Author Topic: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build  (Read 9986 times)

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Offline SingallZ

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #25 on: February 03, 2018, 11:32:52 pm »
I would have preferred to press it on or something. Besides the eventual first start/break in, this was the most nerve racking thing I've done in awhile. It actually started to set as I dropped it on, luckily I had a metal sleeve and hammer handy to tap it down a little further before it shrank more.

Offline jellynuts

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #26 on: February 04, 2018, 08:28:55 pm »
Stop working on this and bring your Honda to Ice Dice!
uckfay, Johnny with the back-handed slap. You're clearly the Oracle.

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Offline SingallZ

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #27 on: March 24, 2018, 07:33:59 pm »
Finally back home and the work continues, sorry for the hugly long post...

Started with the heads, had to mock up stuff so I used a bunch of dinky little springs and spent a day trying to setup proper rocker-arm/valve geometry, it has to swipe in the middle of the valve cap


Also switched out a bunch of stuff out for titanium and aluminum to save tons of weight on the valve train, I might be able to get 7000rpm before float now


Setup a spring compressor, it might even work for subie heads so figured it was worth the investment, so much easier than that hand clamp thing

Finished heads


Threw on a 2.0L sump and updated the pickup, the OEM one in this case was kind of cheap


Stock (left), updated long pickup (right)


Ditched the mesh, with a proper flow through filter it was pointless


Added, distributor, alternator stand, and fuel pump


Next up sleeved the cylinders

I don't think you can see them but there's little arrows on each piston that need to point towards the flywheel. "BACK TOWARDS FLYWHEEL", I must have said it like 900 times to myself, I really didn't want to do this twice


Double checked 0.06" deck height


Head bolt 3-step torque down procedure was VERY similar to Subaru's, except you only go to 18ft-lb's


Almost forgot to put the air deflector/flashy thingy at the bottom of the cylinders. If you forget this you overheat


Assembled long block, finally starting to look like something


Next up WEBERS!!


Offline JohnnyCanuck

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #28 on: March 24, 2018, 07:41:22 pm »
Yeah! Those Weber’s look killer, everything looks awesome.
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Offline seat safety switch

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #29 on: March 24, 2018, 07:42:46 pm »
That's a big boy valve spring compressor.

Offline SingallZ

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #30 on: March 24, 2018, 07:48:23 pm »
That's a big boy valve spring compressor.

More like weak mans compressor, Canuckistan tire's hand version is impossible to squeeze, that or I keep missing arm/wrist day at the gym

Offline seat safety switch

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #31 on: March 24, 2018, 08:33:44 pm »
More like weak mans compressor, Canuckistan tire's hand version is impossible to squeeze, that or I keep missing arm/wrist day at the gym
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Offline RedndWhite

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #32 on: March 24, 2018, 09:47:55 pm »
Boys play in their sandbox with a little plastic shovel, men are smart enough to know when to use a backhoe.

Work smarter, not harder.
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Offline jellynuts

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #33 on: March 24, 2018, 10:51:42 pm »
Amazing post.  7k RPM would be awesome.  Everything looks awesome.  Someone already said that. 

I wish I had your technical skills
uckfay, Johnny with the back-handed slap. You're clearly the Oracle.

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Offline SingallZ

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #34 on: May 17, 2018, 04:09:24 pm »
yay updates, forward momentum, soon it won't be an oversized garage paper weight.

I've been waiting on engine tin parts for soo long that I'm getting bored and need to find other thing to keep occupied. Which means its steering, rims, and fitment time:

With the OEM front bar my custom 6" wheels would be poking too much so I got a narrowed adjustable bar (lowering adjustability and 2" narrower)


So an excuse to redo all the things:


The old bar out but surprisingly in good condition for such an old car:



New tires and rims on and spaced properly with in the wells:



Also since I'm waiting let do a new steering wheel and add a few important gauges (tack and oil pressure), fyi I'm still waiting on a less advertizy new horn


Offline RedndWhite

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #35 on: May 17, 2018, 04:49:52 pm »
It's amazing how simple the beetle is.

