Need a lil help sorting engines ...

The gearing is most likely a stock VW 4 speed. First gear is pretty short and it seems you have to shift pretty soon after you get moving. Second gear probably seems sluggish because the engine may be pretty underwhelming. I'm guessing probably a 1600cc which doesn't have much HP.

Do you know what the RPMs are when you in fourth and rolling about 60mph or 95kph? That'll tell us what transaxle you have.

The engine looks tired just sitting there. You have a single carburetor trying to feed four cylinders and I can see the floor of your garage so I'm guessing there are no engine tins in the car either. That is probably creating some cooling issues and can be a much bigger problem later when you put in an engine with more HP or rebuild this one to HP.

Your choices are to use the engine you have and rebuild it with a new cam, heads, pushrods, pistons, etc or you can buy a completely new engine in 1915cc, 2110cc, or bigger. The 1915 will push about 105hp and the 2110 will push upwards of 150 hp. Engines bigger than 2110cc can be more difficult to cool and the reliability decreases as the engines get bigger.

@Pat Downs is the engine builder for CB Performance and is a master at the craft of air-cooled motors. He could build you a solid engine and ship it to you. His engines are being used all over the globe.

www.cbperformance.com

Once you get the right engine in there the gearing won't seem so bad. You could put in a five-speed but that is HUGE money. After you fix the engine though you could get some new gears in the four-speed to make it work more efficiently.

Split rear bench- rear buckets!

WNGD posted:

Split rear bench- rear buckets!

 

is that bad?

BlackRice posted:

WNGD posted:

Split rear bench- rear buckets!

 

is that bad?

Not bad, just different

Do you know the history of the car? It is a little different than what we are used to seeing.

Are there any manuals, identifying plaques or plates on the engine, in the door jambs etc.?

Do you know the source for the body?

Robert's given some good advice and person to reach out to regarding an engine (if you decide to have one built). Some times starting from scratch/fresh is the best avenue to take given there is not a lot o history to the car and engine.

For me, it is peace of mind...

Robert M posted:

The gearing is most likely a stock VW 4 speed. First gear is pretty short and it seems you have to shift pretty soon after you get moving. Second gear probably seems sluggish because the engine may be pretty underwhelming. I'm guessing probably a 1600cc which doesn't have much HP.

Do you know what the RPMs are when you in fourth and rolling about 60mph or 95kph? That'll tell us what transaxle you have.

The engine looks tired just sitting there. You have a single carburetor trying to feed four cylinders and I can see the floor of your garage so I'm guessing there are no engine tins in the car either. That is probably creating some cooling issues and can be a much bigger problem later when you put in an engine with more HP or rebuild this one to HP.

Your choices are to use the engine you have and rebuild it with a new cam, heads, pushrods, pistons, etc or you can buy a completely new engine in 1915cc, 2110cc, or bigger. The 1915 will push about 105hp and the 2110 will push upwards of 150 hp. Engines bigger than 2110cc can be more difficult to cool and the reliability decreases as the engines get bigger.

@Pat Downs is the engine builder for CB Performance and is a master at the craft of air-cooled motors. He could build you a solid engine and ship it to you. His engines are being used all over the globe.

www.cbperformance.com

Once you get the right engine in there the gearing won't seem so bad. You could put in a five-speed but that is HUGE money. After you fix the engine though you could get some new gears in the four-speed to make it work more efficiently.

 

Thanks so much for your response. i've copied it out so i can research what I don't understand.

Yup, it's just a VW 4 speed.

It does look awfully tired, and yes that's the garage floor beneath it. So many great looking engines and mine looks like a turd.

The engine feels overwhelmed / or underwhelming when I try to get it to go (from stopped position) during traffic. i attract honks and the occasional middle finger.

I don't know the RPMs, will check that out.

It does get hot as hell to touch - the engine lid, not sure if that's normal. Basically will bake your hand if you touch it.

I don't really care about trying to get max horsepower or overloading the frame - just want something that's more responsive in traffic - and that I can open up a bit on the highway.

I'll check out CB.. thanks again!

Panhandle Bob posted:

Do you know the history of the car? It is a little different than what we are used to seeing.

Are there any manuals, identifying plaques or plates on the engine, in the door jambs etc.?

