TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:18 pm

i am building fiberglass buggy with 1964 pan andmatching swingaxle trans and trying to put a 1600dp engine on it im having problems with the clutch and flywheel seems the flywheel is larger do i need adifferent flywheel and clutch set up any info would help im new to the vw world thanks

Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:33 pm

You're engine is a later 12 volt motor and flywheel while your swingaxle is for a 6 volt. 6V trannys are smaller in diameter, but can be ground out to accept the larger flywheel and clutch combo. Do a search on these forums for the procedure - it's not hard. You just need to take your time. The other option is to fit an earlier flywheel (6 volt), but I'm not that familiar with what blocks will accept which flywheels. Someone will surely chime in shortly with that info.

Rick

Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:22 pm

It's super easy to grind down the nubs in the transmission's bell housing. If you have an extra engine block, crank, and flywheel it's even easier to hold it up and see where it rubs. If not grind off the bottom nubs, lift your engine into place, turn the pulley a few times to make marks inside and grind down where it rubbed. (repeat).

Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:16 pm

I did it on a 64 pan as well. Yes, you have to grind the bell housing. I used a Makita 4" grinder, and took my time. Take a little off, test-fit, a little more off, test-fit, etc.

You also need a new starter bushing to fit the shaft size of the 12v system, not to mention the 12v starter motor. Which gets into the whole 12v thing, as I think you'll need to do the whole 12v conversion on bulbs, relays, etc.

Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:20 pm

i did this on my old motor and tranny set up, took like 20 mins, with a rotary file, be sure to change the throw out bearing while you're in there, and i used an auto stick starter.

here are the pics

Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:35 pm

No need to swap to a 12v starter. The 6 volt meshes perfectly and will not burn up under normal use. It will spin the stock 1600 a little quicker.

Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:44 pm

aahhh, the memories of cleaning magnesium dust out of every crack and crevis in a 10 ft area. priceless!!!

all kidding aside. it`s easy to do just make sure you grind deep enough or as you tighten dome the motor it will lock the flywheel in place and you`ll be removing it and grinding a second time.

X2 on the 6 volt starter, no problem as long as you don`t crank for long periods of time.

Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:39 pm

Here are another couple of shots that show the clearancing from a different angle

In fact if you go to the bottom of this page you can see some pictures of exactly where the flywheel hits the bell housing and where the clearancing needs to be done and how much.

... and yes, cleaning up all that magnesium dust is a pain.

Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:47 pm

dan macmillan wrote: No need to swap to a 12v starter. The 6 volt meshes perfectly and will not burn up under normal use. It will spin the stock 1600 a little quicker.

You sure about that, Dan? 6V starters mesh with a 109 tooth gear; 12 volt are 134 (or somethin' like that - it's late). But I second the motion on an autostick or even an aftermarket gear reduction starter to eliminate the issue with mix and matching bearings.

Rick

Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:24 am

USE A MASK!!!

Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:17 am

Yes use mask and keep grinding build up cleaned out... its magnesium and of you hit something steel with grinding tools and create sparks it can go POOF...

I can relate to this from experience, its not fun for it to go POOF in your lap...

I also recommend the "auto stick" starter especially if you grind through into area of trans that supports starter bushing.

Dale

Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:23 pm

6volt starter will not work with a 12volt 200mm flywheel!

Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:23 pm

^^^^ are you sure? I changed my flywheel and never changed my bushing. grabbed a starter from the pile, and bolted it on. was about sure it was a 6 volt?

Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:37 pm

RaythO wrote: ^^^^ are you sure? I changed my flywheel and never changed my bushing. grabbed a starter from the pile, and bolted it on. was about sure it was a 6 volt?

Yep. The ring gear is larger, hence interferance with the starter Bendix. The 6V bushing is larger in ID (I think - don't quote me here), so a 12V starter will still work, since it's slightly smaller. My setup at one point was 6V ring gear, 6V starter and 12V starter solenoid to work with the 12V system in my car. Tore up a couple starter bushings, but that's about it!

R

Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:39 pm

Thanks for the info, guess I learned something today :)

Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:27 pm

you guys are great thanks for getting back to me so quickly does anybody know if i could swap out the 12volt flywheel for a 6volt flywheel off a 1964 1200cc motor??

Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:31 pm

i just grind the bel housing, if you keep the bigger flywheel, you get a bigger clutch!!

but yes, it is do able..

Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:25 pm

Yeah, you can. You just have to check all the clearances when you mount the flywheel. Keep it 12V and grind the bellhousing. It's easier, and like DD said, you'll be able to use a larger (stronger) clutch if you need it.

R

Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:09 pm

I was nervious about grinding mine too, but it really is easy.

Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:17 am

Special note on grinding the bellhousing. Be careful of sparks from nicking the tranny mount bolts. Magnesium powder is easy to ignite and almost impossible to put out the resulting fire. Water will not put it out, it will only make it worse. Magnesium fires go out with time or sand.