Aircooled VW South Africa

I take it that the standard rims are about 6.5 to 7 inch wide.....I'm looking at putting about a 245x75 tyre on the back and think I'll stick to the 14" rim, which means for a 245 tyre (if you do get them in a 14" size?) will need to have the rim widen to about 8.5" which means a 2" spaced will need to be welded in
Update: Just found out that the biggest you can go in the 14" is a 195 tyre so going to have to try find a 15" or simply just stick with what I have

Calooker helping me out on sorting some spares
So far things to be done soon...roughly in order.... top 3 being things that I would like to do soon and the rest will follow...hoping to get started soon as I am happy and done a bit of homework to make sure I don't end up doing things twice..like I have just done by redoing my standard drum brakes and new carb and have spent a load of money on it only to now want to upgrade it all

1. Electronic ignition
2. Disk brakes
3. Twin card setup

4. 4 in 1 exhaust setup
5. 15" rear rims widened to +/- 8.5" to fit 245 tyre
6. oil filter
7. Shortened gear changer (may just chop the original one I got and save some $$$)
8. re-seat and add bigger valves

Once that is all done I'll concentrate on making her look pretty as no use doing any of that and she doesn’t run well...
hoping to be able to get some pics up soon

Just as a sake of interest, check out the following link,

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... 1600+turbo

Bratjie wrote:Just as a sake of interest, check out the following link,

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... 1600+turbo

Now that's something to look at, maybe just do a pull-trough system like that, I bet it would cost about the same as the mods you are planning in any case and I'm sure it will make a lot more power!!!

riaanj wrote:

Bratjie wrote:Just as a sake of interest, check out the following link,

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... 1600+turbo

Now that's something to look at, maybe just do a pull-trough system like that, I bet it would cost about the same as the mods you are planning in any case and I'm sure it will make a lot more power!!!

This is the exact same thread that got me started on my 1600TP Turbo blowthrough build, mine could be 99.99% finished by Sunday afternoon, can't wait to see/feel the results, gonna be doing a lot more seat time now than in the past 13 years I've had my baby.
All the parts are locally available and depending on your budget you can do a decent Turbo setup.

Well since last I posted I have been doing so much homework and reading up on how things are done and what can be done in order not to have to do too many things twice!

Main thing I'm doing first is chucking out the old original dizzy with its points and condenser...and replacing it with a Bosch 009 electronic dizzy!

From there will be whacking on a pair of 32 ITC Webber Carbs (doing this just after I recently replaced my original carb with a brand new one bit of a waste of money none the less a bit of a lesson learnt )
Then replacing the existing trumpets with a 4 in 1 exhaust
Pics to come

Picture below of the 009 dizzy and some shiny bits and pieces including a quick shifter as tired of whacking my knuckles on the dash every time I change into 1st gear...which together with chopping down the shifter should make of a nice mod.

P.S thx to Calooker for always willing to help and the much needed spares

Will be looking to sell my old parts Dizzy,pulleys,trumpets,1 x old and 1 x Brand new orginal solex carb if any one is interested...

SouL wrote: Main thing I'm doing first is chucking out the old original dizzy with its points and condenser...and replacing it with a Bosch 009 electronic dizzy!


Will be looking to sell my old parts Dizzy,pulleys,trumpets,1 x old and 1 x Brand new orginal solex carb if any one is interested...

Keep the old dizzy as a spare inside the car. Mark its fitting position before you remove it so when the elec ign fails you can just plug the old one back in.
BTW, it isnt a question of if it will fail, it will.

Chrome valve cover. Nice
Usually makes sealing pretty difficult and leads to higher oil temps

The crank pulley is a good buy you will not regret it. Degrees make checking valve clearances and timing so much easier. Aim for 28degBTDC total.

Thanks Tony Appreciate the advice!

Tony Z wrote:Keep the old dizzy as a spare inside the car. Mark its fitting position before you remove it so when the elec ign fails you can just plug the old one back in.
BTW, it isnt a question of if it will fail, it will.

Are you refering to the old orginal dizzy or the new dizzy?

Tony Z wrote:Chrome valve cover. Nice
Usually makes sealing pretty difficult and leads to higher oil temps

Calooker showed me a little trick with bending the clamps a little to hopefully offer a better seal...so wil see how it goes

Tony Z wrote:The crank pulley is a good buy you will not regret it. Degrees make checking valve clearances and timing so much easier. Aim for 28degBTDC total.

