Back to SCCA 1972 rules?

[FJCamper]

Hi Randy,

Get yourself a sexy Nomex shift boot ---

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all54130

Holds the sides down over the hump with screw-mounted snaps, and you've got something nice.

To adjust the simple short-shift kit, loosen the two 13mm bolts just enough to slowly shift through all four gears and reverse, finding your sweet spot, and tighten it down. You may have to take a test drive with your ratchet, extension, and 13mm socket.

You won't feel the benefits of the shifter until you change out that shift rod bushing.

FJC

[Steve Arndt]

The bushing should hold the shaft tight in the bushing holder bracket right behind the shifter flange.
Steve

[Marc]

...Anywhere I like as long as it gets all 4 gears?...

If the bushing's anywhere near as bad as you say, that's a minor miracle in itself. Biggest issue with a sloppy bushing or coupler is typically finding the sweet spot where the Reverse lockout is effective and you can still find 1st and 2nd without having to feel around for it. Without the quick-shift kit, the slots are sized so that usually even fully-forward or fully-back still lets the shift rails inside the transmission drop into their detent position. The kit makes it possible to overadjust so that might not be true. Just ensure that there's still a little fore-n-aft play at the coupler when each gear is selected.

...The shift rod bushing? What shift rod bushing? Unless the shift rod is supposed to move up and down about 3/4" and flop around...

That much play would indeed indicate that the bushing is totally gone, in pieces on the tunnel floor, with no trace left of it beyond the spring-ring dangling on the rod. At this point the bracket and rod are meeting metal-to-metal, thinning the rod and ovalling out the hole in the bracket. You may need to replace the bracket, and if the rod is undersized it's going to still be a little loose even with a new bracket and bushing. FAR better than you have now, but not "factory-new". If you do find that it needs a rod when you get it apart, anything from a 1968 through 1972 4-speed Beetle of 'Ghia will fit.

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=142723

[RHough]

AE case is `71-`73. You mentioned earlier that you thought a `69 engine had been installed, but gladly not. Just ended up with the early 12V generator (with slip-on terminals) somehow. You'll probably want to run an alternator on your new motor anyway, that requires a special pedestal and some trivial rewiring.

When I start shopping for an Alternator conversion kit, what traps should I be looking for? Any recommendations for a vendor or just go with the best deal? How much faster are the chrome pedestals and alternators?

Randy

[Marc]

The best pedestal IMO is an OEM factory one, as found on `73/`74s - but I wouldn't pay a premium price for one, the Chaiwanese repops will function. $15-$20 shipped would be a fair price for a good used German one.
As for the alternator, I'll defer to others who have more current experience with what's available these days.
FWIW, I have more faith in Bosch (even from Brazil) than in Chinese.
If you're looking at used ones, best to avoid the early type which need an external regulator since those are hard to find when you need one. Internally-regulated have just two connections, a threaded stud for B+ and a push-on for the warning lamp. Usually sold under AL82 (AL82X for rebuilt, AL82N for new). The wiring modifications needed are trivial, particularly so in a 'Ghia where the generator regulator and battery are in the engine compartment rather than under the seat as in a Beetle.
All hardware (Woodruff keys, pulley, strap, nuts/washers/shims, sheetmetal bits) from your 30A generator will fit an alternator so you don't really need a "kit" - those are marketed for upgrading from a small-diameter 6V installation. Newer 043 903 109 pulleys did away with the tab-n-slot connection between the halves and rely upon a "D" shaped hub, an improvement...but the older pulley will work, so you don't have to replace it if it's good. NO CHROME PULLEYS - too much belt slippage.
You'll want to upgrade to the wider "alternator" belt (11.3x912La); the 9.5x905La "generator" belt may slip too much and should be relegated to duty as a spare.

Going price for a Bosch AL82N is ~$200-$250, there are cheaper options (some under $100) but I don't have any recent experience with non-Bosch.

Some alternator/pedestal combinations don't allow the alternator to nestle down all the way into the "saddle" due to interference with raised casting ribs on one part or the other. See how they fit together and file/grind off any unwanted contact points before you start installing, it's a lot easier then than later.

