Engine
Only 1200CC's!!
There are many different types of VW engines. I have learned a little about each and a lot about this one. Its a special engine in that there are not a lot of them around. Most have been replaced by 1600CC or larger versions of later motors. This motor has a week camshaft and only about 40HP. They upped the engine size and HP in later models.
This engine is mine though, I am stuck with it so go for it right? Well. Except that I know NOTHING about VW engines. My buddies Jeremey and Ken did most of the work during the 2016 getting this old engine running. I did very little wrenching early on. That changed...
After replacing the gas tank I took the Bugatti for a drive. I went to the gas station then took it to Kens house to verify it would travel well. It did... until I was on my way home. On the way home it overheated a few times, turns out the gauge was not working correctly and reporting a higher temp. Still, i stopped and waited for it to cool down. Took me about 2 hours to travel 20 miles. I was 5 miles from home when things got bad. I was moving along, came to a stop sign, pushed in the clutch and felt a break or snapping sensation. The clutch still had spring but it was not working at all. I limped to a target parking lot and stopped.
I opened up the back and looked at the clutch cable, I saw it appeared to be about to snap. I called AAA, spent 3 hours waiting, ended up calling my wife to bring my truck and towed it home. When I got home I tested the clutch, while the cable was about to snap, it had not. This was not the problem I had on the road, the clutch arm would pull back but the clutch would not release.
I spent some time on the world pipe looking up the possible issues. EVERYTHING pointed to a throw-out bearing. My first question is what is a throw-out bearing... Sounded very complicated, in addition it sounded like it was going to be hard to get to, I had NO IDEA what was in store.
Design Flaw
In 1965 they held the throw-out bearing with a very small clip. In the picture on the left you can see the bearing hanging on the shaft. On the left side you can see the clip is in place holding that side to the arm, on the right the clip has fallen off and is sitting at the bottom of the hosing. It was thrown through the gears a few times and flattened and basically destroyed. It looks like it may have been this way for a while but it finally slipped out of position and failed completely.
No problem right? Just a small metal clip, they sell them on RockAuto for $0.58 cents. Have them to you in a few days. Done!
Nope... Turns out you have to pull the engine to GET to this point. Pulling an engine from a VW is a LOT easer than most cars, but you still have to pull the engine. I am a computer guy, not a mechanic. Thank you internet... Youtube, Samba, everywhere there was information about how to do this. Also how to do this ALONE which I was. I hunkered down, got my jack and went to work I was SUPRISED how easy it was. Within 20 minutes I had the engine out and sitting 4 feet from the car. I was so impressed with myself I decided to keep going. I started taking parts off the engine, spent many hours cleaning and painting components. I had 3 days o wait for my 50 cent clip, I had to occupy the time.
It went well, nothing broke, everything came back together and I was able to put the engine back into the car in about the same amount of time it took to take it out. While I was there I took the time to change a few wires and move a few things around.
OVERHEATING!
While I had it out I wanted to try and solve the overheating problem. The issue was airflow to the heads. The system had a very bulky oil cooler in front of the intake, it was put there to pull air through it before it hit the engine to keep the oil that was passing through it. Not a "doghouse" setup but something different to just make it work The problem here was that cold air would enter the cooling radiator, then exit, when it exited the cold air was now warmer after passing through the hot oil cooler. This warm air was then pulled INTO the engine and used to cool the heads. You can see the air intake is almost completely blocked by this bulky cooler. Since I already have a large oil cooler and fan installed this was unneeded. It was actually making the engine overheat.
I tested all my connections, verified all my seals, crossed my T's an dotted the i's. Started up the engine, engaged the clutch and took it for a drive. Worked perfectly. I now know that if I have this same problem again it means I have to tear out the engine and detail it.
