Breathers...calling Sarge, John Lazenby...

[Cheesepanzer]

Mike, I'll add my $.02.

Straight 30wt oil is all you need.  Its out there if you look for it.  Add some zinc additive from Amzoil, Lucas or your favorite brand.  20w/50 is not a good blend for our engines.

That pump is huge, and if you want to take advantage of those elephant-size gears, consider adding an external cooler in-line with the full-flow.  Vintage stuff is cool, but you might consider putting it in a display case and running a quality 26mm pump instead.

I assume you're running an extra oil sump.  If so, fill the oil level to the bottom fill line on the dip stick, or a little below it.  The original case capacity was designed to run up to 69mm strokes and not exceed 4500-5000 rpms.  An 84mm unit spinning to 7,000+ creates a little "disruption" inside that case.  An extra sump and a lower level inside the case will help and will still ensure proper lubrication.

You're planning to vent the valve covers, so with the above changes you should be all set to let 'er rip without spraying oil all over the place.

[hotrodsurplus]

I would love to see a modification to case with additional breather opening in front of fan housing, just something simple like a 12-14mm nipple to attach hose to.

So long as it was somehow baffled to keep oil flung from the crank from pushing into it. I learned about that the hard way by venting a gear case right above the ring gear/gear carrier. The centrifugal force pushed an alarming oil out of that hole in a very brief period.

The one I'd like to do is a proper PCV system. Run a small breather line from each air-filter housing into the rocker covers. Baffle the insides of the covers so the oil wouldn't just spray up that line.

Then run a PCV valve in the line coming out of the oil filler (it's sufficiently baffled). Run that line to a small manifold that has small hoses that meet each manifold runner. The key would be to use lines small enough that they wouldn't confound the manifold signals but large enough to exert a sufficient negative pressure on the inside of the engine.

Then fresh air would go from each air-filter housing to the rocker covers and then into the case and up the generator pedestal to the PCV. Then it would enter the manifold at which point all of the stuff you don't want in the engine would get burned off instead of lingering in the oil.

Of course you'd have to install a positive seal at the crank pulley (and yes, I know this wouldn't apply to race engines but most of us have street cars anyway). That right there would remove most of the combustion byproducts like abrasive carbon and oil-killing acids before they had a chance to accumulate in the oil.

My dad has an SAE paper from the late '50s with a big story from GM about the results of a PCV system. In a nutshell bearing and ring wear went down significantly with a PCV system. Why nobody has done this or if it's been done why we haven't heard about it blows me away. I suppose the VW industry stayed away because it never came on the cars and it didn't seem to directly benefit performance. It also has a tinge of emissions control but so long as it doesn't impact performance (which a PCV won't) then why not?

[Fritter]

Interesting discussion, thanks for the input everyone.

David, yes, it's a huge pump!  Makes one wonder how people made these work back in the day.  Part of the fun for me is using these old parts, so I'll try to make it work before giving up and going to 26mm.

Yep, I actually have oil just touching the dipstick, it's not even up to the first line.  Yes, I have a 1.5 qt deep sump.  No valve cover venting anymore, I put on stock non vented valve covers last weekend, and am running a stock oil filler with the down tube and also the nipple that I put a length of rubber hose on, vented to atmosphere.  Seems to be working good, I took the car out and beat on it yesterday and the only leak is the rear main seal. 

I don't really want to install all sorts of lines and tubes, external oil coolers, etc....I feel simpler is better.

I picked up some 5w-20 tonight, I'll get that in the engine soon and we'll see how it goes!

Part of the fun for me on these hot rod VW's is the fine tuning to get things "just right", I'll get it figured out.  These aren't stock VW sewing machine motors, they can be cantakerous beasts!

[kingsburgphil]

Re: Breathers. In 75' I ran an ex DKP (don crane) 82x88 motor that Fleming/Aronson built for me. We used 3ft. long 1/2 in. hoses off the valve covers. We arched them under the package tray and tucked the ends down between the torsion bars/pan. I also ran the stock road draft tube. Leakage past the hoses was nominal at 7400 rpm.

