I was quite happy with this area of the buggy compared to my last one. I made an ally shelf hinged at the bulkhead that fixes under the dash with some thumbscrews. I chopped off the ignition barrel part of the 71 column that I had (apologies to any vw purists!) so it made a nice ignition pod tucked underneath, along with the switches. The fuse box is also going to be on the ally shelf, so when I have the inevitable wiring problems from my dodgy wiring it all swings down for access!

Started to lash into the engine, I was glad to find it's a 1641 as the guy I got it from advised. It was leaking at the cylinder base gaskets so I thought I should tidy it up a bit. It has shims at the cylinder base and it seems odd that it only had a paper gasket on one side of the shim. To the engine guys on here- do you put a paper gasket each side of the base shim and do you use any sealant? Cheers!

Ditch the shim and use a paper gasket with a thin smear of wellseal or hylomar.

I thought the shims were used to level up the tops of the barrels?

It depends how bad the barrels are I had to use some for the first time ever on Hughs 2l motor as 2 barrels out of a set of 4 were nearly 1 mm shorter.

I think the shims on mine are setting the deck height- if I took them out the pistons would hit! I will definitely use the blue hylomar, thanks Snoopy. I ordered a gasket set and some extra base gaskets.

I'd just fit the shims with a smear of Hylomar and omit the gaskets.

Cleaned up the crankcases in this beast- saved using the dishwasher at home!


Case buttoned up. New shells, other than that was in good condition! Shouldn't leak now, hylomar is great stuff. Not used it for a long time. The tin of valve lapping paste in the background also brings back memories. I lapped the barrels to the case and heads to ensure a good seal.

Barrels on at last. I'd like to use a pump with a spin on filter combined. Has anyone got the scat one? Be interested to hear what it's like. Cheers Keith

I've been using a Latest Rage one for years with no problems. Just make sure you get the correct one for your cam, early type for 3 rivet or aftermarket cam and later type for 4 rivet dished cam.

Cheers David!

If you've got a late cam you could possibly get hold of a genuine VW one, they fitted them to some later Mexican Bugs.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT_ojHpvOqsYq2HXlEUu5-uB4BWmIsYyi8g3s8H6fMuurFfjSzPwg

Keith, message me your address, my buggy's got a little gift for your buggy!

got the gear knob on there David, thanks again! I'll post some more pics up soon, I've been tripping over wiring looms at the moment!

got the gear knob on there David, thanks again! I'll post some more pics up soon, I've been tripping over wiring looms at the moment!

Cool!