~ Raceace24's 1970 Beetle project ~

[Raceace24]

[Raceace24]

More updates !
I installed a longer (100MM) clutch lever to compensate for the extra force required to engage the Kennedy 1700 lb Stage One clutch, which unfortunately caused my Bowden tube to end up sitting a bit out of whack. Didn't take a picture of it, but the cable was rubbing badly at the 12:00 position on the tube outlet. Going with spacers wasn't going to remedy the situation, so I decided to install adjusters on the Bowden tube attachment bracket to the transmission:
After eyeing it up, I decided to make two tabs from a length of galvanized, drilled angle bar leaving the slotted holes on the top side of the tabs and the round holes to attach to the studs on the transmission side of the bracket:

I used stainless bolts and lock nuts to keep the bracket from moving laterally.

As you can see now, the cable exits right out of the center of the tube!
I also read that you should have about an inch of bow in the Bowden tube downwards to attain the correct amount of slack in the cable for proper clutch adjustment to stop the clutch from chattering in first gear, so the slots in the bracket also allowed this to be possible without having to use spacers between the tube end and the bracket:

I don't know if I'm that good or I'm just lucky, but the cable now exits the tube without rubbing on the tube, the 1" of bow is there and I have the proper 1/2" inch of clutch freeplay at the pedal !!!!
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~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[Raceace24]

Also changed out the spark plug wires to the right type of wires.
I purchased Taylor 409 Race wires this time mainly because I like the look of the 10.4 MM thick wires vs the spindly looking 7 or 8MM wires and I like the performance and durability of silicone wires (especially in an air-cooled application). Took my chances and went with the blue colored ones and I'm pleased with the results..
Before with the wrong-ended, black ones:

After with the bigger, correct ended ones:

I like the difference!
It was a real pain in the AZZ getting the spark plug ends to fit properly in the tinwork, (had to pull the carbs off to do it right....), but the effort was worth it! I also want to mention that using a deep well socket and some WD-40 made slipping the *tiny* wire end boot over the 10.4MM thick coil wire that I had to cut to length in order to get the right fit ....!
Also discovered the accelerator pump linkage was contacting and binding against the tinwork of the driver's side carb, so while the carbs were off, I dremel-tooled a slight groove in the to edge of the cylinder top tin..
All in all, not a bad afternoon's work !

_________________
~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[Raceace24]

Last update for today:
I received my oil filter lines from Summit racing Friday, so I decided to install them and see how good my measurements were....

I had them made and inch and a half longer than a straight run would require because I wanted to get them away (either under or over) the exhaust pipes.
I found that they hung too low under the exhaust for my comfort, so with a little trial and error and a bit of an adjustment on my filter housing bracket, they have plenty of clearance all around and enough slack to compensate for engine movement....!

_________________
~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[Mr.Duncan]

Looks good!

I would re-locate the cyl 1 & 2 spark plug wires and move them "towards the front of the car" Or, at your view angle behind the gen/alt stand.

Away from the moving belt.
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(Owner) www.vintagecarleds.com

Red 1971 Squareback Thread
Red 1966 Beetle Thread
---------------------------------------------------
1971 Green Super Beetle (sold)
1966 Ghia (sold)
1971 Blue Super Beetle (sold)
1966 Java Green Std Beetle (sold)
1971 Red Squareback (sold)
1966 Red Beetle

[mikewilkinson007]

Looks great!!
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72 Super - Marina Blue
1641 AH Dual Port
Dual Weber ICT 34's
Bosch 034

Long Gone: 70 Vert, 66, 68, 73SB, 70, 72, 61 Rag and a 64 with a cinder block in the spare tire well.

[Raceace24]

[Bashr52]

Looking good! Is it just the angle of the picture or is your inlet hose slightly collapsed where it runs over the top of the outlet hose?

[Raceace24]

[Raceace24]

[Raceace24]

My shifter came back from Gene Berg's shifter shop with the reverse lockout pin where it's supposed to be !

Next comes the engine wiring !
_________________
~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[Raceace24]

A minor update and a (possible) area of concern:
I decided to run my engine wiring across the firewall and drop the coil, oil sender and alternator wires straight down which required lengthening the wires slightly (not a big deal)

Used wire covers to kind of clean the look up a bit. I like it so far...

I also noticed (a little late at this point), that my engine at a glance appears to be tilted a bit clockwise from the rear view of the engine.
Immediately after installing the engine and putting on the exhaust, I noticed that the pea shooters weren't sticking out of the apron perfectly in alignment with the cutouts. I loosened the four trans to engine mounting bolts/ nuts and tried to turn the engine straight, but there wasn't much adjustment available there. I tweaked the pea shooters thinking they were welded incorrectly, and thought nothing more about it, because I had no real point of reference to measure the frame horns to see if they are bent.
I recently installed the engine tin and noticed the gap around the outer engine air seal was about 1/2" bigger on the right side than it is on the passenger side:

My assumption is that the frame horns are tweaked slightly and I understand that a rear truss bar setup may help resolve this situation to an extent... NOTE: The frame horns are as solid as a rock as well as EVERYTHING in the rear of the body and all of the suspension pieces..
I've been lead to believe that this is more of a cosmetic issue than it is a real mechanical concern...
Any thoughts on this one, guys.....?
_________________
~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[Raceace24]

Well, no input from the friendly Samba folk in regards to my frame horn issue...
That's OK ~ Talked to my local VW guru and he thinks installing and adjusting a truss bar should remedy the small amount of horn frame twist and I've already contacted a friend who has a frame machine at his body shop who can tweak the frame horns if the truss bar doesn't help
Here's the truss bar I chose at the prompting of my VW guru:

