Are Swivel Feet Worth the Trouble?

[Piledriver]

112LC will also drop the dynamic compression ratio...
Punch the numbers into the following calculator and see where you are at:
https://www.uempistons.com/index.php?ma ... 525fa02016

[Big Ratfink]

This will go into a regular 71 super beetle. Standard transmission, unless the one it's got is junk, in that case I'll pull the one from my rusted to death 71 Ghia. And if that one's junk I'll have to mortgage the farm and buy something.

For induction I was hoping I could make the 34pict 3 carb work, stock intake, and of course use the heat risers. This is touching on one of my bigger fears, tuning the carb. I can dial in a stock setup, but have never had to change jets, emulsion tubes or whatever solex's use. I do have an o2 meter I can plumb into the collector for tuning.

I'd welcome suggestions for air cleaners. Thought about finding a velocity stack and fabing up some sort of new fangled pleated cone filter over the whole thing. Unless this is a waste of time.....

I was hoping to make one of the stock distributors I have work. Put in the right impedance hot coil and a points replacement module. I've already got some very low resistance plug wires, and was going to use regular Bosch copper plugs. And one of those rev limiting rotors.

[Marc]

The best distributor choice would be the `74 49-state, 4-speed Type I 0 231 170 034 (A.K.A. 043 905 205 or "SVDA") that has both centrifugal & vacuum advance. The centrifugal component is essentially like that of a 0 231 178 009, but slower - it's not all in until ~3800, vs ~2500 for the 009. The `74 34PICT-3 carb was subtly different than the `71-`73 versions, but it's nothing to lose sleep over - the early carbs work just fine with the SVDA. This'll give you over 40° total at high RPM/light load without risking any damage to the engine.
If you have a `71-`73 "DVDA" distributor, it has essentially the same curve as the SVDA when the retard side of the canister is left open...then set it at 7.5°BTDC initial like the SVDA rather than the stock 5°ATDC.

Either of these distributors will provide a little "kick" in the advance coming off-idle, which helps fire the lean mixture that's inherent at that moment with the larger DP intake tract. A centrifugal-only distributor like the much-maligned 009 is incapable of doing that, which is why they receive the blame for the flat spot. With a clear heatriser passage and a stock muffler the 009 does just fine, but almost all aftermarket exhausts don't provide the preheat flow of a stock muffler.

Any of the vacuum-only distributors (or the vac/cent used on `68-`70 AutoSticks) will advance way too soon with the signal from a 34PICT-3, so don't bother trying to make any of them work. Here's a place to use for identification: http://www.oldvolkshome.com/ignition.htm

I don't anticipate needing to make any jetting changes. But the 'Ghia carb is a little different, having slightly different main and air-correction jets, so if that's still around you may already have all the jets you should need if you feel the need to experiment.

Use an aircleaner that is designed to contain the "standoff fog" which is present above a stock carb at speed. Stock oil bath or dry-element, whichever you prefer - but avoid the low-profile type unless you add a hose to raise it above the airhorn as far as possible. If you have the snorkel from the 'Ghia, you could use it and mount any filter of your choice off the end to satisfy this requirement and fit comfortably beneath the engine lid.

Personally I prefer the stock c1971 oil-bath which has an integral wax-pill thermostat to control the warmair flap. No cables or vacuum hoses required to make it work. The warm air helps with driveability during the first few minutes of warmup on cool/damp mornings, otherwise it's not missed much.

The `71 Bug trans is an AH with .88 4th and 4.125 R&P. The "AN" from the 'Ghia has the same ratios but a 3.875 R&P (because of its better aerodynamics the factory engineers chose the 6% taller ratio for the 'Ghia). I wouldn't recommend going any taller than that on a Bug with a 1600 and stock-diameter tires, but it'd be safe IMO and perhaps improve your highway gas mileage - it'll drop the RPM at 70 MPH by ~200.

[Piledriver]

As Marc said, stock air cleaner works great, very difficult to improve on.
The fan (should) pull ~1200-1500 CFM of cool air through the vents at cruise, so its ~a cold air intake from the factory.

I hear some late cars had an additional vent behind the license plate that opened up for more air (thermostat controlled?)
I have seen it simply cut open.

[Marc]

I hear some late cars had an additional vent behind the license plate that opened up for more air (thermostat controlled?)...

Yes, they were on some later-model cars - mostly `74-up, also used on the Brazilian Fusco lids. My son grafted one into the lid of my car, overkill for the near-stock 1641 that's in it now but it should be good to have on a hot day and/or if I ever step up to a larger engine. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/ ... 3E481B.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-RRuH ... %25204.jpg
In my experience, anything over a 1500SP needs more air intake area than just the under-the-window louvers to prevent running hot under load. You can run around town all day without them on a bigger engine, but problems may arise on the highway.
Another worthwhile upgrade is to relegate the 9.5x905La belt to spare status and fit the 11.3x912La "alternator" belt. In fact I consider it mandatory with an alternator to limit slippage.

[Big Ratfink]

I'm suprised you guy think so highly of the stock air cleaner. I would have thought the oil bath would have been restrictive.

[Big Ratfink]

I've been having troube finding some heater flaps. Tomorrow I'm drving 3.5 hours to maybe get some. Unfortunately they are still atached to a 74 beetle.
Borrowing a trailer and taking a drive. My boy needs a car too.

[Marc]

I'm suprised you guy think so highly of the stock air cleaner. I would have thought the oil bath would have been restrictive.

For a stock, or near-stock, displacement engine it provides ample airflow (assuming it's cleaned/serviced now & then). But you do want one that was intended for an engine of similar displacement - put one intended for a 1200 on a 1600 and restriction/oil carryover does become an issue. By design they allow for that standoff I mentioned - aircleaners which do not cause disruption of the metering at higher speeds. And if you desire a functional warm-air pickup system, it's already present so there's no need to engineer/fabricate your own.
If you'd prefer a paper-element type to an oil-bath, a stock `73/`74 plastic-bodied aircleaner fills that bill. They use vacuum control for the T.A.C. flap (so a manifold vacuum tap is needed) and a larger-diameter breather hose than the older ones, but that's not too challenging to adapt.

I've been having troube finding some heater flaps. Tomorrow I'm drving 3.5 hours to maybe get some. Unfortunately they are still atached to a 74 beetle...

Hopefully the thermostat is still good, that's the hardest item to find - so many were thrown away decades ago by fools, and they haven't been in production for years. The wax-pill type that came on recent south-of-the-border engines do function, but they don't fail "safe" like the original vacuum/alcohol type. The late DP flaps use a crosslink with four holes in it, while the early ones had a 2-hole crosslink and used "bridges" to connect it to the flaps. Both work, the old one has more moving parts but is a bit less fussy re alignment. The late style sometimes requires a little tweaking of the crosslink to assure free movement.
The singleport setup is essentially the same as the late DP, it just uses a crosslink without the "jog" around the oil cooler.

[Big Ratfink]

Underside of rocker arms are ground to clear the swvel feet and new solid rocker shafts have shipped from Air Cooled.net

[Piledriver]

volkaholic1 here makes new thermostats for ~about $100ish, new bellows with better materials.
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic ... s#p1167978