What We're Making

[doneat54]

Finally got the original engine for my 1957 VW Beetle back together. I finished restoring the car 21 years ago this month. It has been running with a '59 engine until now. This the engine it left the factory with. Hope have it running in the car in a week or so.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Finally got the original engine for my 1957 VW Beetle back together. I finished restoring the car 21 years ago this month. It has been running with a '59 engine until now. This the engine it left the factory with. Hope have it running in the car in a week or so.

Wow, that is awesome. Well done.

My first serious repair job was a "rebuild" (to use the term loosely) of a '62 VW engine that spun some crank bearings, I think. This would be about 40 years ago. I bought another VW from a junkyard, and mixed and matched parts between the two of them, cavalierly swapping jugs and pistons and reusing rings, etc. Damned if it didn't run!

Nothing like yours, of course!

 

[Palmtree]

I remember working my my 68' VW bug. Four bolts and you can remove the entire engine. All work done with helpful instruction from "How to keep your Volkswagen alive"

 

[aja8888]

Finally got the original engine for my 1957 VW Beetle back together. I finished restoring the car 21 years ago this month. It has been running with a '59 engine until now. This the engine it left the factory with. Hope have it running in the car in a week or so.

Nice job! Looks like it has the OE distributor, fuel pump and carb!

Plus those heat exchangers look new (aftermarket?).

 

[doneat54]

Nice job! Looks like it has the OE distributor, fuel pump and carb!

Plus those heat exchangers look new (aftermarket?).

Yes, the carb, fuel pump and distributor have all been rebuilt and are period correct. Distributors are date coded month and year. Carb and fuel pump are serialized.

Heat exchangers are original. Media blasted and painted with a satin black epoxy enamel. The J pipes in them are new. Interestingly, maybe 13+ years or so ago, those pipes for this vintage engine were not available anywhere, so I had a CAD drawing done of them, fished for quotes, and found a bending shop in OH (I think) that could make them, about 100 at a time. I sold them into the hobby for many, many years, made a decent profit, but then another big supplier started having them made and I decided I had better things to do. But I had exactly 3 of my J pipe left in my stash in the basement and used 2 of them on this engine. They are welded in, and I have the exhaust flanges laser cut by another shop.


Yes, 4 bolts, and a few cable and fuel line disconnects, and the engine comes out. Takes me about 15 minutes to get it out. Engine weighs about 200 lbs. In the pics I posted it is on a homemade wooden enigne stand that I made. Allows you to rotate the engine 360 degrees if you want to get at various sides.

 

[KB]

Made my sister a "Chippendale" planter as a house warming present. Not my greatest work but I was sooo glad to see the back of this thing. 4 coats of Varathane by hand wore out my patience.

That's a beautiful planter.

 

[aja8888]

Yes, the carb, fuel pump and distributor have all been rebuilt and are period correct. Distributors are date coded month and year. Carb and fuel pump are serialized.

Heat exchangers are original. Media blasted and painted with a satin black epoxy enamel. The J pipes in them are new. Interestingly, maybe 13+ years or so ago, those pipes for this vintage engine were not available anywhere, so I had a CAD drawing done of them, fished for quotes, and found a bending shop in OH (I think) that could make them, about 100 at a time. I sold them into the hobby for many, many years, made a decent profit, but then another big supplier started having them made and I decided I had better things to do. But I had exactly 3 of my J pipe left in my stash in the basement and used 2 of them on this engine. They are welded in, and I have the exhaust flanges laser cut by another shop.

Yes, 4 bolts, and a few cable and fuel line disconnects, and the engine comes out. Takes me about 15 minutes to get it out. Engine weighs about 200 lbs. In the pics I posted it is on a homemade wooden enigne stand that I made. Allows you to rotate the engine 360 degrees if you want to get at various sides.

Nice job! I finished my restoration of a 71 Super Beetle two years ago. As you know, it's very hard to find OE parts for any period Beetle these days.

 

[street]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing your talents.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Yes, the carb, fuel pump and distributor have all been rebuilt and are period correct. Distributors are date coded month and year. Carb and fuel pump are serialized.

Heat exchangers are original. Media blasted and painted with a satin black epoxy enamel. The J pipes in them are new. Interestingly, maybe 13+ years or so ago, those pipes for this vintage engine were not available anywhere, so I had a CAD drawing done of them, fished for quotes, and found a bending shop in OH (I think) that could make them, about 100 at a time. I sold them into the hobby for many, many years, made a decent profit, but then another big supplier started having them made and I decided I had better things to do. But I had exactly 3 of my J pipe left in my stash in the basement and used 2 of them on this engine. They are welded in, and I have the exhaust flanges laser cut by another shop.

Wow. That is impressive!

Yes, 4 bolts, and a few cable and fuel line disconnects, and the engine comes out. Takes me about 15 minutes to get it out. Engine weighs about 200 lbs. In the pics I posted it is on a homemade wooden enigne stand that I made. Allows you to rotate the engine 360 degrees if you want to get at various sides.

I really wish you wouldn't refer to it this way! It makes what, to my 16-year-old-self, felt like a major life achievement seem like a quotidian task!