Chromed parts (other than pulleys) don't really hurt anything. I've never seen a quality chrome strap, though...and the "slicker" surface does make them slightly more prone to slipping off. I wouldn't pay any extra for chrome, but it's your wallet.

I don't know if it's a problem any more, but at one time there were alternators shipping without a needed spacer ring outboard of one or both bearings, so when the nuts were tightened down they'd seize up. The big 36mm nut on the fan end invites overtightening, keep in mind that the threads aren't any bigger/stronger than the ones on the pulley end and don't torque beyond ~43lb-ft.

[RHough]

The best pedestal IMO is an OEM factory one, ... NO CHROME PULLEYS - too much belt slippage.
You'll want to upgrade to the wider "alternator" belt (11.3x912La); the 9.5x905La "generator" belt may slip too much and should be relegated to duty as a spare.

Going price for a Bosch AL82N is ~$200-$250, there are cheaper options (some under $100) but I don't have any recent experience with non-Bosch.

Some alternator/pedestal combinations don't allow the alternator to nestle down all the way into the "saddle" due to interference with raised casting ribs on one part or the other. See how they fit together and file/grind off any unwanted contact points before you start installing, it's a lot easier then than later.
...
I don't know if it's a problem any more, but at one time there were alternators shipping without a needed spacer ring outboard of one or both bearings, so when the nuts were tightened down they'd seize up. The big 36mm nut on the fan end invites overtightening, keep in mind that the threads aren't any bigger/stronger than the ones on the pulley end and don't torque beyond ~43lb-ft.

Wow ... what a wealth of information! Thank you. Just getting the alternator and the stand makes this a easy one! Thanks!

[RHough]

I decided to work on getting the seats out and ready for the install thrash tomorrow ... not too bad ... the springs and the retainer latch are long gone (no sign of them) so it was mostly spray grease and sweat to get the tracks sliding so I could push from the back seat ... me in and out of the back of the Ghia multiple times was a hoot ...

There are a couple of holes that are sort of where the Scat adapters fit. The Ghia adapters sit right down on top of the stock rails and it will take opening up existing holes and drilling a few more and done (I hope). The stock sliders don't get modified except for the holes so stock seats will still go back in should I ever want to do it. I'm hoping that with the seat back up against the rear seat that the leg room will work. I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures to make it easier for the next guy.

I got my stock intake snorkel and rain tray so I did a quick tune up ...
Adjusted valves .006 and .004
Made a better mark on the pulley for 32 BTDC
Decided to check the main jet to see what I have ... thats when it started going south.
There is a little plug that has the exact same dimensions as the main jet that screws into a passage in the float bowl ... the main jet should be at the bottom of the bowl behind the drain plug ... they were swapped. The main was sitting about 6mm above the bottom of the bowl ... same passage but wrong parts in wrong places ... (unless that is the way they come in the Mexican carbs). Good news is the main is a 127.5
Tossed fresh spark plugs and a new set of wires in.
Got it running and set the timing and warmed it up and got a sort of idle out of it ... then installed the intake snorkel ... it died ... so I spent some time fussing with the volume and bypass screws until it idled again and took it out for a drive.

Again, damn me but the darn stock intake tube really does make it run better! Thanks again for the education. I'll go through the carb settings one more time and call it good ... seems to have better top end and reduced flat spot ... just like Frank and Mark suggested it would!

Took it to the hardware store to get the right drill bits and mounting bolts for the seat thrash. It was the first time I've driven the beastie at night ... no dash lights at all in the clock and with just the right fiddling I got a glimmer of light in the speedo ... I have a new H/L switch so that will go in and I hope that will get me some dash light adjustment.

The rain tray was straight forward except the drain hoses seem too long ... need to make sure I have things right before I trim the ends off inside the tray.

Thanks again for all the tips and tricks!

Randy

[Marc]

Make sure that you have the correct `71-up headlamp switch with a terminal marked "X". It'll also need 30, 56, 57, 58, and 58b. 113 941 531E is the P/N.
57 isn't vital since all it operates is the pilot lamp to tell you that the parking lamps are on - it's not used on a Beetle.

