new install 2276cc

That is excellent, Justin. Most excellent.

Yeah, yeah; what does your transaxle have for gearing right now?

Justin- Thanks, I like being able to do side by side comparisons with a known gearbox.

Al, I simply have no idea!

When it was purchased I was told it had "freeway flyer" gearing...which I thought was a very specific modification...duh. But screaming RPM's at highway speeds (keeping up with traffic) and lousy gas mileage dispels that assumption.

I've yet to accurately time a measured mile at a constant indicated RPM, and then sit down with charts, formulae, wheel dimension,  and see if I can mathematically determine the 4th drive ratio....Whatever it may be I'm not happy with it! 

Carl-

Do it the lazy-man way. Get a GPS use it to get an accurate measurement of your speed. Make notes of how fast you are going at any given RPM (1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500, 4000) in all 4 gears. Unless whoever built the transaxle spent some really big bucks (they didn't, or you'd know it), 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are stock late Type 1. 4th may or may not be stock, but if you log the info, and post it here-- gear geeks with nothing better to do will figure it out for you.

Make sure you tell us your tire size as well.

Carl- Another way to figure out the r&p ratio and you won't have to leave your garage-

Jack up the car so both rear wheels are off the ground with the emergency brake off and the trans in 2nd gear. Turn one tire so the valve stem is at the top. Turn the engine over by hand, counting the engine revolutions needed to get 1 complete revolution of the tire.-

9 revolutions- 4.375 r&p

8 1/2- 4.125

8- 3.88

This assumes 2nd gear is stock, and since changing the 1st-2nd mainshaft/gearset is big bucks, it's a fair assumption. As Stan said, if the gearbox you've got had special gears in it, you'd know it. With this info it will be easier to figure out what the trans has for 4th gear. Al

...or, you could just drive it mindless of the rpms and remember to not pass any cops! 

Please if I may, inject a needed question I have for all;

My 2276cc Motor seems to put out more H.P. than my H.D. Sachs Clutch can handle.

Question; Should I go with a Kennedy Stage 1; Stage 2, etc.,or stay happy with what I have until something breaks.

Rick,

You stated that you haven't had much luck finding a good a/c mechanic in the Dallas area.  I suggest that you research the local VW air-cooled clubs around you.  There is a Texas gang with branches in Austin and Dallas.  Google "air cooled vw Dallas", or something similar.  These guys will know where the local talent lives and works.  Your HD Sachs clutch should be good for the HP you have, but you may have a manually-adjusted type, or it may just be used up.  Hard to tell without driving it.  If you replace it, watch out for racing clutches.  They will take the fun out of street driving, much like racing suspension.  Throwing money at a problem only works if there's the right guy catching it.

BINGO!

Al, you just saved me a lot of head scratching 'pencil work'

Stan, GPS technology? 

It took me a long time to become comfortable with a push button telephone.

(I want everyone to know that I first scan the Muir and Bentley indexes before asking questions...They simply don't have all the answers.)

Carl,

ALB's method doesn't always work with a non-posi differential carrier unless you lock down one wheel thus allowing only the free wheel to move.  Even then, it's very difficult to get the numbers right, only a "slightly educated guess" 

Here's a follow-up on Jim Kelly's great suggestion on how to locate local "good a/c mechanics"

Google: vintage Volkswagen club of America

Coast to coast chapter listings...and I'll bet that members can either wrench their way through any mechanical problem, or they know someone (who's just around the corner or over the hill from you) who can.

With available reference information like this a person could plot an anxiety-free cross country cruise. 

Thanks Jim, for the info.

And the heads up on the Racing stuff; being a foul with his money syndrome has come and gone, so I have none to be foolish with anymore. I have learned if I put more horses in the barn the more I will spend on their feed depending on how much I run them, like a mad dog chasing his tail waiting for it to get longer.

If it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it.

Thanks again, Sully

The Kennedy is the preferred clutch however before you pull the engine, I have a few questions?  

When you're in gear with the clutch engaged and you're in driving, does the it slip or in other words, does the engine rev up excessively???    Another thing to check is if the clutch is adjusted correctly.   Grab hold of the lever that activates your throw out bearing and pull it, it's tough but you should only have 1/8 to 1/4" of throw before the throw out bearing touches the clutch cover.   If it's way too tight, then it's causing the clutch to release a bit which will cause 2 things to occur.   First the throw out bearing will destroy it self and 2nd it will cause premature wear of the clutch, disk and cause the engine to rev up when the car is in gear with the clutch engaged.

A simple test to see if the clutch is slipping is to put the car in 3rd gear and  then 'heel toe' the brake and gas pedal.   Release the clutch and give it some gas as if your were taking off from a stop.  If the engine stalls then the clutch is usually good but if the engine revs with the clutch engaged you're in for a engine removal.  But, don't forget to check the throw out bearing

I sort of felt that Kennedy buggered me up when sending me my Soob conversion parts. The flywheel and pressure plate were beautiful but the clutch disc they selected for me after asking a raft of questions about my driving habits was a total miss. It had no center hub springs and chattered like a bitch. No amount of slipping, or any other techniques could cure the problem and I felt quite concerned. I pulled the engine and installed the old VW disc just to see what would happen. In moderate driving around town I think I got a couple thousand miles out of it and the slipping began. I was horrified and went to a local clutch shop and they fixed me up with a beauty for $95. That included checking out Kennedy's flywheel and pressure plate for accuracy too. 18,000 miles later the clutch is still doing fine. ( The engine comes out tomorrow though for the autopsy ) Here's a couple of pics of a VW disc beside the Bully clutch stage 1 1/2 disc. Organic on one side and segmented kevlar on the other.

