Cooling tins

I bought the Super Cool tins on an impulse.  Further research showed they were designed for the T3 flat pancake cooling system and not the T1 up right cooling shroud.  Not sure if that was hear say or results of some study. The positive ads (vendors selling them) say they increase cooling but others say -

Pro - Chirco performance offers both black and chrome plated custom Air Cooled VW super cool tin, these tins mount underneath the cylinders and above the push rod tubes and direct the air coming down the fan to swirl around the cylinder for better cooling . these custom super cool tins fit all Air Cooled VW upright engines.

Con - IF VWs had cooling issues that mandated 10 million dollars of R&D to create the doghouse system, don't you think they would have applied these "super cool tins" to the engine from the factory?

“Cool Tin.”

You shouldn’t need the “cool tin” if all of the other
parts of your cooling system are in place and
functioning. But it is available at minimal cost
(e.g., from Aircooled.Net)and is easy to install
(with the engine removed from the car).

~~~

You have to remove the engine to install the cool tin, and to fit them to the Type 1 Beetle tinware they might need to do a little cutting and bending. They are not really needed for a stock Beetle engine, but if you have a higher performance engine or are experiencing cooling problems, they might help. (We have not personally used "cool tin" and cannot vouch for its effectiveness. It helps, though, according to the experts.)

Should be super cool tins on the right.  I do have the regular tins and the super cool, but have never used the super cool. In appearance it would seem that they may limit air flow. However, it may be that they duct it down into the cooling area below.  Just looking for input...

   Thanks again!

The Chirco ad says they go below the cylinder and force air back up. All ad photos are take upside down.

Originals go below too (isn't there is a small ~1" piece that goes above cylinder too?)

Jim, use the standard small flat tins under the cylinders. The other ones are NOT necessary or designed for use with your shroud.

With proper engine compartment sealing you should be fine with just a stock cooler in the shroud, as long as you have the dog house tin to direct the hot oil cooler exit air underneath.

I agree with those that say to use the regular T1 air deflectors. The so called super cool tins are copied from the T3 and T4 air deflectors that were designed specifically for the way the cooling air was being moved via the fan setups. I have never seen a study to show proof of the super cool tins working better, only sales hype. In your case you can't go wrong using the correct air deflectors for you T1 engine.

As said above ,seal the engine compartment and make the cool top half of the engine as air tight as possible from the bottom hot side of the engine and you will be rewarded greatly with a cool running long wearing engine. It breaks my heart when I see a VW powered vehicle that has all the tins removed and an 8 inch opening all around the engine. The hot air from the fan blowing over the engine gets recirculated over and over super heating the engine. All the heat from the exhaust is pulled up and unto the fan as well. SEAL THAT ENGINE COMPARTMENT! not doing this is Probably the biggest killer of VW air cooled engines. My rant is over LOL...

Shortly after the aftermarket started selling the Super Cool tins as a cure for 'type 1 cooling troubles' (this was made up so they could sell you more parts and separate you from more of your hard earned $$$!), VW put out a service bulletin instructing their service departments (and mechanics) NOT to use the type 3 tins (that's all they are) on type 1 engines.  As already said, the two systems are different- type 1 forces air down through the cylinder and head fin areas while the type 3 uses a horizontal fan- and most of the parts are incompatible, the bottom air deflectors being one of those things.

THAT said- I have heard of guys modifying the type 3 air deflectors when the type 1 sled tins won't fit because of the merged header design, but it's simpler (and more effective) to modify the sled tins.  But- running the type 3 pieces without the sled tins will cause overheating if the thermostat and flaps are installed- the system depends on the thermostat sensing the temp of the spent cooling air (which is what happens when it is enclosed by the sled tins).   With the thermostat being exposed to the cooler outside air, I wonder how much of the time it will actually open?  How hot will the engine be running then?

Hope this helps.  Al

I remember when everyone ripped out the cooling flaps and trashed them.  Complete replacements are now hard to find.

Yep; "nah, you don't need them...". As Gene Berg said; you'd never think of doing away with the thermostat on your water cooled car; why eliminate it from your aircooled motor?

@WOLFGANG posted:

I remember when everyone ripped out the cooling flaps and trashed them.  Complete replacements are now hard to find.

@Impala posted:

Yep; "nah, you don't need them...". As Gene Berg said; you'd never think of doing away with the thermostat on your water cooled car; why eliminate it from your aircooled motor?

No they’re not. Awesome Powdercoating sells complete sets, and a variety of thermostats as well.

There’s about 10 pages of the 500 page T1 performance engine cooling thread on TheSamba devoted to these.  As @ALB posted, VW sent out a tech bulletin not to use these with T1 tins.

That said, I plan to put them on my Spyder next time I have it apart, simply because no one ever made lower tins for reversed Spyder motors and, as it is, no air is deflected to the lower center parts of my cylinders.

hard = costly.    $278!

So glad I got all of mine from a salvage yard back around 2005....

Thanks to all!  I will try to source the thermostat and flap system from my local junk yard dude...  We still have a few here that outlasted the stupid, "cash for clunkers" crap.  As always I totally appreciate the advice and help.

Jim, enjoying warm and sunny BUFFALO NY!  GO BILLS!!!!! 

@dlearl476 posted:

There’s about 10 pages of the 500 page T1 performance engine cooling thread on TheSamba devoted to these.  As @ALB posted, VW sent out a tech bulletin not to use these with T1 tins.

That said, I plan to put them on my Spyder next time I have it apart, simply because no one ever made lower tins for reversed Spyder motors and, as it is, no air is deflected to the lower center parts of my cylinders.

I wouldn't do that. Those type3 tins are meant for a type3 cooling system, not a type1 cooling system.

What I did was make my own sled tins, but reversed so the hot air goes backwards toward the rear of the car.

6" wide aluminum sheet from the hardware store, tucked into the 911 shroud in front.

You need to cut a hole for the J-tube on each side, but not hard fabrication. Tin snips, pliers, hammers and some pop rivets are all you need. I made some 90 degree edges, about 1/4" which added plenty of rigidity. Small tabs on the case side for the factory sled tin screws.

Dropped my oil temperature AND head temperature 10 degrees each, so well worth doing. No promises for the same thing on yours, my air intake is on the firewall side.

@dlearl476

Dave:  Everything you want to know about making sled tins:

https://www.speedsterowners.co...pic/sled-tins-redoux

Somewhere in that thread it mentions that Al Blanchette @ALB or Glenn had a file or something with a template to print and follow to make your own.  That's what I did.

Gene Berg, surprisingly sells the sled tins cheaper than any other please and easier than making them.

@Gordon Nichols @Impala

Neither option will work "bolt-on" for Dave. He has a mid-engine Spyder, sled tins get reversed.

And the J-tubes on almost all Spyder exhausts go under the middle of the pushrod tubes, but above the sump bottom. Would be quite a pain to make the tin around the exhaust. A hole needs to be cut, and some other way of attaching the outside "valve cover" edge needs to be fabricated: no heat exchangers to bolt to.

A nice right angle would make the tin strong enough to support itself. I have bolt on valve covers, so I used the bail holes and bails to support the outside edge and keep the tin sealed against the head.

I have pics on an old hard drive.

@Safety Jim Buffalo NY.   If your junk yard friend comes up empty on some stuff and/or you want a NOS thermostat bellows rather than taking the chance on a used one, they’ve got all that stuff at Bug City in Connecticut.

https://www.bugcity.com/shop/s...50-bdbd-dcb3dfd8bb4c

I bet Jack at the Bug Shop has them, too.

+17247857000