BY THE POWER OF GREY CAR, I HAVE THE POWER!!!!
No video this week - I've badly sprained my ankle so I'm not in the warehouse with good stuff to look at ....
The one thing I've not really talked about yet is power. Power and torque. The 2 things I've not yet talked about are Power, Torque and gearing. ARGHHHH, amongst the diverse elements relating to making Bub go better that I have yet to talk about are ... Power, Torque, and Gearing.
Beetles are very light, 820kg in full standard trim (Bub is closer to 700kg) and that means that the basic 40hp of the 1300cc engine makes them go well enough for 1970s traffic but we're not in the 70s and I'm wanting to both keep up with modern traffic and have fun in the twisties and in the dunes so an upgrade was always on the cards. The normal options are varied from twin carbs and of course bigger capacity engines, the fave being 1776cc giving 85 - 100hp depending on your budget BUT more power will simply get you to top speed faster, to increase top speed you need better gearing.
Of course, you can fit anything from big V8s to Subaru WRX engines but I want reliability and simplicity
Gearing
A 1973 1303 Beetle is geared for a top speed of about 65mph but here's a fun fact; all Beetles were guaranteed for Autobahn use. This means they could be run at full throttle, top speed for as long as you wanted without damaging the engine. To increase the top speed you need to n increase the final drive gearing and most people fit a 'freeway flyer' gearbox with +14% final gear. The other way is to fit big tyres and Bub's 235/75 tyres give ... wait for it ..... +13.8% and were the same price as the new standard tyres he needed so that's a Brucie Bonus.
Obviously this kills acceleration if you have a weedy 1300cc so we need more torque to turn the big tyres.
Torque
The VW engines are renowned for excellent low down torque and increasing capacity helps a little but most engine tuning increases power at the expense of torque. I could fit a HUGE long stroke engine to get bags of torque but that creates other problems including poverty so my answer is .... a supercharger!
Yes, you read that right, I will be giving Bub a blow job! Half the price of big cubes, more easily tuned and absolutely hilarious. Double power, double torque, double the fuel consumption and ten times the fun (light, rear wheel drive, cheap low grip tyres, crazy flipper fingers ready for rear wheel action).
In the meantime, while I save up for a new 1600cc engine core, I need some more oomph so I've bagged a lovely 1500cc engine (possibly the best standard engine of them all) with twin webers for a mere £550 (it was £700 including a brand mew alternator conversion worth £150 that I was needing anyway) which will be worth closer to £1,000 once I've built, run and fettled it and will be kept as a spare or sold once I've built the Monster.
Next week, Bub comes back to the Bub Cave (The Alldays is hibernating early this year) and will be fettled and road tested (no tax, no MOT) before the fun really begins.
My target for Bub being on the road is Rust 2 the Sahara 2019 leaving day
I have been itching to get stuck in for weeks .....
The one thing I've not really talked about yet is power. Power and torque. The 2 things I've not yet talked about are Power, Torque and gearing. ARGHHHH, amongst the diverse elements relating to making Bub go better that I have yet to talk about are ... Power, Torque, and Gearing.
Beetles are very light, 820kg in full standard trim (Bub is closer to 700kg) and that means that the basic 40hp of the 1300cc engine makes them go well enough for 1970s traffic but we're not in the 70s and I'm wanting to both keep up with modern traffic and have fun in the twisties and in the dunes so an upgrade was always on the cards. The normal options are varied from twin carbs and of course bigger capacity engines, the fave being 1776cc giving 85 - 100hp depending on your budget BUT more power will simply get you to top speed faster, to increase top speed you need better gearing.
Of course, you can fit anything from big V8s to Subaru WRX engines but I want reliability and simplicity
Gearing
A 1973 1303 Beetle is geared for a top speed of about 65mph but here's a fun fact; all Beetles were guaranteed for Autobahn use. This means they could be run at full throttle, top speed for as long as you wanted without damaging the engine. To increase the top speed you need to n increase the final drive gearing and most people fit a 'freeway flyer' gearbox with +14% final gear. The other way is to fit big tyres and Bub's 235/75 tyres give ... wait for it ..... +13.8% and were the same price as the new standard tyres he needed so that's a Brucie Bonus.
Obviously this kills acceleration if you have a weedy 1300cc so we need more torque to turn the big tyres.
Torque
The VW engines are renowned for excellent low down torque and increasing capacity helps a little but most engine tuning increases power at the expense of torque. I could fit a HUGE long stroke engine to get bags of torque but that creates other problems including poverty so my answer is .... a supercharger!
Yes, you read that right, I will be giving Bub a blow job! Half the price of big cubes, more easily tuned and absolutely hilarious. Double power, double torque, double the fuel consumption and ten times the fun (light, rear wheel drive, cheap low grip tyres, crazy flipper fingers ready for rear wheel action).
In the meantime, while I save up for a new 1600cc engine core, I need some more oomph so I've bagged a lovely 1500cc engine (possibly the best standard engine of them all) with twin webers for a mere £550 (it was £700 including a brand mew alternator conversion worth £150 that I was needing anyway) which will be worth closer to £1,000 once I've built, run and fettled it and will be kept as a spare or sold once I've built the Monster.
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| What's in the box? Twin 44 webers and proper linkages, that's what. Oh, and a new alternator |
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| It's a 1500cc Beetle engine, one of the best ...nice |
Next week, Bub comes back to the Bub Cave (The Alldays is hibernating early this year) and will be fettled and road tested (no tax, no MOT) before the fun really begins.
My target for Bub being on the road is Rust 2 the Sahara 2019 leaving day
I have been itching to get stuck in for weeks .....
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