Which engine to get?

[farmerfalconer]

All,

My brother and I are moving forward on our LEXL...  sort of.  We partially built the table for the build.

Anyhow, we have located a few VW engines around but we have no idea how to choose the right one.  So I have a few questions...

How many cc's are we looking for?
What is the earliest/latest model you would use?
How much have VW engines changed?  I assume the more recent ones (say 2000 on) would not work for Leonards plans?
Is there any thing we need to look for when purchasing?

Any answers appreciated.

Cheerio,
Cody

[scottiniowa]

Go to Forum button,  there you will see many headings, part way down, is one Engines, and from there you will see much covered under VW , Corvair and the like.

that should help narrow up some of your questions, best of success.

[Dan_]

In general, you want the 1600 CC engine, with the dual intake port head design.  Also they have the dual oil relief valves.

The front relief valve is used to control when oil can go the the stock setup oil cooler.  One would assume this keeps your oil pressure from going too low as the oil gets hot.  The rear one then keeps the oil pressure from going too high with the oil is cold...


There is plenty of info on what to stay away from regarding buying used available in Google searches...  

Click here for instance
 
single port:



Dual port:




(To clarify: In the single-port design the port splits INSIDE the head to provide the fuel/air mix to each intake valve. The twin-port (dual-port) heads have two holes in the cylinder head, one for each intake valve, since the split occurs in the intake manifold itself before it attaches to the cylinder head.)

[farmerfalconer]

Thanks very much.  We are at the point where we don't really know what to even search for so that was a big help.  The photos made it clear.

Thanks again,
Cody

[farmerfalconer]

So in general the 1600cc is best.  But could someone use a 1400cc if that is all that was available?

Has anyone bought an enine off of ebay?  I see some on there but I'm a bit suspicious.

Cheers,
Cody

[scottiniowa]

So in general the 1600cc is best.  But could someone use a 1400cc if that is all that was available?

Has anyone bought an enine off of ebay?  I see some on there but I'm a bit suspicious.

Cheers,
Cody

  It would be pretty safe to say, there are/have been some good ones and some poor ones sold on Ebay,  so basing thoughts on if you should consider or don’t consider might be solely based on if you heard if someone else had good luck or not on a purchase?  Hardly can be considered gospel on this factor as it is based almost entirely on someone else’s experience or luck.

[Dan_]

So in general the 1600cc is best.  But could someone use a 1400cc if that is all that was available?

Cheers,
Cody

I would not want anything older than 1971...  They never made an air-cooled 1400CC.  I think they have a water cooled one now with the inline fours...

You need the dual port heads, and the dual oil bypass valves.  Even though you won't use the front one unless you put an oil cooler on it.  

I don't know how you could cut a single port head.  It may not be a big deal, but you will be better off buying a new head with the hardened unleaded valve seats anyway.

Only the 4 bangers and possibly the high H.P. cut case motors need an oil cooler.

If you stick with a full case, the 2 banger has trouble keeping enough heat in the oil...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_air-cooled_engine

[farmerfalconer]

Thank you Sir.

Scott, there are many sellers on Ebay that sell regularly.  I thought that someone might be able to recommend an honest trustworthy seller in particular that they had dealt with in the past.

[scottiniowa]

HI, and sorry, I did take that wrong, in that I didn’t think about “regular sellers” of the older engine on eBay,  rather, I took this as a single point question, “has anyone had success buying -an VW engine- on eBay?”  

Good luck on your search.
Scott