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- March 2007
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April 2007

At the end of March, we had the engine long block fully assembled. All that needed to be done was to drop the old 1300 engine out of the Bug, swap of some bits and pieces, stick it back in the car and bolt on some twin carbs. All sounds dead easy doesn't it!?

Well, we had about a week to sort it out... but only a couple of days in that could be actually spent on the bug due to me been in West Yorkshire, and the bug been in South Yorkshire! We had to have this done by the easter bank holiday weekend, or I wasn't going to get to race.

The old engine was swiftly dropped out, and all the ancileries were unbolted and cleaned up. What could be fastened onto the new engine was fastened on. But then, nightmare. The tin wear on the old engine, behind the pulley wheel was different to that on the new engine. There was no hole for the oil breather to fit through. I remembered that I had a different oil filler neck at home, so that job was left until last so the part could be collected and fit another day.

Time moved on so quickly. Why is it that when you've got a deadline, time doesn't hang around, but as soon as your waiting for something, the seconds seem like hours. Typical!

Anyway, at the end of the 1st afternoon/evening of refitting, the engine was pretty much built up with all its clean tin wear on, fuel pump on, clutch on, dizzy in and timing statically timed. It just needed the fan housing, the alternator stand and alternator fastening on once the correct filler neck could be sourced.

Day two of refitting saw the engine being completely built bar the carbs. This was then slotted back into the bug... I make it sound so simple... well the truth of it was, it was simple. By far the easiest engine refit I've done to date. I found the trick lies in getting the car body level, that way your not fighting with the engine on an angle to get the clutch to slip onto the gearbox input shaft.

once the engine was in place, the fixing in position of the carbs could commence. The carbs had previously been on a 1600 that I took off the road a few years back due to the dreaded tin worm, but alas, they had found a new ride to sit on. I thought that due to the carbs previously been professionally set up on a rolling road on my 1600, I'd leave them as they work, because theoretically, they should be ready for this new engine.

Refitting of the carbs, as always with the fiddly little spaces to get your hands in, was a right royal pain in the rear. A couple of hours later, and an aching back to prove it, the engine was in, and built. Completed. Yay! Time was getting on now though, and the neighbours didn't look too pleased when I walked down the drive with ear defenders in hand ready to fire the new engine over. We made a decision to wait till the next day to do that. Safer not to upset the neighbours ;-)

The next day came, the fuel lines were connected up, the battery was reconnected. We turned the engine over a few times without spark plugs in. We did this for two reasons. Firstly, the oil needed to be pumped round the engine and secondly, we needed to get fuel through the system and up to the carb float chambers. Once we were happy that things ticked over, the spark plugs were fitted, the HT leads were connected up, and with a blip on the throttle, the engine roared into life. I'd done it... I'd completed my first engine build and it worked. I was so chuffed.

We warmed the engine up, and had it run for 20 mins at 2000 rpm just to help run in the new bearings and the like. Then as we'd used a Bosch 009, the timing needed to be checked at 3000rpm to make sure that it hit the right advance. All was good.

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Once we were happy with the engine running at idle, we took it out for a short spin. Everything was good, apart from the clutch. It was slipping. A quick tinker with the cable released some tension, and the slipping stopped. We were over the moon.

The oil was changed, and the car was taken on it's maiden voyage, across Sheffield. It'd been so long since I had driven a bug. It felt really weird at first, but I soon got back into the swing of things. The bug made it, a few miles under its belt without any hiccups. The next day was it's first real test, we wanted it to take us to Matlock Baths which it did. Only this time out, I noticed that the accelerator was sticking slightly, so when we were in traffic, the engine wanted to rev its nuts off! After a bit of investigation, I found that the accelerator cable cover, the one that should be held in place by two 17mm bolts, was infact held in with 1 bolt, and a blob of silicone! Agghh! After a bit of pokeing around, and a liberal application of spray grease, things were a little better, but the Weber 34ict throttle return springs leave a little to be desired, so a new contraption was put together to aid the return of the throttle... in true Kooky style!

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It was now easter weekend. The weekend of Beetles Vs Minis at York Raceway. So, we loaded up the camper with tools, just in case, and headed off to York. Arriving on saturday night, we set up camp, and got in an early night ready for my first attempt at drag racing the following morning.

Sunday morning arrived, and bright and early, I took the beetle to scrutineering. Everything was checked over to makes sure that we were safe to race, and then I could sign on and be given my racing number... V29.

Results of my Sunday racing in the Beetles Vs Minis Shootout can be found here:
http://yorkdragway.intrica.co.uk/results.pl?date=2007-04-08;car=V29

As you can see, the times were certainly not spactacular, and were approx 2-3 seconds slower than I anticipated. Saying that, I still manage to win my round of the shootout, scoring a much needed point for the Beetles! Yay! After the racing had finished, I pulled the bug up in the pits, and while enjoying a nice cold beer, I investigated the engine to see why times were so slow. I checked over the timing, everything was spot on. I checked over the fueling, that seemed fine too. The carbs were evenly tuned. I was a bit confused. It wasn't until I ran a compression test, I found out what was causing the slow runs. On cylinders 3 and 4, the engine was running a very healthy 120psi, however, on 1 and 2, it was only managing 60psi.

I checked the torques on the headbolts. Everything seemed in order there. There were no visiable oil leaks around the pistons of the heads that could of indicated a warped head. The valve gaps were all spot on, so I decided that maybe the piston rings could be aligned so that all the gaps were in the same place, allowing the gases to flow by.

Never the less, I was a little naughty. The engine was bolted back together and the car was put to bed for the night ready to try racing again on the Monday in the Air Cooled Eliminators.

For the first weekend of racing, I was really happy with myself. I'd managed to get my reactions down to 0.7 seconds, and seemed to be running pretty consistant times. I qualified in 3rd, but lost in the semi-final against Darren in his 11 second bug. I've got some in car video of this run, and it shows just how close it was as he passes me while the finish line is so near! I'll have in next time ;-) Results from the Air Cooled Eliminators - Round 1 can be found here:
http://yorkdragway.intrica.co.uk/results.pl?date=2007-04-09;catagory=I

Thats in for April. The bug came home, and sat under wraps until time could be found to drop the engine and investigate the compression problem.