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mcarlson_sb Samba Member
Joined: October 12, 2020 Posts: 93 Location: CA
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 9:31 am Post subject: Need to fill hole in Air Cooled tin - what do I need to know? |
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My 1980 Air Cooled, California engine, once had a dealer installed A/C system. Now it has a big hole in the tin right over the catalytic converter.
Recently on a long trip I watched my oil temp gauge and noticed how much of an effect this has.
I want to seal the engine compartment to "keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool" - However, those tin pieces seem to be NA
I'm willing to fabricate my own. But, want to know what's important about the specs. Is it just "seal it any way you can" or are there important gotchas?
Thanks for any feedback _________________ 1980 Westfalia (Manual) California 141000 Miles |
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MarkWard Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005 Posts: 17014 Location: Retired South Florida
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 9:34 am Post subject: Re: Need to fill hole in Air Cooled tin - what do I need to know? |
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From memory it was a complete panel that got modified. I would think you could find a good used one with some looking around. There's nothing really special about it though. Mock one up with a manila folder as a template and then transfer to your peice of sheetmetal. The factory part did have some contours. I'll look in the classifieds for you.
edit:
No luck sorry.
Part number is 071 119 521 Search Google images for an ideal of what it looks like. There was also a shield under the tin work, but above the muffler.
Basically you need to keep all engine heat from below migrating into the engine compartment. Perfectly sealed, it should hold a piece of paper against the D pillar vent. _________________ ☮️ |
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lcolon Samba Member
Joined: July 26, 2006 Posts: 57 Location: SF Bay Area
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 7:47 pm Post subject: Re: Need to fill hole in Air Cooled tin - what do I need to know? |
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On my bug - I used a couple of pop rivets and a piece of sheet metal to close the hole that used to go from the front tin to the hot air input on the air cleaner (when I went to dual carbs)... Could that not work for you to cover the hole up? |
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mcarlson_sb Samba Member
Joined: October 12, 2020 Posts: 93 Location: CA
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:08 am Post subject: Re: Need to fill hole in Air Cooled tin - what do I need to know? |
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lcolon wrote: |
On my bug - I used a couple of pop rivets and a piece of sheet metal to close the hole that used to go from the front tin to the hot air input on the air cleaner (when I went to dual carbs)... Could that not work for you to cover the hole up? |
Something similar is what I may end up doing.
Just making sure the collected knowledge didn't have a "you need to consider" that I hadn't considered _________________ 1980 Westfalia (Manual) California 141000 Miles |
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mcarlson_sb Samba Member
Joined: October 12, 2020 Posts: 93 Location: CA
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 7:34 pm Post subject: Re: Need to fill hole in Air Cooled tin - what do I need to know? |
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lcolon wrote: |
On my bug - I used a couple of pop rivets and a piece of sheet metal to close the hole that used to go from the front tin to the hot air input on the air cleaner (when I went to dual carbs)... Could that not work for you to cover the hole up? |
That is in fact what we ended up doing today.
Took a 12x18 piece of 25 gague aluminum, cut to pattern and shaped it, then pop riveted it down.
I haven't taken it for a test drive yet to see if it helps. But the van now passes "the paper test" where enough air is being sucked in from the vents that it holds a piece of paper to it while idling. I have high hopes.
The ribbed seal is pretty old and deteriorating - so it's not a perfectly air tight by a long shot - but much better than it was.
Thanks everyone for the help _________________ 1980 Westfalia (Manual) California 141000 Miles |
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mcarlson_sb Samba Member
Joined: October 12, 2020 Posts: 93 Location: CA
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2021 2:32 pm Post subject: Re: Need to fill hole in Air Cooled tin - what do I need to know? |
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Success!
My wife and I just went for a test drive, at noon on hot pavement, on a run with pretty good and long ups and downs.
The engine did *much better*
Oil temps stayed about 20° cooler
The engine was slower to heat up and faster to cool down.
The same run two days ago had oil temps at 240° +
Today they stayed at or below 220°
General running temp in town seems to have dropped not as significantly. From 180° - 220° it's now 160° - 210°
Very happy with those results from a $16 piece of aluminum.
(And my wife's masterful help patterning and shaping)
_________________ 1980 Westfalia (Manual) California 141000 Miles |
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djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32433 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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