700 miles and counting

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Mon May 15, 2006 1:06 pm

Drove another 300 miles this weekend. This time with no problems except for a clogged fuel filter. Man I love this car!!! what a blast it is to drive. and the looks, waves, honks and thumbs-up's!! way cool. At 70 MHP the buggy sounds like an angry bee with the Sidewinder humming back there... This brings up a question though. is it possible to wind out the motor too much by going too fast? I know a stock beetle will plane out around 65 or so but with this light body on this car I wonder if I can push the motor too much. I can keep a steady 85MPH most of the time. Its just a stock 1500...Any thoughts? I think im getting around 30 MPG with the stock 1500. does that sound about right?

90volts · Post by **90volts** » Mon May 15, 2006 2:30 pm

you have a tach? there is a top end i guess. i will need to look at that too since i am putting a tach in now. glad to hear you're out and about Scott! much better than rolling it around in the driveway isn't it? i need to do my shifter also. i got an old hurst. where is a good place to get the new bushing. figured i would try that since i was changing the shifter.

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Mon May 15, 2006 4:56 pm

Sounds like you have an amazing 1500! With stock gearing and taller tires, I could only get my buggy with a 1600 Dual Port to go over 65 while going downhill. I would tach 4,000 RPM at about 80 MPH. I could not pull hills at all, and 22 MPG is the best I ever got (by keeping my foot out of it on nice, level ground). Cylinder Head Temp (CHT) usually kept me down to Earth, as it would climb up over 400 degrees on even the slightest hill. Oil pressure would follow suit, falling below the safe threshold and causing me to have to downshift (you want at least 10 PSI for every 1,000 RPM - less means the oil is too hot). I have since regeared the transmission (4.37 R&P, 1.00 fourth gear, P235/75R15 rear tires). I can now easily hit 70 MPH, even on a slight uphill, but I will tach almost 4,000 RPM at that point. I can cruise all day at 55-60, with the CHT staying below 400 most of the time. Oil pressure is always in the green. The engine tachs 3200 RPM at 60 MPH, and that's where it seems to be the happiest. Going faster burns more gas, not only because of the added RPMs, but also because you are trying to push more air with that flat windshield. I checked the mileage I got on my last desert trip. We picked up the pace a little on the way home and did 60-65 the whole time. I got 17.2 MPG on the 110 mile stretch of freeway. That's with the roof rack loaded with camping gear. So to answer your question, yes, it is possible to over-rev a VW engine, but HEAT is your worst enemy. You simply cannot drive an aircooled VW the same way you would a watercooled car. Higher RPM means more heat. Greater load on the engine means more heat. I drive my fully loaded buggy a hundred miles or more at a time across the desert when the air temperature is over 90 degrees (if the air temp is too high, we wait until evening before getting back on the highway). Failing to 'fly the gauges' will result in a roasted engine.

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Mon May 15, 2006 6:03 pm

[QUOTE="WuZaBuG"] Man I love this car!!! what a blast it is to drive. and the looks, waves, honks and thumbs-up's!! way cool. Thats buggies for ya Scott

Just wait until you take her off road :rock:

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue May 16, 2006 2:27 am

[QUOTE="90volts"]you have a tach? there is a top end i guess. i will need to look at that too since i am putting a tach in now. glad to hear you're out and about Scott! much better than rolling it around in the driveway isn't it? i need to do my shifter also. i got an old hurst. where is a good place to get the new bushing. figured i would try that since i was changing the shifter.[/QUOTE] Mike, I got mine at Imparts, a local foreign car parts dealer. I'm sure you can get then mist anywhere. Try Savich's (ROFL)