David-

That clutch looks very interesting. I'm running am copperhead disc, and I've never been able to get it to stop chattering either, but I'm also currently making 150 hp, and soon to be back up to 180 or so.

I went to Bully Clutch's site and didn't see a listing for classic VW. do you have a part number, or some purchase information?

Kevin-

I've got a Stage 2 pressure plate. Sachs makes a couple of spring center clutches- do you have a part number?

Here ya go, Stan. I bought the disc on 26/03/2012 and it was invoice 118481. My customer number is 7481515 and the part number was CP1136CL. I have business card stapled to the invoice ( and boy, I'm usually terrible at keeping paperwork ) and it says...Frank Bedard, President.   frank@bullyclutch.com  The description of the item was Rebuilt Cl disc   Dual friction Kevlar. I remember telling the clutch lads that my bad disc was off and old VW and showed them the buggered up VW disc. They didn't bat an eye so I guess it's a stock item for them.

Just found the Kennedy invoice too and it says Stage 1 and the disc says Early T.O.B. whatever that means.

The combined package seems to work very well for me...absolutely no chatter, very well mannered but you should note that my driving habits are mainly highway and inter city / city stuff but with no goofing around laying a patch etc. I have no idea how much power I'm producing but it's only a low bucks EJ22 conversion with the stock VW tranny. It does pull substantially better than the 1915 I replaced with it. I'm perfectly happy with the setup.

David-

Thanks. I think the combination disc (Kevlar/organic) with a spring center is what I'm after. I'd be stunned if that clutch didn't hold 200 hp, easy.

BTW: The Kennedy invoice means: Stage 1 pressure-plate, early throw-out bearing. I'm running a Stage 2, which has more clamping power but is a bit more of a work-out in traffic. 

I followed Jack Crosby's advice and installed a longer clutch actuator lever...something off a VW Bus I think and it made things smooth and easy. Properly adjusted, you'll have plenty of room to do it with your existing system if it's cable actuated. The Samba shows a selection of them....some lad out in BC, Canada sold me mine for about $20. It'll ease your workout noticeably. Do double check the OD of the spline if you go this way. They vary. Some dork in Florida sent me the wrong one earlier and insisted I return it to him at my cost for a refund. I told him to GFHS and threw it in the garbage. That's the way it is....

David-

I know all about the long arm. They don't come in all spline configurations-- so sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not. I'm OK either way.

I live in the country, so a moderately heavy clutch is fine-- it's only an issue when I drive up to see my daughter and (invariably) get stuck in Chicago traffic for an hour or two. At that point, the whole experience loses some luster.

The Stage 2 and a short arm is fine for me. My wife can't drive the car, but then again, the seats don't adjust anyhow. Since she is (thankfully) not 6 ft tall and endowed with short legs, a long torso, and gorilla arms (like some of us) the driving position doesn't exactly work for her.

Thanks again for the info. I emailed "Bully Clutch Frank" with the information you provided. Hopefully, I'll have what I need next season.

 Tranny back up light switch question;

I want to take out back-up light switch plug because it leaks and since I do not have back lights I don’t want to put back another switch, so here the question. What is the easiest way to plug the hole?

 Thanks, Sully

David (and anyone else that may be interested)- Bruce is the name of the guy on the Samba with the longer clutch arms.

Usually people just leave them there to plug the hole, so the only solution I can think of is to pull the switch, measure the thread size (remember, it's metric) and start banging on the doors of hardware/automotive supply places for the appropriate allen head pipe plug. They look like this-
http://www.summitracing.com/in...sum-g1488b/overview/ Whether you'll find them in metric, I don't know, so if you report back with what you end up doing you'll be doing us all a service.

Hope this helps. Al

One thing I haven't seen discussed is the pressure plate mounting surface to the friction surface depth; on a 12 volt 200mm VW flywheel that spec is 21mm (VW pressure plate and stock thickness disc). If you install a new clutch and have the flywheel reground, make sure the machinist measures (and corrects, if necessary) this for you. If he isn't aware of this spec he may just take the same amount off the mounting surface (as the friction surface) and this doesn't account for wear or what's been done previously. Even a brand new clutch/pressure plate assembly will slip when pushed if the pressure plate mounting height is wrong; you can guess how I discovered this... 

Some off-road VW suppliers carry a plug to fit the backup switch hole in the nose cone.  Moore Parts has one.  http://www.mooreparts.com/1060-AC301144/

Thanks Al for your response back,

 Located plug (22mm) through research found this plug to replace switch, wrap and seal off wire connectors.  

Thanks again, Sully

P.S. Was advised when installing plug to raise front end to decrease tranny fluid spillage while inserting new plug.

Thanks James,

 Found one, I would suspect by looking at my old switch it has had a very slow leak for a long time. Winterizing the car has given me time chasing down these pesky leaks.

 Sully

"P.S. Was advised when installing plug to raise front end to decrease tranny fluid spillage while inserting new plug."

Now there's something not everyone will think of...

Kevin: Thanks for all that. I've been pondering your words (and worrying like hell) since i read them. I spend a couple hours with the slide-rule working out CdA and weight loads as well, trying to come up with a theory as to why running the engine 500 RPM higher in a lighter car should work--or not, as you found. 

Concluded that there's nothing to do but try it and see what happens.

Anyway, you mention the stress on the water pump. Did you find that using an aftermarket pump with a cast impeller--like the Airtex AW9223--gave better performance than the stock-type pump with the stamped impeller?

Or is there yet another trick that helps things along in this application?