The dash illumination lamps come off of 58b (through the dimmer rheostat). If that's the only thing wrong with the switch, you can get by with simply piggybacking the 58b wire onto 58 and they'll be full-brilliance all the time - most folks run `em that way anyway.

The switch may have two Term 30s, they're identical. If it has 58L and 58R you won't need them. I can't recall if the factory switch on a `72 had a "full-size" spade lug for 58b or not - the replacement switch'll have a small one so you might need to replace the one on the wire.

[RHough]

Seat day.

I chose Scat ProCar Sportsman seats.

Procar has brackets to adapt the seats for early and late Ghias.
1 x 81398 : 07/69-74 VOLKSWAGEN KARMANGHIA - Driver - Tab - NO PADS MUST DRILL
1 x 81399 : 07/69-74 VOLKSWAGEN KARMANGHIA - Passenger - Tab - NO PADS MUST DRILL

I pulled the passenger side and did that one first and forgaot to take many pictures ... went really fast.

Driver side after the seat is out:

20130726_110443.jpg

There is an existing hole in the outer seat track that gets opened up for clearance on an 8mm bolt and an existing hole in the inner track that should line up with the rear inner lug on the adapter.

20130726_110531.jpg

The two sides of my car were not exactly the same, I could use the rear inner track hole for the drivers side but not the passenger side ... I don't know if that is normal or not. The seat tracks were missing the seat stop that is mentioned in the manuals. When floor pans get swapped out do the seat tracks get welded on the new pans?
Anyway ... just a couple of holes later and the seat adapter is bolted in.

20130726_112651.jpg

All in all it was less than 90 minutes to do both seats.

upsideseat.jpg

Now that I have bolt in adapters, I can put any of the Scat ProCar seats into the car. The seat sliders have 3 slots on each end so 9 combinations of tilt and height. On the driver side the slider hits the floor and prevents me from mounting the rear of the seat in the lowest position ... a hack saw will fix that since I'll never need the high position.

The seats slide far enough back that the rear leg room goes to zero and with the rear seat back out, the range of adjustment makes the car much nicer for my long legs. I need to go for a drive! Have to fuss with the idle some more ...

[RHough]

Bocar PICT-34 ...

After the hassles yesterday trying to get the carb adjusted I pulled it off the car again and when through it bit by bit. Pulled every jet out and cleaned and blew out all the passages.

Put everything back together, set the volume and bypass screws 3 turns of the seats and ...

shazam!

Fired and ran pretty decent but with the idle too high ...

Turned the bypass in to lower the idle, adjusted the volume screw for best idle ... rinse repeat the process until the idle is under 900 and as smooth as possible . Clean carbs with the parts in the right place actually respond to adjustments the way the are supposed to ... what a concept!

With the stock (still lame until a new shift rod bushing gets fitted) shifter and seat that let me uncramp my legs, and a carbonmaker that works it was a very nice little car to drive. I am amazed at how solid the car feels. Unless I knew I would never guess it weighs under 2000 lbs. I'm diggin it.

Another first ... We (Amber and I [car's name is Amber]) got caught in a typical Colorado afternoon thunder shower ... wipers on ... not bad, glad I put new blades on ... then after about 20 minutes ... they got slower and started making eeek ... eeek ... eeek noises ... then they stopped. Rats.

Not many cars can you open a window and help the wipers along while you are driving. Got home and with the arms tilted up the wipers still make the eeek ... eeek... noise ... sounds like time to get intimate with another system ... lots of lube I think ... no one ever complains about being over lubed to cure the eek ... eek ... noises ...

Happy Friday everyone!

fukengruven.jpg

[RHough]

wow ... there are 59 pages when I search "Engle Cams" ... while I hate to bring the subject up again I didn't find what I was looking for in the existing threads I looked at.

Overthinking the engine still. It came to me that one of the engines I have experience with is the BMW 750 (R75/5). The stock engine is 82x70.6 Bore/Stroke has 32mm venturis, 42mm Intake, 38mm Exhaust and was rated 50 DIN HP@6200 43lb/ft@5000. 9.2:1 CR (happy on reg fuel) Easy starting and smooth idle, known for good low end and not lots of power.

