The Creation of my MassIVe engine, behind the scenes with Jake Raby

This is too bazaar... The differences from one shock tower to the other is 1-3/4". It was enough to have one shock at the end of it's travel and the other totally compressed.

I am having to compensate for everything.. The entire shock tower is different from side to side and a sleeved/ welded joint that should not be in place is present on the passenger side of the car. This is where the two drastically different torsion housings were joined to make a "Hybrid".

This went from a fairly fun project to a total nightmare in just a few hours. Nothing I can do will make it "right", now its all about maintaining what the car was before and just getting it done.
Maybe to someone that wasn't very familiar with Volkswagens this would all be acceptable, it even took us a few days to notice why everything wasn't aligning perfectly.. Never seen anything as bazaar as this before!

My VS pan is a '74 but I have a swing axle.... Not sure but, I think this kind of thing is pretty typical of a VS build. I've heard of guys who found they had an adjustable spring plate on 1 side only!

This car is built from a '68 pan.. Well at least 1/2 of it is a '68

Jake, I gotta feel for ya.....

In messing with my current kit, I have found that some (a few) IRS cars shipped in late 1968 while some Swing-arm cars continued to ship from Germany into 1970. Plus, Brazil shipped both Swing Arm and IRS, while it seems that Mexico only shipped Swing arm (I may be wrong on the Mexican part).

My current pan is a 1971 sedan and it has IRS rear, BUT it has a strange, hybrid torsion bar/spring plate arrangement with a long torsion bar, a long bar spring plate end cap with a single, swing-arm-like spring plate. IRS rears run two spring plates on both sides and they straddle the tab on the wheel hub. This thing has a single spring plate behind the tab. It also has a torsion bar end cover with no spacers, just like a swing arm.

I may just leave it, or, if I find some cherry parts off of another IRS rear I may swap them in - and then I may find that the torsion bar cast housings are different and can't use them - who knows???

Hang in there Jake. This will show folks that there are still some craftsmen left out there!!

gordon

I know very well the cut off dates in production for the IRS and swing suspension arrangements.
What you guys need to realize is that Jack's torsion assembly was chopped in half and has an IRS upright on one side and a swing axle upright from a different year car on the other side!

The joint where the two units meet is easily notable.
AWESOME!

Wow! I am very surprised that Vintage would make a car like this.

It kind of dampens the new engine joy.

OK.. We had a day of progress..
The best thing we can all do is just overlook the issues that the car has and focus on the engine conversion. Jack and I will deal with the "other issues".

No use in dampening people's spirits before Christmas.

An update. If anyone doubts Jake's claim of a 6 monthbacklog just look at the date of the first post on this thread----July 3rd! Now it's almost Christmas.

Many issues had to be either compensated for or overcome and during the process Jake found some issues that I can cover in a later post
as I get the complete list of "squawks" from Jake. I was extremely lucky to have Jake as the person to go over the car and resolve the many issues. Nothing like we saw with Tom DeWalt's ride but still---more that you ever want to see in a factory built replica. More later on this.

The big news is that ine new Type IV engine is IN THE CAR---HOORAY!!
I'll post some photos. It appears to be a superbly clean installation
and Jake says it runs perfectly. The car will be dyno's Monday and we expect to see about double the power to the wheels as the old Type I produced. From 50 to 100 hp at the rear wheels. We'll see what the Dyno shows.

The pictures don't show the "Massive" oil breather box which is in the shadow. We went with the braded lives that are covered with black fabric so they look original rather than the metallic colored ones. Also Jake chose the new German CSP Python exhaust system that has just started being made for the Type IV engine. It's a stainless steel affair that is really attractive and should compare well with anything on the market. ($1,400 from Cip! less 15% C-mas sale discount)
Gary at Cip1 said he thought it is the first Type IV one imported to the U.S. so I'm glad it was available.

Except for the fair number of issues that Jake had to work around it has been a very smooth affair to date.

Jake will now drive the car for a few days to dial it in perfectly and I hope to start driving it back to Hot Springs maybe next Friday.

---Jack

Oh--I wanted to point out that new heavy duty carb linkage that Jake is using. Talk about "Massive". This baby should never twist out of shape and should remain as is for a long time.

