Another clean diesel-69 Beetle CBEA swap

A Porsche Boxster would be a fine candidate. The engine bolts right up to the 012 trans and can probably use Passat/A4 engine mounting arms on at least one side of the block.

Cool kit car! A guy coasted into the farm driveway with one of those years ago. The engine/fuel lines were vapor locking and the owner wanted a hand. Literally, as he had one arm. I'd love to see a cr swap into one of those or a Baja beetle. A bit harder for me to get excited about a samurai.

A boxster would be awesome. I'm sitting 50 yards from a '00 boxster with a blown engine at the moment. My uncle blew the motor 3 years ago. He bought a used but IMS updated motor/trans. from one of Jake Raby's(big name in Porsche circles) techs. It's been sitting in his garage collecting dust for years. He bought a Saturn sky red line this fall, so I doubt he'll ever swap the motor now. My main concern with the Porsche transaxle would be gearing. Maybe something like a 2.88 ring and pinion could be swapped in.

Hadn't thought of a boxter yet, it is kinda keeping within species anyway. Gearing would be an issue.

I am kinda hoping the kit car comes through. I have to drive 3 hours one way to look at it when/if they contact me. If it isn't a rust bucket and I can get it back here without much trouble I will jump on it. It could be real cool when done, just hoping it is not too far gone.

We were thinking a Baja bug would really hop too with that engine, plus it would be relatively easy to do. Have feelers on one that was done "right" years ago with suspension and wheels and bodywork and such. We can probably get it nearly free but the title is in limbo somewhere. A buddy of mine said "let me look through my title collection, might have one close."

Strangely too the type 4 intrigues me. I remember in the day we would shudder when one showed up in the lot for work. Funny what a few years time can do, plus they are rare enough now to be viable as a project.

I am not too excited about the Sammy, but it would be a "for profit" adventure that I would gain some experience form. Like I said, everyone has done one, but not everyone has done a common rail, at least it will be somewhat unique. That is usually how it goes, you don't get to do what you want but rather what comes in. The neat thing about it is the guy is also a VW enthusiast and is not afraid to spend money to go top shelf so to speak. I think it would be fantastic when done, even with the engine in stock tune.

Use the 012 from a FWD V6 Passat. They're cheap and a dime a dozen.

Years ago I knew a guy with a VW shop who had a Type 4 fastback w/manual trans and a Ford Cologne V6. From recollection those used their own breed of trans, and he went through something like three of them before parking the thing. In other words, I think you'd need to adapt a Vanagon 091/1 in order to deal with the torque of that CR...and those trans aren't known for their robustness either.

Ok, Boxter goes on the list.

We were thinking 091 and larger Vanagon clutch already as we heard the mainshaft on the type four was an issue in the day. Also, once the initial giggle factor is over the car may get driven semi normally.

We were worried about the beetle transmission too initially, and still are for that matter, but they are plenty available still. After spirited driving we notice the final drive side plates weep a little oil at the transmission mating gasket, which indicates they are moving, but it heals back up if driven normally. At least so far....

Could also go for something non-street like a Thiokol Imp...

^That would be cool- reminds me of the snow cat in The Shining. I saw a very cool Willys Jeep kit car on the Samba last week. Something like that or a dune buggy/sand rail with tdi would be sweet.

Mercedes replica kit car got away. Still in the running for the type 4. May have a 78 bus soon to keep us busy, have the bus just trying to get a title.
Stupid snow on the ground so no more playtime with the beetle. Thought of mounting a blade and putting on chains to clear the lot when it snows.

tuned a pistenbully snow cat a little bit ago...
very interesting EDC15 ECU in that one.

Been cold, snowy, and icy here so we haven't ventured out on the roads with the beetle for a while. Still want to get some drive time to sort out any other problems that may arise. I suspect it will need a little more ECU massaging as we get to drive it in the real unfrozen world. We did put a heater in it though in anticipation of dry roads.