Do you know the source for the body?

Nope, I don't.

I'm an expat living in the Philippines, was barhopping with my mate one night and saw this car. left a piece of cardboard in the front seat with a message asking to buy it. Now it's mine. Guess that's a good thing.

The previous owner had it for 12+ years and it was a total mess. body was all out of alignment, doors weren't flush, it was a coupe? with the top cut off. (still have the top).

In the PI they do lots of custom kits - so I'm sure it's not standard or canon (whatever) it's a mutt. Still, it's my mutt and I'm fond of it. I've lived here for 10 years and not seen another on the road.

The back seat - not sure what it was supposed to be, the guys that did the bodywork hired an interior guy and that's just what he thought up - there was nothing there but rotted wood and a blanket when I first got it. (same for all interior door panels).

I know I'll never get it to spec - but that's not what I'm after, it's just fun to drive around my little city.

No plaques or anything on the car at all.

@BlackRice it would be so nice of you to post some photos of your car. This looks to be a replica of a 356 cabriolet. This seems to be a very rare car that you have and some photos of it would be much appreciated. We can help or at least guide you in the right direction. I can help you with the low gearing as I have a very modified transaxle that has been geared much higher in the 1st - 3rd gears.

On a side note it would be very interesting as well for you to tell us more about being an expat living in the Philippines! That's something a few of us here have probably thought of but don't consider for lack of good intel. Getting direct info on the subject would be oh so cool.

In the world of replicas there is no spec. Whatever you like, you go with!

I see what look like latches on the top of the windshield. Was the top cut off or is it a removable hardtop? 

It does appear, from the angle of the window, to be a replica of a Cabriolet as opposed to a Speedster. That's just fine, perhaps easier to seal against weather.

All our cars are mutts. Some are strays and some are Westminster Show dogs, most are somewhere in between.

You are among friends, so Welcome To The Madness!

Rusty S posted:

@BlackRice it would be so nice of you to post some photos of your car. This looks to be a replica of a 356 cabriolet. This seems to be a very rare car that you have and some photos of it would be much appreciated. We can help or at least guide you in the right direction. I can help you with the low gearing as I have a very modified transaxle that has been geared much higher in the 1st - 3rd gears.

On a side note it would be very interesting as well for you to tell us more about being an expat living in the Philippines! That's something a few of us here have probably thought of but don't consider for lack of good intel. Getting direct info on the subject would be oh so cool.

 

i don't think it's anything special - just a regular asian mod.

expat in the PI? s'okay - i lived in japan, thailand and cambodia before here. been here about 10 years now.

good:

land and building are inexpensive - 1000 sqm land with 400sqm house with pool that comes into the livingroom for about 250k all in. labor as well. cost of living is quite low.

bad:

healthcare is terrible, if you need anything serious you have to hop to Bangkok or HK. not much to do either. forget going to concerts, tapas bars, museums or anything else.  you have a choice of bars, bars or bars.

but it works for me as a home base - i spend 2 months in EU every year and 1 month in TH. and my hobbies are all computer based and stuff like writing, veggie gardening, woodworking.

have watched many guys come here and drink themselves to death. actual cause may have been motorbike accidents, accidental meds or other - but it all goes back to the non-stop party. not so easy to accomplish everynight for years when you're post-middle age.

last two pics are pre restoration.

not happy with restoration, but i'm in a catch 22. it's just a mutt - fun for me to run around town, but no real resale value. every buck i put into it is one i can never get out. that's fine for most things - but would i really want to go with calfskin leather interior on a mod that isn't sound to begin with?

i might still take out the red and go with light brown.. wasn't expensive and the red just looks so... batman.

engine i'm fine with upgrading - as that effects my daily commute.

Panhandle Bob posted:

In the world of replicas there is no spec. Whatever you like, you go with!

I see what look like latches on the top of the windshield. Was the top cut off or is it a removable hardtop? 

It does appear, from the angle of the window, to be a replica of a Cabriolet as opposed to a Speedster. That's just fine, perhaps easier to seal against weather.

All our cars are mutts. Some are strays and some are Westminster Show dogs, most are somewhere in between.

You are among friends, so Welcome To The Madness!

Thanks for making me feel welcome.

