Speed and heat

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Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
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  • #235850
    Mike
    Participant

    @grimsby-mike

    I overheated Vicky when the alternator came apart 16 miles up a desert canyon near Moab UT.  We drove just far enough to get one bar (and kill her rings.)  She took me the 300 miles home after replacing the alternator but . . .

    Had to get a new engine.  Heat always seems to be a problem.  Should I install an electric fan under the spare tire or should I limit it to 55mph?  I guess they were built back when that was the more common speed.  Any thoughts from the herd?

    #265498
    KentT
    Participant

    @kentt

    IMO, the best thing you can do for cooling is to seal around the engine “tin” so that the engine draws in its COOLER air from the front and top, and NOT hot air from the sides or rear that is pulled up past the hot heads and exhaust.

    Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
    Slowly coming back from the ashes...

    #265499
    edward ericson
    Participant

    @edsnova

    Mike: Ditto Kent. I have never seen anyone with an electric fan on an A/C VW. I’m no expert but I don’t think that would do much good. They run cool enough with the tins–and the fan belt! Sorry to hear about your troubles. 


    If I were you I’d make sure the new engine was all good, maybe put a cylinder head temp gauge on it, plus a good oil temp sensor/gauge, and then start sealing up the engine-to-body gaps. It should run fine without those tins–on cooler days and at lower speeds. But you should see cooler temps as you block off the hot air. 
    #265500
    greg press
    Participant

    @greg-press

    My car came without the bottom tin had lots of heat problems 230 degrees
    sometimes higher , I bought tins . Never get above 200 degrees . I talked to a VW man he told me he used a car inter tube and used it to seal engine compartment anyone ever try this .

    #265501
    KentT
    Participant

    @kentt

    greg press wrote:
    My car came without the bottom tin had lots of heat problems 230 degrees
    sometimes higher , I bought tins . Never get above 200 degrees . I talked to a VW man he told me he used a car inter tube and used it to seal engine compartment anyone ever try this .

    Haven’t tried an inner tube, but that sounds like a good idea. The VW busses/vans used a wide seal that had two flaps or lavers. You use a blunt screwdriver or headliner tool to press the lower flap down underneath the engine tin above the heads and around the rear (pulley end), and leave the top flap lying on top of the tin – sandwiching the tin between.

    The bus seal is quite pricey, though. A piece trimmed from a large diameter tube – such as a motorcycle or semi – might work well.

    Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
    Slowly coming back from the ashes...

    #265502
    newkitman
    Participant

    @newkitman

    I have a bus seal but have a question as to the fit of the rear valance and engine tin. With the engine installed, does the top of the valence align with the engine tins? I see a lot of photos with the top of the valance being well below the engine tin. I know there are alignment issues to deal with as the engine cover has to sit against the body tub and the valance and to my thinking, that determines the height of the valance. The CMC/Fiberfab assembly manual says to raise it but not to where or what height. Any thoughts or ideas would ne helpful.
    newkitman2015-09-25 16:13:35

    Allen Caron
    VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
    "If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

    #265503
    KentT
    Participant

    @kentt

    The engine tin sits higher than the valance unless you shim it up. My early FF also has an upturned flange on it, which complicates things.

    Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
    Slowly coming back from the ashes...

    #265504
    Al Greig
    Participant

    @al-greig

    I used a fiber re-enforced rubber material between body and engine 

    #265505
    Royal
    Participant

    @royal

    Al, that is about the nicest looking yet functional job of separating the air that I have seen.  Really clean looking engine compartment.  Very nice!

    How does the engine get it’s air?   

    Royal2015-09-25 18:01:55

    #265506
    edward ericson
    Participant

    @edsnova

    Looks like it can pull some from in front of the fan shroud, Roy. Should be high pressure under the back of the tub, and I think I see a bunch of holes hight on the bulkhead in front of the engine. Al?

    #265507
    Al Greig
    Participant

    @al-greig

    There are holes in the bulkhead in front of the engine, about an 1″ gap between the bottom of the engine cover and the rear deck plus the holes in the spare tire rim.

    #265508
    Royal
    Participant

    @royal

    Thanks Al.  Alas, I have the old man’s engine enclosure (OMEE) system used on Daytona MIGI’s.  The rear deck/valance/faux spare tire cover/engine cover are all one piece that lifts upward.  The Continental cover fits snugly to the engine cover so there is no fresh engine air can get in there.  I worried about this for the first few years, but haven’t given it much of a thought recently, since I have no engine overheat problems at all.  The hottest my engine has been has been is 220F (oil temp), on the hottest black pavement with the sun beating down here in Eastern NC….but no traffic jams.  Ever!……That’s with no doghouse, no external oil cooler and all the factory tin.   (Calibrated engine oil gauge, an infra red temp instrument, and a Gene Berg dipstick alarm thingy all working in parallel.)

    I got my Migi almost exactly 4 years ago and one of the first things I did was pull the engine.  (I really love engine work.)(Really!)  I super cleaned everything including the oil cooler, fins on the jugs, even inside of the fan shroud and the fan blades.  I then plugged ALL the holes in the fan shroud and I pay a lot of attention to proper fitting of the spark plug booties.   

    My engine access is a bit easier, allowing me to sit on a stool behind the engine for points and timing and carb adjustment,
    but I’ve been unable to figure out how to engineer a skirt like system for separating the air on Daytona’s.  The OMEE does allow one to pull the engine super easily without removal of any fiberglass or even the rear bumper. 

    #265509
    KentT
    Participant

    @kentt

    Royal wrote:

    Al, that is about the nicest looking yet functional job of separating the air that I have seen.  Really clean looking engine compartment.  Very nice!

    H

    Ditto that!

    Also, is there a product name or source for that material that you can provide?

    Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
    Slowly coming back from the ashes...

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