Rebuilding my 71 engine

[Mikes 71Bay]

I'M LOOKING TO GET MORE POWER OUT OF THE 1600 DP ANY SUGGESTIONS ON WHERE TO START. THE BUS IS GET A PAINT JOB SO BEFORE I PUT IT BACK IN, I'D LIKE TO FIX THE OIL LEAKS AND ADD MORE POWER. I'M NEW AT THIS SO ANY POINTER WOULD BE A GREAT HELP..THANKS -MIKE

[[email protected]]

I've rebuilt many 1600 DP engines over the years and currently have a 1680 cc in my '69 Westy. I would recommend that you either try the 1680 cc (88 mm thick-walled cylinders) or the 1776 cc (90.5 mm cylinders) with dual Kadron carbs, mild camshaft (stock or Engle 100) and a 1 3/8 header. These combos are pretty much bulletproof. Use Tom Wilson's book "How to Rebuild Your Air-Cooled VW Engine", along with a factory shop manual and you will be fine. Use a German gasket kit available from CIP1.com and you'll be fine. By the way, if you would rather, the original 1600 cc with stock 85.5 mm pistons and Solex carb is still a great everyday combo. Take your time and double-check all your work by referring to the shop manual or Wilson's book and you'll be fine. Good luck!

[VWSurvival]

How far do you want to go? How much do you have to spend?
If you only want to "freshen" it up I would suggest starting by critically inspecting the case and bearings. If you can move the flywheel in and out noticeably by hand then forget it... a rebuild is only a few miles down the road since the thrust surfaces are nearly gone. If it audibly "clunks" then it is time for a rebuild RIGHT NOW.
If your oil leak is at the flywheel (front main seal) then you likely have issues with the front main bearing. If it is at the pulley snout then you have case ventilation issues.
If it is the pushrod tubes than it is easily fixed.
If it is the case halves it is time for a new case (pounding with loose case nuts warps the case... you might be able to save it but...) DO NOT tighten these in an attempt to stop the leaks as that will pinch your bearings and cause rapid failure.
A leak from the oil cooler is easily repaired by replacing the seals.

Now, if it passes the tests above then you need to decide how far you want to go.

If you are willing to split the case then you can do 90.5 P&C easily. I would, personally, go for the stroker crank and a mild (engle 110) cam and have the case machined for full-flow oil filtration.

If you do not want to split the case then a set of 87mm pistons (I believe 88's are too thin unless you get the "machine in" type) and nice new "044" heads or the like. The 87's will not give much of a boost in themselves but will allow you to use other bolt-ons later to better effect.

An "quiet pac" type exhaust is fine of you are not racing (a bus???) and will support low end torque. If you are in the north or high elevation then the heaters should stay too!

Best benefit will be from lightly porting and polishing the heads and port matching the manifolds. Just clean them up a little.

Later, you can install some dual carbs (I like Kadrons) and "ratio" rockers.

Mike!

[[email protected]]

I get the feeling that you weren't planning on doing any major surgery just yet, so you can't add a lot of power. Start with a header (a true 4-into-1 collector type, not some sporty-LOOKING Monza piece of crap) and quietpower muffler, make sure your ignition system is in top-notch shape and the timing is right. You could install dual carbs, either 40mm Kadrons or 34mm Weber ICTs, on an otherwise stock engine - gas mileage may actually improve if you don't drive differently than you do now. 1.25:1 ratio rockers will wake up a stock cam (expect to gain a few HP from them, nothing earth-shattering) but there isn't any performance cam designed to use with them, so the $80 or so you'll spend on them may not transfer over into the engine's next incarnation (bet you wouldn't have too much trouble peddling them on eBay, though).
Larger-than-stock valves won't return much for the money if you're retaining heater boxes, but port matching and mild porting can never hurt.
If & when you decide to go through the whole engine, I'd vote for the machined 88s for a bus, or 90.5s - the cost is almost identical, the smaller engine will most likely outlive the bigger one (nowadays the 88s use what was once the 90.5 register, and the 90.5s use the "92" register, so they both have thick enough cylinder walls to stand up to service in a bus, probably better than the slip-in 87s. By all means avoid the slip-in 88s for ANYTHING.
When's the last time you checked to see if you were getting full throttle? It's amazing how many buses are running around with <80%, usually due to worn-out bellcrank parts up front.

[Mikes 71Bay]

THANKS FOR THE INFO. I'LL GET BACK TO YOU GUYS WHEN I STAR....