547 885 - Original plates for the 'S'

 

Found the original alloy 'LYKKE' SA number plates as shown in the photo's of the last post (see below) for the notchback.

The top plate is the front one and has a bit of paint missing now due to wear and tear but I don't mind. Also note how the holes are drilled a little on the piss - the photo's in the previous post below show the number plate was always crooked!

The bottom plate is the rear one and is a little damaged on the top edge from the goods that were carried in the rear 'trunk' back in the day. Again, it's all a part of the history of this car so these minor blemishes shall remain to help tell a bit more about the car in its early years.



The 1500 'S' back in the day

Some awesome news.

With the benefit of Face Book (it does have some uses!), I managed to track down the lady I bought my 1964 1500 'S' notchback from some 23 years ago.

I told her the car is still in the same condition as when she sold it me (it's better actually!) and forwarded a couple of recent photo's to her.

It must have come as a happy surprise, because I have just now received a copy of some original photo's of the car from when it was near new and some history on how her grand-dad bought the car in 1965

The car war produced on the 9th of September 1964, sent to Australia on the 15th of September 1964, delivered to Light Motors Adelaide (the big VW dealer here in Adelaide, South Australia) on the 27th of November 1964 and used as a display car until it was bought on the 4th of May 1965.

The photo of the roof rack explains the touched up paint on the roof gutters!

 

Proud new owner with doggy sitting on the hood!

 



 

 

 

I am looking forward to learning a bit more from Christina about how it all came to be with her grand dads car and some of the story's behind the photo's. It's probably one of the best documented 1500 'S' notchback's anywhere and with original photo's like these, I consider myself very lucky indeed.

 

It was only recently that I found the original number plates and gave them a very good detail - one day they will go back on the car where they belong. For now they sit polished up in the display case.

 

A big thank you to Christina for the photo's.

 

All the best for 2013 folks.

October 2012 update

The '56 oval is just about ready to be dropped on the replacement '56 floor pan now. I have stripped almost every part from the body except for the fenders and doors. I suspect the bolts would snap off from the fenders, so they can stay there. The doors need a bit of work too to get rid of rust and I need to replace the lower hinge area of the body so for now, I am leaving well enough alone.

The original pan had some major rust where the frame head attached, so I have stashed that away for now and will use this other '56 pan as donated by Finn.

This is not a key project for me, just something to work on in the future as time permits.

And a preview of the engine currently in the engine stand. More on this later.

Wow Greg, that is a big cam you got there!

NOS VW-1500 Abarth

Big thanks to Jason, Bob and Rod for their efforts in getting this NOS VW-1500 Abarth exhaust sent to me.

Appreciate it boys. It's new home will be a worthy one.

1 owner 1956 Oval

As some of you may know (now you do), I have a 1958 LHD gloss black beetle stashed away (well, it's a body and floor pan only) and it needs every single bolt on part you can imagine.

It is believed that the car came to Australia during the early 1960's with the original owner and ended up owned by a very well known VW man during the 1970's, Mr Ken Virgin. I would love to see some images of the car from that time period and wonder what engine was in it back then.

Anyway, after a while the car was bought another very well known VW man during the 1980's, Mr Roy Williams. It was when Roy owned it (I believe) that I saw the car at a VW show in 1984 or 1985. It was fitted with a 40hp Judson engine from memory and that was it's last public outing. Both Ken and Roy have now passed away so getting photo's of the car from back then is a bit of a task but I will continue that search some time in the future.
 

So, skip forward about 25 years and 5 or so owners and I bought the car. Almost every single item that is needed has been sold or taken off the car and I am in effect owning a body and floor pan- still almost no rust or damage but yes, missing a lot of parts. So when I got a phone call a couple of weeks ago from a VW shop telling me about a complete 1956 oval window for sale, I thought wow, this is my opportunity to get the LHD sort of complete again. Excellent.

I called the owner and drove out to look at the car that night (in the dark and yes it was raining - not ideal!). After a couple of minutes looking at the car, it dawned on me that although the oval needed both heater channels, both lower 'A' pillars and various other sections of steel including some of the deck lid and front hood, it was in remarkable original and complete condition.

It has not been hit anywhere majorly either. The girl selling the car then told me it was her uncles car and he stopped driving it about 20 years ago when something went south with the engine. Hmmm. And he bought it brand new and was still alive. Hmmm. This car should probably be kept together and not dismantled was the impression I was now getting. We did the deal and I then went back last Sunday to collect the car.

As soon as I got the car home, I removed the engine, the wheels, the interior, the windows and most of the small items like speedo, coat hooks etc.

I am pricing up the repair sections at the moment and also working to dismantle the engine down to the crank case (it's a very sad looking engine with mud, dirt, rust etc all over it).

On the road again

After a smll delay, I got my USB to serial cable this week so I can use the lap top with the EMS ECU in the black car. Cool. The hand held controller was just not doing it for me any more.