I had a lead on an IH Scout that fell away, probably fortunately as I was liking the vehicle less and less due to weight and suspension issues. Was looking at a sidekick 2WD soft top, but that also fell through. Again maybe a good thing, my heart wasn't really into that car either.

Good news though, I have as good as sealed the deal on a type 4 fastback. I have not seen it yet, but it is owned by a longtime VW nut that owned and drove it back in the day. One day it dropped a valve and he always intended to fix it as he did like the car. He said he pulled the engine but never really got any further. It has been sitting since. He says he didn't take anything else off the car so it is complete, though aged from sitting. I am getting excited about it, but it is buried in a snowbank at this moment so I am not sure when I will be able to bring it home.

what part of idaho are you in? I am in southwestern idaho.... If you are close and ever need any upholstery needs I can help you with that, going on 13 years of stitching. It is no longer my full time job but still do it in my garage.

I am in mid northern Idaho. Lewiston. Quite a ways away by goat path routes that we have here. I appreciate the offer, who knows maybe an extended test drive might be in order, assuming the project gets done. I have not even seen the car, or measured one up for fitment. I am relying on my less than reliable memory, but I am pretty sure there is room enough. I figure if nothing else, and the car is good enough I can always make it work in stock form again. Who wouldn't want to have a type 4?

The weather had been cold snowy and slick so the little beetle has not ventured out onto the streets for real world testing. Hard to get a feel for driveability with the wheels always spinning.

I am tired of winter, and I see the groundhog has sealed out fate again. I am going downtown today with a bunch of other protesters and we are going to get violent and destroy things and loot stores with our "Not my groundhog" posters for clemency and legitimization.

No not really, but I am anxiously awaiting the snow to abate for beetle testing and access to my next project that is buried deeply in a snowy field. We have mocked up engine and transmission mating and figured out mount theory, working on having a clutch disk built and a starter, but we are rapidly running out of things to do without the actual car.

Still too much white crap around and cold temps, no progress on anything more except I did get a photo of my next project if I am brave enough to take it on. It has been sitting for many years, obviously. As long as the floorboards aren't rusted out and the rest of the car looks as straight as this side I am in. Rust on the front end body panel may change my desire to do a stealth radiator install and just cut a hole and mount a grill there instead of some sort. Been visualizing vanagon or scirocco in place on the front, again hard to visualize without the car to stick grills on and see if they stay.

Soon as the snow recedes I will get the car and assess the possibilities. I will start a new thread for it when the project gets rolling. Got a CJAA just looking for a home.

Beetle is still alive and well. Weather has allowed it to be driven finally. Filled the tank to see what fuel economy will be. Probably will take a while to empty the tank, but the full throttle scary runs are behind us now (mostly) so real world numbers can be seen.

Waiting for the ground to dry to get my hands on the type 4.

Mocking up an ALH into 76 Beetle swap too. Goal there is to leave the car mostly stock looking with the rear hood shutting it all in.

Please post pics of the ALH swap mockup! I've been taking measurements of my 73 Super with the thought of doing that swap, but I'm thinking it's just not going to work without hacking up the apron and losing the deck lid. Neither of which is something I'd like to do.

That half-beetle with an engine sticking out the back is all kinds of awesome. Maybe every kind of awesome.

WooshyNoises said:

Please post pics of the ALH swap mockup! I've been taking measurements of my 73 Super with the thought of doing that swap, but I'm thinking it's just not going to work without hacking up the apron and losing the deck lid. Neither of which is something I'd like to do.

Click to expand...

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=475242

We were able to shoehorn the engine in without removing the apron. We plan on using the stock hood too, but it will need a bit of a "power bump" to be able to close completely. Figure we can hide most of the mods under the license plate light and license plate.

We have a friend who has an english wheel, we are trying to get him interested in trying to stretch the metal on the hood to fit. In lieu of that we can cut and extend it a little as needed.

