TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:04 pm

So, just getting into the VW world. Came across this Hot VW's article about the 'best' bolt on performance products. Looks appealing, and just might be what I am looking to do to my stock 1600.

Thoughts?

http://www.hotvws.com/content.php?contentID=38

Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:14 pm

I wouldmt swap out your vacuumadvance distributor for an 009 mechanical advance if you wanted my two cents.

Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:31 pm

Do people still read Dune Buggies & HWV's :-k

:lol:

Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:11 pm

009? no way.
I don't believe in "bolt on performance" with these motors. Nothing really adds as much power as what you want. except carburetors or fuel injection.

Notch, I base a lot of stuff out of Jeff Hibbard's baja bug book

Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:14 pm

A "free-flow" exhaust helped mine about thirty-five years ago. I have replaced it about three times.

Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:29 pm

Rule #1 - you won a VW bus not a Porsche 911
Rule #2 - You own a VW bus not a modern SUV
Rule #3 - get used to making it run right before you invest a small fortune in trying to give it "performance." A well tuned stock bus will drive circles around a badly tuned bus with performance options.
Rule #4 - get used to the right hand lanes and slow hill climbs. They are part of your life now.

Tue Oct 21, 2014 6:18 pm

Brian wrote:
I don't believe in "bolt on performance" with these motors.

I sure do… I bolt on a timing light, dwell meter, and an attentive ear. Never ceases to add some cajones to a lethargic Volkswagen. Oh, but I unbolt them before driving off.

Tue Oct 21, 2014 8:44 pm

I am not trying to make it a Porsche. Just looking for options. If I want to make a performance difference, ill do the 1642 build. Just like my motorcycles... simple bolt on options can sometimes make the most of the engine.

Much like I am looking at the disc brake conversion for better braking... I see no problem with exploring way to make small improvements.

Thanks for the input. Going to my local bug shop (OC BUGWORKS) to get their input as well.

Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:56 pm

If it was so easy why doesn't everyone do it?
Please post before and after results of your findings :wink:

I'm guessing you are fairly new to the VW scene, be warned many times magazines like that one publish information that is based less on fact and more geared towards a freindly recap of what thier advertisers are saying in the press releases they include with the free parts they send them for "testing", read between the lines. As already mentioned a good tune up following the correct specifications (not the Muir book) can add more performance than any shiny Chinese POS part and won't shorten the life of your engine in the process.

Tue Oct 21, 2014 10:11 pm

^ what he says. =D> =D>

That's not mocking you. I fully get what you are saying. But now you know.

Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:38 am

Well to be honest. I'm rebuilding my bus and I do used some 'bolt on' tuning.

My engine setup is going to be on a 1600 DP AD block:
New 1680 cylinders
New W100 camshaft
Two refurbished dualport Dellorto DRLA 36's
Original 009 distributor
Full flow oil filter

Everything is going to be balanced correctly before fitting it.

And I do believe that although not an extreme setup this will give some additional performance over the stock 1600. Especially where you need it, on torque. I don't want high top speeds, I want torque to be able to drive better in todays traffic.

Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:24 am

You can bolt on a pair of 40 idf's and a header,stick with a vac dizzy for better mileage or if u have to, a 010 or 019, NOT a 009 dizzy,deep sump for more oil, bolt on's do work 8)

Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:36 am

why not a 009 for a bus, is there a reason?

Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:39 am

Many 009's have a rather aggressive advance curve that conflicts with the slow acelleration of a bus and can damage the engine, they work better in a light bug or a bus with a heavily fortified motor. New ones are often even worse as there's little quality control.

Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:23 am

busdaddy wrote: Many 009's have a rather aggressive advance curve that conflicts with the slow acelleration of a bus and can damage the engine, they work better in a light bug or a bus with a heavily fortified motor. New ones are often even worse as there's little quality control.
Thanks.

I've got the 009, but that needs to go then, also got the computronix wich I can use. Or should I only use the 010 or 019?

Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:09 am

I would use a 019 with points. 009s are made for Zambonis.

Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:04 pm

Brian wrote: 009? no way.
I don't believe in "bolt on performance" with these motors. Nothing really adds as much power as what you want. except carburetors or fuel injection.

Notch, I base a lot of stuff out of Jeff Hibbard's baja bug book

Hahahaha!! I find this extremely funny for the simple reason that I knew Jeff Hibbard BITD. I don't want to step on any toes here but were you joking? Not that Jeff is a bad guy mind you. He is a great guy in real life and one hell of an off road racer in his day. Your comment struck me as funny is all. I also once met the man that owned the convertible Baja bug that was used on the cover of the book. He told me they used that image of his car without his permission. Geez talk about trivial crap I haven thought about in decades! HA!

No back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:13 pm

There is nothing wrong with a 009, mine works great. You guys are just hating.

Go with the bolt ons. You will notice a big difference with dual carbs, electronic ingintion and a merged header. Like BD said, be sure to post your results.

Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:26 pm

I think the title of the thread and the line of comments do disservice to bolt on performance parts.

Whats your definition of bolt on?
Build quality issues aka "made in China" aside.........in my book and others have commented in the past...simply means that there is no machining and there is no welding. This is something you can fully do at home without (generally) expert tools and help.

By that definition.....the 3mm larger TB you bolted onto your factory EFI to match the 2.0 injectors when moving from a 1.8 to a 2.0....and excellent mod for those who know how to tuune for it by the way.....is bolt on...and is excellent. The fact that you have to do a little tuning and expand the sheet metal mouth of the plenum is irrelevant. Its bolt on and it works well.

So are dual carbs.....and so is a new cam with lifters and pushrods. No welding...no machine work....and you can get better performance and reliability.

Same goes for ratio rockers and a larger oil pump......bolt on. Whether you need it is a question and whether you need some tweaking and tuning is irrelevant. Its bolt on and it works
Moving to a pertronix and a better coil with EFI especiallly....is a noticable improvement......bolt on.

Those who expect to simply "bolt" something on to an engine expecting immediate improvment with no extra effort whatsoever....are the problem. Not the bolt on part. Ray

Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:36 pm

Yea bolt on a Subaru engine. Either run stock or go with a waterbox engine. Unless you really want to build a high performance VW. It's going to cost you triple what it would to do a subby conversion.