Zwitter Intake Manifold / Intake Manifolds

[splitjunkie]

[usariemen]

A good source for information are always the Gute Fahrt magazines.
Just true period pics. There you see the cars and lots of details as they where.
Here is a "what´s new in 1953" page.

Here "what´s new in 1954".

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Master of my domain!

[nlorntson]

[johnshenry]

Here's my, ummm, "Uterus Intake". I now have a great example of each of the intakes, unjacketed K to this one....

I used to think that all of them that I saw were "abused" and the heat risers bent, but I have realized that they were made with bends in the mid section right and left like that.
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[Jacks]

[D. Haviland]

late, but I'm going to say 08 02

[ZwitterND]

Pervert? Uterus? Nut cup? Ironic terms considering the German definition of "zwitter".
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Bill

[johnshenry]

Some pics of the intakes that I have.

BTW, I VERY reluctantly sold my original unjacketed K manifold to someone who restored a '46 or '47, and I would very much like to get another one to complete my collection. If anyone has one they could part with, please PM me. Does not have to be perfect but must have heat riser completely intact. I'll pay well for the right intake to complete my collection.

Immediately below, bottom to top: Jacketed K manifold, 25hp; "701" , 25hp, the '53 only "08.02" 25hp; "701E", 36hp; '54-'55 Cold Climate Intake, 36hp.

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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[splitjunkie]

That is actually not the cold climate manifold. It is the standard '54-'55 manifold.

The cold climate manifold has a cast riser jacket that is part of the regular jacket.

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Chris

You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld

[janerick3]

Don't forget about the short-lived, late '54-early '55, thin-wall, 701B, 36hp manifold

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Thanks,
Jan K.

[usariemen]

[splitjunkie]

[johnshenry]

[splitjunkie]

[janerick3]

There are two base part numbers listed in the tech bulletins and parts manuals: (111) 129 501 x, which is probably a kit and 111 129 701 x, which is the manifold itself. The letter suffixes may not necessarily match between the 501 and 701 part numbers, which further adds to the confusion.
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Thanks,
Jan K.

[splitjunkie]

[virtanen]

One version of cold climate intake.

Pulleting in German:

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Mika
Split beetle restoration panels
Oval beetle restoration panels
New projects

[splitjunkie]

My biggest question about the '54-'55 manifold is this: What exactly happened? Why do we rarely see them? We know they exist and we have NOS examples and ones on cutaway engines but I can't think of ever seeing one on a car.

There must have been a recall, but why this manifold and not the earlier thin walled manifolds?

We know that they rust out badly but was it worse than the earlier manifolds? My thought is that they rusted the down tube inside the jacket causing bad vacuum leaks which would affect the ability of the engine to run.

I think this because the earlier K manifolds are still fairly plentiful in comparison. They are often found on old cars, both survivors and barn finds. We know that the risers rot out on these manifolds which would let exhaust gas into the engine compartment and then into the passenger compartment when the heat was on.

The replacement part for the K and jacketed K was the zwitter manifold as late as '55 and it had the same thin walls. This was at the same time that the '54-'55 (uterus manifold) was installed in production cars. The fact that the K and zwitter manifolds are still found in the wild and the uterus manifold are not is because the uterus manifolds were recalled for vacuum leaks, not safety issues.

This is all an educated guess. Hopefully someone will find some old documentation at some point to give us the answer.
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Chris

You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld

[johnshenry]

[Grant Reiling]