Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi All

I have decided to start a project tread for my beetle,

It was Advertised as a 1975 model and on the Photos i received from the owner it looked good and solid, so i decided to drive all the way to Odendaalsrus in the freestate, to go and have a look. I was informed by the owner that the motor was noisy so the motor was pulled but not opened yet so i might need to get a new motor or rebuild the motor.

Got there, found the beetle it was standing in a workshop at ELS Motors. Was amazed at how solid it is, with very little surface rust here and there mostly on the edge where the bonnet rubber is, fenders are straight and and no Filler on the body at all, the owner has had the beetle for the last 15 years. its missing the bonnet trim strip the rest is all there.
the drivers sided door card needs to be replaced and the seat is torn from all the getting in and out of the last 15 years.

I was happy with the beetle and i decided to take it , gave the owner the R5000 , loaded the 1500 engine in the Car and towed the beetle back to Potchefstroom.

Started stripping the motor and was i happy to find a washer in the no 4 cylinder, left 1 small mark in the head away from the valves and a little mark on the Piston top, nothing else is damaged, decided since the motor is half way stripped i might as well rebuild the whole motor while its open and check the bearings , the Case is perfect the bearings does not need to be line bored but i am replacing the bearings while i am at it. Got the Big ends and engine gasket kit yesterday, mains i will get from Volkspares or buggy world in Pretoria on Wednesday, ordered new rings for the Mahale pistons should be here by 13:00 today.

was not sure about the beetles year so i checked the Paperwork and it states "Date of liability" 1968-01-01 so its a sold 1968 vw1500




Got a set of bumpers with the beetle, don't know if its the correct type for a 1968 will have to to some research on that .

Ok made some progress further.

Drove to pretoria to volkspares for the main bearings and rings, got the main bearings and drove to my brother in laws house to help me to get the timing gear off the crank with the torch.

Gear off, crank polished and ready for assebmly.

Hi Andy good luck with your project just one thing we / I cant see your photos

Nice Find .....looks solid !! All the best for the project ...whats your plans ...?

Thanx i will upload the photos with photobucket instead of using the tapatalk app.

Plans for this one is to be restored to original (or as close as i can get). My other beetle will be modified.
Only the rims will be widend on this one the motor will be stock body will be stock and the chassis will be lowered a little.

Hi Andy
since I am in Orkney quite close to you You are welcome to make a turn and talk shop
Armand

Hi Andy <br />since I am in Orkney quite close to you You are welcome to make a turn and talk shop<br />Armand

Hi Armand

Thanks i defenitly will take you up on that offer.

Regards @ndy

Ok so today i started to assemble my engine. I have all the spares and i am about 80% done with the engine assembly. Tomorrow i will finish the engine and start with the brakes.

Ok so i finished the engine, is the 1500 supposed to have an oil bath filter? See photos i am worried that it wont fit in the engine bay. But i purchased the beetle and motor and the filter came with the engine. My wife did the new door panels

Lekker progress you're making there, smaak the artwork on the wall there

Looking good Did you paint the motor parts yourself or did or did you get them powder coated?

Thanks Guys, art work is my kiddies must be on my wall and the motor tin is just sprayed with high heat black and silver.

I will be replacing the tin at a later stage so i did not want to spend bucks on powder coating the tin now.

Ok so the motor is now scrap, lasted 3000km and ran bearings. CASE was on 2mm od .50 id mains and .50 bigends. Will pull and strip the motor tomorrow, i suspect i had an oil pressure issue.

Jup checked this morning no oil pressure.

Anyone out there that makes an adapter plate for Beetle to Golf motor? and any advice on swoping to a golf motor, what motor and flywheel do you use a 2l 8v?

Impi (Armand) is there near you, take your motor to him and let him assist you to get it right with out much cost.

Will be cheaper then the conversion any day, and more satisfying, having a true aircooled rather then a hack job.

Gumtree is full of hack job

Herman

Thanks Herman I will contact Armand.