Not sure what a Cabriolet is vs a Speedster.. (Cab just one with top?) This had a hard top that was cut. I can remove the soft top and latch on the hard top. it's got a fixed window in the back. but it's really too unwieldy for me to do by myself. Maybe for rainy season.

I've got a decent body guy - he could have taken off the front windshield and added the speedster but said it would be difficult to get everything perfect - plus the hardtop would be useless. Have just left it as it is - but I obviously prefer the rounded thin bezel of the speedster.

BlackRice posted:

Thanks for making me feel welcome.

Not sure what a Cabriolet is vs a Speedster.. (Cab just one with top?) This had a hard top that was cut. I can remove the soft top and latch on the hard top. it's got a fixed window in the back. but it's really too unwieldy for me to do by myself. Maybe for rainy season.

I've got a decent body guy - he could have taken off the front windshield and added the speedster but said it would be difficult to get everything perfect - plus the hardtop would be useless. Have just left it as it is - but I obviously prefer the rounded thin bezel of the speedster.

Nah leave the windshield the way it is man. A Cabriolet has the windshield built into the body (Like yours) and the gauges are straight across the dash (Like yours) and they have a glovebox and radio. Your car looks like a correct Cabriolet with rollup windows to boot! The only other company over here that makes a Cabrio is a company called SAS (Specialty Auto Sports) and theirs does dot have a rear seat like the real ones because the engine comes right up to the front seats! I'm telling you your car is very interesting and rather rare. I know people here are going to want to see a lot more pics of it! Glad you found this place.

Here's a few pics of a Cabrio dash and windshield:

Rusty S posted:

Here's a few pics of a Cabrio dash and windshield:

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, okay now... Now I'm understanding. Totally a Cabriolet. Dashboard is right on. Thanks - makes so much more sense now. (sigh)

It looks like you may have a speedster top. The correct top for a Cabrio looks like this:

If it doesn't have this top I bet your car would be well worth the money to put a top like this on it. I happen to like Cabriolets!

The people on this site know where to get all of the right stuff for your car so just ask!

Very cool. Second the request for more pics. You seem a bit down about the build. You shouldn't. It looks like a great car that just needs some TLC. I also think you'll be able to get your money out. Looks to me like you have something special. When I started looking for a Speedster I would've preferred a watertight cab to the VS Speedster. (I love my car, don't get me wrong).

So it looks like a 1500 single port engine BUT could be less displacement since it not US model.  Look up the engine serial number on SAMBA to see when and what it was originally built as.  It doesn't guarantee what it is now.  First get the plastic fuel filter out of the engine compartment before it causes a serious fire hazard (even a hose clamp is missing on fuel pump).  Replace rubber hoses at same and move to a metal filter to above the transaxle.  Next determine what OEM cooling pieces are missing from diagram below (30 for sure is missing - disregard 14 &15).  After adding that, construct the added cooling pieces needed to seal hot air out of the engine compartment.  Hot will cause it to overheat and run poorly.  Next I would adjust the valves and then do a compression test.  Low compression in one or more cylinders mean lost power.

WOW, Wolfy, you have gone above and beyond.. Cool stuff.  As to the engine, if the pocket book permits, a new build by CB or other reputable house sounds like a really good idea.  Methinks getting a reliable rebuild of what's there now in situ may be very troublesome, but I really know not.  Maybe there is a really good A/C garage in the neighborhood and as the man says, prices are right.  2110 w mild tunings seems to be the sweet spot, as some here have pontificated (Stan??) for some time.  But, we should get the S/N for this case and see where that leads.  This self-confessed "mutt" looks pretty cool to me overall, and has a lot of promise.  Order up one engine transplant, and all else will be forgiven.

And yes, more pics are always good.

Am I missing something here?  Lives in Asia.  Can you find a used Subaru motor and do a transplant?  Run with the tuners....

That could be a great answer if he can find somebody who can make the mods. Maybe less expensive than buying a built out type 1 stateside and shipping it. Might also be easier to get parts etc. locally. 

...Essentially feel like I have a beautiful car that just isn't that responsive...

...It's about 90 min to the closest beach where I am ... it's wide open and a great ride. I'd love to take advantage of that road...

...I'd like it to be more responsive, have more power, vroom instead of put put, and not feel like a dope when the light turns green...