I also installed my wide band o2 sensor into the exhaust to get a better idea of what was going on. It's running quite rich at the moment!

No major programming changes were done today, I just went through the motions to ensure it's all going to work and I hope to have it altered within the next month or so.

I re-torqued the wheel bolts, tightened up various bits on the car and installed the rear axle split pins, so with that, the black car is basically ready for action.

Hard to believe this car has not been washed for over 7 years huh?

Friday the 13th

Been a long time since the last post...

The 2028 cc is now running and looking like this:

I retained all of the stainless steel tin ware that was hand made for the 2276 cc but have altered it to fit (a lot of grinding!). Having the Porsche length rods on the 78.8 mm Scat crank tends to make for a narrower engine than the 2276 cc that was in there.

A huge thanks to Andrew for altering the CB performance 48 mm throttle bodies - he cut them in half (height) then milled them to make them flat again and then welded them back together to drop them down about 20 mm. The result is a pair of 48 mm IDF pattern throttle bodies like no other and it all fits perfectly under the lid. Excellent job and I wonder when someone will make them commercially available.

As can also be seen, I have removed the generator and installed a new Smallternator. I had it fitted up within about 10 minutes and with only some minor wiring changes to bypass the regulator it works perfectly. I thoroughly recommend it and a benefit that I didn't consider initially is the reduced weight of the engine. The only pain in the arse was the MSD distributor cap interfering with the alternator. I spent a bit of time with the power file on the steel housing that unbolts from the back of the alternator so I can now remove the MSD cap without too much bother. I doubt if many people are using an MSD or Pertronix on a Type 3 anyway so if you were to run an 010 or 009 etc I doubt this would be a problem.

And just because I could, I have replaced almost every coloured item on the engine with either black or grey items like hose ends and plug leads. Thank you to Rhys for the proper MSD crimper to make up the leads!

The engine runs quite well (considering it's using mostly the 2276 cc ECU mapping (sort of)) and as soon as I get my new cable to connect the serial port of the ECU to the USB of the lap top I will alter the programming to reflect the new engine. Should be relatively simple (!).

Engine updates - 2276 cc & 2028 cc

The 2276 cc is looking better now. Merged exhaust (1 - 7/8) got here from Vee Dub Parts Unlimited last week and fit perfectly.

Good silver ceramic coating job too.

Thanks Ralph!

As you can see, I also got the Gene Berg pulley bolt & washers so the JayCee pulley is now fixed to the end of the crank good and proper.

 

This is a nice little piece I bought out of the UK from Neil

(http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=968666)

Perfect bit of machine work.

Nicely anodised grey too!

Sorry about the shadow in the photo...

I don't think an oil cooler is going to be much of a concern on this engine.

Last job on the engine will be to fabricate the oil and fuel lines because I don't know where we are going to mount the oil filter until we get the engine into the car. I also didn't disturb the brass fitting in the case from when it was in the black VW.

Looks a little out of place but it isn't leaking so why mess with it?

A good view of the oil cooler block off.

The 2028 cc is also coming together quite well.

The short IDF manifolds are temporarily bolted on (still to be match ported) and I have borrowed a pair of IDF throttle bodies while I arrange for another set to be sent over from CB Performance.

I will get a set with the injector bosses drilled however and then get them cut down about 1 inch once they are here as there isn't a great deal of room under the Type 3 engine lid.

Similar to the oil cooler block off on the 2276 cc, I had this oil cooler block off made by Vintage Vee Dub Supplies about 10 years ago.

It routes the galleries out to the Earls oil cooler which is mounted near the gearbox and also cooled with a big thermo fan.

Works perfectly and keeps the engine looking good with minimal crap on top of the engine.

Time and time again I see that Type 3 engines when altered generally look like arse unless you do a bit of thinking.

I also route a small line to the mechanical Auto Meter oil pressure gauge as you can see.

Yes an MSD distributor will fit under the lid of a Type 3 but you will have to run 90' ends and alter the engine lid ribbing.

I also ceramic coated my engine lid to dispense with the factory insulation while I was at it.

The stock breather also looked out of place on this engine so I had the top of the original breather tower welded up and then I tapped it 3/8 NPT to enable a hose to be connected off to a breather mounted elsewhere.

Looks excellent when it's all connected and in the car.

If you use the MSD as the maximum height, you can see why I will be cutting down the throttle bodies - not much room to play with.

More photo's soon. Hope you like them thus far. 

October - Better late than never

So sorry for lack of updates - have been busy with house renovations - relocating water, gas & electrical as well as a lot of digging, drilling and general stuff. Not what I want to do however it has to be done.

What of the VW projects?

• The 2276 cc from the black VW is now sitting on the bench ready to fire up with new 48 IDA's and with some luck, the new exhaust from California will be here in the next couple of weeks. I removed the engine from the car a month or so ago, dismantled the top end to see how it was looking, soda blasted the combustion chambers, raised the CR to just shy of 10:1 and re-assembled with a host of JayCee odds and sods.

