Towed it home with a towbar and my custom hitch, 72 Super pulled the standard at 65mph no problems, Couldn't even get the temp to go more than 10 degrees over normal.
Pic of the ugly stock 1500cc engine
I replaced a few parts to stop most of the oil leaks, drove the crap out of it, but it was making a loud exhaust leak sound, which was the compression coming out of a cracked cylinder head. I decided to trade a few spare parts to a friend for another engine thats bigger and sell this one after I swap out my cylinder head I got for 2 bucks at a swap meet
I make Harley's sound quiet when going threw under passes.
hvguy wrote:air cooled oil leaking engine < 12a rotary that weighs half as much but makes 4 times the power.
nice paint tho, and clean eng bay. Have you gotten the gears hung up yet?
The IRS transmission is alot stronger than the tranny I had in my 65. The 65 had a early model swing axel transmission intended for 36hp when it had a 65hp lightly tweaked DP 1600. Plus the fact that it was 46 years old didn't help much.
I've been trying to find a way to create less polution, this is my latest idea to maximize economy and reduce harmful emissions. It's a exhaust spinner that atomicly rearranges the harmful polutants.
hvguy wrote:air cooled oil leaking engine < 12a rotary that weighs half as much but makes 4 times the power.
lol but the 12a will only last 1/10 as long
Eh, Aircooled VW engines don't last as long as you might think. If you beat the shit out of them and drive them like most people do you will get 100k miles, most people get around 150k miles before rebuilding, there have been reports of 200K+ miles on engines that are taken care of. The nice thing about the aircooled engine is that it is simple to rebuild, and it can be done cheaply as well. I've been told locally that if you know what your doing you can trash your engine for 100k (while doing basic maintence) and then pull it out, inspect the case, rebuild it and have it back together driving in 1-2 days depending on experience. There is guys out there that can pull a engine in 15-20 minutes and rebuild it in a hour though just for the record.
The only reason I don't care for the 12a very much is that it requires water to keep things cool.
you should see my old engine, I lost my driver side heater hose plug while on the highway and it has the non doghouse fan shroud which is made for smaller sized engines (it was not very adeqate on the larger engine) and it had the oilcooler ontop of the #3 and #4 cylinders which naturally makes them run hotter already, well after overheating the it like crazy it felt a little sluggish. When I finally pulled the engine which was still running ok, just a little leaky and too small for me, I noticed the fins on the #3 and #4 cylinder head were wavy and not straight VW guys told me it normally gets to around 350 degrees for that to happen
hvguy wrote:air cooled oil leaking engine < 12a rotary that weighs half as much but makes 4 times the power.
lol but the 12a will only last 1/10 as long
Eh, Aircooled VW engines don't last as long as you might think. If you beat the shit out of them and drive them like most people do you will get 100k miles, most people get around 150k miles before rebuilding, there have been reports of 200K+ miles on engines that are taken care of. The nice thing about the aircooled engine is that it is simple to rebuild, and it can be done cheaply as well. I've been told locally that if you know what your doing you can trash your engine for 100k (while doing basic maintence) and then pull it out, inspect the case, rebuild it and have it back together driving in 1-2 days depending on experience. There is guys out there that can pull a engine in 15-20 minutes and rebuild it in a hour though just for the record.
The only reason I don't care for the 12a very much is that it requires water to keep things cool.
like I said the beatle motor will still last 10 times longer. If you beat on a triangle motor it will die very very quickly if its making some horse power its even worse 100k is like max life for a well maintained rotary
I priced out used in good condition german cylinders and pistons, new rings, seal kit for the entire engine, usuable used heads, oil pump rebuild kit, carb rebuild kit, case savers, turned crank, balanced bottom end, about $260.
I think my favorite thing is there is no timing belt.... no timing chain, two gears ontop of one another.
I'd like to have a rotary to learn more about in depth rebuilds but I know that there are so many other piston engines that can out perform them even though they are bigger than the rotary in most cases.
CBR_TOY wrote:wanna sell the 73 for cheap? i know my bro would want it if the price was right...
Depends on what you think is cheap.
NADA shows a 73 bug @ $1925 low value and $6875 high value.
I've been offered 1500 for it so far but I really want to keep it even though I only paid 500. I feel that if someone offers me 2500-3000 when I get it running perfect and the interior all reworked I'll take it.