It's the main reason I got it...to make doing the timing and valve adjustments easier... 28deg is what I will definately set the timing to...

Planning on doing the shifter and bush tomorrow then the rest of it next weekend as I'm going to need a tool to pull the pulley off which Calooker said he could help me with, so with doing that will do the dizzy, valve setting, and the pulley then.
Replacing the bush on the shifter is apprently a B...h to do so wish me luck

SouL wrote:Thanks Tony Appreciate the advice!

Tony Z wrote:Keep the old dizzy as a spare inside the car. Mark its fitting position before you remove it so when the elec ign fails you can just plug the old one back in.
BTW, it isnt a question of if it will fail, it will.

Are you refering to the old orginal dizzy or the new dizzy?
Electronic module will fail. Some units are better than others, I have had success ranging from over 30 000km to one that burned out before I even got the car started. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR IGNITION ON IF THE ENGINE IS NOT RUNNING!!!!!

Tony Z wrote:Chrome valve cover. Nice
Usually makes sealing pretty difficult and leads to higher oil temps

Calooker showed me a little trick with bending the clamps a little to hopefully offer a better seal...so wil see how it goes
Good luck, I have not used one. Have not heard too many good things about them tho. Remember, Chrome doesnt help the oil cooling and you get a good amount of cooling from the tappet covers.

Tony Z wrote:The crank pulley is a good buy you will not regret it. Degrees make checking valve clearances and timing so much easier. Aim for 28degBTDC total.

It's the main reason I got it...to make doing the timing and valve adjustments easier... 28deg is what I will definately set the timing to...

Planning on doing the shifter and bush tomorrow then the rest of it next weekend as I'm going to need a tool to pull the pulley off which Calooker said he could help me with, so with doing that will do the dizzy, valve setting, and the pulley then.
Replacing the bush on the shifter is apprently a B...h to do so wish me luck

extra comments above in red

Keep us posted and send us pics.

Well....started off early this morning in order to beat the heat...idea was to replace the shifter bush and add my new quick shifter.

I was warned that the bush could give me a run for my money with installing it...well to be honest it wasn’t all that bad I managed to unbolt it all slide the gear link forward replace the new bush with the old and push it back again in less that 30min!
Once that was done it was time for the quick shifter which I was rather excited to see how it would work and at the time seemed a good idea....none the less installed it and then the s#&t started. I struggled for hours to try position the plate below in order forall the gearing to be easily selected. Managed to get it adjusted that I could find all the gears BUT I found with the quick shifter it moved everything closer together and found myself selecting 4th instead of 2nd and grating the gear try to look for 2nd to find out it was selecting reverse ffs! (I thought in order to select revers was to push down on the shifter and back left??? I so badly wanted it to work...I thought it was the steel plate which bolts the shifter down that needed to be adjusted and road around the block at least 15 times with a spanner in my hand trying to find what works...long story short it didn’t work and decided to call it quits and remove the quick shifter and go back to how it was...problem now is the gearing just doesn’t seem the same anymore and spent another few hours and riding around the block to try sort it out…and couldn’t seem to stop the gearing from selecting reverse when looking for 2nd aaaaaaahhhh!!!...at about 4pm in the crazy JHB heat I decided to call it a day and sit inside with the air con on eating ice creams! So was a waste of a day as the only thing which went according to plan was the replacing of the bush

Now I'm screwed with trying to get the gearing like is was any advice will be appreciated

Did a bit of reading up this morning and it seems the hardest part about this job is getting the shift plate right....in fact it seems that the shift plate adjustment is my problem *TIP* whoever else ever needs to unbolt your shift plate for whatever reason first MARK ITS POSSITION, so that you don't land up with the same crap as me!

So I'm going to try again to sort it out this evening. so as I get it right.. will mark it and maybe even try the quick shifter again... Anyone got experience with this shift plate and how to adjust it?

Yes marking the position prior to removing everything sure helps, forgot to mention that, another trick is to not bolt everything down tight once fitted, bolt it up finger tight, take it for a drive, work thru the gears then tighten it up as you find the gears are selecting proper, that is how I do it, but important as well it to get the "selector plate" is in the correct position to prevent reverse being selected when changing to second.

On the 009 dizzie, don't if you have a vacuum advance signal from your twin 23mm ITCs (I don't know if you do.) Electronic ignition, if it's the same little POS that goes into the dizzie, it will last about a year in a buggy, depending on how hot the engine and dizzie gets, and then you'll be well advised to go back to points. The fit and forget story is a fairy tale.