This would be a 105HP docile 1600cc VW

The BMW "308" Cam specs are 246° Duration (measured @ 0.050") and 0.372" Valve lift (1.39:1 ratio rockers) 109° Lobe Centers
These VW cams are close:
Grind Valve Cam Dur 0.050 Ramp Lobe
VZ-14 0.462 0.42 274 242 32 108
FK-7 0.5 0.357 288 244 44 108
BMW308 0.372 0.266 308 246 62 109
FK-42 0.522 0.373 275 246 29 108
W-110 0.49 0.392 284 247 37 108

When I built it as a AMA superbike spec engine with 11.0:1 Pistons, 34mm Carbs, and the Reg Pridmore Grind Sig Erson cam it became almost unrideable on the street. I don't remember what the cam specs were. I don't want to do that with the Ghia.

The last thing I want to do for the Ghia Street/Track engine is to go so far with the engine that is stops being fun to drive on the street. The solution for the BMW was to go back to the 9.2:1 CR pistons and fit a BMW "Rennsport" 336 camshaft.
VZ-30 0.507 0.461 298 262 36 108
W-125 0.523 0.418 301 262 39 108
FK-45 0.561 0.401 295 264 31 108
FK-10 0.539 0.385 310 266 44 108
W-130 0.524 0.419 308 267 41 108
BMW336 0.424 336 268 68 101
FK-46 0.571 0.409 303 271 32 108

The BWM cams are very low lift compared to the VW Cams. The BMW /5 series engines were not known to have valve train problems using 1.4:1 ratio rockers (stock).

Looking at the cams with similar duration to the BMW cams the VZ series have the lowest lift. I would think they would be easier on the valve train than higher lift. The threads talk about the VZ series having fast ramps and high accelerations. When I compare the advertised duration and the duration at 0.050" I don't see a big difference (faster ramps should have few degrees difference between base duration and 0.050" duration?)

The FK4x series has the fastest 0-0.050" ramps 29-31°
The FK7 and 10 are mild ramps 44°
The W series fall in the middle with ramps 37-41°
The VZ series are 32-36°

My guess is that a 1600 VW with 42mm/37mm Valves, 44mm IDF's, 9.5:1 CR, and one of the 268°+/- Duration cams should be very much like the R75/5 engine that I really liked.

The questions is what are the pro's and con's of these 260-270° duration cams. The specs are very close, so I'm hoping someone has experience to share. I'm not married to the Engle Cam choice. Just settled on the 268° duration @ 0.050" lift with 42/37mm valves as the target.

What cam(s) would you pick and why?
What cam(s) would you avoid and why?

Oh ... the flat tow from Colorado to British Columbia was no drama. No dents and no broken lights. The car is much more fun to drive with sea level HP compared to Mile-high HP!

Cheers,

Randy

[Marc]

I used to run a cam with .268° @.050" (Bugpack 4063, sort of midway between the W-125 and VZ-30) on 1585 & 1641cc engine, in that 105HP ballpark...with 040 heads ported to the limit (without welding), 44IDFs, 1-5/8" merged header and 9.5-10:1 C.R. - real strong in the 5500-7000RPM range but rather soft below that. I think it's a bit optimistic to expect that much from a 1600 that retains street manners, where most driving is done at ~3000RPM. You're probably right that what you have in mind would roughly emulate the BMW's power curve, but with stock gears and normal tire sizes IMO that's not necessarily desirable - you'd probably find ~250°@.050" much easier to live with. Big intake valves get shrouded pretty badly with an 85.5mm bore, too, I doubt you'd gain much with 42x37.5 vs 40x36.

The pivots are probably the source of the wiper problem. Take the arms off and you can dribble some penetrating oil in along the shafts, but that's no substitute for field-stripping them and cleaning/greasing. The shafts are retained with tiny C-clips that you won't find anywhere, so don't lose `em. I do this sort of work inside a big cardboard box so I don't have to chase precious parts that like to fly across the room.