In my 2276, I use 7/8 in. hoses at the valve covers with the same routing. 3/4 in. hose at the oil filler routed the same. And -8 off the fuel pump location to small Berg puke box. It may be overkill, but nothing except water droplets come out of one of the breather hoses. FWIW

[Fritter]

Phil, thanks.  I love all the "low tech" old ways that you guys used, and made work.   You meant 78 stroke, right?  88 is a pretty long arm!

[kingsburgphil]

Phil, thanks.  I love all the "low tech" old ways that you guys used, and made work.   You meant 78 stroke, right?  88 is a pretty long arm!

My mistake, 82 Okrasa with KS 88 pistons. And yes we used a lot of stock type parts, selection was few and expensive. A 82 mm Okrasa crank
retailed at $365, Carillo rods $100 each, race ready heads/manifolds $1000 or more.

[hotrodsurplus]

For reference, here's what those parts would cost in today's money:

The $365 crank, $1586.
The $100 Carillo rods, $434 apiece. 
The $1,000 heads and manifolds, 4347.

Right now really is the best time to be into cars.

[Doktor]

@ hotrodsurplus:

very interesting !

But gas prices were way, way cheaper, we shouldn't forget that !
For comparsion, I live in Croatia, 1 litre of gas (95 RON) is about 2$, and average salary is between 800-950$.


Regards,
Doc

[hotrodsurplus]

@ hotrodsurplus:

very interesting !

But gas prices were way, way cheaper, we shouldn't forget that !
For comparsion, I live in Croatia, 1 litre of gas (95 RON) is about 2$, and average salary is between 800-950$.

Regards,
Doc

we are getting pretty far off topic (apologies to OP) but you bring up a good point. But also consider the other component to affordability: fuel economy. In 1975 the US government started gauging what's called the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standard. In 1975 the CAFE for passenger cars worked out to 13.5mpg (17.4 liters/100KM). As of 2011 the CAFE is 30.2 (7.8 liters/100KM). So fuel economy is 225 percent of what it was in 1975.

Fuel prices have increased in the states as well. In '75 it was $.53/gallon ($2.30 in today's money). Right now fuel costs about $3.60 a gallon. So fuel price is only 156 percent of what it was in 1975.

That paints a more complete picture. Say you were to spend five inflation-adjusted dollars on fuel. In 1975 that five bucks would take you 29 miles (46km). Today that five bucks would take you 41 miles (65.6 km).

So going by the big picture it's actually cheaper to go places today than it was in 1975 (at least here in the US). While it is true that the VW got 30mpg then, that was one of the reasons that people called it ahead of its time. Time just caught up with the Volkswagen.

I cannot vouch for economic figures for Croatia (Yugoslavia in 1975). However, I am pretty confident that few Yugoslavians could afford to buy any of these parts in 1975. So I will state my case again: this is the best time to be into old cars. We would not have been able to have this conversation 38 years ago.

[Fritter]

Hey, quit hijacking my thread!   

I picked up the 5w 20 oil and a new filter a few days ago, I'll report back here after I get a chance to change the oil.   

[BeetleBug]

we are getting pretty far off topic (apologies to OP) but you bring up a good point. But also consider the other component to affordability: fuel economy. In 1975 the US government started gauging what's called the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standard. In 1975 the CAFE for passenger cars worked out to 13.5mpg (17.4 liters/100KM). As of 2011 the CAFE is 30.2 (7.8 liters/100KM). So fuel economy is 225 percent of what it was in 1975.

Fuel prices have increased in the states as well. In '75 it was $.53/gallon ($2.30 in today's money). Right now fuel costs about $3.60 a gallon. So fuel price is only 156 percent of what it was in 1975.

That paints a more complete picture. Say you were to spend five inflation-adjusted dollars on fuel. In 1975 that five bucks would take you 29 miles (46km). Today that five bucks would take you 41 miles (65.6 km).

Off topic or not.... I have always said that Norway is among the cheapest countries in the world when it comes to fuel. Pump price today is exactly 10 USD a gallon for ordinary gasoline.

-BB-