).
The amount of air that goes past the motor is regulated by the thermostat, which is a liquid filled brass bellows. The thermostat is connected to the air ring via rods, shaft and linkages. As the motor heats up, the bellows expand and pushes the air ring out of the back of the housing allowing more air to flow through the system.
As the air travels through the fan shroud, it is forced through the vertical oil cooler. Then it splits in two directions into the cooling tin that wraps around the cylinders. Once it’s done it’s thing, the air heads out to either atmosphere or if redirected by cable controlled flaps, it heads towards the interior of the car into heater channels on either side of the floor pan.
It’s a simple system but works. Better for engine cooling than interior heating from what I’ve been told. I hopefully won’t have to use the wipers or heater often although then will both be functional.
As always more pics (same as posted before but will follow the above narrative)
My experience is with my Mom's '57 & '65 as a passenger and later as a driver, the latter having the same basic systems as the 57 with a few updates in windows, lighting, interior, etc.
And I can tell you that thru many Ohio winters the heater worked "acceptably", not great, but better than nothing. And with no fan other than the engine-mounted one, air flow was leasurely.
What really didn't work - not sure if the '57 had this "feature", but the '65 did - was the defroster. By the time the air made it's way at a glacial pace to the two little vents at the lower corners on each side of the windshield, it might as well not have bothered.
But what I really want to know is where is the chrome intake manifold topped by a Holley Bug-Spray 2bbl?!
I’ve never owned a beetle before this but my wife did and said defrosting the windows was only possible with a scraper in hand. I would bet on her car part of the heating system inadequacy was due to poor maintenance (she was a poor student at the time). I’ll check next time I’m in the garage but my car has something resembling defroster vents in the corners by the windshield.My experience is with my Mom's '57 & '65 as a passenger and later as a driver, the latter having the same basic systems as the 57 with a few updates in windows, lighting, interior, etc.
And I can tell you that thru many Ohio winters the heater worked "acceptably", not great, but better than nothing. And with no fan other than the engine-mounted one, air flow was leasurely.
What really didn't work - not sure if the '57 had this "feature", but the '65 did - was the defroster. By the time the air made it's way at a glacial pace to the two little vents at the lower corners on each side of the windshield, it might as well not have bothered.
But what I really want to know is where is the chrome intake manifold topped by a Holley Bug-Spray 2bbl?!
She's exactly right...a scraper was a necessary part of interior window care!
1971 Beetle 1200 IIRC. We loved the simplicity in so many details. The heater wasn't working great but we investigated and found we needed to replace a couple sections of the cardboard concertina tubing from that engine fan to the cabin heat vents. After that, the heating was at least adequate. I mean c'mon, you're utilising the waste cooling air, there's mechanical fittings like the cooling flaps but no electric motor needed, yippee free heating. Likewise the windscreen washer utilises air pressure in the spare tyre. And yes, I think the original tool kit included a tyre pump, just in case.
And I think we must have had the same totally inadequate screen de-mister coz I'm sure I recall scraping frost off the inside of the flat windsreen.
Charming. But so is Heath Robinson.
And I think we must have had the same totally inadequate screen de-mister coz I'm sure I recall scraping frost off the inside of the flat windsreen.
Charming. But so is Heath Robinson.
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I drove a ‘71 Super Beetle in the Great White North or near enough to it. The left hand held the steering wheel, and the right hand held a scraper and operated the shifter.
J C Whitney catalogue had 12V heater/defrosters that mounted to the dash for heat. Made just for Bugs. About all it did was clear out about 6 inches in the center of the windshield and drain the battery unless you were out on the highway.
Was any of y'all here ever friggin dumb enough to buy one? Besides me I mean?
Was any of y'all here ever friggin dumb enough to buy one? Besides me I mean?
Maybe 20-25 years ago, I saw a man running a piece of string through the slots on the bonnet to the driver’s door window of his Beetle. I thought to myself, “I know what he’s doing!” BTDT.
I also remember repairing the speedometer with a piece of bubblegum.
Great cars!
I also remember repairing the speedometer with a piece of bubblegum.
Great cars!
No, but JC Whitney was a friend for a number of years!J C Whitney catalogue had 12V heater/defrosters that mounted to the dash for heat. Made just for Bugs. About all it did was clear out about 6 inches in the center of the windshield and drain the battery unless you were out on the highway.
Was any of y'all here ever friggin dumb enough to buy one? Besides me I mean?
I probably would have. Now you could install a diesel heater and have heat to spare!J C Whitney catalogue had 12V heater/defrosters that mounted to the dash for heat. Made just for Bugs. About all it did was clear out about 6 inches in the center of the windshield and drain the battery unless you were out on the highway.
Was any of y'all here ever friggin dumb enough to buy one? Besides me I mean?
I bought one, towed it home, yanked the (rebuiltJ C Whitney catalogue had 12V heater/defrosters that mounted to the dash for heat. Made just for Bugs. About all it did was clear out about 6 inches in the center of the windshield and drain the battery unless you were out on the highway.
Was any of y'all here ever friggin dumb enough to buy one? Besides me I mean?
) motor in the backyard without a jack, sold the motor and roller separately, total time of ownership less than a week. I don't recall I ever saw it run.The kind of shenanigan that got me through a couple years of school.