Blackrice, I think you may have found a new home here. This describes the experience about half of us have had with our first Speedsters.

Relax, take a deep breath, and maybe spend some time in one of those many bars around you. You're starting on a long, sometimes frustrating, and probably expensive journey that will take you to where you want to be if you have the patience, time, and money to see it through.

Many give up and sell their cars before they complete the journey, mainly because they didn't realize what they were getting into up front.

Hang out here and read as much as you can about what the rest of us have done and about the many options available to you. This learning process will take at least a few months, maybe even a year. Only then should you form up a plan and start making changes.

Our usual greeting to new folks is, "Welcome to the madness." It shouldn't take you long to find out why.

Where are you in the PI?

Maybe find the Cavite Volkswagen Club. They will get you with the guys who can build you the right engine. 

Beautiful cab you have there.

some fantastic responses, thanks so much - have copied all the messages out so i can read back once i understand more.

took it on a little 2hr roundtrip today.

as a new driver i'm still at that phase where i'm looking as far forward as possible - trying to predict when i'll have to downshift, speeding up to get through a stoplight without stopping, cursing when someone gets to close to rear end, and praying i'm not forced to stop on a slope.

i learned to drive on a brand new car, very responsive, when i wanted more power just upshift and go. with the VW i upshift and cross fingers. still getting used to the gears i guess. fourth gear is still underwhelming..  feel like i could jog faster (on a good day). but honestly - if i had more power the ship might shake itself apart.

- wide ass u turns.

- sticky reverse gear

- emergency break that works.... maybe

- hard time telling sometimes (in 2nd) if i'm going into 1rst or 3rd - transmission quickly lets me know.

- bluetooth stereo that keeps playing Justin Beber's 'Sorry' even tho would swear to god I can't have that on my phone

- sun is insane, i wore sherpa sunglasses and brim hat. 

- least fave thing is still starting it, sometimes it doesn't want to start (new battery) turns over and i flood it. honestly - would be perfect if it was just like my motorbike, hit a switch and purrs.

stalled trying to cross a highway (uh four times before I made it), but was okay - driver yelled i have a nice car - didn't hear irony in his voice. thing does get major attention.

think i will take it to the shop next week and have the fire hazard cleared up and then just drive it for 3 months while I consider the engine upgrade. having fun wasting money on stupid things like grill emblems, amber fog lights i'll never use, and banjo wheel... (drool).

great forum.

David Stroud posted:

Blackrice....spit out a first name if you can / want, please.  If you have access to a decent Subaru motor, it's not that hard to put it into your car and have a very reliable engine that will last many years, give very good torque and with a re-geared and beefed up VW tranny and a few extra motor mounts you can do this for very little cash if you can do the work yourself. The beefed up tranny part is optional depending on your driving habits. I drove mine about 20,000 miles + with a bone stock vw transaxle. Many will say you cant. I did.

Can you recommend what type / spec of Subaru engine I should be looking for? Will have my mechanic keep a lookout.

Yours car looks like a Brazilian replica that came out after the Envemos. I am not sure of the builder but I have seen these advertises in Brazil. It has the basic look of a 356a cabriolet. 

BlackRice posted:

David Stroud posted:

Blackrice....spit out a first name if you can / want, please.  If you have access to a decent Subaru motor, it's not that hard to put it into your car and have a very reliable engine that will last many years, give very good torque and with a re-geared and beefed up VW tranny and a few extra motor mounts you can do this for very little cash if you can do the work yourself. The beefed up tranny part is optional depending on your driving habits. I drove mine about 20,000 miles + with a bone stock vw transaxle. Many will say you cant. I did.

Can you recommend what type / spec of Subaru engine I should be looking for? Will have my mechanic keep a lookout.

Any 2.2 or 2.5 litre engine will work. The left to right space between my engine compartment frame rails is 29". A 2.2l Soob engine is 28.5" wide and fits nicely. A 2.5l Soob engine is a couple of inches wider so you have to modify the frame rails or put 2.2l heads on the 2.5l engine. Or...if you're lucky, your frame rail spacing is already wide enough. 

