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Fri May 31, 2019 1:24 pm

I am planning on heading to June Bug this Sunday but there is a slight chance of a shower in the afternoon. I put on these deck lid standoffs on my bug a while back but this is the first time I might be driving it in the rain. Should I be worried about my engine, more specifically my air filter exposed and getting water into my intake?

Thanks,
Mike

Fri May 31, 2019 2:11 pm

exsystem wrote: I am planning on heading to June Bug this Sunday but there is a slight chance of a shower in the afternoon. I put on these deck lid standoffs on my bug a while back but this is the first time I might be driving it in the rain. Should I be worried about my engine, more specifically my air filter exposed and getting water into my intake?

Thanks,
Mike

We don't know what air/box filter you have, but if it's stock you're probably fine, and a bit of rain in the intake will only help clean the carbon off your pistons and valves. It's more the electrical items that you should be concerned about.

Fri May 31, 2019 3:45 pm

Here is my resolution and it does lower my oil temps by fifteen degrees, rain or shine.

Fri May 31, 2019 3:46 pm

Fri May 31, 2019 3:47 pm

I had an issue once in over 3 decades with lid standoffs and rain, but that was torrential, and dried out enough to start the next day. Yes, I'm in Arizona. 2 VWs with lid standoffs.

But I never had any issues driving through a rainstorm.

Fri May 31, 2019 4:11 pm

They're great for sucking in leaves, plastic bags and other road debris.

Fri May 31, 2019 5:44 pm

somewhere there's an old lady looking looking for the missing tennis ball on her walker...

Fri May 31, 2019 5:56 pm

volksworld wrote: somewhere there's an old lady looking looking for the missing tennis ball on her walker...
Stole it from a young lady at the tennis court.

Fri May 31, 2019 8:44 pm

exsystem wrote: I am planning on heading to June Bug this Sunday but there is a slight chance of a shower in the afternoon. I put on these deck lid standoffs on my bug a while back but this is the first time I might be driving it in the rain. Should I be worried about my engine, more specifically my air filter exposed and getting water into my intake?

Thanks,
Mike

Ok, I'll ask. Why did you put these on? Your bug appears to have the four rows of vents in the engine lid. Are you still running that aftermarket air filter?

Most people install deck lid stand offs due to having bugs with no vents in their engine lid. Getting more into the engine can be very beneficial for folks who live in hot climates. My 67 bug in Arizona ran a bit hotter than I liked. So, I tracked down a 67 convertible engine lid with the vents in the lid. It dropped my engine oil temps 15°'s.

Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:50 am

wcfvw69 wrote: Ok, I'll ask. Why did you put these on? Your bug appears to have the four rows of vents in the engine lid. Are you still running that aftermarket air filter?

I can 't answer for the original poster.

But in my instance I put an 1835cc DP engine with dealer-added AC and a fan shroud-mounted external oil cooler into my 1970 VW with 2-vent engine lid (back in 1970). So I stayed with that.

My 1971 Convertible also has a 1970 2-vent engine lid, so that got lid standoffs too, and that now houses my 1835cc engine. And since my 1970 now has 1600cc DP engine in it, I retained its lid standoffs.

Sat Jun 01, 2019 3:56 pm

gt1953 wrote: Here is my resolution and it does lower my oil temps by fifteen degrees, rain or shine.

I have an after market air filter I believe it is a 6 inch round paper air filter. I like your solution.

Sat Jun 01, 2019 4:17 pm

You should ditch the aftermarket filter. They are nowhere as good as the Original oil baths or original VW air filters.

The stand offs were also a "kewl" feature that the California look bugs ran on their VW's back in the 80's. Again, it let more air into the engine compartment to help with the temps. Most folks using the stand offs where running much bigger engines with dual carbs, dual mufflers and other race features. I liked the look of them and ran them on my bug back then too.

The downside is the engine would get really wet when it rained. As time ran on into the late 80's and 90's, people tired of their wet engines and started buying convertible deck lids with rain guards. This allowed the additional cooling air into the engine compartment and the rain guard kept the engine dry.