36hp driving experience

[rjrdomer]

I have a 57 Beetle with an original 36hp engine. I bought the car in college for little money and one thing led to another and it took me close to 20 years to get it back on the road. Life got in the way, as it does. But I am very glad to be driving my VW after all these years.

I outsourced most of the major work over the years - had the engine, carb, and transaxle rebuilt. The car has had a recent tune up and valve adjustment. All that good stuff. Everything is stock - no modifications.

I want to know if what I am experiencing is normal. I never expected the car to be a speed demon, and I’ve read many posts about top speeds and things. This forum is really helpful by the way. So per the manual, and hash marks on the speedometer, I tend to shift from 3 to 4 at 45mph. I sometimes push it closer to 50 if driving the car a little harder. When I shift to 4th, I feel the acceleration really slows and it’s really a cruising gear. I feel the car has some pretty good pep for a 36hp in lower gears, but 4th is sort of like an overdrive. I can get the car to about 55-60 and that’s all. I may be able to eke out more but just haven’t had the open road available to do so.

So is this normal? I can get to about 50mph in the first 3 gears then I feel in 4th, I can eventually get to 55 but it takes a while. And the pedal is to the floor while in 4th.

The engine doesn’t sputter, it’s getting fuel. No issues that I perceive. And I don’t really need to go faster knowing I’m running drum brakes, manual steering, and skinny tires. I just hear stories of people “cruising all day” at 65 or even 70-75 and stated top speed is 68. So I just want to know if those cruising at 65…does it take time to get there in 4th gear and maybe help from wind or downhill slopes?

Oh and forget it if I hit a slight hill in 4th gear….my speed goes from 50 to 40 pretty quickly.

This is not a complaint - I love the car and know that it’s a VW. I just want to make sure my experience is the correct one for a stock 36hp. Thanks all.

[3foldfolly]

My stock 1954 bug with stock rebuilt original 36 hp engine and transaxle runs 70 mph easy on interstates. Seldom exceed 40 mph when shifting out of third for fourth unless I'm climbing grades and then never over 45. Any possibility it has had a freeway flyer trans? You might verify your getting full throttle at carb.

[Dan22]

Something to check would be your distributor. The vacuum advance may not be working, or even the centrifugal advance sticky. A quick check with a timing light and reving the engine to observe the timing change may be a suggestion.

I also presume you do not have big tires on it (never mind, I see you have skinnies on), or other things that affect higher speed drag. And are the brakes dragging?

Seems like something is robbing your power, or preventing full power from the engine.
_________________
1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074

[markendee]

My 6v 36 is sitting in the shed for that very reason.

I seem to remember it going pretty well but I was only 15 when it was taken off the road in 1975.

Any photos of you car rjrdomer?

[rjrdomer]

Thanks for the insight. I’ll check the carb and the vacuum advance. It seems to accelerate perfectly fine through the gears but like I said when I’m in 4th, it seems like it functions more as a final drive and I don’t have much in terms of acceleration in that gear only. It will hold its speed ok and won’t sputter or anything, it just feels like the car is saying “ok I’ll just cruise here for a while.” My father is the mechanic, not me as much but I’m learning fast. So the next time he swings by, I’ll have him take a ride with me and have a look at a few things.

Here are pics of the car. It’s not perfect but it has come a long way. I generally know what’s correct and what’s not or what is close. It is a matching number original engine car. I have the birth certificate from Germany with them engine # on it (back when they issued that kind.). It’s a July 1, 1957 build with a July 3 export date. Original color is black. The transaxle numbers and body # all fall within June 1957 per the charts. No floor pan work has been done and there’s no rust. The car spent a bulk of its life in Florida from what I understand. My dad and I bought it off a front lawn in Florida and brought it north back in 2001 when I was a student. It was sitting with a for sale sign on it. The guy said if he didn’t sell it, he was going to turn it into a dune buggy. At that time, it presented fine, and was a good runner/driver.

Excuse the engine photo crookedness. I snapped it early this morning on my way out the door to work.

Cheers everyone. And thank you again.

