The Cal-look Lounge

I need to sort a breather for my engine. 2276.
I like the look of the ones from CB etc that replace the oil filler.
But I'm concerned that some of them are either too small. (Need a min of 1ltr) or too big to clear a cross bar linkage.

I'm also not a huge fan of the breather box bolting to the firewall. It's not often the engine is in and out, but when it is, it's a pain to remove.

I was thinking perhaps a long thin breather bolted to the top of the fanhousing.

Anyway. Be interested in what you have, and where you got it from, and what it looks like. :-)
Need to know what my options are.

Thanks.

Stocker with the breather line hooked up to a breather mounted on the  fire wall. Cleared my taco linkage and 48's no problem

I've been using a Sil Modesti breather for years now.  It probably won't clear a cross-bar linkage, but it works fine with my Berg linkage.  It is vented to the air cleaners on my DCNFs.

I use the same one Don uses.  Works like a charm. Plus the Sil, the fabricator who made them, is about the best welder of aluminum I have ever met.  Used to do most of the work on Ron Davis aluminum radiators for years.

Rick M

i use Berg breather tower.

the Sil Modesti is made to order only, correct? is it aluminium or stainless? any idea what it costs now?

The Sil Modesti is made to order and made of aluminum.  The price last time I checked was $250-$300.  He hasn't made a lot lately...

Where does the Sil Modesto actually breath?

About 2 miles down the road from me ;)

That's a good question though. Looks like a sealed cap in the picture. I've never looked at one very closely.

Zach you naughty person you.... :D

;D
Martin.

I have a similar breather box[made by someone else though] here and cant see any other way for it to breath/vent than that Donny wrote

cheers Richie

In others words, it is just another shiny, expensive piece of a kit that actually have absolutely no actual benefit. An original, late model VW breather box offer more breathing capacity compared to the Modesti one (and most other aftermarket boxes)

-BB-

Wrong!  the valve covers vent into the bottom of it.  There are two baffles in the middle.  The carbs draw off the top of the breather.  If you remove the cap and hold your hand over the opening you can feel the puffs from the engine and when you rev the engine you can feel it suck you hand to the opening.  Believe me it works.  Larger displacement engines might need more volume but it works just fine on my 2165.

Here we go again... Why vent your valve covers when the pressure is created inside your crank case? Hence why you should went it instead of your valve covers. The original VW box have over 4 times the breathing capacity compared to the Modesti design.

hi, which original vw box breather you referring to? is it the oil filler? if yes, how much volume is there?

Volume of the box does not give you squat if its sealed or have a -8 to "free air"..

BeetleBug and I have and other solution with a 30-35mm hole out of the filler.

 :)

Okay I must be stupid or something and that is just fine with me.  The crank case also vents into the bottom and it is not sealed with the lines going to the aircleaners.  I am still free to live in ignorance and bliss...!

Vents to the bottom of what?

The breather is bolted to the modified stock filler stand allowing the crank case to vent into it at the bottom of the breather tank.  It has approx 25 mm hole that is sealed with an o-ring.

Does not matter. It's just a extra volume to fill with air. The engine needs more area out to free air. Even if it has a 25mm hole to the crankcase it's only got a AN-8 out of the tank. Massive, massive bottleneck..

The AN-8 should not be treated just as a passage to free atmosphere. In reality it will generate negative pressure in the breather, not a bad thing, and it weighs up for the size in a big way.

All I know is that my engine puked oil out the engine pulley with only a AN -8 sized outlet..

With all due respect, Don B drives his car as a real car, and I know he's proud of how well his car runs and works. Let's not beat up on which parts he selects and likes. His posts here are always respectful and helpful.
His breather, as far as I can tell, works the same way the 356 SC and 912 Porsche setup works. I'm not debating the claims that other breathers might work better, I'm just asking you guys are a little easier on fellow Lounge guys.

Thanks

Was it hooked to the air cleaner pulling vacuum?   

No. I could not get to much "vacuum" through the top of the cleaner. Seemed that the area of airfilter was to big to make vacuum.

Jim, I feel this is directed toward me? If Donny feel that I have been disrespectful then I hope he will PM me and we can take it from there. Donny is able to get his box to work and that is fine, absolutely no problem. But calling it a breather... that is what I tried to discuss. Take a look at a original 912 breather box, do you notice the difference:

(http://www.californiaclassix.com/images3/c420-engine-remote.jpg)

It has a 25 (1") and a 10mm outlet.

-BB-

Can we expand on this?

Where are the best places to Vent from?   My type4 had outlets in the heads, but this would do the same job as the valve covers surely as both are on the side of the rockers..

I will be venting from the oil filler, from the Fuel pump block off and I was going to also vent from each valve cover.     (Only because I'd prefer not to weld bungs into the heads as Valve covers are expendable, and heads are not...)

