Stock 1600 Aircooled Engine Upgrades - Best Performance Mods For Your Money. VW Bug Exhaust & Carbs

Outstanding videos! I’m new to VW Bug ownership, and need all the help I can get!

I’ve got a single port (solex pict 30) 1500CC , with Autostick. Would you recommend a dual carb setup for it as well? Which size carbs would fit it, if so?

Hay, Could you do a video like this, but for increasing gas millage?

make another video, but have an AMERICAN narrate so I can better understand

1641cc
Weber 34
Quiet pack
Pertronix coil and distributor

The 1679 recommended engine built with 69 bore stroke, 88mm displacement requires 90.5 head. Does all of these fits in the 1600 case and, or requires any machining or smaller diameter cylinder head bolts? Also, what size cam does it need?

Many years ago I owned a Bradley GT kit car. I put on dual exhausts and it seemed to really help the engine. Why do these exhausts you show join back together? Is it a problem for the engine to run dual exhausts? I forget the brand it was so long ago, but they just came straight back and fit nicely for the Bradley GT kit car. What do you estimate these mods you speak of bring you for HP? Certainly would be more spritely on the road.

I'm looking at a 1600 type 3 with a DD automatic gearbox.
My question is how good are the gearboxes and can I get parts and will they take some abuse?

What would you do for a 1500 single port for a performance upgrade?

im always looking for more mpg,,not hp,, thats just me :)

Supercharger, cam and EFI.......ok, supercharger and EFI. Boost is your friend.....overcomes all the smallness of port, cam, etc.
Oh, add a low restriction exhaust that doesnt lose the heater boxes.

What did peasants look like in 1600? There ya go

Great vid! I've got a 69 1500 single port. I upgraded to dual ICT 34s with 123 ignition a couple of years back, electric fuel pump etc, runs like a sewing machine now.
Still runing stock exhaust though, a stainless replacement is on the list. Any ideas? There's a SSP 4 into 1 header on Heritage Parts for the £185 mark (part AC251709).
Then I guess some sort of exhaust pipe on the end? Open to suggestions.
Happy to spend 300-350 on it. Worth the upgrade to make the most of the carbs?
Not planning on upgrading the heads or anything.

stock to about 100 hp with mods

I got a 1640 engine that i would like someone to give it a bit of a look over. New carb electronics just setup as it runs really bad. Is this something you can do. The engine is complete out of the car.

Great video, your approach to everything is very much appreciated

I built a 1600 DP back in the day (circa 1995-1996) for my '65 Bug. It was totally stock except for an Engle 100 cam, dual "Baby Dells" Dellorto carbs, Bosch 009 & EMPI header. It was mated to the stock '65 6V trans w/4.38 R&P and was a blast to drive. The engine's longevity could've benefitted from a counterweighted crankshaft and hi-rev springs. A 3-angle valve job and lightened FW would also have certainly up'd the engine's acceleration and overall performance. It doesn't take much to wake up an otherwise stock 1600 (paraphrasing the great Gene Berg, RIP).

Where performance and common sense meet.

Spot on info! Thank you.

Great information, Thank you.

Exhaust first. I found it increases torque and mileage. It was enough that I never did anything else.

Its been decades sincevi was intetested in VW power but eberything youve stated here makes sense

always more lift for more breathing ..add ratio rocker from 1.25-1.50 , but remember more wear and tear the higher ratio on valve guides , port polish if torn apart . better carburation. better spark to burn off most lower octane ..

I have a 1302 1285cc currently under restoration.

Using the same engine case, i am going for 1641cc piston, changed Solex 31 to original Weber progressive carb and 1.6L heads wnd aftermarket stainless steel equal length exhaust like yours (before merge exhaust)

Design to be a great highway cruiser and i am looking forward for the complwtion of the restoration!!

For cash value wouldn't a single 44dcnf etc and manifold give good bang for buck?
Also if the 36 isas much as valves can flow, high ratio rockers would work?
Also there must be a single 40/45 downdraft to have short intake.
Single intake using half a dcoe?

I had a 2110cc in my Splitty, engle 100 cam, 041 heads and twin 36 dellortos (probably around 110hp) and it was perfect. It didn't even notice hills any more and the fuel economy was WAY better than the stock 1600cc that came out of it as it was completely unstressed. I could drive to work and barely use more than a 1/4 of the throttle travel.

Years ago I had a 68 Bus/Camper that had a stock 1600...I heard about a guy that was a master VW mech that lived in the coastal mountains
of Oregon. It was totally 'word of mouth' business. I took the Bus to him and was not surprised with an unfriendly greeting because
of the strong smell of weed. After a few minutes of chit chat he mellowed out and we got along fine.
He had an amazing shop in his barn and he agreed to rebuild my 1600 and add dual Webers and an Extractor. It was really mind blowing the difference it made. I no longer had to shift down going over hills near my home.

Currently I have a set of 40's on my 1600 stock motor, and it's over carbureted. A cold start is extremely difficult (even in Arizona) and like you said, I get very poor performance at low RPM's with some occasional carb backfiring. I think I'll order a set of 34's and save the 40's for my nearly complete 1915cc with 9.1/1 compression, a 110 cam and 1¼ ratio rockers.

