Engine Brace

[general_lee_jr]

Has anybody used the stock engine brace in a bug before? I was thinking about welding some brackets of some sort to the car so I can use the stock engine brace. I have a engine that I can use for mock up. Just want to know if anybody has some pointers. Thanks

[Piledriver]

This should be right up your alley:
http://www.tunacan.net/t4/howto/kaferbrace/

I feel the rear body panels on a Bug were never made to support an engine...

I set my sons rear engine mounts up to support the exhaust system...
They are not needed to support the engine with the above brace.

[Steve Arndt]

that is a perdy weld
http://www.tunacan.net/t4/howto/kaferbrace/1.jpg

You need to remove that coating before it will weld clean.

Here is mine.
http://myweb.cableone.net/stevearndt/baja/baja.htm

[general_lee_jr]

Thats cool but I was trying to avoid all that. I wanted to try to weld in some L brackets of some sort to use the stock engine brace, so I could just bolt it to the brackets that would be fabricated.

[Wally]

I set my sons rear engine mounts up to support the exhaust system...

Bit OT, but that is a no-no The exhaust should be hung on the engine only, for obvious reasons

BTW, the motor hangs almost fully on the tranny forks. Always, since its not a 911 or late model type 3! Additional bumper bracket mounts are only there to counter the rotation the engine wants to go at acceleration, not support the engine weight.
I will use both the Kaefer brace and the BAS rear bumper bracket support (hung in rubber mounts). That system has been used in Germany for some decades now and everything helps

Greetings,
Walter

[general_lee_jr]

Is the brace easy to work around or is it a pain to deal with when repairs or just general maitenance is needed?

[Piledriver]

It's OK Wally, it IS supported by the engine only, and spring loaded at that.

The brace has ONE issue--- Replacing the starter. It's close, and IIRC I had to loosen one side up to get the starter out.

OTOH, we are speaking of 2 bolts...

The hanger is not attached to anything save the block, and it has a spring loaded connection for that. It can move any way it wants but down.

It's basically a 25mm square tube that helps take some of the weight off the heads, the ex flanges rest on it.

... with a pair of old valve springs, 8mm bolts, locknuts, valvespring retainers keeping it up...

Unless you look close, it appears to be a rear hanger.

Don't knock the Kafer brace idea, General, it only took me a couple of hours with no example/part numbers/clue to go by.
(the "beautiful" welding not withstanding, I had no shield gas and was using core wire, under the car, eating metal. )

I now feel the welding was probably not really required anyway. :oops:

[raygreenwood]

Wally...thank you! I have been ranting about that forever. Nice to see someone else recognizes how the factory set things up. On the 411/412 for instance...100% of all of the tranny and engine weight is suspended from the cross bar bushings at the case parting line where the tranny and engine meet. The rear hanger bar bushings....are bumpers only. So is the donut on the tranny. There are actually 3 factory gage bars useddto make sure there is no tension on the donut. There is also a shim system at the center bar to make sure that the bumpers at the rear have very specific weight on them. All of this was done for reasons. Of course...the 411/412 hade no frame forks. Ray

[Piledriver]

Ray, check out the link... but the exshaust support was addeed later when I redesigned the header.

[raggdout63]

Ok Im a newbie to type IV, so please bear with me. Will an early beetle (63) need a brace or will the standard tranny to case bolts suffice? I am not looking for anything huge. Just a 1.7L reliable daily driver for my rag.

This may be off subject but will a stock type I tranny work with an upright type IV? Ive heard I may need a different flywheel? Are these easily obtainable or is it going to break me?

thanks for all the help
Erik

63 rag 1200cc

[MASSIVE TYPE IV]

reggedout,
Read my pages on transaxles at www.aircooledtechnology.com

There you will see that the majority of conversions are accomplished with TI gearboxes. With the correct flywheel you do not need to grind any of the tranny away if it is a post 67 unit and not a 6 volt unit.

All the conversion parts are readily available and will soon be cheaper and easier to get than ever before, without looking for 40 different sources.

BTW, I have a 2 liter 914 spec used engine for sale as well as a 2.0L Bus engine as well. The Porsche engine runs great and is a low mileage unit with about 55K miles on it since new from the factory... The bus unit I know little about but it runs good. Both would only need a shroud, exhaust and carbs to pop right in to the car..

[marekv8]

I'm also installing a Type IV into a Beetle (early 1964 ragtop). It's a RAT 2270 Performer with matched transaxle and I have procured, at Jake's recommendation, a CSP Torque Bar set-up and a Gene Berg GB643 transmission mount to reinforce things.

Do I need to upgrade the stock rear axles to a Berg or Sway-a-Way type part?

Is there anything else those with Type IV/Early Beetle experience could recommend for a well-sorted ride?

Thanks, Dave

[Bobby74]

What if you have NO frame horns? I have a '65 bus that I coverted to IRS the hard way (baywindow suspension). I am looking for a solid way to mount the engine and trans so it doesn't fly around back there. I have a solid 2 bolt mount for the nosecone, but am unsure of how to mount the rear of the engine. I built a bar out of 2 x 4" C-channel, but don't know of a solid way to mount it to the frame rails. It is rigidly mounted to the engine. I want to hang it like baywindow bus but more rigid.