ingine tins opinions

[1970bugly]

I am about to swap motors in my 70 bug after the chinese alternator I put in in August went out allready.
I have a 1776 in it now but have had trouble with it running hot at freeway speeds on longer trips, more than 30 min.
I bought a 1835 from a sand rail that has been tapped for full flow that I want to put in now, with a oil cooler and thermostat fan. I bought all new chrome tins for the 1835, but the cylinder tins leave a 1/2 inch gap to bolt on the lower tins.
I am debating about either using OG lower black tins and just the chrome 36HP style fan shroud on top?
or maybe should just give up on the new chrome tin alltogether and put all the OG black tin on it with a thermostat too?
I had only one set of OG cylinder tins that had cracks and a rust hole in them. I spent the weekend sand blasting and welding up the cracks and hole. they do not look great, but will at least work now. just wondering what others think to keep the motor running cool on longer trips this summer, this is a dailey driven car so has to work.


Mark in Portland

[LooseNuts]

Personally ... I am not a chrome engine guy. I would not have said the 20 years ago.







On a side note: whatcha plans for the hot running 1776?

[BuginU2]

I'll second that as well.... I've done the chrome engine thing many years ago - not worth the trouble. 

[TotallyVW]

Agreed.  The chrome stuff does not always fit together well.  Plus there are theories out there about the better cooling properties of original black tin over chrome.  Adding chrome on anything is adding a layer of metal and therefore creating a thicker surface which could be retaining some heat.
I did the chrome thing, well, just last year with my Bus but that's because I built an engine out of parts laying around the garage (including the tin) and I don't really have any intention of keeping it in there very long.  But it's full-flowed with an external cooler.  The permanant engine does not have chrome tin.
If you are already experiencing over-heating issues you may consider coming up with an entire set of stock tin.

[sdebaker]

I am about to swap motors in my 70 bug after the chinese alternator I put in in August went out allready.
I have a 1776 in it now but have had trouble with it running hot at freeway speeds on longer trips, more than 30 min.
I bought a 1835 from a sand rail that has been tapped for full flow that I want to put in now, with a oil cooler and thermostat fan. I bought all new chrome tins for the 1835, but the cylinder tins leave a 1/2 inch gap to bolt on the lower tins.
I am debating about either using OG lower black tins and just the chrome 36HP style fan shroud on top?
or maybe should just give up on the new chrome tin alltogether and put all the OG black tin on it with a thermostat too?
I had only one set of OG cylinder tins that had cracks and a rust hole in them. I spent the weekend sand blasting and welding up the cracks and hole. they do not look great, but will at least work now. just wondering what others think to keep the motor running cool on longer trips this summer, this is a dailey driven car so has to work.


Mark in Portland

Temperature control is a Goldilocks function -- it shouldn't be too hot and it shouldn't be too cold. The factory spent more than 15 minutes figuring this out, so their work should not be completely ignored.

Chrome engine tin is one of the "999 Suboptimal Things to Do to Your VW." Chrome does not radiate heat well. Pure black is the most-effective radiator of heat energy (not my idea, I got it from Max Plank, the guy who theorized quantum physics).

Another unwise thing is running without a thermostat. It is common "street logic" that if the thermostat controls temperature, removal will allow the engine to run cooler, and generate hundreds of more horsepower. This is not only wrong, but if it was true, foolish. There is an optimum operating temperature limited by the practical restrictions of the materials from which the engine is made. Within this limitation, the thermal efficiency of the engine to about 33%. Thirty-five percent of the heat created by combustion makes power, the rest is thrown off from the surfaces of the engine and spit out the exhaust. Running the engine cooler than it's design temp, if one could, would reduce power and economy.

Correctly-installed thermostat systems control the internal air flaps (another thing to not remove)  to direct the cooling air to go where it should go to maintain the most-even temperature. This is a good thing.

Thermostat makes the engine warm up faster, which is good for performance, economy and engine life. Gene Berg found that engines with thermostats lasted 15 - 17% longer than those without.

[coolblue57bug]

Personally ... I am not a chrome engine guy. I would not have said the 20 years ago.







On a side note: whatcha plans for the hot running 1776?

Chrome is for posers. Black is where its at. Get with the program...

Oh, and J wants your 1776!

[LooseNuts]

Oh, and J wants your 1776!

 































   yes I do..

[coolblue57bug]

Well I know you want my 1776...

[LooseNuts]

Well I know you want my 1776...

WERD!

[1970bugly]

going to find a better alternator for the 1776 and probably put it in my ragtop Herbie clone.
still blasting and painting all the decent OG tin I can find out of my stash pile.
I had used all the good cylinder and lower tin I had on the 1776 with a black 36HP style Scat fan shroud on it.
I would really like to tear down the 1776 and have it tapped out for full flow, not sure why this motor likes to run hot?
I also have enough parts to build a twin to this 1776, but with better heads, as soon as I get a case machined and ready to go.
I still like a little bling when you open the rear deck lid on my Bugly bug, but then again I need to be able to drive it anywhere with out any problems.

Mark

[jbjetta]

I would convert it over to doghouse for better cooling. I'm running a 1600 SP with 36 hp shroud and it seems to run a bit hot.


Is there any thoughts on better heat dissipation from flat black or gloss black anyone know?

[sdebaker]

I would convert it over to doghouse for better cooling. I'm running a 1600 SP with 36 hp shroud and it seems to run a bit hot.


Is there any thoughts on better heat dissipation from flat black or gloss black anyone know?

Flat black is a better radiator of heat energy than gloss. But, I don't know if the difference is significant in the heat range of our engines. It looks like the factory used a low-gloss paint, not as shiny as typical gloss paint sold in spray cans, but not as flat as satin. It's hard to tell, since all the engine tin I have is old and the paint is aged.

[1970bugly]

I am using GM Satin Black engine paint, and the scat fan shroud is a doghouse cooler one.
the chrome Scat shroud is doghouse too, still thinking about using it with OG lower tin?
I did send a guy from a Samba ad PayPal payment for some stock flaps and thermostat set up.

Mark

[CatBox]

VHT GM Satin Black is what I used on my engine many years ago and still looks good now.
I vote for that as it cleans up well and just flat out works like a champ.
It is a better quality product than Krylon....