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Lets try a few questions here!
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Targus
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Joined: March 20, 2004
Posts: 66

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2004 9:40 pm    Post subject: Lets try a few questions here! Reply with quote

First of all I'd like to thank bljones and Dom among others for helping me with some Thing and engine questions I had.
It's been awhile since I played with volksies and I tend to get a bit behind on things after a few years, so I'll ask a few engine questions here.
Some have been answered on other forums but let's see what my fellow Thing owners think.

041 heads or stock heads on a 1641 with 40mm dells and a 110 cam ...Opinions? ( I have both.)

That type 3 cool tin on the bottom of the cylinders. good or bad...I have both typse of these too.

Insturmentation... What do you guys like to use? Did you modify the dash? Mount them under? Make a console? I'm thinking of building a console in front of the stick myself.

Favorite mods...Any that you have done that you really like? What did they cost?

Floors...Did you use matts? Wood? Carpet?
Feel free to answer any of the above in any way you'd like.
Or add anything you'd like to add about your Thing.
I'm looking for ideas.
Cheers,
Mike
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bljones
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Joined: February 08, 2002
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Location: ontario canada
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 04, 2004 10:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Glad we could help- that's what we're all here for. regarding your 041s, you got some pretty good info in the engine forum, so i won't bother to plow that field again. as far as cool tin- i've never used it, because i've never had a need, and personally, i think it may be a solution that, when it works, is curing a symptom, not the disease. if you engine is running seriously hot, hot enough to require the addition of extrta cooling tin, find out why, and deal the issue, rather that trying to work around it.
I like gauges. i hate the thing dash for mounting gauges. I am building a pair of under dash pods, for left and right of the steering wheel, to house additional gauges (oil temp, CHT, oil pressure, amps,) Take some time and sit in the driver's seat and plan the locations for best visibility- i am relatively er, altitude disadvantaged (5' 6" tall) so mounting under the dash near the steering wheel works for me, but might not work for some of you taller bastards. (I'm not jealous. really. honest.)

I am finishing a mod now that i will post pics of next week- my "$20 pre-runner bumper." Using junkyard parts and little measuring and welding i built a beefy front bumper that is more effective and lighter than the stock bumper.
As far as floor coverings go, i don't like carpet kits. i have tried to maintain "hosability" with my car- the ability to clean it out with a hose, with no ill effects. your car WILL leak. if you want carpets, cut yourself a set using indoor outdoor carpet, and back it with a water proof closed cell underpad. glue the under pad to the carpet, and you can whip your carpets into and out of your car as you need to. That is the solution i took, and simply made four floor mats, and a rear loadshelf pad. Swiss cheese mats are kinda cool, but i don't like the fact that they let dirt through, allowing it to scratch your nice shiny fresh looking floors as the mats move around. I like the appearance of wooden duckboards, and may build a set this summer, but I same concerns with them that i do with the swiss cheese mats- and i have a minor concern about adding one more item to my car to rattle, squeak, and vibrate.

I like lights. when i am out in the back country at night, i want to see everything. so i run six additional lights- two 6" 100 w lights up front, in front of the front apron, two "tractor " lights just outboard of those, and just inboard of the headlights, as "fill" lights, and two tractor lights on the rear bumper as back up lights. all are individually switched, fused, and relayed.

I also like communication. i run a cb with a BAWA (big ass whip antenna) a charger for a pair of FRS radios, and of course a gooseneck mount for my cell phone.

A mod i am planning is fabbing a swing-away rear spare tire mount from jeep parts. i am going to be doing some eyeballing this afternoon, to see if it will fly. it may not work for you Thing owners, because of the tail light placement, but should work with 181s.
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fathing
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Joined: February 09, 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Switzerland
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 04, 2004 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mike, you are very welcome, I am glad to share my thoughts with others, especially since I live in Switzerland, over here this little 181 is rare. I still have to meet someone who drives one around here. I am sure they exist, but I yet have to see one in the wild. I got mine in Germany, actually it was auctioned off on Ebay. I won the bid and went 700km to get it. Since childhood, I dream to have one just like the one which was in this TV Series “George”. Now finally I have one and I love it. I'm into VW since the mid 80ies, I had several other VW's and still own a 66’ Bug. My wife drives a 96 Polo, you might not know that Type of Volkswagen, it is a good seller in the old world and it is smaller than a Golf.

I already wrote my opinion about the 041 heads, so I leave that part.

The type 3 cool tin are cool Cool . Hence their name cool tin. They were invented because the type 3 shrouds were not as effective as the Type 1 doghouse. These tins guide the air better and longer around the barrels. With a Type 1 fan shroud they are not necessary, but my opinion is, they won’t hurt. It might be a extra insurance on hot days in the Sahara… Volkswagen never installed them on Type 1 engines, but those engine only made 50 hp with 1.6 L. If you build a performance engine it will run hotter, more compression, more rpm, more anything. This creates more heat and maybe your engine will last a little longer with those cool tins. I must tell you, I have not performed any objective tests about that, it is just my opinion.

As for instrumentation, I like it simple. I don’t want to know more than rpm and oil temperature about my engine. If I would install anything more, it would be an Amp meter and an oil pressure gauge. Voltmeters don’t tell you much. With an amp meter you can troubleshoot an electrical problem pretty easy.

