Hi Paul, I believe I’ve seen your posts about your experiences with the two different 1776 engines, especially as the off the shelf engine performed poorly. I’d really like to pin down a spec for a good 1776, including any extra tweaks that I’ve seen in other posts talk about, 3 way valve job, getting the crank, fly wheel, clutch balanced, any extra to consider that makes a good smooth running engine that’s going to last. Also interested in what I can use from my current 1660 stock engine, AD case, crank etc or am I best buying newer components. I’m in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
@paulcalf will be the first to admit he asked a bloke for a nice engine and got a beaut and it`s been in the van for many years so ultra reliable for a special . He was also very keen on one , but not the other 1776 so if you decide to head down the 1776 route you could do worse than listen to what he has to say . He`s also a wizz with speaker covers - endless talents !
A good friend of ours has (had) spoken great things about Jay at Aircooled Hut topside of Mansfield. https://www.aircooledhut.co.uk/ He said how good he was in discussions as to the motor Al wanted, timelines, what bus the motor would be used in, gearbox etc. He delivered what was expected and more. Can’t add much more though.
Nothing particularly special: - decent unmolested AD case, tapped for a full flow filter - stock VW crank, flywheel skimmed - stock 043 heads, bit of light porting/relieving, three-angle valve jobs, stainless exhaust valves (safest to change them anyway), new valve guides (possibly) - 1776 barrels and Mahle forged pistons - Engle 100 cam (not too different from a stock one) - Schadek 30mm oil pump, shaved down a bit - twin Dellorto DRLA 40s, choked down to 28mm, CSP centremount linkage <edit> but ICTs will do fine - 123 distributor - plus volute/velocity ring on the fan shroud - highly recommended! Pretty boring, but I'm happy with it. Pulls like a train, bags of oil pressure, runs as cool as the proverbial cucumber
Thanks for posting those specs, would be keen to hear from anyone who is also currently running a 1776 and if the performance suits there needs or thinks they would go for something bigger. I really appreciate the help and comments from everyone, certainly saved me a load of hassle by avoiding changing gearbox ratios. I think I’m tending towards a 1776 rebuild but maybe now with better expectations of how it will perform.
A 1776 won't be a ball of fire - you won't be burning rubber away from the lights - but I reckon it's a nice size. The twin carbs make the biggest difference. You'll have an engine that can finally breath properly.
Hi, ours has a 1776 with twin carbs, that's about as technical as I can get on the specification. Before we got it I'd driven a 2l type 4 and a stock 1600, the type 4 definitely had more power, especially at the lights, and always felt like it could give a little more if needed. The stock 1600 was a slug, probably due to the weight of a bespoke solid wood interior with more cupboards and units than Oak kitchens r us.com. Living in Switzerland, we have some big hills around. I can happily go up a long 8% hill in third in the 1776, and not feel too slow. The stock van would have been in second. We can also comfortably cruise along on the motorway at 50 - 60 mph, with enough power to go past lorries. I don't really want/need much more power, however I would like to be able to win the second gear lottery more often when we hit a 10% plus hill. Weight does make a big difference, with four adults and a bunch of camping kit, its not going anywhere fast, but with just me, it feels like a completely different van.
So I’ve discussed getting my 1600 upgraded to a 1776 with a company and been advised that if I go this route then actually going for a 1914 would not be any additional cost. They also suggest a Engle 110 would be better for the 1914 engine rather than the Engle 100 for the 1776. They would use my existing case and crank, possibly other items depending on the condition. Seems like a good option to me, can anyone see any down sides?
What mix of parts? Thinner cylinder walls and extra heat on them. https://afonsomotors.com/ Built mine he can talk for hours about vw engines it's always good to get another opinion
92 would be a safer bet, they are thicker wall these days. That makes an 1835. Engle 110 is similar to a scat c35, I think from personal experience of this cam (C35) in a bus it's unsuitable. The power band is such that for most of your driving you will not be in those revs. This is not good in a bus, too much heat produced by inefficient combustion. The C35 I had revved off my 6,500 max rev counter scale and went like hot snot. It had a better (76mm) crank and big valves making 2020cc, but you won't be able to take advantage of that with a stock crank so in effect that cam will limit your useful power band and will be irritating to drive - you'll be forever changing down a gear to keep the revs up.
My bug engine had that c35 cam in a 1600 that had heavy ported heads with bigger kadrons than my Webber's no way would it work in a bus 3 thou to 5 was just pure grunt added to a 1500 gearbox it just went and went . Ideal bus rev range for me tops out at 4 thou I know that sound conservative but it's a bus with camping junk in
I had a 1776,Engle 110 Cam, twin ICT's and Vintage speed exhaust and it was great. Made a lovely sound, and easily would drive up to 70mph+, but the temperatures also crept up too, so cruise was about 60mph. I was always under the impression a T1 engine 1600 and above can only run for 4 minutes flat out before head temperatures become uncomfortable. More BHP, just means more heat generation. However as my vans are hire vehicles I cannot stop people driving at 70mph and eventually the engine overheated. I replaced the engine with a 2.0 type 4 completely stock and I never have to worry about overheating. As I work on all my own engines. I have never come across a type 4 engine that has had endfloat issues, the case and crank rarely ever need replacing as they don't pound their case and bearings with the inbalanced crank the T1 has. Yes the parts are more expensive, but that is only because the T1 market is flooded with some cheap aftermarket crap.
Wise words indeed My mantra has always been any type 1 engine over 1915 is for a weekend blasting toy. If I wanted 2l it's type 4 as Porsche made them work well. Buuuut if I wanted reliable grunt it's scoooobiiieee time as the cost is about the same I'm sure I could of got a waterpumping lump installed for the same cost of my 1776
It looks like the potential engine builder doesn’t know it’s for a bus. Thin cylinders and a long duration cam are fine for a bug, not so good for a bus.
It has to be said that in discussion with the likes of Heritage who sell both Beetle and bus oriented engines, the sales person was very clear which style was appropriate for a bus. Because of the way it is set up, a T1 engine running at 70mph is on the edge of generating more power than its cooling system can get rid of. Hence my fitting a full flow oil cooler, both for catching bits of junk in the oil, and for dropping the oil temperatures. A T4 engine has a better fan design and so can be revved a bit higher before the cooling gives up, hence the 79mph official top speed for a T4 engined bus. But generally people still fry T4 cylinder heads in more interesting and permanent ways than T1 cylinder heads, the valve seats often going for a little dance, while on the T1 it just cracks and carries on ..
With the thinner cylinders is the main problem that if the engine does start to run hot then is is more likely to fail or that over the life time of the engine it will fail earlier due to fatigue etc. If it’s purely heat related then can this be mitigated by just adding extra oil cooling etc?
I believe that the 1600 will just be machined accept the 94mm pistons, cylinders wall thickness I think is the same as the stock 1600 85.5. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Was this just with sock cooling? Also what the 1776 like to drive a low speed, climbing hills etc and the acceleration when fully loaded?