 

[eytonxav]

Finally got the original engine for my 1957 VW Beetle back together. I finished restoring the car 21 years ago this month. It has been running with a '59 engine until now. This the engine it left the factory with. Hope have it running in the car in a week or so.

Beautiful!!!! Did you have one of the old shop manuals for reference?

 

[Ronstar]

I would have a lot of leftover parts if I attempted to put together a car engine. Nice Job doneat54!

 

[NateW]

Very nice work doneat54. Great attention to detail. Does your '57 still have it's split case transaxle (non-synchronized 1st gear?). Are you keeping the 6 volt electrics or converting to 12 volts?

I had several VW Bugs and two Type 3 Square backs (both 1968s with factory electronic fuel injection, Bosch D-Jetronic) in my teens and 20s. Brings back fond memories. Around 1980 I completed the mechanical restoration of a 1956 Beetle with factory sunroof, all stock, but had to sell it for a
big loss because I needed the money. What really hurt was I worked at the local VW dealer in the parts department and bought most of the genuine VW parts (at dealer cost) needed to complete the restoration. They went with the car when I sold it.

 

[doneat54]

Nope staying 6 volts. I'm a hardcore "original" enthusiast. Here's a couple pics of the car. Yes, the paint color is original also.

 

[Badger]

I had a few VWs ( 2 buses, a Westfalia, a Beetle, and a coupe and convertible Karman Ghia) but never had to work on them much other than general maintenance and a few minor things like replacing brakes and master cylinders, clutch cables, etc. Sure miss them all.
I had manuals and the famous "VW for the Complete Idiot".
At one point I even bought the complete VHS 5 tape series of "Bug Me Videos" that shows how to do everything from tune ups to complete overhaul. I still have them. Only watched a few minutes of 2 with the rest still in shrink wrap. Probably need to get rid of them one day.


Cheers!

 

[Ronstar]

Nope staying 6 volts. I'm a hardcore "original" enthusiast. Here's a couple pics of the car. Yes, the paint color is original also.

Very nice - Cool old school look!

 

[pacergal]

wow, looks fantastic.

 

[NateW]

...Yes, 4 bolts, and a few cable and fuel line disconnects, and the engine comes out. Takes me about 15 minutes to get it out. Engine weighs about 200 lbs. In the pics I posted it is on a homemade wooden enigne stand that I made. Allows you to rotate the engine 360 degrees if you want to get at various sides.

Yes, you can get Bug engines out in little time. This made me think of when I was about 22 and removed the engine out of the '56 Bug I was restoring. It was sitting in a barn when I bought it, not run for years. I towed it home, got it running, but the clutch would not disengage (gears clashed when attempting to put in gear).

I wanted to see how fast I could pull the engine. I had all my tools laid out and went at it. It took me many hours! The engine refused to separate from the transaxle. Honest to God I ended up using two steel wood splitting wedges placed at the engine-transaxle interface and a sledge hammer and drove the two apart. The clutch disc was seized against the flywheel and pressure plate and the transaxle input shaft splines were seized into the clutch disc splines. The clutch disc was the weakest link and split in a circular manner just inbound of the asbestos friction lining! The transaxle was not damaged from this violent separation!

 

[NateW]

Nope staying 6 volts. I'm a hardcore "original" enthusiast. Here's a couple pics of the car. Yes, the paint color is original also.

Wow, just gorgeous! Wonderful work. I admire quality work, very well done.

My views too. Keep them 100% stock. I don't like Beetles with incorrect year parts installed, or chopped, or lowered.

There are not many vintage Beetles left due to their propensity to rust and being customized. Did you have to do a lot of welding? That is something I would like to learn to do.

It is amazing the prices vintage Beetle quality restorations bring, $40 to $50 k now. Who would have ever invisioned this?

 

[Koogie]

Since no good deed goes unpunished, once DW saw the planter I made my sister upthread she wanted planters for her beloved fall mums too (we got married in the fall and mums were the flowers).

I did not have the patience to make another one so instead I quickly banged together 4 little ones out of scrap wood and bead board. Painted bright colors they seem more impressive than they are.

"Quantity and paint make me the carpenter I ain't". Ha

 

[pacergal]

Nice.
Love the colors. They will go well with mums.

 

[aja8888]

Nice car and work, doneat54!

I've probably had a dozen early VW's through the years including a 1973 Bus. My earliest one was a 1957 Beetle.

This was my last one to restore, a nothing special 1971 Super Beetle with the flat windshield. I had just finished replacing the brake system (master cylinder, wheel cylinders, shoes, etc) when we took this photo. Right after that I went through the engine and interior replacement.

 

[zedd]

Some dabble in oils. I dabble in concrete

Formed up and then poured a board-formed concrete retaining wall last week. Today stripped the forms and cut off the form ties. The forming was definitely old-school, rough-sawn lumber, plywood and 2x4 wallers but also used a new type of threaded fiberglass form-tie that won't rust and virtually disappears.

 

[street]

That looks great!

 

[zedd]

Thanks! What was especially satisfying was to have worked on it with my teenage grandson.

 

[street]

Zedd that would be even more rewarding doing a project with a grandson. You are very fortunate to have that opportunity.