Aircooled VW South Africa

Those CSP products, as good as they are, are seriously pricey - especially when added to the cost of ceramic coating the heads. So I might opt for a DIY solution with rose joints and some easy-to-weld brackets. I made up a bolted ally brace like this for my old Mini and it worked well enough. I know Pierre/Bugger does also make these sorts of things, so thats also an option.
I am really not the best welder, so I would prefer to try avoid something that I can screw up buy blowing through, or getting inadequate weld penetration.

The compensator or anti-rollbar can come later, since its a nice easy bolt-on.

And I would also think I am not the abusive type... so I could probably get away with less.

Simmy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 30, 2019 12:17 pm And I would also think I am not the abusive type... so I could probably get away with less.

I used to say that too

but now the below no longer applies rather often (sometimes unintentionally)

Wentzel wrote: ↑Wed Oct 30, 2019 7:47 am ...but I don't do burnouts or drop the clutch etc.

It wasn't intended for you Tony. I am not abusive but you never know what the future holds with enough power. It may happen without planning to.

So, between studies, work and servicing my other car its been busy... hence the lack of any update, but I have done some looking around at gearbox mounts and bracing and came to the following conclusions and decisions:

• I am not a great welder, so I am going to try avoid welding anything to the frame where I can.
• I have been in contact with Mendeola about their Stiffy Kaefer brace, and I will likely go with that because of the additional tie bars and bolt-in configuration. Making up one of these is just going to add more time to an already long-running project.
• I am going to fabricate my own midmount though - they really aren't complicated pieces. I will look around for some some "universal" rubber mounts and copy what I can from the GB-style midmount. Just need to make sure that the Kaefer bar's mounts won't clash.
• A strap over the bellhousing can tie onto the upper bolts of the half-moon mounts. With a bit of flat bar, patience and some discretion, I figure its easy enough to get something to tension it down a little.
• Urethane mounts at the bellhousing, and I will see how it goes with the front mount.

Sound like a reasonable plan?

Simmy wrote: ↑Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:57 am [*] I am not a great welder, so I am going to try avoid welding anything to the frame where I can.
[*] I have been in contact with Mendeola about their Stiffy Kaefer brace, and I will likely go with that because of the additional tie bars and bolt-in configuration. Making up one of these is just going to add more time to an already long-running project.

bolt in?? I think you are going to be unpleasantly surprised. Maybe for an IRS car.

With the parts you list, there will definitely be no movement on the gearbox or frame horns.

Why do people suggest that this is not a good solution for swing axles? I realise that it might not be triangulated 100% around the top shock mounts, but the rest looks pretty solid?

Is it that there is additional flex at the bolted joint and that it could vibrate loose? Or is the load higher on a swing axle (I would think this is governed more by the damper and it's characteristics since it has the same top mount as the IRS?)

no-one said anything about it being a bad solution for a swing axle, I was talking about it being bolt on.
I'm not sure how it bolts to the gearbox carrier but if you look at the forward mounts, it bolts onto a part of the IRS car that doesnt exist on a swing axle.

You are correct - the swing axle kit comes with a bracket that bolts to the gusset somewhere between the forks and the torsion tube. Unfortunately it's impossible to find detailed pics online, but you can download their instructions and check it out.

You aren't bringing anything into the country from the States in the near future are you Tony? Maybe I could bundle this in with it to save on some shipping?

I lied .... I actually found a photo...

that doent look too bad, I'd definitely use a doubler plate for the forward mounts.

Sorry Nic, no imports planned for anytime soon.

And we have a bellhousing strap! It's not one of the standard designs, but it tensions up nicely. Just need to double up on some of the rubber padding in some spaces, but it's tight around the upper mounting bolts which should do the job.





The stiffener truss is in the mail... Not sure when it will arrive, but hopefully soonish.

The parts cleaning has started, but I am just waiting for the heads back from the ceramic coating.

You’re momentum with this build is inspiring and a bit of an ass kicking for me

The ceramic coaters you’re using, is it Powerkote? Would you mind showing some pics of the coatings when you get your heads back please?

Thanks! Momentum might be a strong word... But I am certainly closer to starting this thing, than a year ago.

I did go to PowerKote - will share pics as soon as I have the parts back.

Sorry for the delay. Only got the parts back on Friday.

Good news first, the pistons are ok. No overcoat on the ring lands and the surface finish looks good.




Bad news though... They utterly screwed up the heads. Unfortunately no photos, but when I inspected them, the coating had been chipped off around the valve seats and around the barrel seating area. There were also surface defects in the cambers. Basically looks like they applied the power, kiln'd it without having cleaned up the surface beforehand properly (even though I gave it to them in perfect condition) when they then actuated the valves and pulled off the masks, then it just took the coating with it.

I must be honest, I am gutted that they couldn't see how much effort was put in before they got them. I also don't know if I can trust them to fix it properly? What if they damage the valve seats, or try blast out the material and damage the guides or machined surfaces? I highly doubt you can just apply another coat over the current one... It's not paint...
Going to call again tomorrow and will probably just take them back and not pay for the job. Hopefully I can get the coating off myself without causing more damage.

In the mean while, I have started with the crank build up. Gears and bearing on, dowels in. Rods next.

I am using Redline Assembly lube in case anyone spots the red stuff on the bearing.



Case is also clean and good to go.



Everything is getting washed with soap and warm water, blown off with compressed air and also cleaned off with brake/carb cleaner before going in.