• The 2028 cc has now been assembled out to the heads. I got my dad to assemble the bottom end of the engine just so he can say he built it. Cool. Engine contains Scat 78.8 mm crank, Scat 4340 lightened flywheel, Berg 90.5 mm pistons and cylinders (dyke's top, total seal 2nd), Eagle 136 mm rods, Engle K8 cam & lifters, Magnum straight cut gears, new AS 41 magnesium case, Berg sump, Berg pump, o'Berg filter, Jaycee push rods & tubes, Scat 1.4:1 rockers, CB wedge port heads, CSP rocker covers, MSD distributor. CR is about 8.6:1 from memory. The engine is awaiting the short IDF manifolds from California (same box as the exhaust for the 2276 cc mentioned above) and then once I have mocked up the throttle bodies (2 x dual throat IDF) that I have grabbed from Greg, the tin ware will be altered to suit the engine and then sent off for paint etc. This new 2028 cc engine should prove to be a reasonable daily driver type deal, especially with heads that contain some decent cooling fins, plus the cam is somewhat mild (boring?). Exhaust is the 1 7/8 unit that was on the 2276 cc previously.

• Greg's drag car - I have purposely not mentioned this project yet and certainly not shown photo's as it isn't my car however the photo's aren't far off from being shown. Engine: 88 x 94 mm; front narrowed 4 inches; frame head laid back 10'; rear end narrowed 4-6 inches (I forget how much I cut out of it!) and raised 4 inches; rear fenders raised about 5 inches; fuel cell up front; 1 piece fibreglass front; billet pedal assembly; Kirkey racing seat; raised transaxle & engine (2-3 inches adjustable); Ron Lummus wheelie bars; Ron Lummus roll cage (with extra supports everywhere); Ron Lummus flush mount windows. From what I can gather, this might be a rapid car once it's all together. Funny because it hasn't been much of an effort, what with Greg paying the bills and me cutting, welding & assembling the car. Nice not to have to pay for a project for a change.

• The MK twice GTI is all happy and repaired after the idiot smashed the front. The engine might have been replaced while it was being repaired... Also must thank Rhys for the front end work- replaced the struts, tie rods, all mounts, ball joints and while we were there threw away the sub standard MK 2 brakes in favour of some MK 3 disks, callipers & hubs. The car stops now like it should which is good as the engine does crank along. Almost forgot - replaced the front tyres with some directional semi slick type tyres to sharpen it up around the corners. Magic daily driver and what is most unusual for a VW - I hardly have to work on it because of a failure. Reliable car considering it's 20 years old.

• The 1602 cc is still on the back burner until the panel van gets the new 2028 cc engine installed and Greg's transaxle is finished along with getting my 2276 cc running again. I just don't have the room right now (hence the work on the house renovations...).

Okrasa 1500 'S' ??

With the 40hp Okrasa heads back from having been wet blasted, new guides fitted and the original seats re-cut, plus of course being machined out to suit the 83 / 85.5 mm cylinder OD, I thought why not install them on the 1500 'S' bottom end I am building?

As you can see, the heads are only bolted down for measurement purposes.

The bottom end of the 1500 'S' engine is all together now based around the original panel van crank case (60,000 mile case). About the only thing I did to the case, 20 years ago, was to align bore it 0.50 mm. Otherwise it's unmodified.

The crank is a later model 69 mm unit ('X' drilled) and has been balanced along with the NOS alloy and steel fans, flywheel and clutch. The crank was also ground 0.25 mm by the local crank grinding man that has done all of my cranks for the last 15 + years.

Lets just say the con rods are also updated...

The pistons and cylinders are NOS KS 83 mm domed 1500 'S' units that I bought years ago from New York. The pistons have been balanced of course and the cylinders have been high temp VHT painted black just because I hate the look of rust.

The distributor is an original 1500 'S' ZV/JCU4R3 unit that was restored a couple of years ago using NOS parts.

The oil cooler is a reco unit I found also many years ago and is a small gallery unit, correct for the engine.

The oil pump is an NOS German unit also found about 10 years ago.

Next up with the engine is to get the valves, check the chamber volume's, fabricate some manifolds to suit the stock 32 PDSIT 1500 carbs (currently being rebuilt), and once that is done, remove the heads from this engine as they will be bolted onto the original engine currently residing in my 1964 1500 'S'.

That engine already has a 74 mm SPG roller crank and 83 mm bore so these heads should wake it up a bit.
 

While the original engine is out, the flywheel will also be replaced with an NOS crown alloy one that I have had the ring gear changed out to an NOS 6V unit. Still a lot to do but moving forwards.

I wonder if the NOS Abarth exhaust will be here in time as well, just to finish the engine off?