TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun May 01, 2016 10:41 am

Friends,

I'd like to introduce you to my 66 Beetle, The Ocressa:

Sun May 01, 2016 11:15 am

This Beetle was purchased from the original owner by my friend, Rob Cress (Busracer on Samba), back in the early 90's. He spotted the car with a For Sale sign on the window which read, '66 Beetle, Modified'. Upon calling the number, he met with a German gentleman who gave him some background on the car.

The story is that upon purchase of the Beetle, the owner took the car to Oettinger to have them do modifications to the motor and the car in general. As you can see from the photos, there appears to be a multitude of upgrades which nearly all appear to be period correct. The car is a time capsule.

Though I'm familiar with Oettinger/Okrasa, I find little information on the post-40hp engines. I'm familiar with the Mach 1, but this car is a full 2 years after. In addition, this Beetle has or had many period modification to enhance driveability. I thought that this might be a good forum to find out more on the orgin and options of this unusual car.

What unusual things can you spot in this picture?

Sun May 01, 2016 12:36 pm

That is one busy engine compartment!

Looking forward to your updates on this!

Sun May 01, 2016 12:36 pm

I spot these unusual things:

Modified German crank pulley. Appears to be a smaller diameter double 'power pulley'? Maybe to attach to that generator stand bracket? For A/C or Super Charger?

Temp sensor on dip stick tube? Dip stick on oil filter? Strange oil pressure sending unit?

Full flow?

Condenser on fan shroud? Mechanical advance distributor.

Breather hose off fan shroud outlet?

Sorry no answers though.

Super cool engine!

Sun May 01, 2016 5:16 pm

Neat stuff in there.

I'm wondering what double pulley was for too, it does look like something might have been mounted off to the right on that bracket.

Is the smaller hose a pre-heat for the dual air cleaners or ?

Was the right side heater hose hooked up too and is just missing now or ?

Mon May 02, 2016 1:50 am

nice!
This is what a 67 okrasa would look like

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/okrasa_german.php

Mon May 02, 2016 10:00 am

Thanks for posting the photo! This is the kind of thing I was hoping for.

The crank pulley is strange and looks to be a manufactured piece (not home-made), as does the generator bracket. It originally drove a secondary generator that I believe was 12V. The car originally had some electronics in it. There are two large radio and/or CB brackets under the dash, a CB antenna on the back bumper and a roof mounted antenna.

Mon May 02, 2016 10:12 am

The "pre-heater" is strange and looks to have been put on after the fact. It's interesting to note that the shrouds to the air cleaners are chromed, as are a lot of other parts on the motor. The engine does have the copper, coiled cooler at the fan shroud intake, though I don't see how it would help to pre-heat the carbs.

Left side is pretty standard:

The right side is pretty wacky. Air is taken from the outlet on the fan shroud, then T's. One side goes down to the heater box and the other T's again to hoses which feed the air cleaners. These were clearly not factory made, though I wonder if they accomplish anything?

Mon May 02, 2016 10:21 am

I believe that these are Zenith's. Knecht air cleaners.

I assumed all Okrasa manifolds were aluminum?

This has always been one of my favorite parts of the car, the oil cooler hanging under the front bumper.

Mon May 02, 2016 1:47 pm

Looks like a Sauer und Sohne kit to me

http://forums.pre67vw.com/yaf_postst19148_Only-Set-in-the-World---Sauer-Und-Sohn-Engine-parts.aspx

Mon May 02, 2016 3:26 pm

The linkage looks similar, but mine has steel manifolds on Okrasa heads.

Are the Zenith carburetors used on my 66 normal for and Okrasa of that period?

The modifications on the car don't stop at the engine:

Mon May 02, 2016 4:00 pm

Holy Moly, that is one complicated looking dash.

Oil cooler up front is pretty neat indeed.

Sweet ride for sure.

Mon May 02, 2016 10:37 pm

Very interesting! Can you post close-up photos of the manifolds? What is the base of the engine? I thought Okrasa stopped production of the "old style" three bolt heads in 1965 and that they were never available for the 1300cc engines (no point as the VW dual port heads came late 1965). But you'll never know... I have a bunch of German Auto Motor & Sport magazines from 1966. I'll flip those through in the weekend to see If I can find some info what Okarsa did offer that year!

Tue May 03, 2016 3:29 am

Definitely a time capsule for the engine! I hope the engine was not run long without the rear cross tin-breast plate.

