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1974 Aircooled 1800 engine bay window kombi engine

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 5:26 pm
by Larry
Hi I have just bought a 1974 baywindow aircooled 1800 kombi.
I need advise on the engine,it runs very well and gets up to 120km/h easily on the long road and maintain a good 100km/h uphills.
What worries me is that there is an oil leak and the idling is quite high when warm and back pressure in the breather pipe.
Also smoke from exhaust at first start in the morning for a minute then nothing until parked overnight.
The motor has been rebuilt recently 2 months ago by a decent engineering company.
My question is,is it worth spending money on this engine-or are they problematic engines-should I rather drop in another engine(1600 maybe) I have heard these are not problematic.
Please advise as I am not much of a mechanic,but if I have to spend the money,I would like to spend it in the right direction.
Thxs cheers

Re: 1974 Aircooled 1800 engine bay window kombi engine

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 6:03 pm
by Tony Z
the engines are very reliable and worth spending money on them.
Their biggest problem is if they get too hot, the exhaust valve seats have a tendency of falling out. When rebuilding the heads after a lengthy amount of service, the seats should be replaced with new (and possibly have the heads welded) to ensure correct press fit.

A little smoke out of the breather is normal for a new engine until it beds in properly. But 1min worth of smoking isnt. Have the compression tested. I've seen people install the wrong size rings before causing a "new" engine to smoke more than the old one which needed new rings...

Re: 1974 Aircooled 1800 engine bay window kombi engine

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 6:25 pm
by Larry
Thxs Tony will do cheers

Re: 1974 Aircooled 1800 engine bay window kombi engine

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:22 pm
by sean
Hi Larry. The 1800 type 4 was in my mind the best aircooled motor installed in a Kombi. Installing a 1600 would be a terrible down grade and the 1600 motor would have even a shorter life being a much weaker engine.

The question is, what components were used inside when this motor was rebuild. The are virtually no parts available for the 1800 motor locally. 2L parts can be substituted and work, but you will have yourself a bastard engine.

The twin carbs are probably the most tricky part, high idling would be a carb problem most probably. Also incorrect float levels and fuel mixtures will also cause smoking on start up.

Re: 1974 Aircooled 1800 engine bay window kombi engine

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:46 pm
by Larry
sean wrote: Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:22 pm Hi Larry. The 1800 type 4 was in my mind the best aircooled motor installed in a Kombi. Installing a 1600 would be a terrible down grade and the 1600 motor would have even a shorter life being a much weaker engine.

The question is, what components were used inside when this motor was rebuild. The are virtually no parts available for the 1800 motor locally. 2L parts can be substituted and work, but you will have yourself a bastard engine.

The twin carbs are probably the most tricky part, high idling would be a carb problem most probably. Also incorrect float levels and fuel mixtures will also cause smoking on start up.
Thanks Sean will do some homework on what exactly was done- but good to know that the engine is a keeper and just got to make sure I get it to perfect working condition.

Re: 1974 Aircooled 1800 engine bay window kombi engine

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 7:08 am
by Vintage man
Morning ,I dont want to high jack this but Sean can you let us know were one can get 2L engine parts especially the main and big end bearings.

Re: 1974 Aircooled 1800 engine bay window kombi engine

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 6:42 pm
by sean
Vintage man wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 7:08 am Morning ,I dont want to high jack this but Sean can you let us know were one can get 2L engine parts especially the main and big end bearings.
2l parts can be obtained through Master parts or Alert. The stock is inconsistent. If they don’t have stock, just order offline. Simple as that.

Re: 1974 Aircooled 1800 engine bay window kombi engine

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:52 pm
by buggyfan
Vintage man wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 7:08 am Morning ,I dont want to high jack this but Sean can you let us know were one can get 2L engine parts especially the main and big end bearings.
I Went to a shop in Mooi str Jhb and they had all different sizes O.d /i.d bearings.Mostly smagon brand.According to the guy behind the till he can get any size fot tipe1 aswell as tipe4 engines.They supply Bruce in Horizon that does the line-boring with all his parts.

Details
Swag n tail V.W motor spares .011 3345973/0113341470
Jerome 0721269990

Re: 1974 Aircooled 1800 engine bay window kombi engine

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:17 am
by Vintage man
Thanks guys