Pumba the RallyX Bug (1970 Beetle)

I bought a $1000 beat down Beetle on Monday afternoon to take racing. Anything and everything I can enter it in really...and a RallyX this weekend to kick it all off! So the scramble is on.

Bought it looking like this.

Runs and drives! First gear isn't engaging

Since then I have tuned up what I can. So...new spark plugs, rotor, cap, wires, and points. The PO was quite the hack, so the drain plug isn't coming off and the valve covers are on with RTV.

I wasnt sure if couldnt engage 1st, or if it was shot, so I replaced the shifter bushing and the coupler...still no first. 2nd works great and is functional for starting. So second gear launches it is! (original coupler pictured below, and yeah...it was chaulked)

After a test drive the good news is that it can lock up some of the brakes on asphalt, it shifts gears, and didnt make the neighbors too angry! However, one of the drums seems to be sticking and the tires are crap.

Next steps is to adjust those drums, swap on the good tires from my Squareback project (just for the weekend), and handle this cracked windshield shown below.

I got kinda sad when I realized, in my just woke up state, that the front was on a dolly and that those yellow things weren't some sort of crazy long travel suspension parts.

I think that i am going to like this.

there will always be a place in my heart to an air-cooled VW

love it, baja-style beetles are hard to beat in the fun department

I want a Baja bug so much. They always make great threads.

You should look around for information about what Doug Liebman did with his beetle. IIRC it's pretty competitive.

As promised, borrowed rubber installed!

I believe the kids call it "Hella Flush YO!".

I also adjusted the drums while I was down there. I suspect the PO was an expert with a spray gun and a overall methodical person.

New windshield in! Only took four hours to figure out we were using the wrong groove in the gasket...

Finishing touches for today are to add the battery tie down and remove the front bumper because of tire interference problems. Then the hardest part of this project...collecting my tools back in the toolbox.

its been a while, but I thought this compression test was too terrible not to share.

It looks like I need a new engine...or a heavy overhaul...

My neighbor used to rebuild these motors in 4 hrs from roll in to drive out. This is totally grm doable.

Number 3 exhaust valve burns out before anything else because of the location of the stock oil cooler. Might just need head work.

Thanks for the encouraging words! I am looking around for options, will probably yank the engine out tomorrow. Going to begin the autopsy from there. This will look great next to the 914 engine on the bench at the moment...

GladlyTheCrossEyedBear wrote: Number 3 exhaust valve burns out before anything else because of the location of the stock oil cooler. Might just need head work.

From what I've read I'm not sure it's the cooler location so much as people throwing most of the cooling system in the trash (most notably the flaps) because they think they're smarter than decades of R&D. There is no piece of the factory setup that you will be better off without.

patgizz wrote: I got kinda sad when I realized, in my just woke up state, that the front was on a dolly and that those yellow things weren't some sort of crazy long travel suspension parts.

+1

I missed this thread the first time. Following now!

I'm with tdrrally- I'll always have a soft spot for air cooled vws.

So my thoughts at this point are two options. 1) to gut the motor and piece it back together with whatever I can save and whatever go fast parts are available on the cheap 2) swap the engine! (Rotary swap anybody!?!) The problem there is mounting a radiator with no body work at all in the rear... So if anyone has advice for what parts to bolt in where or knows a guy to weld up a radiator frame it's appreciated.

My friend has a rotary adapter plate and carb setup he has no use for. The engine was scrap.

You're the guy to weld up a radiator frame. Never too late to learn!

In reply to keithj:

Sent you a PM. My neighbors seemed to be sleeping a little too well anyway...

You need a $500 2.2l Craigslist Subaru donor. Is there enough body forward of the front beam to shove a radiator up there? Never looked under the frunk of a Baja.

Someone call the Australians, they're good at this.

In reply to ValuePack:

Why bother putting it up front? I was just going to get a tube frame off the firewall back to behind the engine and slap a radiator up. This way I dont have to route coolant through the rocker panels I dont have. Its not like body work is going to get in the way at the back...

Could you mount the radiator where the backseat is now and duct air to it through the side windows and out the back? You might need some electric fans to help and some kind of new rear firewall/window to keep,the heat and errant coolant from your flesh, but it could be, um, cool...

Adapter plate in the mail and I am going to pick up a ran when pulled engine on Sunday...rotary swap is happening. Trust me, this is totally a good plan...

Hello Hippie,

I'm the dude you got the adaptor from. I hope it was all to your liking. I know it was all pretty dirty but it's all functional.

I sent you some ignition control modules and the corresponding pigtails. These can be used to make a basic ignition system. A lot of guys use those specific modules to do just that. I had the radiator in the back seat but I'm moving it up front by running very thick walled aluminum under the car. This serves two purposes: the aluminum helps to dissipate heat and the thick walls keep it from kinking of crushing in the event of a mountainous speed bump or a raccoon. While small in displacement you'll find that rotary engines produce a fair amount of heat so the radiator will be bigger than you'd think for such a small engine.

Heads up on the motor you're getting: even though it ran when pulled off if it's been sitting for any amount of time there's a chance the apex seals have stuck to the mating surface. What I'd do is get Amsoil power foam and spay it through the plug holes. It will expand to fill the chambers and get rid of some old gunk. Use a breaker bar to gently turn the engine. If it's moving freely then use something like mystery oil to coat the walls so that it stays lubricated while you get it back together.

Take the time to clean the oil metering pump. (Assuming you have one on the engine) if you are not aware, rotary engines need liberal lubrication and this is achieved via a metering pump or premixing your fuel like a two stroke.

As mentioned, I still have the carb setup if you decide to go that route.

Thanks, Tyler

I have done this. It's not that hard. Let me know if you have any questions along the way.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ivCWc0eiNOs

https://www.youtube.com/embed/28ruFDFV9b8