Wonder if the engine is an OKRASA stroker?

Is the body on a later IRS chassis, due to the 4-lug wheels and the wider rear track? If you find the chassis# stamped into the pan under the rear seat, you'd know right away.

Bent-back shifter with Porsche-style knob!

Tue May 03, 2016 8:57 am

I appreciate your interest in the car. There are more questions than answers at this point...

I did look up the engine number and it's based on an FO case, which is apparently correct for 66.

Whether the engine is stroked or not remains a mystery. I'm crossing my fingers.

Tue May 03, 2016 9:08 am

Tobias, I've tried to get a good image of the base of the manifolds but it's not coming out well in the pictures. I did reach down and confirmed the two outer stud locations to verify that they have an Okrasa bolt pattern. I'm sure when I remove the valve covers I'll be greeted with an Okrasa logo.

I was under the impression that dual port heads came out in 1971. Did they release them in Europe sooner?

I think this is what makes the car interesting. Who would buy a new car now-days and take it to a shop to have the heads, induction, exhaust, ignition, and possibly crank changed out? Not many! I think that most would have just bought a 912 back in 66. I think that this guy wanted a sleeper. Rob mentioned that the original owner said the car was faster than Porsche's on the autobahn.

Tue May 03, 2016 9:24 am

Rome,

I hope that it wasn't run long without the tin too! The last time I heard the car run was over 20 years ago. Rob towed it to a show, here in Colorado, with the intentions of selling it. He fired it for just a minute and shut it down. Even back then we were concerned about doing damage.

I don't plan on running the Okrasa motor until it's been gone through. My current plan is to install another, mild performance motor, just to get the car rolling again. My long term goals with the car are to keep it very close to it's current configuration.

The chassis is still a swingaxle. The reason you note the wide-track is likely because of the addition of wheel spacers in the back. There is really no part of the car which has gone un-touched. Everything was modified in a somewhat cohesive fashion. I'm curious if Oettinger performed brake upgrades as well? I did read something about brakes in the Okrasa info posted above, but my German is pretty limited.

To what extent did Oettinger modify the cars? Brakes, gauges, steering wheels, shifters?

The shifter is an aftermarket accessory from the period. This one is original to the car. I actually have one that was originally installed in my 70 Dormobile, which has a VW logo stamped into the coupler sleeve.

Tue May 03, 2016 2:45 pm

looks like early type 3 shifter to me ?

Tue May 03, 2016 2:48 pm

Rome wrote: Definitely a time capsule for the engine! I hope the engine was not run long without the rear cross tin-breast plate.

Wonder if the engine is an OKRASA stroker?

Is the body on a later IRS chassis, due to the 4-lug wheels and the wider rear track? If you find the chassis# stamped into the pan under the rear seat, you'd know right away.

Bent-back shifter with Porsche-style knob!

4-lug wheels would be correct for European 1967 beetle. It has euro tail lights too.

Tue May 03, 2016 3:16 pm

Dual-port heads first came on Beetles and Ghias (type 1); and Buses (type 2) for the 1971 model year, which started production in 8/1970. But the type 3 received them for the 1967 model year (@8/1966), with the US models having dual single-barrel Solex 32PDSIT carbs. In '68 US type 3 got fuel injection as standard equipment. So Oettinger could've purchased DP heads in late '66 for his experimentation and eventual offer in his dual-carb kits.

At first glance your intake manifolds looked like single-ports, but you wrote that you felt the wide dual-port manifold design.

'67 euro Beetles did have 4-bolt wheels, but only if equipped with the strongest 1500cc engine so that disc brakes were included on the front axle. A 1500 engine would have an "H" letter code. 1300 and 1200 engined- '67 had 5-bolt wheels with 4-wheel drum brakes. Also, despite the sloping headlamps for Euro '67, those all did change over to the squared-off engine lid just like US models received. I have no doubt that this is a '66 body, and chassis with the OP's explanation as to the 4-bolt wheels. Surprised it does not have the hole in the dash for the emergency flasher knob, though possibly being a Euro model with the locking column ignition switch, the flasher knob was located in the lower ledge of the dash on either side of the ashtray.

The shifter was an EMPI accessory offering for Beetles, designed to look like a Porsche shifter and knob. I have one which I received from a friend who had it in his '62 Beetle in the late '60's.