I looked again at engine and you have 2 fuel filters in engine compartment - One the 59 cent plastic one and behind it a glass one! See if you can find a bottle of Chevron Techron Fuel injection cleaner and at it to fuel tank (SeaFoam is good substitute).  It does a good job cleaning the fuel system.  I'm sure rebuilding carb would do better job.  

Most avoid the Subaru turbo engines as they are harder to cool.  There is a lot of the Subbies wiring that is needed out of the donor car along with sensors and CPU.  Best to source the whole car vs just a pulled engine. I don't see the 2x2" side rails on yours that most other Speedies seem to have so looks like there is lots of room.

Are those roll-up windows?

Art, CMC, 1641cc posted:

Are those roll-up windows?

Yup, but they just have cheap plexiglass in them now. does a fair enough job to keep out the rain when using the soft or hard top.

BADSPD - Stephen posted:

Am I missing something here?  Lives in Asia.  Can you find a used Subaru motor and do a transplant?  Run with the tuners....

exactly!

A solid sound flat four turned into a 1776 with an Engle 110 cam and twin 36 Dellorto DRLAs, an old (not Chinese) 009 distributor and some small valved  044 heads will be perfect for this.  Single HD valve springs, steel push rods and 31mm CB lifters.  1.25:1 ratio rockers.  That is a very tried and tested recipe, and not hard to buy the parts for.

The reason first gear feels "short" is that consider this same ratio box in a type 3 variant estate car, four adults and two trunks worth of shopping (Type 3 VWs had 2 trunks).  That would need a short first on a hill.   Your light weight wonder will never really need first for much unless you live on a hill in SF.

As for the sloppy shift - you should be able to replace the plastic bushes in the trans tunnel and on the selecter for under the back seat - fiddly jobs but not hi tech and well worth it.  And $20 or less in parts.

Shifting tip - when shifting Up from 2 to 3, shift knob in the palm of your hand and thumb pointing down - you will naturally push higher and right.  Shifting 3 to 2 - thumb pointing up.  You will pull back and left a little more.

...  or, you could buy a better shifter. 

A $1000 shifter isn't going to fix kippered rod bearings and sloppy linkage under the rear seat.

Has anybody said Welcome to the Madness! yet?

A lot of great advice here. Since you don't know a lot about VW aircooled engines, or cars in general (I'm not trying to put you down- just establishing your knowledge base and what you'd be comfortable with), something like what M.I.B. (boy, it would be nice if we knew everybody's first name!) proposed would get you what I think you're looking for and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to do it. A mild 1776 or thickwall1835cc engine will be a heck of a lot peppier than what you have, make about 50% or so more power so be waaay more fun to drive, be relatively indestructible (as long as you get the engine sealed off properly, make sure the engine has adequate air intake and don't drive the living sh*t out of it constantly from the moment you start it to when it's shut off) and easy to maintain, not requiring any more  work than a stock 1600.

I would do it a little differently; properly ported stock valve (35x32mm) heads are capable of producing 120-125 horsepower (depending on who you believe), and in a smaller engine (< 2 liter) will provide better low end torque and lower midrange power (which is really what you're looking for), which you will lose somewhat with the bigger valve heads. It will make very close to the same power in the upper rpm's but be more fun to drive. If you had the 2 engines to compare you'd find the smaller valve heads would also get slightly better mileage, which tells you it's making better all around power. If you were looking for power above 6,000rpm, then yes, the bigger valve heads would be the ticket here, but that isn't what (I think) you're looking for.

With some small Webers or Dellorto's (per MIB's recipe), the Engle W110 and 1.25 rockers (or anything similar), 8 1/4- 8 1/2 (or even up to 9:1 compression, depending on the gas) and a good 1 1/2" exhaust you'll see over 90 hp with the 1776cc engine, 100 (or very close) with the 1835 and the thing will be an absolute joy to drive. The Bosch 009 (as MIB suggested) works great here, as will an older 019 (maybe even better), but what this combo really is calling for (since we're designing an engine from scratch and the Webers/Del's will have vacuum ports) is an svda (combination centrifigal/vacuum advance) distributor. With a similar centrifigal advance curve to the 009 it will make similar power, and you'll be able to jet the idle circuit a little leaner so it will get 3-4 points better mileage (always a plus when a tank goes further!) and it will run a little cooler when cruising. 