Seems like a nice, quality setup.
Also have been accumulating oodles of parts to put on my car:

Ball socket lug nuts for the wheel studs I am installing for both my roller rims and mag wheels that will end up on the car because I've never been a big fan of wheel lug bolts, some bits and pieces for my pop-out windows, a heavy duty throttle cable setup, and a couple of chromed/ polished stainless pieces to bolt on after my car is painted. I have a bunch of other new/ performance parts I have accumulated over the past couple of years, but I can't seem find them right now......
ALSO, after some internet and Samba related research, I have finally purchased a battery for my project car: An Optima 34/78 Deep cycle battery:

It was kind of pricey, but with my discount, I paid $185 and I've seen it go at upwards of $265 at least as far as an internet search was concerned.
I like that it's completely sealed and for a car that will unfortunately sit more than it is going to be driven, I think this was the best option for me.
AND, I decided to go with something I've never seen done here (or anywhere else, or that matter) when it comes to finishing the inner side walls of my engine compartment:
This is a pic of it as it presently sits:

I installed a polished, non-louvered stainless steel plate over top of the dynamat type butyl/ aluminum sound deadener and fiberglass matting I got from MAM over the firewall and I really like the look, but I don't really like the side pieces they provided with the kit:

They are ill-fitting, probably even if bent will rub against the carbs and I can't figure a secure and non-damaging way to mount them.
I decided to cut and glue in pieces of the black Marine vinyl I've already purchased to line the front luggage compartment with:

It's super heavy duty, should form with minimal heat applied to all curves and undulations that the side panels have in them and considering the minimal heat that they are exposed to, should hold up nicely provided I get them adhered properly...
They also will provide me with the maximum amount of space around the carbs to work/ clean and adjust them...
ALSO........
The engine should be lit and properly broken in within a month now !
_________________
~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[Raceace24]

Well, finally got the motor lit and the carbs set up and am slowly dialing in the clutch adjustment, but have found as a contributor to the thread has suggested, the carbs and exhaust are holding back the true power potential of my 1776 engine ( IE: short power band), so........ I've decided to bag the ICTs and the hotdog muffler and am going to purchase some new Weber IDFs and a stainless merged header/ muffler system.
Found this carb setup on CB Performance's website:
https://www.cbperformance.com/product-p/3270.htm
I like the fact that they are about 4" narrower than a standard IDF setup and that the adjusting screws face rearward - making adjustments way easier.
Bad thing is that I have to get rid of the Pertronix Flamethrower SVDA dizzy I have on the engine. My engine builder really doesn't like SVDA dizzys anyway... Gonna go with a Magnaspark system:
https://www.cbperformance.com/product-p/2000.htm
As for the exhaust, I found this system from CIP1:
http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=C19-251-12-SS
It looks a lot like a Sidewinder, but is 1/3 of the price!
I've gotten a lot of stuff over the last few years from CIP1, so I'm guessing that the quality should be relatively good..

I'm not particularly driven to light fire to $$$, but if it isn't right, I wasted all of the $$ in the first place...
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~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[Raceace24]

Quick update:
The new Weber IDF's are at my engine builder having the float heights set, the intake manifolds port-matched to the heads the jets set up and generally being gone over, so now I am focusing on putting the new upgraded components I recently purchased onto the car.
Installed the CIP1 Sidewinder knockoff:

The headers went on with little problem, but the back side of the muffler pinched up against the front head pipe (my guess is that the mounting flange wasn't welded on properly), so I had to fight a little bit with CIP1's customer service people and ended up having to threaten that I would call my CC company and get a chargeback because of the defect.
Got my replacement muff and if fits nicely.
All in all, they are a real bargain considering the price of an original set of Sidewindwers or ceramic coated TrilMil knockoffs
Coming up, I install the new CB Performance electric fuel pump and the Revolution Electronics Electric fuel pump controller....!
_________________
~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[Buggeee]

That motor is going to breeeeaaaathhh.

Love the purple/blue accents on the flat black.
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[Raceace24]

Ok,
Because I am replacing my Dual Weber single barrel ICT34s with the bigger Dual double barrel Weber IDF40 carbs, I had to replace my Pertronix Flamethrower III SVDA dizzy with a centrifugal advance only distributor because of the lack of vacuum ports with the new intake manifolds and with that, I decided to go with a CB Performance Magnaspark dizzy (which I understand is a really solid upgrade from the Pertronix unit..) which necessitated removal and replacement of my stock fuel pump.
I didn't care for the fluctuating fuel pressures I was reading on my fuel pressure gauge and because of the Magnaspark's oversized cap, the OE fuel pump had to go anyway..
Got a Carter 3lb psi fuel pump from CB Performance:

Also bought a fuel pump controller from Revolutionary Electronics because with it, when you turn the ignition on, it primes the pump for three seconds to fill the fuel bowls up and will only turn on with a tach pulse, so whenever the engine isn't running, the fuel pump wont operate - I really like that safety aspect of this controller:

Think it turned out to be a pretty clean installation too:

On the engine side of it, I yanked the FlamerthrowerIII dizzy and coil, and installed the fuel pump block-off plate and Magnaspark dizzy and coil:

Between the exhaust upgrade, the carb and distributor/wire upgrades, I believe that the full power potential of my 1776 mill should really be realized now !
_________________
~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[evillrdnikon]

Have you installed your Dakota digital cluster yet? Would love to see that finished as I am contemplating on purchasing it.

[joey1320]

[Raceace24]