Little Engines That Could!

[Jim Ratto]

Good memories here, again, of days gone by, friends and I in college, and very poor....eating leftovers from Mom and drinking cheap, cheap beer. Working full time at a VW shop, I had "an unfair advantage" when it came to motor parts, but my friends were somewhat more limited. My garage was the birthplace for some pretty cool, low-dollar motors that actually lived and ran fairly well. We'd sit around and talk parts, drink that cheap beer, and scheme about how to make motors with a few pennies. I guess this is where the Sweep the Floor motor family was born.
My good old friend, the infamous Lil Frank, had a S.T.F. 94 x 69 that we made out of decent junk in my shed, Mexican std case, c/w 69mm, stock VW rods, Pauter 40 x 35 heads, K8 with old Eatons, and a good pair of 48's he found cheap and a swap meet 6lb Crown flywheel. Motor was a snap to put together, and was drip free, and ran like a caged lion. Once the tach needle got past 4K, hang on, you were going for a ride. Really fun motor in his otherwise stock sunroof '67. A sleeper.
Another S.T.F. low budget little monster actually had two lives. Started out as 1776 street motor, Engle 120 with 1.25's, 40 x 35 heads home-ported by McNulty, 10.5:1, 48's and merged header....all used crap we had laying around, Darrel and I. Built it to see what a 1776 would do. Bolted it in his lightened (gutted interior) '66 bug, took it to Sac and went 13.01 at 100mph on slicks. After this, we tore the poor thing down, stuffed used 94's in it, along with Engle FK10, added some old midget 42 x 37 heads we found at school, put it back in same '66 Bug and went 12.81 at 104.
Coupla guys in our old club too, in college, eating caffiene and beer only, all their money went into VW's....both built really fast small motors. One guy built a truly streetable 1776 that ran on 92 octane, Engle 125, 40IDFs, stock valved heads he ported himself, 8.7:1, ran 15.24 at Sears Point in 1995, stock weight '68 Bug with little 185 radials.
And of course my old friend S.O.D.A 'Bryan', and his little '65 Bug, 1679cc, stock valved heads, Web 110 (like Engle 120), 40IDFs, pump gas, went 14.71 at Sac, stock '65 Bug with radials. Bryan sure could make the most of a little motor.

I think tough little cc motors are a lot of fun, always fun to surprise a V8 with a sub-2-liter in a little stock looking VW.

Got any stories?? Let's hear them here!!

[Diederick/DVK]

truly inspirational jim 

i suppose your friend soda bryan could really take **** out of caffeine guy for going faster 

 

[Frank LUX]

Cool...

You don't always need those Big $$$$ Monsters to go Fast...

Frank

[Lids]

I have been running a 1914 for about 6 years, remember the first time i took my brother up the road in  it.  He never had a front seat to sit in and was flung all over the place, so funny.  He never came out with me again.

[The Ideaman]

Back in the day, around the end of 1980,  we built an 1835 with NPR's and an 8 dowelled Mance crank.  It had an engle 100, 4tuned exhaust, single quiet pack and ported stock heads with Kadrons.  I thought it was really fast, but in reality it only was a high 15 second car.  My neighbor at the time was big into buggies, so he walked me through the build.  Remember the screamer kits from the back of HVW's?  Put one with an 019 on it.  Ran a 10.5lb flywheel in my 66 sedan after burning up a 180mm clutch.  Drove it 15k over 2 years nearly every day in AZ.  When it came apart the cylinders were scored pretty badly and the heads were cracked, but the crank was still .010/010".  The 66 did okay for itself street racing in 1st and 2nd.  I outran a v8 LUV truck til the top of second and then he passed me like I was sitting still.   Sure do miss the days of 79 cent premium gas and living with my parents with no bills other than insurance and car parts.

[Russell]

The race shop ghia was 73,74 and 75 winner and only run a 1835cc, small is best, but a 2332cc is way more fun.......

Russell

[Zach Gomulka]

1600cc, 14.87 @ 88mph, daily driven. My little claim to fame

[herrvee]

I drive actually a 1641 with ida's. It is very fun to drive but my 8*33 trans stock is not the perfect one to run with, I swap it this winter.

[Lee.C]

I ran a 16.2 with my 1641 and a single weber 40dcn carb on a DDS manifold - It spun the wheels all the way through first too 

So there's more to come - I'll keep you posted 

[benssp]

1600cc, 14.87 @ 88mph, daily driven. My little claim to fame

Ooh, what's the spec?

[Diederick/DVK]

thought i'd cover for you here zach:

1600cc, 110x1.25, 8.5:1, AJ Sims 044 40x35.5, 44idfs, 1 1/2" merge. In my light daily driver '67 bug went 14.8 @ 88mph. It is still running in my friends stock weight '67, we drove it to Drag Day (about 900 miles round trip) and averaged about 30mpg.

[benssp]

thought i'd cover for you here zach:

1600cc, 110x1.25, 8.5:1, AJ Sims 044 40x35.5, 44idfs, 1 1/2" merge. In my light daily driver '67 bug went 14.8 @ 88mph. It is still running in my friends stock weight '67, we drove it to Drag Day (about 900 miles round trip) and averaged about 30mpg.