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue May 16, 2006 2:37 am

[QUOTE="Lee"]Sounds like you have an amazing 1500! With stock gearing and taller tires, I could only get my buggy with a 1600 Dual Port to go over 65 while going downhill. I would tach 4,000 RPM at about 80 MPH. I could not pull hills at all, and 22 MPG is the best I ever got (by keeping my foot out of it on nice, level ground). Cylinder Head Temp (CHT) usually kept me down to Earth, as it would climb up over 400 degrees on even the slightest hill. Oil pressure would follow suit, falling below the safe threshold and causing me to have to downshift (you want at least 10 PSI for every 1,000 RPM - less means the oil is too hot). I have since regeared the transmission (4.37 R&P, 1.00 fourth gear, P235/75R15 rear tires). I can now easily hit 70 MPH, even on a slight uphill, but I will tach almost 4,000 RPM at that point. I can cruise all day at 55-60, with the CHT staying below 400 most of the time. Oil pressure is always in the green. The engine tachs 3200 RPM at 60 MPH, and that's where it seems to be the happiest. Going faster burns more gas, not only because of the added RPMs, but also because you are trying to push more air with that flat windshield. I checked the mileage I got on my last desert trip. We picked up the pace a little on the way home and did 60-65 the whole time. I got 17.2 MPG on the 110 mile stretch of freeway. That's with the roof rack loaded with camping gear. So to answer your question, yes, it is possible to over-rev a VW engine, but HEAT is your worst enemy. You simply cannot drive an aircooled VW the same way you would a watercooled car. Higher RPM means more heat. Greater load on the engine means more heat. I drive my fully loaded buggy a hundred miles or more at a time across the desert when the air temperature is over 90 degrees (if the air temp is too high, we wait until evening before getting back on the highway). Failing to 'fly the gauges' will result in a roasted engine.[/QUOTE] Lee, I dont have any guages. Just the idiot lights that a bug has. No tach. I guess I should get these before I roast the engine. Where would I get the CHT sending unit? Is an oil pressure guage really necessary? I figures the idiot light would come on if the pressure was dropping. I want to keep this buggy simple. not looking like a race car with lots of guages cause its not. I really do go 80 MPH. I got this engine out of a 67 Beetle. It was rebuilt with all german parts I'm told. Perhaps they did alittle something else to it. As far as MPG goes, 30 is a good guess. I have a stock tank with the filler in the original location. Twice I drove to New Jersey (100 miles.) Each time It only took 2.5 gal of gas to fill the tank back up. And its has only been this last run home I drove the car that hard. I doubt I got that kind of milage going 80...

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue May 16, 2006 2:38 am

[QUOTE="mel hubbard"][QUOTE=WuZaBuG] Man I love this car!!! what a blast it is to drive. and the looks, waves, honks and thumbs-up's!! way cool. Thats buggies for ya Scott

Just wait until you take her off road :rock:[/QUOTE] Mel. I took my buggy on the beach 2x so far. Its a ball.

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:25 am

I liked Lees info about oil pressure , rpms , etc. I was told years ago by an engine builder, not to use multi viscosity oil in an air cooled engine. Has anybody else heard the theory? I know that most air cooled aircraft engines run straight 50 weight oil. Or at least they did 20 years ago. They tend to run a constant rpm and have warm up procedures ,etc. Would straight 40 weight oild be too thick for a vw?

jsturtlebuggy · Post by **jsturtlebuggy** » Tue May 16, 2006 6:51 am

Great article in the Hot Rod magazine this month about the oil that is available now and what is happening to flat tappet cams and lifters. I use a 10w-30 wt oil in my engine. On the race cars we use 20w-50wt Valvoline racing oil. I am thinking about using the Chevron Delo 15w-40 since I use it in my diesel pickup. It has more zinc and Boron in it Which helps to keep the cam and lifters from wearing out prematurely.

shaihulud · Post by **shaihulud** » Tue May 16, 2006 8:49 am

Here in West Oz where it can get very hot in summer I ran 50 weight oil in summer and 30 weight in winter. As to how much to rev a Beetle engine. I'd say. Go easy. They are astonishing engines, but they do break. Mine was always happiest at about 60 mph as it just didn't seem to like to go faster and my wallet definitely didn't like me to go faster. The best economy I ever got was 50 mpg in South Oz while crossing the Nullarbor from east to west, with a strong cool tail wind all day. The worst was 20 mpg a couple of days later on the same road, in West Oz while battling into a stong hot headwind that eventually slowed me to second gear and stopped me when the squall, with horizontal muddy rain, hit and nearly blew me off the road.