What modification did I do on my Thing? Well I raised it almost 6 inches. I welded adjusters to my front beam, JKM heavy duty ones, not those skimpy Avis adjusters. I raised the rear by turning the torsion leafs 7°. I run 15” wheels with 215/15 in the rear on 8” wide rims and 195/15 up front on 6” wide chrome wheels. I modified my engine, I run dual Dells and some other things on it. In the rear I use red Koni shocks, they are my third setup and this really works. These can be adjusted, a must with a raised rear end. I like my heater timer modification a lot. I run a modern digital timer with my old BN4. I located all the chrome trim on Ebay and replaced bit by bit. I like the contrast to the flat green of my military version. I couldn’t tell you how much all my mods were, I lost count…
Some more planned modifications are. A really fat 4 point roll bar, pre runners for my bumpers, especially to protect my engine on a rear end accident, since I raised the car. It will get a paint job, lime green pearl but semi flat. Strange, isn’t it? It will get a new black top and last but not least wide 5 disk brakes up front. I still have to decide if I use CSP or Socal brakes.
My floor has nothing but the Swiss cheese mats. I like to keep it simple. I might add Beard Suspension Seats or other Off Road seats later or maybe just reupholster the original seats in black vinyl.
Oh I almost forgot, I have additional Hella lights on my front bumper, they have a similar look like those camouflage military lights. I installed a hefty Stereo System with high quality MB Quart Speakers. A loud car needs a even louder Stereo. I love to listen to “System of a down” and see the peoples faces as I race by… Twisted Evil This modification cries for a alternator conversion. I did that and ever since then never had any electrical power problems anymore. (Loud Stereo and big lights).

By the way I think that lowered Things look cool as well, but every one else is doing this right now, so I had to raise mine. My bug is lowered and my daily driver (Benz 190E) as well. I have enough lowered cars so I went the other way with my 181. It looks a little like a baby hummer and I seem to run with the crowd, because I drive a SUV… Wink

Cheers Dom


Last edited by fathing on Mon Apr 05, 2004 12:47 am; edited 1 time in total
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TimGud
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 04, 2004 9:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would use the 041 heads,and also like the cool tin but do not really have any data to prove they work. As far as instrumentation all I care to have is an oil pressure gauge and a voltmeter. I prefer the swiss cheese floormats as they can be taken out easily for cleaning and I can hose out the thing when it gets muddy. The mods I like are the 6point roll cage the front brush guard and skidplate and the ceramic extractor/muffler.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=68205
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=66668
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Targus
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great suggestions!
Here's what I'm thinking about doing so far...
I'm gonna go ahead and put the 1641 back together with the configuration it came with along with the cool tin and try to get the 40mm Dellortos to work with it. Since these are the parts I have I figure it's worth a shot. I'm probably going to go with stock heater boxes and a header for the exhaust.
I'm also going to add oil pressure, oil temp, and volt guages under the dash. (I'm 5'7" so I don't have a height problem eather. Wink
I was lucky enough to get this Thing with the stock roll bar and am going to keep it in there, and I also was lucky enough to get this Thing with brand new upholstry, so I'm just gonna keep all the seats the way they came. As for the floors, I'm just going to put matts in there and maybe build wood slats in the future because I'd like the floor to be able to dry out in case it get's wet in there. I think I'll mount the cd player under the dash, and build my own speaker cabs.
I guess I'll be stuck with mounting the spare under the hood because I'd HATE to put holes in this Thing. (It's pretty clean.)
This car will only be used for pleasure and for VW shows so I think keeping the mods on the light side is probably a good idea.
Hey Dom! My daily driver is also a 190....I have a 1985 190D with the 5 speed tranny. Sooo slow, but I get fantastic mileage out of it.
Guess us great minds think alike!
My work truck is a 94 E250 cargo van...Mileage not so good.
Thank's again!
And if anyone else has any suggestions, let me know!
Cheers,
Mike
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fathing
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Joined: February 09, 2004
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Location: Switzerland
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Mike, mine is a 91 2Liter gas. It is not so slow ~120 hp. So far I clocked 230'000 miles on it. It had just two repairs in all this time, the ignition switch and the radiator. Sorry Samba Forum users, I just had to reply... Embarassed

Cheers Dom
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Targus
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2004 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heh heh heh...I know this isn't the correct forum for this topic, but... Shame on you
I love my Benz! I picked it up for $800.00! Dancing
It had been sitting in someones back yard for over a year with the drivers side door open, and the owner thought the tranny was shot.
I dropped in a battery, 5 gallons of diesel fuel, filled up the tires and drove it home. It took about 3 weeks to get the smell out of there, and I had to replace the driver side velour interior, ( Not an eay task because it's a grey market model purchased in Germany, and all the Benz interiors around here are eather leather or MB tex.) and that's it. I've owned it for 7 years and never had a problem. It still looks like a brand new car. It's just a 4 banger Diesel, but I suspect it will run for many more years considering it only has about 165,000 miles on it.
They really do make a fine machine. Course it's not as nice as the old Volkswagens but what can ya do. Wink
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