Air filters will go on later.

Two more photos.

A clarification---these are just preliminary pictures of the installed engine---there are still things to be done such as the oil breather box and so forth---quite a few things before it's totally 100% finished. Sort of a "progress report" if you will.

Gettin' there and more photos to come.

Yep. I am not doine yet. There are still some aspects of the engine that are not as complete as I want them.

Jack has been great to work with. This car has fought us hard to say the very least.

We should be on my chassis dyno tomorrow.

looks very nice guys! Jack - you must be getting excited!

I've just cracked the case on my build, so i'm about 6 months behind. LOL

mango---cracked case--my sympathy for that. How did that happen??

Jack:

That's engine builder talk for "splitting the case" into both halves to begin the tear-down and rebuild process.

You guys floating away down there in Hot Springs yet? The rain's been a little ferocious and y'all keep sending it our way!

gn

GEEZ---I thought he dropped the damned thing and smashed it! You can see why I'd never attempt to build anything! "Split" I know but cracked--that what happens to Humpty Dunpty isn't it?

Maybe I can get Theron to delete my post??

We have blue skies and 54 degrees here now--nice day!

Jack-I am going to crack open a case of scotch, would you A-join me or B-sweep up the pieces?

Jerry--now I damned sure understand THAT crack! (And no comments from Vince, please!)

But Jack, it's such a perfect straight line for him ;-)

Engine looks sweet. Can't wait to see it in... WAIT!!!!! CARLISLE IS NOW ONLY 6 MONTHS AWAY! WOOHOO!!!

Lane---yes, it does look sweet---but wait until it's totally finished!

You can see it before Carlisle----join "the caravan" to Morro Bay!
You know you need to do this and we need the company.

Jack's Speedster is being strapped on my chassis dyno right now!!

The engine install turned out super clean, it looks factory.

Round 1 of the chassis dyno evaluation is complete. The engine is 100%, no leaks, no issues at all.

I am driving it home for the first time tonight.. I test drove it and I could definitely feel the 106RWHP I was able to get out of it today! Thats 51HP more than it had in it's previous state.

Lots of extra work had to go into this MassIVe transformation.. Video of the dyno runs will be posted Thursday if all goes well.

What Jake had to overcome to get this project working well is just amazing.

The fact that he compensated for all the issues he found is astounding to me and shows what a crafstman he truly is. "No leaks & no issues" how good does THAT report card sound?

This project proves what everyone always knew--most of these cars are a "work in progress" Mine sure as hell was---in spades.

106 HP at the wheels--that's about 6 more than we expected. Should see dyno charts soon. Lemmee see, from 50hp to 106 at the rear wheels
----that sure works for me!

Ok, trip home is behind me.. Car ran great, oil temp, CHT and pressure were great. After driving the car at 70-75 MPH all the way home (43 miles) I have decided to make a venturi swap with the carbs and re-dyno tomorrow and drive the car home again.

The main circuit is coming in right in the middle of the usable RPM range, creating a small hiccup in the power band.. It'll need to be compensated for and the swap will probably build even more torque.. It might cost us a couple HP, but thats not what are looking for.

Engine is bone dry and doesn't even have a hint of a leak anywhere. Very smooth idle, very smooth acceleration and it cruises 75 MPH at 3,100 RPM, exactly where I wanted after I made the engine combo change from 2056cc. (The speedo is indicated 5MPH slow, the dyno wheel speed and engine RPM are the true indicators)

One more day on the dyno, making some changes to exhaust, carburetors and tuning should get this one taken care of..

Except it has a Chinese wheel bearing thats a little loud and needs to be changed..

This is absolutely LOVELY!! I love this thread! Jake; are you planning on installing the "H" seal in the engine compartment? I ask because it was misssing on the photos; I love the installation though; a thing of beauty. Congrats on such a marvelous job!

Like I said, the photos that were posted were not the engine in it's 100% complete state.

I have a special seal that is used with this conversion that makes the job nice and clean and even provides more of a thermal barrier than the stock arrangement. Yes it is installed.

Here are three new photos; two of the car on the dyno and one of the installed engine.