90volts · Post by **90volts** » Tue May 16, 2006 11:23 am

i saw a good article on the theory. i'll see if i can find it and maybe scan it in. but the threory said that a multi oil, because of what it is made of to enable it to change visocity will break down at the temperature generated by an aircooled engine and in essence remain at the lower weight rating , or possibly even lower, at all times. but there are people on both sides of the debate. i am straight 40 and will stay that for now i guess since i do not have any problems. it was also mentioned that the multis would cause a leak in the vw because the low side was too low for the engine just sitting there? didn't make much sense but its out there.

90volts · Post by **90volts** » Tue May 16, 2006 1:41 pm

Scott, you can try these guys for the tach. Quick and easy. http://www.egauges.com/ I got a tach, oil PSI, oil temp, and a volts. the vision series with through lighting.still working on them.Staying with the original speedo. I got the senders through Jegs. Summit racing was out of stock. I'll try the local old vw place for those shift coupler/bushings.thanks.

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Tue May 16, 2006 1:57 pm

Does anyone know where to get a small cluster with temp, oil pressure and tach? something I can put in the opening some bozo cut in my dash for a radio? I get enough people trying to race me now without guages everywhere...

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Tue May 16, 2006 4:08 pm

"Where would I get the CHT sending unit?" It comes with the gauge if you get the VDO setup. You should be able to find it at any decent VW parts shop. I installed the sender under the #3 spark plug. There have been volumes written about temp gauges and where to put the sender. If you mount the sender on a head stud, the reading will be lower than the spark plug. If you mount it near an exhaust stack, it will be higher. I checked mine against one of those IR guns. I was amazed to see the variation in temperature throughout the head, and the spark plug sensor did seem to be close to what the IR gun said for that area. What you are looking for is a trend. See where the temp is normally, then watch it go up when you climb a hill. You will know when you have a problem when it goes beyond its normal range. As far as actual numbers go, under 400 degrees is good, 425 is getting too hot, 450 is death-it's-going-to-drop-a-seat-time. You also have to correct for the air temp. The thermocouple is calibrated for 70 degrees, which means the gauge will read a little high when it's colder than that, and it will read a little low when it's hotter. I have an onboard thermometer to help me figure it out. "Is an oil pressure guage really necessary? I figures the idiot light would come on if the pressure was dropping." It's not absolutely necessary, but I use it to help me determine the status of the engine on a long run. The first time I drove on the highway in the desert was last May. I had 30 weight oil in the engine, as the air temp wasn't supposed to exceed 90 degrees. It got up to 96 degrees, and I noticed that the oil pressure was dropping below the '10 PSI for every 1,000 RPM' rule. The oil pressure light (I have a dual sender) would flicker at idle, indicating pressure at idle was borderline 7 PSI. So if all you have is a light, you will know the oil's too hot if the light flickers at idle, but you won't be able to watch for the problem and correct for it ahead of time. "Twice I drove to New Jersey (100 miles.) Each time It only took 2.5 gal of gas to fill the tank back up." 100 / 2.5 = 40 MPG! That's even better than you thought! Maybe I need to put my engine on an analyzer to check the mixture!

"I was told years ago by an engine builder, not to use multi viscosity oil in an air cooled engine. Has anybody else heard the theory?" It's not just a theory, it's in the owner's manual. I have the manual that came with my '72 donor Bug, and it says to use straight 30 weight for temps from freezing up to 90 degrees, and to use 40 weight for temps from 60 degrees to 90 degrees plus. The only time it mentioned multi weight oil was for below freezing, and not many of us like to drive our buggies in that! Remember the loss of oil pressure I mentioned above with the 30 weight oil? I switched to 40 weight oil for the summer, and was able to do 3 more trips with no oil pressure problems at all.

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Tue May 16, 2006 8:17 pm

I use the same grade oil in my buggy as is recommended for my old 1955 grey Ferguson deisel tractor & neither of em complain

But then its not a BIG money VW motor.