Good call on the 4-1 exhaust. Try to get a nice fat pipe without necking in the bends.

The degreed pulley is a must if your going to go with the 009, and you should adjust it between 28 and 32 deg, more towards 32, but not pinging, the closer you get to 28, the more likely you'll have a flat spot. All this at max advance, so greater than 2500rpm.

Depending on what gear you aren't getting, put the gearbox into the opposite gear with the shift plate finger tight, and push the gear lever firmly further into the same direction, and hold it there while tightening the shift plate, and check if you can get your missing gear. So if you can't get 1st or rev, shift into 3rd, nudge it in the NE direction if N is forwards, and tighten the plate. This is the description from the Hurst or Berg shifter installation guide, can't remember.

As far as discs are concerned, don't bother unless you're a) tired of adjusting drums, b) going to drive lots of sand, c) tow a trailer, d) going to drive really fast and need lighter unsprung weight. If you think you're going to decrease your stopping distance by changing from correctly set up drums to discs, you're mistaken or misled.

Best of luck with it...

calooker wrote:Yes marking the position prior to removing everything sure helps, forgot to mention that, another trick is to not bolt everything down tight once fitted, bolt it up finger tight, take it for a drive, work thru the gears then tighten it up as you find the gears are selecting proper, that is how I do it, but important as well it to get the "selector plate" is in the correct position to prevent reverse being selected when changing to second.

I imagine it will need to be slightly tighter than finger tight as when selecting the gears the plate will still move about slightly?

Ron&Gill wrote: On the 009 dizzie, don't if you have a vacuum advance signal from your twin 23mm ITCs (I don't know if you do.) Electronic ignition, if it's the same little POS that goes into the dizzie, it will last about a year in a buggy, depending on how hot the engine and dizzie gets, and then you'll be well advised to go back to points. The fit and forget story is a fairy tale.

The dizzy as far as I'm aware does not have a vacuum advance on it.. Ok I thought a electronic dizzy was the way to go ...only now being told that I'll be lucky if it'll last max a yr??? .... did some reading up on it and was well aware that I am not to leave the ignition on but, no where was the life span mentioned ....

Ron&Gill wrote:Good call on the 4-1 exhaust. Try to get a nice fat pipe without necking in the bends.

Yup the TnT exhaust is the way to go....no necking apprently

Ron&Gill wrote:The degreed pulley is a must if your going to go with the 009, and you should adjust it between 28 and 32 deg, more towards 32, but not pinging, the closer you get to 28, the more likely you'll have a flat spot. All this at max advance, so greater than 2500rpm.

I'm going safe with a 28 advance..and will see how bad the flat spot is and work it from there

Ron&Gill wrote:Depending on what gear you aren't getting, put the gearbox into the opposite gear with the shift plate finger tight, and push the gear lever firmly further into the same direction, and hold it there while tightening the shift plate, and check if you can get your missing gear. So if you can't get 1st or rev, shift into 3rd, nudge it in the NE direction if N is forwards, and tighten the plate. This is the description from the Hurst or Berg shifter installation guide, can't remember.

Giving it another bash this evening...wish me luck

Ron&Gill wrote:As far as discs are concerned, don't bother unless you're a) tired of adjusting drums, b) going to drive lots of sand, c) tow a trailer, d) going to drive really fast and need lighter unsprung weight. If you think you're going to decrease your stopping distance by changing from correctly set up drums to discs, you're mistaken or misled.

maybe option b) some day will see with all the updates how much I'll need it but from what I have been told... disk will just mean that I wont have to pull a leg muscle when needing to stop in a hurry

Thanks for the advice Ron&Gill

I have been slated for this before, but I'll say it again.
You do not have electronic ignition. All you have done is replace the mechanical points with an electronic switching relay.
Electronic ignition is the way to go, but that is slightly different. You can convert the 009 and electronic module to run electronic ignition, but thats a bit more pricey.
What many people in the US do is run the 009 with the module you have and have that drive a MSD setup. All the current goes thru the MSD system and not the points (or points replacement kit you have). This makes it a system you can forget about.

Tony Z wrote: This makes it a system you can forget about.

That was my whole point of the "upgrade". So what do I need now to achieve this...

Square coil
Harness
Ignition Module
Injector plug
???