Thread: bolt on go- fast for VW air cooled

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passanger side pan is very good, even under the battery, and the drivers side is the 1 that needs a little attention, mostly the front section, back to the seat riser, altho the seat sits straight.. I may buy a full driver pan just to make sure everything is 100%... I'm going to pull the seats tomorrow to see how bad it really is or isn't

How about this one...

1776 cc, dual Dellorto 40's, 110 cam, Pertronix elect. ign., ceramic header and J-tubes, Flowmaster, full flow oil syst., 3.5 L. sump, K&N filters, rebuilt trans, Kennedy clutch, Empi shifter, urethane mounts with trans strap, new starter, alternator and wiring, tinted glass, rare pop-out windows, all new brakes with braided flex lines,Autometer Sport-Comp gages, Pioneer CD, amp,speakers, Grant wheel, new grey interior, full air ride suspension with air management, air bags on all corners, 4" narrowed front beam with adjusters, CB 2" drop spindles. Paint is in urethane Concept 1, all steel body. Eagle Alloy wheels.
Engine cover is included but removed for picture. If you like bugs, this is the one for you.

While I respect John Palmer's expertise, and he and I are friends, I have to disagree with the "stock" part of what he said.
1600 dual port, fresh rebuild, with a counterweighted crank, and have everything balanced (flywheel, rods, pistons,, even the clutch disc and pressure plate).
Dual Solex 40 "Kadron" carbs, or, if you live in a cold climate and need chokes, Scat and CB sell smaller, 34mm carb setups that have the electric choke.
1.25 to 1 ratio rocker arms, on solid shafts.
a good exhaust, with a single or dual muffler system.
STAY AWAY from the small diameter crank pulleys aka "power pulleys') on the street.
If you are going to build the engine, then a tiny bit of headwork (slight port and polish, and unshroud the valves, a lot of suppliers carry heads just like this) will do wonders to wake the motor up.
A good ignition system, while desirable, isn't really, IMHO, necessary, just a stock mechanical advance distributor will be okay for what you are doing.
You can bore the case and heads for up to 94mm pistons and cylinders, and clearance the case for up to an 88mm stroker crank, which gives you a huge 2300cc displacement, but anything more than what I have outlined, with make reliability suffer,
again, IMHO.
Now, if you want a street-driven 11 second, non-racer looking Bug, John and his son Troy, are the "go to" guys...

Dave what have you been up to? LOL

This guy really does not want any of our "old guy" VW advice, he just wants to do his own thing which is just fine in my book.

He started out originally with a $500 to $1000 project budget and then went and spent $1500 for "a rusted" (strike1), "autostick" (strike2), "SuperBeetle" (strike3). He's got nothing left to build your wisely spec'd freeway flyer engine which would cost at least another $2K.

But maybe it's just me. I have grown up in Arizona and California and have been spoiled with easy access to nice clean, "rust free" cheap builders all of my life. With the car crusher programs, and the demand of scrap steel for China, none of us will have anything to build in the future.

I really didn't mean $500-1k for a Beetle.. I meant I would rather spend $2k or so on a Beetle, than $500- 1k for somthing like a Ford Escort as, the Beetle will maintain value if I take care of it.... I looked at a couple other Beetles b4 this 1. a '73 standard Beetle, which had the rusting rear pillars. it did start and run pretty good, but daylight could be seen from the sides of the engine tin so somthing was up, and it was leaking bad.. other negatives were, the drivers door sprung open with some force, trunk latch was hard to release and everything put togther, almost seemed like the car was twisted.. it was also missing the side peices that connect the fenders togther, brakes were out, and the guy wanted $700.. the other didn't run, and was pretty much a junkyard heap. but it was a '69...

when I saw the 1 I got in craigslist, I noticed it was a Super ( altho it was not listed as 1 ). with the 1303 body and padded dash.. but it was only 35 mins away and looked pretty good... when I saw it had the autostick I was a bit leery of it. but after taking a test drive, the AS worked like a charm.. the floor pan being rotted doesn't bother me. I did end up ordering a drivers side pan, and have the Bug Me video for floor pans coming on rental. parts of the Super Beetle do bother me, but I'v heard the good and the bad. I'll just have to deal with whatever comes up.. the main thing is the car is actually drivable as is.. I am looking for a 4spd transaxle locally, as a 'just in case' replacement..

for right now, I'd just like to enjoy a neat little car to go back and forth to work in, and get better than 17 MPG, which I get now... I think this '74 AS Super Beetle will do just that for the time being

Matt, sorry if I was hard on you. Nothing really wrong with a Super Beetle, in fact about 30 years ago Dean Lowery (of world famous Deano Dinosaur fame) built one of the fastest VW Pro Stockers of all time. In fact it was so quick they outlawed it! They have a little longer wheelbase, and with the curved windshield more aero allowing them to run faster! It would be my only choice for a bonneville attempt car.

My original advice to build a 1967 and earlier ACVW car is based totally on "potential return on investment". You can find any model, and any condition VW on The SAMBA.com, in fact that would be a good resource for any parts you might need in fixing you SB.

Pull the carpet back around the pedal assembly and look to see if you have a floorpan with the clutch tube installed? You might also check on top of the driver's side frame horn for the rear exit of the clutch tube. Many of the autostick cars had floorpans that already have the clutch cable tube installed which would make a future conversion much easier.

I'll dbl check but I think the tube is there... I will be getting all the parts lined up for the conversion, but will only convert when/ if it goes out, or I just feel like driving with 3 pedals..
the seats are pretty comfy too.. IDK if regular '74 SB seats have lower tilt and lumbar on the drivers seat, but my Wolfsburg does