Air Cooled VW's

[pope]

Anyone have good site recommendations for the old air cooled vw boxer 4 engines?

My father-in-law is finally parting with the basket case engine he tore down, had machined, then bagged, and crated away 35+ years ago. My wife went to visit her parents and it is being sent home with her.

It's supposed to be complete minus the distributor, but who really knows at this point. Which CC it was is unknown. All I know for sure is it has single port not dual port heads.

I'm also looking for project ideas if the engine turns out to still be usable.

[soundman98]

i only know of vwvortex, and only because parts of it are like pg-rated version of 4chan that tend to spread across the internet from time to time.

[thomasmryan]

the samba. for parts aircooled.net


Post a picture or the numbers at the base of the generator.



A single port motor will have the oil cooler in-line with the fan which runs cylinder three hotter. The lobes in a stock distributor compensate for this. if you go aftermarket, pertronix III after disassembly to lube it.

[BRZ383]

I use CB performance and CIP1 for parts, have fun with the new project

[pope]

Well, I have the engine...

It's an early to mid sixties 1200cc, 40hp, single port type 1 engine.

The Good:
It appears to actually be complete (minus the distributor) despite 35+ years in storage, moved between at least 3 different buildings.
The heads have new seats, valves, guides, springs, and rockers.
The bottom end is probably runnable.

The Bad:
It wasn't a complete tear-down for rebuild as I had been lead to believe.
The storage bags disintegrated over time.
Any protective oil is now dirt paste.
Any new part on the heads capable of rusting is rusted.
The intake tube and exhaust rain rust from the inside if shaken.
Despite somehow weathering the decades without the same aging as the top-end and accessories, the bottom-end still has enough dirt and corn in it to require rebuild.

The Neutral:
Still have no idea what I'm going to do with it, so no pressure to rush out and spend money.
My wife thinks we should build a buggy for her dad to enjoy since that was always his intention, but she thinks both Manx buggies and sandrails are ugly and not worth it when shown pictures of buggies.

[pope]

Some initial pictures.

[soundman98]

i'm no expert, but i think those rod thingies are supposed to be connected to something.

[pope]

I think the old VW's just used air to spin them around like a Wankel.

[bcj]

It's where the chipmunks live.
You can hear them distinctly when it's idling.

[NWFRS]

Too bad even basket-case 912’s have become so pricey lately. Almost impossible to find affordable drivers anymore. Sure would make a neat project though.

[pope]

Slowly getting everything stripped down and cleaned up. Placed an order for most of the parts I can't reuse. Unfortunately, I need new rings and the ones I need seem to be sold out everywhere.

[EAGLE5]

912 prices are stupid high. Too much money sloshing around.

[venturaII]

Whatever you do, don't get Kolbenschmidt cam bearings, or there's a good chance you'll regret it. I've done 2 Type1s and 2 Type4s lately and every set of KS bearings were tight on the thrust bearing. Spun one set in one of the Type4s. Heard similar stories on the Samba and ended up swapped them for Silverlines and everything spun beautifully. I don't understand it, as KS has always been a quality name, but I heard that they outsourced their production to South America a few years back, so maybe that explains it?