New Buggy owner

[szuppo]

Posted this earlier in the wrong section Hello there! I just purchased a Dune Buggy with what I am guessing is a "71 VW engine? It has the "AE" letter code. Let's begin by giving you a little a history on me. I'm new to vehicle work. Not a wrencher but more of a reader. I've been trying to learn as much as I can on this Forum and it has been awesome.
Here is what I know/was told about my particular buggy: "71, 1600 dual engine. It has two brass screws underneath the case so I assume it is a dual relief?The PO told be the jugs are 88mm which he didn't sound too confident about. (guess that's why the super cool tins won't fit? He also said to run CAM2 race fuel in it? PO also installed a full flow filter. I still have leaks somewhere. Not major but somewhere.
What else? It has a Weber 40 IDF Carb that I took apart/cleaned and reassembled. Waiting on a few replacement parts and bigger main jet. Checked the compression yesterday, 135 on number 1 and 150 on 2 through 4. It has an 009 distributor with a compufire ignition installed. I ordered and installed an EMPI 40/44 intake manifold and (not the best quality) and would love to run the preheaters to preheat the fuel but my exhaust has no provisions for it So I ordered another exhaust with the flanges but not sure if it will work or even line up? Can I run it wothout pre heating the fuel without losing alot of performance?
At this point I know I have a '71 case but not sure exactly if this is a 1600 anymore or a 1915 like the PO tells me? Another interesting thing I encountered was that the valves had absolutely zero gap. I set them to .006" but after running for about 15 minutes and checking again they have moved both in and out, up too .009", I ordered Bugpack Elephant feet adjusters, anything I should know about these?
I replaced all the tins with EMPI (not even close the the original German tins in quality but I wanted the shroud without the heater ducts.
I also replaced the push rod tubes with the EMPI adjustables, so far no leaks but I have not really run it for any distance.
It's difficult for me to get engine parts when I'm unsure of what I have.
What else?............I installed a fuel regulator and gauge and have it set at 3.5# after the pump and before the carb, from what I've read Webers like low pressure?
I replaced the sump plate, screen and gaskets (after scraping off a pound of RTV on the sump plate and it appears to be holding oil even though one of the studs never tightens, I'll have to get a step stud for that I guess.
My big questions now are this, Can I mount the Coil and the fuel regulator to the shroud by welding a few nuts on it? Would it be better to weld the nuts an 1/8" thick plate of metal and weld that to the shroud for strength? I can't weld them on the inside of the shroud as it is all together now. Will this suffice for off road use?
My other solution was an aluminum plate that would mount on top of the carb with the correct diameter holes drilled and that bolted down with a gasket and carb top plate, then air claeaner. Giving me 6" of space on either side of the carb for mounting items. Unusual but I believe it would be effective. Thoughts?

Thanks again for any and all answers, this forum is awesome and I have learned so much just reading and reading some more!

Once the engine is all done I plan on fabricating an aluminum diamondplate hood and painting everything black.

Before:






After:

[pafree]

do you have any close ups of your pedal assembly? is that a autostick pedal assembly?



i put a hole through the lip on the cylinder tins to run the valve cover pressure relief hoses. even a small hole with a zip tie will keep the hoses from getting close to the headers. you might have to put the nipple on the valve cover in different spot but better than toasting a oil line on a hot header.



the rail is looking good.
_________________
1972 vw hunting truggy

sand it, fill it, paint it, throw some mud on it and then baja it.

[szuppo]

I'll take some pictures of the pedal assembly and post them. I've removed all the breather hoses and will re-route them once I figure out how I am going to mount the coil and fuel regualtor. Thnik I can just weld a few nuts on the outside of the fan shroud to mount?

[pafree]

[mrbajadude]

Looks like you're off to a good start. Appears to be a bus box and some real nice coil-over shocks. Good Luck, Ol' John

[Vanapplebomb]

Your rear trailing arms look interesting. Would you mind taking some closer pictures of them? lately I have been fascinated with different ways people brace up trailing arms and what not. So if you could snap a couple and post them up that would be awesome!

Also, the "coil over" shocks you have on the front should probably go. Those are not real coil overs. The only function of the spring is to stiffen up the already stiff front and look cool. The damper is very poor too. The combination of an overly stiff front and poor damping...not as good as it could be. KYB makes some nice gas shocks that would work great for the front and are not that expensive.

Its hard to tell what kind of shock you have in the back. If you are running torsion bars, they should probably go. I can't tell but my guess is that they are the longer version of what you have in the front. It would be good to double check. Going to a KYB gas-a-just would improve your ride if they are the silly coil overs that are not made to support the vehicles weight.

Overall, its a nice looking rail. I'm looking forward to more pictures.
_________________
Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[szuppo]

Ill take some more pics of the front end and rear suspension once I get back to the place I am storing/working on it. I appreciate all feedback because as I already stated I am a complete novice when it comes to vehicles.
Should I be concerned with the lower pressure on cylinder #1? 135 vs 150 on the others? It did bump up to 140 when I put about 10 cc's of oil in the plug hole and tested. Indicative of a ring problem?
Thanks again.

[pafree]

[szuppo]

I don't notice any smoke whatsoever when runnning it. I did replace the seals in the oil cooler when I replaced doghouse shroud. I alos replaced the spring loaded push rod tubes that were leaking with the empi adjustables. So far no leaks but I've only run the engine for twenty minutes max. All the push rods looked straight no blockages.
I bought an EMPI manifold for the Weber 40 IDF, where the heat riser tubes insert was blocked off after about 4 inched. I drilled it out and can hopefully use these heat risers for what they were intended. Guess I'll have to weld on some flanges to the exhaust? From what I've read it the increased heat will help vaporize the fuel when the tubes get heated up enough? That and they will help stabalize the manifold instead of having to make another bracket for it.

thanks for the reply.

[vw_nick]

[pafree]

[szuppo]

Added some pics of suspension and a short video.
Almost ready for paint.

Video
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/szuppo/c9e0b261.mp4