L28ET Super Beetle?

[chb280z]

Not sure if this is in the correct place. But i have a '73 VW Super and it handles great but is lacking in the HP department, but i do have a l28et sitting in the shed. I was wondering if anyone had ever seen this done and where i may be able to find links. Thanks, Chris

[JSM]

Never seen it done, nor could I imagine the customization necessary. Links, doubtfull, but who knows.

[chb280z]

well see what i am hoping to do is put the engine in the trunk and put a fuel cell under the decklid and maybe use a 240sx rear end i still have a stock 4 spd trans. so maybe this will work.

[Sparks280zt]

Theres a company out there who makes an adapter to mate the VW transaxle to ANYTHING. I think Olderthanme knows the name of the company, maybe PM him.

[atomflatz]

Check out the Volks-Swap board, lots of good info:

 

http://frost.bbboy.net/vwengineconversions

 

Good luck.

[jbk240z]

Also try http://www.wilcap.com They can adapt just about anything.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

I think the L series is quite a bit too long to be able to shove it into a bug. V8's fit well, but that's because they're short, and even then they aren't easy to fit.

[ReefsRocket]

I have a friend that was telling my about a company that makes mounts for vw's.He had a bus with a toyota pick up engine in it.I cant remember the name but im sure if you google "vw mounts" it'll pop up.Sorry i cant remember the name though.

[cybermecium]

The company that makes adaptors for VW transaxles is called Kennedy Engineering, I think.

 

Have you thought about putting the L motor inside the car, with sheet metal built up around it (kind of like how the motor in a full size van comes into the passenger compartment) with the transaxle behind the motor, you probably wouldn't have a back seat but you would have a mid-engine car.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

Kennedy Engineering is the company that makes adaptors. as for putting the engine in the passenger compartment, the engine is so LONG that even that wouldn't be easy. if you put the engine inside, the front of the engine would come right up to the back of the front seats, and the back of the engine would most likely sit almost right at the firewall. it's also so long you can't fit it sideways. if you tried putting it in the rear, you'd have the last 2 cylinders sticking way out the back of the car, and if you tried putting it in the front, you'd have the same problem. basically, a straight 6 in a bug can't happen unless you did something like strech the car a few feet.

[datsun 1/2 dozen SD]

ive seen a bug with a 426 hemi in it i guess you could do anything

[chb280z]

well i have posted this question on a VW forum aswell and pretty much what everyone is saying is to go mid-engine with it. and loose my back seat. which i guess is ok as they are pretty much pointless except for children and midgetts.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

ive seen a bug with a 426 hemi in it i guess you could do anything

 

yeah, but a 426 hemi is quite a bit shorter than an inline6 I've seen bugs with blown V8's crammed into the FRONT of them haha (though iirc, they had to move the firewall back a bit, meaning slightly less leg room) anyways, i dion't know all the exact dimensions, so if you checked them all then maybe it can fit in the back where the seats go. dunno what kind of trans you'd hook it up to though.

[Tony D]

as for putting the engine in the passenger compartment, the engine is so LONG that even that wouldn't be easy. if you put the engine inside, the front of the engine would come right up to the back of the front seats, and the back of the engine would most likely sit almost right at the firewall. it's also so long you can't fit it sideways. if you tried putting it in the rear, you'd have the last 2 cylinders sticking way out the back of the car, and if you tried putting it in the front, you'd have the same problem. basically, a straight 6 in a bug can't happen unless you did something like strech the car a few feet.

 

Somebody never did an Otto Parts Corv-8 conversion if he thinks a fiberglass integral engine cover/driver seat is something out of the ordinary.

 

"Can't Happen"?

 

I have put a whole Oldsmobile Toronado FWD Engine Cradle Assembly in the back of a VW Beetle. There's plenty of room for a lot more than you're crediting the chassis with, nobody said it would be a 'drop in' prospect, but to say it "Can't Happen" without a stretch is just plain foolish.

 

I have seen Datsun Cherry's (I think those are the B210 here in the States) with an L28ET in it, and there is scant little more room in the B210's firewall-to-radiator space than you would have in a transaxle-inverted bug.

