Aircooled VW South Africa

Yeah, your car should run cooler on the open road than in town, anyway. Where are you leaving from?

5mm end-play is a sign of a worn out motor or the thrust on the block was not set correctly, was this engine rebuilt with new main bearings and was it line bored at that time? Give me a bit more history, and I could maybe more closely pinpoint the cause of the seizure.
I'm sure it was also leaking plenty of oil out thru rear main seal. 5mm end-play spells doom on any motor new or worn, you should have no noticeable movement on the crank if you push / pull on the pulley.
On the heater outlets, if you are still running the stock heater boxes make sure you connect up the flexible outlets from the shroud, the stock heater boxes are designed to generate heat for the heater, and with no air from the fan blowing over them the heat will just rise an heat up the cylinder heads, causing the motor to just run hotter, if you are running no stock heater boxes "J-pipes", you can plug things up, but it is not that simple. Plugging the outlets on the shroud will cause a disruption of air flow inside the shroud, therefore airflow over the cylinders / oil cooler will not be efficient, what I do is to plug the 2 uppermost air inlets for the outlets inside the shroud with 2 rectangular plates riveted into place, if you are just going to pug the outlets as the exit the shroud then some air should still be able to exit the plugs, a hole of about 20mm will imitate the flow characteristics of flow thru the heater boxes.

I`m leaving from Klerksdorp going to Potch for the meet.

Contact IMPI then, they are leaving in a convoy from Orkney and Klerksdorp with a few VWs. It beats driving alone! I'll PM you his phone number, give him a call tonight..

Thanx for the number Pine. Will give him a call tonight.

The end play on the crank was on the old motor. Bought it like that!!! Wasn`t leaking oil from the main seal at all, just from the battered pushrod tubes which i replaced before the last journey. Are those pipes on the fan shroud where the flex hoses attach to?

As said, 5mm is a bad thing, the motor had obviously done big millage or badly built, which leads to the wearing out of the thrust face on the bearing and in severe cases on the block or even both, which in turn causes oil flow disruption to that main bearing as the crank movement becomes too much to retain sufficient oil pressure as things start to ware things down which is normal but with more end-play there is more movement and greater ware, oil pressure starts to drop and the rear main is the bearing which takes the most load and goes first sometimes taking the dowel pin out and grinding it into the block and trashing the case.

Yup, thats what happened. So you reckon it had nothing to do with the cooling? Tell what holes i can close up to help with the cooling?

plug all the holes in the tin and the fan housing. I wouldnt worry about the holes in the exhaust.

Another thing that a lot of guys do, esoecially the yanks, is leave the bootlid unlached. This pulls the air out of the engine bay slightly, helping fresh air enter the top. Not a great solution, but for the speeds you will do, it is ok, high speeds and high hp, this will cause your engine to kill itself not just overheat. Stay below 100km/h with this setup.
This is advice only, based on others and my experience, its up to you what you do, dont forget that.

reading calooks reply, it makes good sense and thats with more experience than me, I`ll admit that. Makes good sense about the exhaust....

How many holes are there to be plugged? I`ve got to do all this tonight as we leave tomorrow!

Heat also played it's part if the cooling system was not functioning 100% everything needs to be 100% to have a motor run as it should but I think it was down more to a worn out motor. Remember oil in an air-cooled motor does both a lubricating as well as a cooling job, therefore doing double work, and the sump is small 2,5L many factors can lead to engine failure, an air-cooled motor's greatest enemy is heat, the cooler it runs the longer it last, maintenance is an important factor overlooked on occasion and just plays another part in the puzzle.
If you are still running heater boxes connect up the shroud outlets with the flexible pipe to the stock heater boxes, if not check the previous post, and close up the holes on the rear breast plate, some have 2 but most have 3 openings the early pre 62 breast plate has no large openings.

Mine has four on the breast plate! Should i plug the fan outlets or are they ok?

Hiya All... Gordz here... New here.

Looking for a fleetline bus (splitty), so if anyone hears of any give me a shout (gordon@fusion5.co.za)

background:

First car was a super fast 73 beetle. went like the clappers, and end me up in hospital. since then i have always wanted a fleetline bus. 10 years on, and my wife has given me the go-ahead to do one up.

Great Forum. keep it up !

Best blanking -off lids for the heater air feed outlets on the fan housings are PURITY BABY FOOD BOTTLE TOPS ---- any flavour you like!! (but mushy peas and pumpkin seem to be the best ) - - push them on hard with some silicone and they shold never pop off !