And just how long the people's car didn't change.
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Offline seat safety switch

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #36 on: May 17, 2018, 08:04:08 pm »
Huh, I would have figured by '72 they would have had rack and pinion steering, but now that I'm thinking about it I'm not sure the Super Beetle even got it.

Offline SingallZ

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #37 on: May 17, 2018, 09:09:11 pm »
Huh, I would have figured by '72 they would have had rack and pinion steering, but now that I'm thinking about it I'm not sure the Super Beetle even got it.

Super beetles started in 1970 and always had a rack and struts to increase cargo room but also had that weird nose as a result. I seriously looked at them for a long time because they do handle better, but I just couldn’t get over the looks.

Offline SingallZ

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #38 on: May 19, 2018, 09:35:41 am »
As a software engineer reading up on carbs is like medival folklore, so many old weird beard stories of “we ran these jets with this cam profile because that’s what worked for 20+ years on my butt dyno and everything else will just blow up your motor”. So I drank some Samba Koolaid and I’m re-jetting the carbs to match my compression ratio and cam to the best setup I can calculate based on the voodoo I’ve read. I’ll probably just throw a Air/Fuel gauge on it and redo all this after I’ve got the thing running. It’s still fun but I can see why the world has moved on.





The float was way off (should be 11mm before shutoff this was at 20mm), one piece of advice is always tear these things down because they’re either dirty or miss aligned or both from factory


Hopefully this new setup will work

WEBER 44 IDF Dual Carbs
AIR CORRECTION
2.00
EMULSION TUBE
F-11
MAIN JET
1.55
IDLE JET
.60
VENTURII
36mm


Offline seat safety switch

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #39 on: May 19, 2018, 09:57:37 am »
Old Car Person Scientific Method: "Turn screws a bunch until the butt dyno says yes. Attempt no measurements otherwise. Buy more expensive components until you are too old to drive fast enough to notice a difference anymore."

Offline SingallZ

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #40 on: June 02, 2018, 04:20:32 pm »
Just finished a bunch of work, more detail to come


Offline Ambystom01

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #41 on: June 02, 2018, 04:37:53 pm »
Good looking engine.
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Offline LilDrunkenSmurf

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #42 on: June 03, 2018, 09:31:07 am »
Very aesthetically pleasing, I really like it!
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Offline jackal

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #43 on: June 04, 2018, 03:11:38 pm »
Loving where this build is going!

Offline Dr Beans

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #44 on: June 04, 2018, 04:22:52 pm »
This is my favorite build ATM. Looks good!

Offline jellynuts

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #45 on: June 04, 2018, 09:26:04 pm »
That gold tape would look great on a wing too!
uckfay, Johnny with the back-handed slap. You're clearly the Oracle.

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Offline Zaider

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #46 on: June 04, 2018, 10:27:33 pm »
Great read on this build. Looking forward to more progress!
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Offline SingallZ

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #47 on: June 05, 2018, 01:20:09 pm »
Thanks guys! I just hope it runs

Some other updates from this weekend:

New less boxy 50's style bumpers, and I made some brackets for the fog-lights:



I also fixed the oil-pan drain plug area, basically on the old one you had to remove part of the pan to do an oil change which would be a total pain in the assay so I got this all-in-one plate off some guy in Florida (it has a magnetic plug)


Installed a new welded balanced fan, I was going to reuse the old one but it was warped and I feared it was going to be potential grenade at high RPMs (stock limit is 4-5k RPM max, this will be up-to 6-7k RPM)


Also setup the breathers on the carbs, I really like the looks of these guys, and its a better build quality than the ones I had originally



and as I've found out NOTHING has just bolted up ever, so to get this thing started I created some cheap assay adaptor brackets to fill the gap and the angle until I can weld on a better flang


uckfay you're ugly!

Offline jellynuts

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #48 on: June 05, 2018, 04:12:01 pm »
Hail to the king, baby. 

I love the front look. 
uckfay, Johnny with the back-handed slap. You're clearly the Oracle.

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Offline SingallZ

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Re: 72 Käfer (Beetle) build
« Reply #49 on: June 11, 2018, 04:52:30 pm »
The engine is in the car, couple of days worth of pluming and it should be running!



Special thanks to SausageCat (former WSC'er for help and getting wedged under the car)