 

If you can do a mid engine 13B Turbo that fits under the rear seat (faux Fiberglass seat albiet...) putting an L28 back there isn't out of the question. It's not appreciably longer than an L-4, and that conversion is a piece of cake! PLENTY of room behind the seats for a proper cover and accessories.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

yeah, after I posted that a while later I thought of how big my bug was from the back seat to the firewall. In my head I had mis-judged the wheel well placement, so it threw off my mental calculations it would be a LOT of work, and imo you'd probably have to build a tube chassis to get everything in right, and drop the body on top, but it would be pretty neat. I'm trying to think what sort of trans you'd have to hook it up to though.

[Tony D]

Flopped Type 2 Bus Transaxle runs V8's on the Dunes at Glamis. They are very stout. But even the stock VW thing would hold up admirably with a stock L28ET power/torque as long as the standard torque mods were done.

 

Remember, get the right Beetle (not necessarily a Super Beetle) and the car is only around 1200# with the driver's seat, interior panels, and back seat removed...take out the engine and there's another 250 gone...

 

Now start adding L28, bracing, adapter plates, radiator, etc....

 

It's not moving a lot of wieght, the tranny can be pretty light, especially if you aren't doing holeshots and drag launches. Even a VW engine can bend the frame horns doing that crap!

 

Light Bugs are scary fast with power added. All I got to say is 'CASTER SHIMS'!!!

[m4xwellmurd3r]

oh, I know all about adding power to bugs, but I was trying to figure out what sort of trans configuration would be able to mount up to the engine and have it sit in the right spot. a bus tranny would probably fit the bill, but you'd have to get it flipped to run mid engine, not too much of a problem though, it's been done thousands of times.

 

and yep, VW's twist not just the frame horns, but the entire body. my dad's bug up till we finally hooked the cage into the frame horns would run I think a 1.6 60' time after we tied it in, the 60' time's started to drop, and it was reacting MUCH faster (first time out he redlit REALLY REALLY bad because of how much harder it was able to put traction down)

 

caster shims haha, yeah, I love those things, but I love camber compensators even more. especially with some KYB Gas adjusts. I had that setup i my 62. we were going to put in dropped spindles, but swapped in an adjustable beam with a set of caster shims. put kyb gas adjusts in and a camber compensators. it had the original hydraulic shocks in before. first time I drove it on the street I shat bricks because of how much roll that thing had in the rear end. after the part swap that car would handle like a gokart. even if it got sideways there was almost no body roll.

 

imo a superbeetle would be a bad base to use for the swap an older bug is much simpler and lighter imo.

my dad's 66 btw weighed 1800 in stock trim. then we added 100lb by adding in a roll bar, then took out 100lb in tar mat, glass, and extra metal that it didn't need.

put a fiberglass front end, fiberglass doors, and all lexan windows and you can get it down to under 1200 real fast.

 

the only big problem I can forsee is that when you flip the trans to work midship duty, the bellhousing sits to far forwards for the engine, but you'd have to take a lot of measurements and see where everything would sit.

well...there was that Flat-8 3200cc bug built, with the entire back half of the shell being fiberglass, built by mating 2 1600cc engines together, and running it through a porsche transaxle. I found the site once and should've saved it, because I can't find it anymore. apparently it was one beast of a track car.

[Tony D]

My 1962 Deluxe Microbus did 15.50 at Milan Dragway back in 1983 (Turbo City Conversion Kit on 2110 Mill)...it weighed 2315# without me in it.

 

My 67 Beetle was much quicker, with the same engine swapped into it.

 

Oak Trees make you want to learn about 'CASTER SHIMS' before what you feel like will happen...happens!