Been out running on the local streets almost daily. haven't burned a full tank of fuel yet to get mileage figures, but it looks as though it is getting a good 45 MPG or so by looking in the tank at the fuel level. It has done 300 miles and is close to half full still.

n out running on the local streets almost daily. haven't burned a full tank of fuel yet to get mileage figures, but it looks as though it is getting a good 45 MPG or so by looking in the tank at the fuel level. It has done 300 miles and is close to half full still.

Everyone asks "How fast is that thing?", so we decided to find out. A semi local dragstrip had a meet last weekend, and it was a relaxed, just run what you want type of thing. We took the beetle there just to get some times.

It is a 1/8th mile strip, which is great for beetles as they usually end up running the last half of a 1/4 mile run in fourth gear topped out anyway, if they have any kind of horsepower and stock gearing.

We got many looks and comments as expected since we were probably the strangest entry. Most of the others were the usual big engined drag slick equipped mostly American cars. Being gearheads there was much looking and asking, a few outright laughs, but generally well received. All could appreciate the concept and hardly anyone knew what was powering the little beetle. Most noticed the turbo, none registered it as a diesel engine. Jaws dropped when they heard that, and they also had he "How fast does it go?" questions. We told them that is why we were there.



We made a total of four runs, and broke out of the bracket more than the other guy in eliminations. The runs were very consistent. 9:12, 9:02, 9:01, and 9:12 in eliminations. we had hoped to break into the 8's but didn't quite get there. The day was warming and everyone was running slower as the day went on, the little diesel seemed to not be too affected though. The trap speeds were very consistent at 75 MPH nearly for all 4 runs. Our friends there at the track running their conventional dragsters all commented about trap speed being very good. the comments ran something like "Wow! that thing has some long legs." I guess the diesel torque was evident to them and there was comments about how well it zipped down the track. There were a couple beetle people there too telling us to ditch the big tires and gear it down for better runs, till we informed them we were second gear launching as it was and couldn't fit any larger tires to gear it higher. Kinda blew their minds about the torque difference in the diesel. It was 2 gear runs, launch in second and shift to third and torque on.

All in all a fun day, and now we have an answer to the second question you get asked.

very cool ... if you put a continental kit on there it would look like a 40' ford truck

It is always a work in progress. It had a flatbed on it at one time, but the naked look is good too as it shows off the engine. With the flatbed it could have a 40 horse aircooler for all anyone knows. As it is, people generally spend a bit of time taking it all in once they notice the car. You get thumbs ups, and honks and waves as you drive it.

I would love to find a continental kit rear hood for a beetle for my other beetle diesel project. Hood clearance is an issue there. I searched the internet for options and there are not that many anymore. We are leaning toward a modified stock hood on it.

I swapped a cbea into a 06 PD DSG Jetta. Having issues with wiring. Chassis side not a problem. Engine side won't communicate thru OBD.

Any plans to add engine mounts to the crank case other than the kennedy adaptor?

In the beetle application, no. It has not been a problem there at all. This particular car has been running for years with a diesel swap and Kennedy adapter without problems. A lesser engine of course, mostly an AHU with mechanical pump, but still some amount of torque.

The transmission is showing age though however. It was marginal to begin with though, so not unexpected. It works ok, but is getting noisier due to the twist and power pulses. It has a chattery type noise, not bearing noise, like the gears are worn. especially 4th gear.

We have plans at some point to throw in a freeway flyer 73+ transmission to get a higher final drive ratio that it sorely needs.

I think the light weight of the car and the tire slippage is important in reducing drivetrain stress. If mounted in something heavier or bigger I would be adding a mount. I hope to do a type 4 swap in the future and there is definitely plans there to reinforce and add mounts.

Stumbled across this while looking into CBEA swaps, my buddy acquired one recently and we don’t know what to do with it yet lol. No idea on its history either.
Just wondering how has this project progressed over the years?