snow trac air horn

[JimVT]

I think I can get away without changing to the old vw tin by building a air horn on my new engine.
I never seen what vw uses . any suggestions?

this photo below shows the clearance between the varatior and tin.

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

vw didn't use any thing they had enough fresh air running over the top of the motor and an open belly unlike the snow trac.

 

[JimVT]

did the bus have a connector?
Maybe leave the hood off?

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

Lyndon would know better I believe it was all forced induction from luvers on the side in to the engine compartment. I remember hearing long periods of idle time while not moving could over heat them on hot days.

 

[NorCal]

VW has a sealed engine compartment so the fan had to suck in cool air from outside louvers, Later Snow Tracs had a metal box bolted to the back side of the fan shroud to seal out the rest of the engine compartment and suck in air from the louvers on the hood. You have the later "doghouse" fan shroud (which is a better setup to keep #3 cyl. cooler) but you need to make a custom box to draw in cool air from hood louvers. Hope that makes sense.....
Chris

 

[Lyndon]

Bugs, Busses, Karman Ghia's, all had sealed engine compartments.
http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=3895
There was elaborate tin and rubber seals so that air came in above the engine, got sucked thru the engine, and exhausted out the bottom.
Some not so observant ST4 owners discarded their Air intake induction horn. This usually ends up destroying the engine. They put it there for a reason.

 

[Lyndon]

The heating, or overheating problem was serious enough that Westermaskiner installed an oil temperature meter on every machine they ever built, it was not an option.

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

The heating, or overheating problem was serious enough that Westermaskiner installed an oil temperature meter on every machine they ever built, it was not an option.

Lyndon mine must be the odd duck it has no oil temp gauge or hole in the dash for one I have seen the machines with them but mine had none installed I did add a CHT gauge which is better than an oil temp gauge.

 

[Lyndon]

Yours would be a 'first' as the hundreds of machines I looked at, owned, and worked on all had them. They are shown on even the earliest service manuals. They used a 'dip-stick' sender which was only used as an option on early VW Products,.. not standard equipment. Some outfit in California still sells a replacement dipstick temperature sender. It and the Guage were VDO. In the earlier article, with the link, the final permanent "Fix", relied heavily on setting the Fuel/Air Radio with an engine gas analyzer. Most aircooled aircraft have temp senders in the manifolds or on each cylinder and one adjust the Fuel/Air Ratio as well as the Spark to keep from over heating. The engine compartment ran so hot in ST4's that it often burnt up the Fan Belt, or started damaging the Variator belt as well as cooking various gaskets and threatening the Coil and associated wiring. The "Rulle of Thumb" is: If you Can't hold the Dip Stick, it's too Hot! Bug engines like to run Hot, but not too hot. Also the Death of many VW powered machines was the over heating led to a rubber fuel line coming off in the engine compartment, followed by a disasterous fire. There was an FAA ST4, just north of you, in Kotzebue that I looked at and I believe that is what caused it to burn up,... removal of the air induction horn. Once the engine caught on fire, it set one of the Big wheels in front of fire which in turn burned a hole in the fender, big mess! It sat there at the Post Office, dead, for a year or so then a guy who owned a Mine way inland bought it for parts. He had several machines at the mine, he liked them as they could be fit in the cargo door of a early prop job, like a DC3 or DC6. I dread to see what they look like today! It was not Red Dog, some name that started with a 'L' I believe. Probably NOT on Mapquest.

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

I'm working on one for Vernon Atkinson from bering sea gold his has the oil temo gauge he also has the original hand crank which I intend to reproduce.

 

[JimVT]

I was working on the starter this morning. I may try the gear reduction one.
the face plate is adjustable and it may fit. you may be able to drill one more hole for our use.??

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

Jim I would like to see how it works I would love one thet are so expensive I don't want to spend the money till I find one that will work

 

[Lyndon]

YES! that looks like a "Self Supporting", much like the Porsche starters, only gear reduction. This would also eliminate the problem with the bushing that is in the bell housing. A 6 volt had a huge hole and a big bushing, the later, and in the case of Snow Trac, much later, 12Volt has a smaller hole in the bell housing, and a smaller bushing for the smaller 12V shaft. Aftermarket outfits made an adapter bushing, brass, like the OEM stuff, that fit the larger 6Volt Bell Housing, but was milled out for a smaller 12V shaft. VW changed to 12 Volt in 1966. That is the year of the 1300 which was only manufactured for one year. But VW Industrial Motors came equipped for 6 volt starters much later. I don't think they actually shipped them out with real 12Volt starters and generators for another 3 years. What Snow Trac did was use a 6 Volt starter, re-fit it with a 12 Volt solenoid, and leave the original 6 volt flywheel. They also sported the little, small diameter 12 Volt generator. About one year of VW bus, and maybe 8 years of Porsche use this small diameter 12 Volt generator that will fit on the Oil pedistal of a 6 volt engine.
This adaptation of the starter looks interesting, I'll be anxious to see how it workls out. It would be an outstanding solution to a long standing problem with ST4's.

 

[JimVT]

this is a stock 1600 starter with the solenoid at 12 0 clock. you can see the transaxle starter mount hole is near 1 oclock .the tab on the left is the starter mount tab.

 

[JimVT]

It fits using the last hole on the face plate. the solenoid isn't straight up like orginal but leaning towards the tower. I have 3/4 inch clearance between the tower and starter.
original wv starter mounts are used no tabs on bolts. Connection for starter wires are on the inside side of starter now.
if you need more pictures I can get some.

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

that looks good I'm going to have to look into one.

 

[JimVT]

cut a hand crank hole today .tomorrow I may replace the crank nut.
airhorn will be trimmed after install.

I built the airhorn over the oil cooler that is on the newer engines.

 

[ChocoCat]

No one has done this

 

[ChocoCat]

Now if you opened a Kristi up and saw that breathing under the covers ... I would be ...

 

[jask]

That looks great Jim, I am really liking the high torque unit- a lot of Subaru conversions use the same idea... Denso high toque to replace the "weakest link" VW starter. Where did you find your hand crank nut??? I would love to have that option on my machine

 

[ChocoCat]

But for cooling there is Raby's DTM (down the middle) replacing the age old, highly in need of redesign doghouse .

Raby's Aircooled Technology Type 1 DTM (Down The Middle) Fan Shroud Kit,11001 is the finest system for the Type 1 engine! Jake Raby used hundreds of gallons of fuel on his dyno to develop the finest cooling system the type 1 engine has ever seen! This is a legendary shroud which is the only cooling system available for the VW Type 1 that effectively and efficiently routes cooling air to all 4 cylinders equally and is both dyno, race and street proven to do so! This system has seen hundreds of hours of dynamometer testing to enhance the airflow to the cylinders that need it most! Currently no other cooling system currently available can even come close to the DTM in properly cooling a type 1 engine. The DTM compares to a stock doghouse system the way a doghouse system compares to the in shroud system, it really is that good!This system will fit any upright type 1 engine.

Unfortunately out of stock currently.
http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Raby-s-Aircooled-Technology-Type-1-DTM-11001-p/11001.htm

 

[Sno-Surfer]

I've never seen that Raby set up before. I'd be curious if anyone has used it and if they noticed a difference.
That air horn looks Heavy Duty!! I made one as well by just bending sheet metal and riveting the ends together. It works fine and is light weight. I didn't have the dog house fan shroud to work around.
Looks good though.

 

[JimVT]

I have a tendency to sway to the heavy side.
it is strong and on solid. hasn't been road tested yet.
(snow tested)