Steve, search the forum and you will find plenty of info regarding venting from the valve covers. Here is a picture of my turbo engine at the dyno. I replaced the filter with a see through hose so that I could check if the engine puked anything. At 30 psi I did see some condensation and a few drops of alcohol mix but that was it. I do not have any additional breathing hoses other than what you see in the picture.

(http://www.raceinfo.no/temp/tn_Dyno3_1.jpg)

any pics?

what if the fittings changed to AN10 or AN12 and cap replaced with a breathing cap?

i was asking beetle bug what original vw box he was referring to.  any pics of your solution?

Hi, I always thought that the breather was to stop or help prevent crankcase compression  and because it's a boxer engine there is a lot more chance of CCC.
As long as there is a large enough out let to relive the pressure that's all that matters,the return to air box or to the top of the carb is purely to stop the emulsion making a mess in your engine bay or over the race track.
The argument seams to be how big the breather should be or the size of container to hold the gunk.
A larger displacement engine would need a larger vent to avoid CCC but the size of the catch tank is up to wether you like to hide it away or have to clean the gunk out of your engine bay when the tank fills up.
I can't see why there is a problem where you vent as long as you do,if you vent from the valve covers,fuel pump hole or anywhere else its all the same.
Cheers Paul

Sorry, I took it for granted that everyone knew how the original VW box look like:

(http://www.raceinfo.no/temp/breather.jpg)

Baz54, the breather box is not there to stop or prevent vindage/pressure. It is a puke box. And I do not buy that a boxer engine have more issues compared to other engines. With regards to the size it is common that the rules say that it should have a minimum volume of 1 litre. We are now talking drag racing.

-BB-

This was the original premise for my request.  I would just use the stock filler/breather or a small tower breather but the drag racing rules dictate a min puke box of 1litre.  So we have to amend accordingly..
For road use I'd not bother too much.   

Baz54, the breather box is not there to stop or prevent vindage/pressure. It is a puke box. And I do not buy that a boxer engine have more issues compared to other engines. With regards to the size it is common that the rules say that it should have a minimum volume of 1 litre. We are now talking drag racing.

-BB-
[/quote]

Hi BB. Crank case pressure is what  forces the the puke out into the catch tank ,if you block up the breather the engine wouldn't last long at high revs.
I just presumed that because the pistons are not much higher than the sump it wouldn't take a lot of pressure for the oil to be drawn up into the ports and hydraulic . Obviously you run a dry sump or all your oil would rush to one side on launch and could cause hydraulicing.
A stand up engine would just starve the front cylinders and rise the level in the back but not enough to flow into the liners.
Cheers,Paul.

Steve

are you talking about a crank case breather/breather box or a catch tank?

cheers Richie

I ran a stock breather with a the bottom welded up and welded a bung to my stock valve covers took the lines from the valve covers and the stock breather to one of those aluminum breather boxes we all ran mounted on the firewall with some PVC material put in there.. I never had an issue with oil blowing out of this motor and it was ran hard on the street and the track.

Look closely at the original oil filler breather box. It uses the generator tower as an inlet = 24mm or close to 1". Outlets are one 10mm going to the original air filter box where there is suction and a 14mm pipe on the bottom side of the box. The total outlets equals 5 AN8 fittings/hoses. Try to find a breather box that matches that. The best breather tower box I have found is the one from CSP.

-BB-


 

Late model ones have no downpipe and an even larger breather outlet on top.

Ok not to come across dumb.  But are they not one and the same?  Otherwise why have a 1ltr or 2ltr breather box if the case is breathing fine on half that if not to catch a puke.. 
Used to just run the cheap bugpack box off the heads , filler and base of the alternator stand on the TiV. 

Doesn't this pipe get a road draft nipple with only a tiny slit in it?

csp is great, only thing is the cap, would prefer that to be a breather cap instead of sealed.

If they only find a working solution for the two screws that connect the box to the tower bracket.

So you need a Berg box, like they have been making for ages?  :D

This is why I asked

GSR 1:15 VENT TUBES, BREATHERS
Mandatory as outlined in class requirements, permitted on all cars. Where used, the tubes must terminate into an acceptable, permanent attached catch can with a minimum capacity of 3.8litres [one US gallon]  per engine [except as noted in class requirements]
The catch can must be baffled to keep overflow off the track. A sight glass or tube is recommended to verify the tank is empty prior to a run. Breather vent tubes must be mechanically secured[tie wraps prohibited] to the fittings and locked at both ends

I don't see anything else about 1 litre catch can or anything relating to breather boxes in the current rules, unless its a VWDRC special rule? there is a part about coolant overflow catch cans for watercooled cars but they only need to be 1/2 litre so it seems you can make a breather box any way you like, but if it doubles as a catch can it needs to be BIG, where did you get the info you need a 1 litre catch can from?

cheers Richie

Well, here is my Berg/FastFab dual set-up. It works for me...

I'm an oldschool kinda guy !
 ;D

sorry, pic won't work ???

Old thread, but when in doubt, custom shit out :D

(http://www.vwnorge.no/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=17998.0;attach=243571;image)