Aircooled VW South Africa

I have a Beetle 1600 engine which I want to put in a '66 Beetle body, but I want to remove the heads, pistons and barrels and replace it with 1300 heads, pistons and barrels. The reason is that I have a set of rebuilt 1300 single port heads and I believe 1300 is correct for the year.

Can the above be done as I assume?

73type2 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:01 pm I have a Beetle 1600 engine which I want to put in a '66 Beetle body, but I want to remove the heads, pistons and barrels and replace it with 1300 heads, pistons and barrels. The reason is that I have a set of rebuilt 1300 single port heads and I believe 1300 is correct for the year.

Can the above be done as I assume?

Hi

So it depends when your '66 was made. Here is a link: suggest you check the chassis number against this lot and see whether yours was an early (before Aug) or late (Aug+) '66: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/in ... dating.php I always use this to check T1's I'm interested in as it is pretty darn accurate despite the South African flavour of our locally built cars.

If it was an early '66, then 1300 single port is your top cc option. This was a cross-over year and from '67 you got the option of 1300 or 1500 (including here in SA). In essence you are correct if you want to go 1300.

From an engine point of view, the cranks are identical. The cylinders (and therefore pistons and heads) were all difference. There is a reference article here : http://www.vw-resource.com/engine_inter ... ility.html if you want to do some reading (vw-resource.com is pretty accurate until 1971 when the UK and South African designs - especially suspension and drivetrain - parted ways).

So my advice is:
- Get yourself a set of GOOD quality 1300 pistons, rings and cylinders
- If you have the skill to rebuild it PROPERLY then go for it...if not get a REPUTABLE rebuilder to help you as line boring the crank, grinding the crank and getting quality bearings, assembling, etc...is not for sissies

Make sure you put the right distributor onto there; you can probably get away with a modern electronic dizzie with a single vacuum advance as long as it is specifically for a classic Beetle. Lastly, make sure you fit the correct 30 PICT-1 or -2 carb and you're all set to go. Don't use the 1600 carb on your 1300!

Hope that helps...
Evan

PS: If your engine number is a 1600 single port engine number, be aware of what that may mean if you sell your car or engine later...

Thanks Evan. I rebuilt the 1600 engine some time ago, so it was running well in my '63 Beetle. I' m putting the '63's original 1200 engine back after rebuilding, which will free up the 1600. I checked this morning and it is an AD motor, which makes it a 1600 twin port. I guess to do justice to the '66 I need to find an F or AB block in order to build a proper numbers correct 1300 engine.

Châssis number is 116 7xx xxx, which makes it March 1966, so the engine should be a 1300 with numbers F0 xxx xxx. I'll look for an F engine, but in the meantime the 1600 will go in so that the car is drivable.

73type2 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:15 pm Thanks Evan. I rebuilt the 1600 engine some time ago, so it was running well in my '63 Beetle. I' m putting the '63's original 1200 engine back after rebuilding, which will free up the 1600. I checked this morning and it is an AD motor, which makes it a 1600 twin port. I guess to do justice to the '66 I need to find an F or AB block in order to build a proper numbers correct 1300 engine.

Yeah AD means it's a 1600 TP...since it is March '66, a 1300 single port would be good

73type2 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:24 pm Châssis number is 116 7xx xxx, which makes it March 1966, so the engine should be a 1300 with numbers F0 xxx xxx. I'll look for an F engine, but in the meantime the 1600 will go in so that the car is drivable.

Not sure how easy that is going to be, but if you can even find a completely scrapped "F" block you can reuse the engine number on your 1600 block as long as you have someone who has a set of the original VW block stamps. If this is your route, make sure you get the engine number checked at the licensing department to make sure it is not stolen.