The last thing I'm going to suggest- stroking this engine with a 74mm (instead of the stock 69mm) crankshaft for more displacement. It will make noticeably more bottom end/lower midrange power (where we spend most of our time while driving), and with Porsche length rods and the "A" (for the 69mm stroke instead of the "B" stroker) pistons will be really close to stock engine width so all the sheet metal will fit without a lot of fiddling and how it fits in the engine compartment won't be a concern. With a displacement increase from 1776- 1904 or 1835-1968cc, horsepower gain won't be huge- only be 105-110, but the power gain throughout the rpm's because of the increased stroke will be surprising (ever wonder why the designers of the 356 engine went with the longer stroke and shorter rods instead of bigger pistons for their 1500 and 1600 engines in a significantly heavier car? the answer is torque).  Not the cheapest way to build a < 2 liter engine, but it would still make a great reasonably low budget/fairly powerful engine for your car (or any 356 replica). And yeah, a little more camshaft duration and the bigger valved heads would result in significantly more (25? 30?) horsepower numbers, but that's not what we're going for here. With it all in by 6,000rpm, an engine like this will be easy to take care of and provide plenty of power for a lot of owners.

Of course, the engine should be drilled for a full flow filter and the cooling concerns (sheet metal and air intake) will need to be addressed, but that's a whole other ball of wax, and I'm already way over my buddy (somewhat new guy) Teb's 2 paragraph limit. Al

And nothing I know of the Subie stuff, so fill you in others will. And great to be back it is!

PS- and I didn't even say anything about gearing- later.

And some more reading to keep you from getting bored-

http://www.aircooled.net/vw-performance-engines/

or for all the aircooled.net tech articles- 

http://www.aircooled.net/vw-technical-articles/

Alb,  thanks for confirming my thoughts on a good sound solid simple and reliable modified VW Flat 4.  I would recommend that to anyone all day long.

Never was a fan of 1835s probably because you couldn't get thick walled barrels when I was starting out, so I avoided them and mostly built 1776s or hot 1600s.

I agree also with  your thoughts on a 74m based motor - as it happens my Speedster engine is/will be a 1699 based on forged stock 1600 BPs and a 74mm counterweight crank.   Old 009, 36 Webbers and an Eagle cam a little hairier than an Engle 110.   Just need the heads and it's build time.....

Update:

Have been driving it around, pretty much every day driven = a few days in the shop. Started stalling in first gear, they fixed it, electrical system went down, they fixed it, wasn't getting fuel - fixed it, and now just doesn't want to start cold (17+ cranks) vs normal 1 - 3.

The shop I'm taking it to is good at fixing whatever problem I walk in with, but not good at proactively fixing other things.

However, found some local VW enthusiasts (and great guys) who know everything VW - and have a mechanic. He did in 1hr (and $15) more than my other mechanic had done in 3 days.

I have three basic options:

1. keep driving it and fixing things as they come up, eventually the kinks should get worked out (but a big headache)

2. mechanic can book time with my car and drop the engine, take a look and rebuild it - assuming the block is fine. Not sure what this will cost - assuming around 1k for parts and 1k for labor (cheaper in Asia)

3. i can order a stock new or rebuilt turnkey engine from someplace like GEX

http://www.gex.com/beetle-motor.htm

I don't have an engine to return to them (so the $500 core fee would apply, also shipping of $500)..

So figure $2k to have it rebuilt locally, but can't be certain of quality

or $4k to buy one from GEX (shipping and core incl).

Any advice? Any other vendors besides GEX you would recommend?

Mofoco also looks good - http://www.mofoco.com/category/TurnKey_VW_Engines/c70

Thanks

I have never been a fan of the "ready to run engine in a box".  If the guys in the local club trust and recommend a mechanic who regularly rebuilds flat 4s and knows all the nuances ( and has the special tools needed to do the right job)  then use him.

I have seen plenty of crate motors not last long or been replaced under warrantee.  OK so you might get a warrantee but you still have to do without the car and have the motor pulled by someone.

BLACKRICE - The reviews I've read for GEX pretty much all say "Run away!!!"  You're much better off spending a little more for something built by Pat Downs (at CB Performance) or Roland Rascon.  There are other good ones, but I cannot remember their names.