 

Best story I had was running around town with my slicks in the back seat 'area' of the 67, and driving on 5.60-15 Bias Ply Retreads from Sears. A brand-new 84 Crossfire Corvette rolled up along side me at the stoplight of US23 and Numan St. in Tawas. He started doing foolish stuff because the my bug was idling at something like 1800 rpms, and roughly at that so I had to keep blipping the throttle to keep it from stalling. I guess he thought I was 'revving' the car...I guess I was. Well he showed me. Took off a couple of car lengths. I kept my foot in it totally forgetting I had the biad plies on it, and as I pulled along side him in 2nd gear doing 35mph, the boost came on hard and I lit up both rear tires, started going squirrely and all I could think of was 'OH SH*T NO SLICKS!" (as they clunked around the back seat area reminding me they were there, and not on the rear of the car!) So I let up, the back end caught, I jumped a little wheelie and shot out about a car length and a half in front of him...aat which point I realized "OH GREAT RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE STATE POLICE POST!" (Chastising myself for being an idiot and wanting to get the HECK off the road and shut down before someone impounded my car and thrw me in Jail, I took the next side street exit off US23. Bozo in the Vette comes from the right hand lane, across three lanes to chase me!)

After I did some zigs and zags (with vette boy following me) I pulled over and wanted to just walk away. Guy rolls up and is all enthusiastic and wants to know what I got in the car. I thought he was chasing me to kick my a$$ or something! I was apologizing profusely as he rolled up 'Man, I'm sorry, I almost hit you, I was stupid, I totally forgot about not having my slicks on. I didn't mean to go onto boost like that..."

All he can say is 'MAN THAT'S ONE HOT BEETLE-BUG! What you got in there, a Chevy Motor?'

 

Yeah, after that came the Toronado Conversion. What can I say, I was stupid in youth. I didn't mean to be on the car and have it go into boost, but I'd gotten so used to driving around on the slicks and the grip they provided, when those $19 retreads saw power, they just squalled and lit right up. I just couldn't spend the money to keep slicks/stickies on the car. Eventually I compromised and installed my dad's Impala Take-Off Tires. 235 78-15's I believe. They stuck decently for spirited driving, and the price was right. 235's on the back, and 5.60 15's on the front. Goofy looking as heck. And squirrely with the lowered beam as you mentioned! LOL

[m4xwellmurd3r]

haha that sounds fun. I remember when my dad first got his slicks, he decided to do one pass with the street tires. he said he got into 3rd gear at the track before it started to even MOVE!

 

I didn't get a chance to drive it without the caster shims, but WITH them it was really nice. I suppose without them, it changes the suspension geometry quite a bit and will make it really twitchy feeling right?

 

I remember for the weekend I had my dad's 68 ghia, with a 1776 (the engine/trans I was supposed to get as a graduation present, then he CHANGED HIS MIND)

my friends neighborhood was currently being expanded, so lots of freshly paved road. that little ghia could light up the tires going around a turn VERY well. I got it pretty sideways and it was really stable. even got it to spin a 180 in a cul de sac. I don't remember what size tires exactly were on it, but it was a 135 up front (actually, ALL of our vw's had 135's up front haha!)

[Tony D]

They move the bottom beam out away from the chassis. On lowered cars you may have to stack them. When you look at what happens to the trailing arms as you lower a bug, they go from a good stable tracking caster, to "Flop Around Like A Shopping Cart Wheel Backwards Caster"

 

That is not an exaggeration, twitchy does not begin to describe it...if your car is raked quite a bit. On mildly lowered cars it probably just makes them twitchy. But if you really rake the car, if you have loose suspension components like tire rods, drag links or kingpins the wheels can actually get into a hysterisis and starte shaking the front of the car back and forth as you hit a critical speed. Hit a bump and the process repeats. Not good!

 

Yeah, I was O.K. driving around town on the skinnies as long as it was below 4000rpms. After that, things happened quickly, the cam was coming on just about that point, and boost would go from nil to 25psi like a sledgehammer.

 

If I drove it like a stock bug, it acted like one. First to 10mph, second to 20, third to 45... My problem was I didn't shift to third when I should have---I would have kept accelerating like a semi-stock bug at that point. But it crossed the 'Hell Treshold' and that was NOT my intention. Even with 'soggy off boost performance' it would outperform any other Beetle in the area, it's just when the cam and boost came on it was like a light switch.

 

Ahhhh, Turbo Technology of the 80's...(er...truthfully the 70's, it was a Holley Draw-Through Setup!) With all it's hairy warts revealed.

 

The good old days....WEREN'T!

 

LOL