[RHough]

I used to run a cam with .268° @.050" (Bugpack 4063, sort of midway between the W-125 and VZ-30) on 1585 & 1641cc engine, in that 105HP ballpark...with 040 heads ported to the limit (without welding), 44IDFs, 1-5/8" merged header and 9.5-10:1 C.R. - real strong in the 5500-7000RPM range but rather soft below that. I think it's a bit optimistic to expect that much from a 1600 that retains street manners, where most driving is done at ~3000RPM. You're probably right that what you have in mind would roughly emulate the BMW's power curve, but with stock gears and normal tire sizes IMO that's not necessarily desirable - you'd probably find ~250°@.050" much easier to live with. Big intake valves get shrouded pretty badly with an 85.5mm bore, too, I doubt you'd gain much with 42x37.5 vs 40x36.

The pivots are probably the source of the wiper problem. Take the arms off and you can dribble some penetrating oil in along the shafts, but that's no substitute for field-stripping them and cleaning/greasing. The shafts are retained with tiny C-clips that you won't find anywhere, so don't lose `em. I do this sort of work inside a big cardboard box so I don't have to chase precious parts that like to fly across the room.

Thanks Marc, I had not considered the shrouding issue on a small bore (stock) engine. Any reason not to go with a VZ profile on the theory that lower lift = happier valve train?
These are my choices in Engle:
FK-43 0.536 0.383 284 252 32 108
W-120 0.496 0.397 294 253 41 108
VZ-25 0.471 0.429 286 256 30 108
FK-8 0.534 0.382 298 258 40 108

And just for grins ... Dub-Dyno agrees with you. Predicts no gain between 40/35 heads and 42/37 with cams in this range and stock 85.5mm bore. The FK-8 looks like a winner for HP. The FK-43 has the nicest torque curve. FK-44 and FK-8 look like twins for HP and Torque curves.

The wipers ... I completely forgot to note/remember where the blades were parked and how the motor was mounted to the wiper frame. I didn't realize that the parts could go together about 987 different ways ... got real good at wiper assembly R&R ... when I got it right the wipers are quiet, park nicely, and the speeds are just fine.

The trunk(front hood?) cable stopped opening the hood ... reaching up through the horn opening pops it open just fine. Turns out the pressboard glove box is rotten and the cable housing bracket pulled the rivets through the side ... I have a new plastic glove box for the car ... but will have to guess about hole sizes and pattern for the hood release lever etc. For $20 I can get an electric hood popper kit ...

Randy

[FJCamper]

Hi Randy,

Trying to compare cams is like herding cats. When you line up a bunch of cam specs, the cams are the constant, but the engines, heads, porting, etc., are the variables.

One guy will swear by a certain cam, and the next curse it. And blame it on the cam, not his carb setup, intake port velocity, whatever.

Great happiness comes with a good street engine in a good street car, when street use is the mission.

The Engle 110 and 120 are both good low to medium performance street cams if given 9:1 compression and dual carbs. You might not turn fast laps at Sebring with a 110, but you're not at Sebring.

The lesson of not bolting together a mismatch of individually good parts and expecting greatness was made to me when I was a young, agressive street racer, my Bug or Ghia against all the Detroit iron. I beat most of them because the local good old boys had actually made their cars slower or harder to handle by just putting in a "big cam" or drag race suspension lifter kits on their daily driver.

FJC

[Marc]

FKs use ratio rockers. W and VZ were designed for 1.1 stockers. When 1.25s came out, Engle allowed that they'd be OK with the W series grinds, which shows that they had designed in a fair amount of safety factor. VZs have fast ramps and harsh action even with 1.1s (we used to call them "clackers") and I wouldn't consider one for anything but a strip engine, nor would I press my luck by running any higher rocker ratio.
For your purposes, from this field of cams the FK-43 seems wisest to me - but next time you're playing with Dub Dyno try comparing the FK-7. I've never used that program, does it give you the option of specifying the rocker ratio? If so, see if there's any significant advantage to 1.5s and if not go with 1.4s for longevity's sake.