1972 Super Beetle

well, i thought i'd start a thread on my newly aquired 72 super.  bought it a few days ago for $1K.  Lots of power, and lots of fun.  the front has lowering springs, so its a tad bit lower then the rear.  It needs some work, but thats just part of the fun.  I'll let the pics do most of the talking:





Brand spank me new springs:


Needs new rubbers.........:


........And paint :


The 2085cc engine (78.4mm crank, 92mm pistons):


And hopefully, i'll be slapping this beast on soon :


The wipers are slow as hell.  takes like 30 seconds to go from one side and back, lol .  a lot of the electrical stuff doesn't work.  it was origionally an A/C car, so i'm thinking when they ripped out the compressor, they may have accidentally messed up some of the wiring.  The following doesn't work:  interior light, speedo lights, vent fan, rear deforster, and a few other things.  

One thing thats really awsome, is that the rear window has the rear window defroster tabs still attached.  Every rear window i have ever seen with defroster lines (including my 74 super, as well as junkyard bugs), have always had one or both tabs broken off.  i will definately get the window deforster working .

and yes, i do plan to replace the missing tin pieces, so quit asking .  i also plan to replace that POS empi shroud.  drove the thing down the road, and it overheated after 30 mins of driving.

Looks pretty solid. If you need any parts, lemme know. I still have a pretty good pile of 71-72 super stuff.

the other day while driving, all of a sudden i hear a light clicking noise. 2 second later i hear a loud clacking, and about another two seconds later i hear a very loud CLACK CLACK CLACK. It took me a second to realize what was happening, and i shut her down. popped the right side valve cover, and out came the valve retainer, and pieces of valve spring. i called AAA and they towed me home (BTW, EVERYONE NEEDS TO GET AAA. it costs $120 a YEAR for the best service, with 200 free towing miles). anyhoo, got the engine out, tore it apart, got the head and the piston out. you can tell by the marks on the piston, that when the retainer came off, the piston started smacking the valve, and since the valves aren't perpendicular with the piston, and are at an angle, the piston hit the valve, bent it, hit it at another angle, bent it some more, and over and over, till it broke off, moved over, the flat part of the valve hit the exact center of the piston, the vbusted end of the valve then punched thru the head, right in the center, between the valve seats, and since the valve was bent, it punched a curved tunnel into the intake. so basically the head is toast, but amazingly the piston is fine. had to chip a few of the aluminum pieces off, and a little polishing, but it was fine.

turns out, when i went to push on the valve springs, they are crazy soft. i was able to push the valve down with one finger. the valves must have been floating like crazy. anyhoo, i plan to get new heads soon, with bolt together solid rocker shafts, stock rocker arms, and swivel foot adjusters. i still haven't decided between single HD valve springs, or dual. anybody got any ideas on that?

DiggerD wrote:Looks pretty solid. If you need any parts, lemme know. I still have a pretty good pile of 71-72 super stuff.

Awsome. i will prolly need some stuff for it soon. haven't really dug into it yet, but i know i'll prolly find some suprises. .

The floor pans in it are perfect. absolutely no rust holes. not even under the battery tray. the only issues with the pans, are it seems at some point somebody hit something, as the battery tray area of the floor pans, on both sides, and dented in. as if somebody either hit something, or somebody jacked the car up on the floor pan. i'll prolly pound those out later. otherwise, there aren't any rust issues. the heater channels are also perfect. no rust, and still has the origional paint. that sure saves me a lot of work, lol

Ummmm....wasn't that engine supposedly rebuilt by IAS? if so remind me never to have them work on my car! and by the way that's a CUTE turbo...if you feed and water it and give it vitamins and say your prayers, it will grow up into a big one someday! lol!

if it was rebuilt why didnt you take it to them before braking it down,just wondering

WOW I'm surprise at IAS I thought they knew there stuff over there.

well, aperantly the motor was built two years ago and it just sat. so when i popped the valve cover open there was rust, and the springs were pretty weak. the car belonged to a customer, and IAS were just trying to sell it for him.

Also, they told me that stock springs woth a 120 cam would be fine, but everywhere else i read, says that with a 120 cam dual springs it a must, or else you float valves and break springs. so i'm not sure. i'll prolly go with dual springs just to be on the safe side tho. it had stock heads, so i'll prolly go with some 041's or something anyway. kinda pointless to have a big ass motor with such tiny valves

So how did the new heads work out?

I had a valve spring break on me once... on thanksgiving day on the interstate... fun stuff!

i just went today, and picked up the heads (042 MOFOCO heads, bearly used, had about 10 miles on them), along with a set of shortened Chromoly pushrods, two sets of thermostat flaps, an origional functioning alcohol thermostat, and two hoover bits (the little L shaped tin piece that bolts to the oil cooler, that everyone seems to throw away, lol), and all for $300.

