TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sat Feb 28, 2004 8:06 pm

A friend of mine recently had her 71 SB rear ended and it trashed the engine lid. It was the style of lid that had the vents in it. She has been given a lid from a different year beetle that does not have the vents. Will this be okay to use or does it have to have the additional venting. It does have the vents that are below the rear window and just above the lid.

thanks,
Mick

Sat Feb 28, 2004 9:43 pm

I can't give you any reason why a solid hood shouldn't work but those vents were there for a reason, I'd stick with them. Shop around, I'm sure she could find the correct hood.

jeffrey

Sun Feb 29, 2004 1:01 am

G'day Aussie,

The vents in the decklid accompanied the move to a larger engine in 1970. The 1600 just generated too much heat under a decklid with no vents. So the boys at Wolfsburg came up with the vents. I'd suggest either looking around for a properly vented rear decklid or considering a set of standoffs which will accomplish (basically) the same thing.

Mike

1970 AS Bug

Sun Feb 29, 2004 10:08 am

i agree - engine lids aren't that expensive for supers, so shop around for a vented one, it'll be better to shop around for a vented one to help prevent your engine from over-heating! chrome trims look great on vented engine lids too :wink:

Sun Feb 29, 2004 10:28 am

I ran a solid decklid on 73 for a few years, 1600DP with the offset cooler etc. and it did not seem to harm it, even in Texas heat... but it was way early on in my VW days and I did not have any temp guage or anything to compare too.

however I agree that the vents were there for a reason adn it would be best to have them.

I would not hesitate to run the solid lid for a bit until you found one though. If you worry about not getting enough air prop the lid open a couple inches with a block of wood or a tennis ball cut in half....