Thanks, what's the final drive on the gearbox?

[Zach Gomulka]

I used a 4.12 r=p, 3.80, 2.06, 1.48, 1.04. Its gets 30 mpg in my friends stock weight '67, he has stock gearing too.

[Gregor/DFL]

I ran a 16.2 with my 1641 and a single weber 40dcn carb on a DDS manifold - It spun the wheels all the way through first too 

So there's more to come - I'll keep you posted 

As I am also running a little 1641 cc- please let me know the specs of that 1641-16.2 is amazing! Seems like I´ll have to rework my engine if kept in the car

[Lee.C]

You do realise it was in my Manx - its still pretty impresive I think for a baby 1641 on a single carb

Anyway here's the spec's:

AS21 case - full flow oiling
69mm counterweighted crank with lightened and balanced rods
87mm barrells and pistons
Engle 100 cam
Stock dual port heads (slightly ported to remove all the sharp corners)
32mm oil pump (race trim)
deep sump (race trim)
Boosh 009 dizzy with electronic ignition kit
Power pulley (smaller diameter)
Lightened and balanced and 8 dowelled 200mm flywheel
"Bolt up" rocker sharfts with swivel feet adjusters
Cromoloy pushrods
Straight cut timing gears
DDS center mount "RAM" type manifold with a single Weber40dcn14 Carb (with 24mm venturi's) the two end piece's of the manifold although stock have been heavily ported

Hope this helps dude 

[Diederick/DVK]

looks pretty solid monkiboy!

just two general questions:
- is a 32mm oil pump not overkill? i've read that it will blow the oil with too much pressure. i've been advised not to go over 26mm (or was it 28) for my 1776...
- secondly, a power pulley, how well does that go for street driving? does it overheat quickly? i am familiar with the extra power it should give...

thanks!

[Lee.C]

Yeah man trust me this is one solid/strong engine it revs to about 5500rpm and will cruz at 80-85mph all day long  it will also do well over 100mph  and pulls like a train 

About the oil pump - the only reason I went so big ie 32mm was because I have mounted a oil filter and large cooler in the back of the manx which is ABOVE the engine and I also used 1/2 inch braided oil lines which are pretty fat so I thought whith all this extra capasity and the fact that the filter and cooler are above the engine this size pump would give me an even pressure throughout the system - also with this extra cooler the power pulley does not seem to be a problem - I have never had a temp or pressure guage on this engine and I have put over 5000 miles on her this year and I changed the oil every 1000 miles cos the engine was new and I felt this would be a good move but it has never run "HOT" and the oil light on the speedo has never come on  I will put some guages on it for next year but I am sure it will be fine 

And I agree about the power pulley's you can feel the difference for sure 

[Lee.C]

here's a little pic of my baby 

[Zach Gomulka]

Nice detail!!! Im diggin the white cannons!!!

[Tobi/DFL]

Wow, what a nice detailed engine! I wished I had those Race Trim valve covers and deep sump as well!

[Lee.C]

Cheers guys - but did you also see the Race trim pushrod tubes 

[Zach Gomulka]

Love it! Im a bit of a Race Trim fanatic myself

[Rune]

I guess Ian Clark's (WPS) 1776cc split bug would be worth mentioning. Ran mid 12's with it did'nt he?

[deanosvws]

Ian did ran 12.7s from memory with the 1776 and then ran 12.3s with a 1850. I also ran a pb with my 1776 of 12.96 this year,some more work over the winter and i  hope for some quicker times next year. 

[Rune]

Cool, do you have some specs on those 1776's Dean?

[deanosvws]

i cant remember the specs on Ian's engine as it was a few years ago now, apart from it ran a engle 125, & a set of jeff denham heads. my engine is very simular spec, iam running a engle 130 with 1.25 ratio rockers,10.1 c/r, a set of lee maynard heads 40x37.5, scat i beams, & a stock 69mm crank, everything balanced etc. this isnt a big money engine, iam allways on a tight budget so ive been tring to get as much out of it as possible. there is a bit more work to do on the engine over the winter to see if i can get some more power out of it.

[ESH]

Love it!

[leec]

i cant remember the specs on Ian's engine as it was a few years ago now, apart from it ran a engle 125, & a set of jeff denham heads. my engine is very simular spec, iam running a engle 130 with 1.25 ratio rockers,10.1 c/r, a set of lee maynard heads 40x37.5, scat i beams, & a stock 69mm crank, everything balanced etc. this isnt a big money engine, iam allways on a tight budget so ive been tring to get as much out of it as possible. there is a bit more work to do on the engine over the winter to see if i can get some more power out of it.

When you say 'stock', surely its counter weight crank?

[Ulcera]

Hi guys,
Fantastic engine Monkyboy,but I'm so curious what kind of wheels are on the Manks?American racin torque thrust?Do you have a pic of it?thank you boy and Merry Christmas

Ulcera
The RagTop Garage

[deanosvws]

yes lee it is a stock 69mm crank. i couldnt afford a counter weighted crank at that time when i originally got the engine bits together. its lighter than a c/w crank is revs up a treat but it just means the case will get more of a pounding.