Jake said that the engine "looks factory" and who could disagree. This engine picture shows the air cleaners installed. Also if you look behind the screenbehind the alternator you can see the oil cooling and oil breather lines. I have seen these cars and the oil breatheer is usually behind the carb on the passengers side but for this installation Jake chose to "hide" the breather box behind the firewall for s super clean appearance---and it certainly looks clean!
Also--the DTM shroud is painted a bright silver color like you see right under the alternator but for some reason the silver color above that flat bottom area shows up as very dark--which it isn't. Shadows, I guess. The idea was that the components would show clearly against a silver background rather than a black background.

Amazing--it actually looks smaller than the old Type I but puts double the hp at the rear wheels. Also the layout looks like it will be super easy to work on as the carbs are actually a few inches closer than the Type I and the other components are easily at hand.

Last, jake posted about tweaking the engine (carbs mostly) after his test drive home and back yesterday. then he will drive it home again tonight and back to the shop in the morning to test his tweaks. Does this make me feel good? Oh yeah.

And how about those great Chinese front wheel bearings---shot after 11,000. All with Vintage Speedsters might want to spin those wheels and listen for a grinding noise--I would never have checked for that myself with so few miles---thanks, Jake!

Travel plans--have been made to go get the Speedater. Huge showers are forecast for this weekend in Atlanta so I'll head over to Jake's on Monday. It's a 5:40 am flight to Atlanta, then a limo to Gainesville, GA, then Dean will pick me up in G'ville to drive to Cleveland, GA. Then spent an hour or less with Jake for what I need to know, pay him the balance due and head for Hot Springs. I'll make the 700 mile drive and get back to Hot Springs at 10 pm.

Everything went smoothly with Jake's second 160 mile test drive of the car. He did find a stumble that was traced to one of the carbs so he switched it for a fresh one from Art Thaen and it's totally correct now. Carbs are totally dialed in with the right jets and adjustments so I wont be driving a "work in progress".

The CSP Python exhaust was not used---the RAT exhause gave 6 more hp at the wheels so we went with that one.

The only thing remaining is to replace the front bearings and we expect them to be delivered today.

Maybe Jake will post something but my next post will be a report on my drive home.

Jack - I know you're very excited to pick up your newly powered Speedster! I only wish I were able to join you on that ride home, because I have a feeling those 700 miles will go by rather quickly. Be safe and have fun!!

Jack......If you are hear Monday and plan on driving home this week, it will make one heck of a Christmass present to your self......If I can help, please e-mail me and we'll work something out.....;>)

Thanks, Leon--I was hoping to get youand Margaret out for dinner in Gainesville but as it turns out I'll just be passing through. Thanks for your kind offer. Good Christmas present--you are so right.

Happy holidays to you and yours.

Safe travels, Jack.

Better get a radar detector. That new engine might just take some getting used to.

Is this going to be one of those "made for TV" movies, about a handsome guy in a small sports car making a cross-country trip and having all sorts of adventures along the way while trying to get home for Christmas? There is always a happy ending to those, and a kiss under the missletoe somewhere near the end. We're all here waiting Jack!

All the work is now done.. One more run on the chassis dyno tomorrow to see how the engine responds to differences in fuel octane so I can make a recommendation for Jack based on the results..

Thus far all my optimization has been accomplished on 87 octane.. Making this much power on "Cheap gas" is a bit of an accomplishment. Tomorrow I'll try 89 and 93 and see what timing settings the two like, so Jack can run them with known changes being implemented if he ever wants to...

After this no more Speedsters for me for full blown installations.. I am done with replicars.

Do you want some cheese and crackers with that whine?

Yup, a Beetle is for the most part, an easy peezy bolt in. A little extra time here and there results in unique speedster ride...isn't speedsters what it's all about here?

Oops---a slight glitch in wrapping everything up so the trip tomorrow has to be postponed until after the folks at Aircooled Technology return from holiday vacation. I am hoping for the 5th or 6th of January now. No worries though--it will definitely be worth the wait and should be just that much better in the tweak department when I pick it up.

I need to finish Christmas shopping anyway! HO-HO-HO

Ding.....the oven timer went off, where's the finished product?

It must be October someplace?