The WheeeDub

[lddavis91]

So I figured I'd throw in a project thread here for this car since I'm actually doing stuff to it now. After "the incident" in January, the WheeeDub became a shelf in the garage for 10 months as I saved my pennies for a new engine and got to enjoy my crusty old Corvette some more. I finally saved up enough pennies (it was A LOT of pennies) to get the engine that I wanted from Scat in California in September. After much debate I decided I should keep it SCCA legal so I built it to the letter of the rulebook for SCCA CM rules which are surprisingly restrictive for a "mod" car. But alas, the end result is a 1915cc motor with "high" (for an air-cooled VW) compression, all forged internals, ported and polished heads, fully built valvetrain, beefy cam, and lightweight flywheel. The old engine was a 1600cc that was "built" as well that made roughly 95 crank hp, the guys at Scat tell me this engine should be good for 125+ crank hp. It certainly wasn't slow with 95 hp as it only tips the scales at 835 lbs, add my fat ass and its 1000 and change (not gonna say exactly how much change, its a lot of change), if I'm actually making 125 hp, that should be a pretty entertaining power/weight ratio. Ordered the engine in early September and they shipped it to me in early November but life and work got in the way of me doing anything to it until a week or so ago.

Santa (me) delivered my Christmas present to me early this year..

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[lddavis91]

And now unboxed..

[lddavis91]

BTW Loren, the 512K image maximum size is annoying and kind of ridiculous. Its 2015 now,

1. Storage is cheap.
2. Peoples phones have 12 megapixel cameras now
3. People mostly all have broadband internet connections
4. People mostly have large screens and 800x600 hasn't been "high resolution" in a very long time.
5. Storage is cheap.

[lddavis91]

Step two, break the car in half..

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[lddavis91]

Out with the old..

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In with the new..

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[lddavis91]

Also got a brand new fuel cell bladder as the old one was well past its prime. An astonishingly expensive "bag"..

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She's also getting all new braided stainless fuel lines.

[BrilloHeadBen]

It took me a moment to figure out why a bottle of Ortho was photobombing you

How much does that new engine weigh? It looks like you could almost move it around by hand if you had to.

[lddavis91]

It took me a moment to figure out why a bottle of Ortho was photobombing you

How much does that new engine weigh? It looks like you could almost move it around by hand if you had to.

The Ortho bottle valve cover breather is Scott Wheeler's handiwork. Being an magnesium block, the undressed engine is super light, I'd guess right around 100 lbs, pretty easy for two people to handle.

[twistedwankel]

Looks a lot like Tim's motor sans the distributor and plastic?

Go Les. Thanks for sharing.

Doug

[Tim_M]

You literally broke your car!

What is the rpm limits? I recall driving an stock 75 bug...it moved along pretty good with 40 HP...125 would be a riot.

Doug: Concur...the similarities are flat four boxer motor fun:

[lddavis91]

You literally broke your car!

What is the rpm limits? I recall driving an stock 75 bug...it moved along pretty good with 40 HP...125 would be a riot.

Doug: Concur...the similarities are flat four boxer motor fun:

The guy at Scat told me that the engine itself as built would be good to 9000 rpm, however my cam choice will limit reasonable power production to 7000-7500 rpm. They had more aggressive "race" cams that would have made more power, but he told me that those cams make for really dead powerbands below 4000 rpm and since I'm limited to the VW 4 speed that doesn't exactly "shift like butter" I figured it was best to stick with the most aggressive street cam that makes power from 2000-6000 rpm. I believe in torque, you could say it is my religion. If later on I decide I want to try a more aggressive race cam its a fairly cheap/easy swap.

These engines are similar in that they are both boxer 4s, but your has several decades more development on me. Even fully "hot rodded" this 1.9L is only making 125 hp, that is only 65hp/liter, not exactly stellar. Subaru's boxer four in 2015 is making 74hp/liter normally aspirated, bone stock as from the factory with a 100K warranty and my motorcycle is making 145hp/liter bone stock. I feel dirty talking about specific output, like a Honda owner, ewww. LOL Anyway, regardless of specific output, this engine was relatively cheap, is super light, and 125hp in an 835lb car is sure to be entertaining. Hopefully it proves to be reliable...

[Tim_M]

9000 rpm bug engine...amazing the cases support that. Event 7500 seems like a real screamer-not sure what OEM redline was (don't think most bugs came with a tach!)

I recall watching a few 'drag' bugs at the strip...they were giant killers since the car weighed so little. Loved to watch the cars hop with each stick shift...when 95% of everyone else was a boring automatic.

Thanks for posting...

What vintage is the car?

[Jamie]

(don't think most bugs came with a tach!)

Never saw one stock...all the ones I drove, you just revved the engine until the valves floated, dumped the clutch, and chugged off the line.

[twistedwankel]

(don't think most bugs came with a tach!)

Never saw one stock...all the ones I drove, you just revved the engine until the valves floated, dumped the clutch, and chugged off the line.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/equus-6000-tac ... d50155u0j1

A tach on a beetle? Holy crap. Just keep the shop rag out of the air fan cooler.

Herbie was a Myth!!! Car was invented to be happy in Nevada desert.

[lddavis91]

So, finally got the little beast running properly this weekend and successfully did a 20 minute run in in the driveway, my neighbors hate me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M50F43MPwcQ

[dbeng]

Congrats Les,

Looking forward to seeing it back in action.
Dan

[Native]

Yah, what Dan said!

[Carracer]

Cool, can't wait to see it!

[twistedwankel]

memo to self: Do not sign up for starter position when wheedub comes back.

[jbrannon7]

So Les, did they give you a clue about re jetting the carb? Did they tell you what timing to run. I only ask because this engine should move more air than the last one and with a more radical cam timing may change. Is the new distributor electronic? So many questions, although I could just drive down and see for myself.