_________________
1957 Oval Window - original pan, body, and engine

[markendee]

Beautiful.

[stale air]

Shes purty!

Thank god she didnt get turned into a buggy.

I have the original 36 in my 58, the only thing being done was heads, way back in 97. To this day, she runs great, and cruises down the freeway and 65-70 mph with no problem.
_________________
WANTED: Henry Veale Santa Rosa plate frames
WANTED: Brittsan Motors Fresno plate frames
WANTED: Any Georgia plate frames

[3foldfolly]

Very nice.

[D. Haviland]

Looks very much like my '57. I do not describe a 36 horse as accelerating when shifting from 3rd to 4th. They just kind of build speed. that said, my stock 36 horse '57 will easily do 70 mph and with enough time beyond.

[rjrdomer]

[sunroof]

How many miles since the rebuild? Mine is running better and better as I drive it. I took it on the highway a couple of days ago and it just kept wanting to go faster and faster as I put miles on it.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[lardawge]

I agree on the break-in. It takes a while to seat the rings. I have put some miles on mine since it was built and can feel it get stronger every drive. It really changed its personality at around 300 miles.

I would also ask about the transmission. Later transmission (post 1960) will have different gearing that is harder to pull with a smaller motor.

Nice looking car!
_________________
11/2/54 L227 Strato Silver Ragtop - Soon to be L41 Black - Build Thread
1/7/55 L275 Light Beige

[rjrdomer]

[leowagen]

My 36 hp is pretty tired, but every once in a while it really enjoys stretching the legs at 60 - 65 mph in the highway...
_________________
Frankenwagen: full 1957 pan, under late 60s Brazilian body

[ecallaway]

[ecallaway]

PS Beautiful car so feel stupid noticing a picky little thing. But it would be a good idea to get the clamps that attach the tube with your spark plug cables to the manifold. Otherwise it will rattle around back there. (I assume they are the same on a '57 as my '55.)

[ecallaway]

[sunroof]

Definitely check you are getting full throttle. I had that with a '59 years ago. The cable stretches over time and can be a problem to set up correctly.

Also it looks like there is no wire to the oil pressure switch. If not you want to get that hooked up ASAP. Long ago a fellow came to me for help with a '59 and I noticed that neither his oil light or his generator light were hooked up. I told him to get that done right away but sadly he did not listen. When his fan belt broke it was the end of the motor.

Good luck, that is a very pretty car.

BTW the seats look like leather to me.

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[nlorntson]

[Erik G]

Beautiful car

you shouldnt have a problem doing 70mph with those tires, they are slightly taller than stock.

1)Did you seat the rings? first drive should be up and down some hills as fast and hard as you can if possible. If you didn't get that step right, and are already on the freeway, you may have glazed over the cylinder walls, and they will never set. If you get concerned about this, you can buy a cheap bluetooth scope and use with a smart phone, to inspect the cylinder walls.

2) someone mentioned full throttle. yes absolutely you should look for this. can't tell you how many times I have seen someone complain about top end speed but are not getting full throttle. real easy, shove a board, broom stick, or a friends leg on the accelerator pedal all the way, yo go to the back and press down on the throttle lever. if it opens any further, bingo, you dont have full throttle. you and your father can fix this easily, don't forget to check. (I'd almost bet money on this being the culprit)

3) the vacuum advance and timing. Very important. attach a long tube to the advance and suck on it with the distributor cap off. you should be significantly moving the advance mechanism when sucking. easy check you can do now. the timing will probably have to wait for your father to show you how to do for now, but if it's starting and running well otherwise, it's likely ok. 7.5 before TDC, not running.

4) another easy thing to look at, in the dark tonight, start up the motor ands watch it running in the dark. look for sparks and arcing around the distributor, cap, spark plug wire to spark plug wire, etc. you can see that a lot better at night.

don't fret, it's likely something simple. Take a pic of your transaxle for us as well, we can tell you if it's stock or someone put a late model trans in it. 36hp motors are quite capable to get to 65 pretty quick and hold it, just not much left after that. hope this helps, I love 36hp motors.