Last week i picked up a set of 1.25 ratio rockers, with the adjustment on the pushrod side, from stockornaut. really nice looking. so today i changed the rocker studs from the stock size, to the chromoly ones that came with the rocker shafts (they were a little longer, because the rocker shafts and blocks are thicker). cleaned up the motor a bit, resealed the barrels to the case, but just when i got to the last piston, i couldn't find one of the friggin piston pin retainer clips . so i'm pretty much on stand still till i get another friggin clip, or i find one lying around.

I'll try to post up some pics later tonite.
-Mike

I just dropped my bro off at work (he works night shift), and as i'm walking across my driveway, i see the missing clip, lol. turns out, i had placed the clip on top of the motor when i took it out, but when i rolled the motor out to work on it, it must have fallen off, lol. anyhoo, i was soo happy, i got the clip in, and the pistons, and cylinders on. hopefully tomorrow, i'll get the heads, and everything back together. anyhoo here are some pics, enjoy:

Motor:




Here are those smexy big valve heads:





And here is a comparison betweem stock heads, and the 042's notice the difference in port sizes:



the chromoly shorter pushrods:


Stock VS chromoly:


And then of course the smexy 1.25 rockers, with HD bolt together shafts. notice the adjustment at the pushrod side, intead of the valve side (crazy backwards performance stuff ):



Here are some pics of the AC stuff on the car:

Under dash console. still have evaporator inside:


Condensor:



oh, and heres some pics of the hoover bit i finally found. found two, so i got them both, lol:



and here's something i thought was dumb. the rear saddle mount for the tranny, is a solid mount. no mounts at all. the metal bracket, bolts to the tranny, and then the frame horns??? but the really stupid part, was that they left the stock rubber front mount at the nosecone, and its halfway ripped off, lol:

Oh, and pay no mind to the dates on te pics. my camera is messed up. i wasn't holding out on the VW porn, so don't hate,

Is it just me, but aren't those rockers on backwards? I wouldn't suggest running them like that.

cavediver520 wrote:Is it just me, but aren't those rockers on backwards? I wouldn't suggest running them like that.

Its just you

cavediver520 wrote:Is it just me, but aren't those rockers on backwards? I wouldn't suggest running them like that.

I am with you... they are crazy backwards looking...

they are 1.25 ratio rockers with bolt together HD rocker shafts. notice the lack of clips, or wavy washers. instead of clips, there are two end caps, that bolt to the shaft.

Stock rockers:



Not stock rockers (these are an okarassa style for 36hp, but just look at the rocker arms themselves):



From what i understand the reason they change the adjustment to the pushrod side, instead of the valve side, is to have the larger "foot" on the end so they won't wear out the end of the valve, which is good especially in a high HP, and high Revving motors, and motors with higher spring pressures. also the pushrod adjustment screws, and nuts are chromoly as well.

on my particular heads, i have dual HD (heavy duty) valve springs, as well as a 120 cam. using stock rockers, and stock pushrods wouldn't have lasted at all, because of the higher lift cam and the much higher spring pressure, of dual springs. aluminum pushrods would have bent, and the stock rockers would haave most likely broken clips and those wavy washers. soo i am using chromoly puushrods, which won't bend, and are a LOT tougher, and the ratio rockers will also give me a little more HP. the toughest rocker arm/ shaft combo there is are roller rockers. they still have the adjustment on the pushrod side, and on the valve side, there is a roller, so there is absolutely no side load on the valve. the problem is, that roller rockers start at $400 a set . the most common i've seen are pauter. here's a pic:

Makes sense, but it still "looks" backwards

well? whats the word? is this beast up and running yet or what man?

not yet. between two jobs and other stuf, i've been a little behind. but i finally got the new 042 heads, rockers, and everything together, so now its officially a long block, lol. i'll post up some pics later. hopefully tomorrow, if all goes well, i'll atleast get the motor together, and maybe even back in the car , lol.

Alright, time for some VW porn:

Here's the long block:


Here's those crazy backwards really sexy rockers:


Painted tins (well its actually primer , but it'll be fine for BAP):



Pic of the old shitty high flow schadek pump. i replaced it with a brand new stock sized schadek pump:


Gittin some tins on:



Poor mans assembly lube :


and finnaly this is where i finished for the day (a few minutes ago):




Perfect fit (gotta love that german tin):


Bought some new 10mm tin screws (M6 1.0 thread pitch)


still shines up nice:


Well, it only looks good from the side of the motor you see, but thats all that matters, lol:


Got rid of that damn EMPI shroud:


WTF???


Not so nice now is it:



tommorow i hope to get everything finished, and hopefully in the car and take it for a test burnout........err, i mean test drive

German Tins, looks good. I think the chrome shroud looks like garbage, definetly not a good piece for a real motor

yeah that shroud is a piece of crap. By starring at that shroud and a german shroud, you can easily tell that the quality just isn't there. lots of little things missing.

but i'm fixing to go out, and try to get the motor 100% finished and in the car. wish me luck

very nice man. makes me want to hustle on Sophia but... priorities abound.