The original VW muffler system actually has equal lenght headers as the "short" tubes are longer inside the muffler. And when assembling those chromed "flutes", it is important to assemble them exactly to the right depht or the performance is lost. That is because the manifold heating tube inside the muffler has to be exactly right to the flute; pushing the flute as far it goes connects those two and the exhaust comes practically only from the other flute, and only those exhaust gases that go through the thin preheat tube can come out from the other flute.
Of course, the aftermarket "original" ones are usually cheaply made and do not have anything mentioned before. My 1600 has Pertronix, twin 34:s, merged headers, eight pin flywheel connection, remote oil filter, cam, cranc with balance weights, so it is quick and can withstand rews. The car is Bonito kit body. 73-chassis, so I added that cross-leaf to control the rear, and as it now has more grip than the front, just adding there the camber adjusting parts to get it slightly minus. I think that I have spent enough to Paruzzi to get a Christmas card from them...

Nice Bro Totally Agree keep it Simple , be Humble Like the Bug was Intended a we the peoples Car
Too Much Bragging and Trying too sell you stuff you Don"t Need on the Interwebs
Thanks

Excellent talk on exhaust/carbs. Thank you for the explanation, just shared with a group that was asking about this.

Wondering If you have any tips on keep Valve covers from leaking? I got valve cover that have the Clip that Holds the valve cover on. My first bug!

Dude - Your hair looks like crap. I bet it smells too.

Any thoughts on a 6477 Deluxe Progressive Weber Carburetor Kit?

Cool channel, new to beetle moddings. Realistically, how far can you take a 1600cc from its "original" 40 bhp with these 34mm EPCs and aftermarket exhaust? Just trying to figure out what to expect and which way to go.

I want an 1835 with EFI/ECU . It's going to be a daily driver with about 50% highway driving. Can you tell me what exhaust would best work for this setup? This is not for racing. It will be daily driven 65 miles with bimonthly hauls of 100 miles round trips.

I took my cases apart and clearanced the cases for a 76mm counterbalanced crankshaft, race con rods,110 camshaft, big valve race cylinder heads, electronic ignition, twin 34 Weber carbs,stinger exhaust,Kennedy stage 1 clutch,12lb flywheel,remote oil filter on the rolling road it’s 1850cc and 150 bhp, ust finishing a 2.4 for my sons street legal drag race car the black widow.

In my experience Pertronics electronic ignition to replace the points, Bosch blue coil, bosch 009 distruibutor 32-36 webber progressive carb or a pair 40mm kadrons work well on a 1600 twin port. lighten the fly wheel for more acceleration.

I've got a 74 1600 I used on my trike. The bug was just too far gone. I use a Weber progressive carb, along with the petronics electronic ignition and a set of glass packs for the exhaust. It has been working great for me for years

I've been working on the air cooled engines professionally for 40 years, this is one of the most sensible motivational videos I've seen. I've done allsorts of mad stuff but always come back to the simple, easy to drive but with a bit more fun. I run a 1600 with an aftermarket management system on it (which actually cost less than twin 40s). I easily got 75hp, a 50% increase and got another 10mpg.

10 OUT OF 10 VERY GOOD JOB, I DID THAT TO MY 1600 , AND EXACTLY THE SAME THING., AND I AM SO HAPPY😊 CHEERS 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

I am rebuilding my ‘72 dual port 1600. I have a new stock crank, rods, cam and lifters and using a pic 34 carb. I am thinking about installing thick walled 88’s, do you see any problems with my idea? Good video, thanks!

Good talk brother. Couldn't disagree with anything, summed up my experiences with the 1600 engine perfrectly.

My experience is that an electronic distributor only advantage over stock is easier starting and less maintenance but they can go through rotors quicker. A tiny gain in hp if any for the substantial money so I recommend spend that money instead on 8mm silicon ignition leads instead.

Bone stock 1600
Electronic ignition
34 webbers or 40/44 Cadrons
1 3/8 merge header.
Maybe reduce deck height to .050"
Thats pretty much as far as you can take it.
Dont waste your money on heads until you at minimum install a more aggressive cam .

Great informative video. I got duel 34icts 12 years ago and they were more than £300 then, they've since doubled in price, for the real webers at least. I'd also say no carbs you get will bolt on and run well, they require correct jetting and emulsion tubes etc.

Hi I have a question about the merge header, can you still use the tin that goes by the crank pulley

I’ve got totally stock AD 1600DP in my Bus, have just bought a set of NOS IDF36’s, Manifolds, linkage, air filters etc, and the CSP Single Quiet pack, which is on back order, so 2-3weeks delivery, not looking to being a boy racer, but just to perk it up 😀

I would also recommend installing Pertronics electronic ignition with appropriate coil which I found to be one of the best upgrades I have ever done to my Beatle. My current Beetle is a 1974 Superbug that I have had and driven since 1982. It puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.

Excellent Vid, but one thing I notice is that every Vintage VW dude in the UK seems to have dreads? hahaha