Walter's 1969 Beetle
July 20, 2009 The project has been rolling along quite smoothly but today uncovered a major problem. This was "engine day" and most of the morning was spent getting the engine back in the car with particular attention being paid to not damaging the fresh paint. Beetle engines usually go back in the car without too much of a problem, but this Beetle definitely did not want to play nice. After way too much time spent on what is usually a routine task, it became obvious there were serious alignment issues. The engine simply did not fit in the engine bay correctly.
The first clue was the interference fit on the right side of the engine which prevented the rear shroud from being installed. This was compounded by the muffler outlets not lining up with the cutouts in the rear apron as shown in this photo. The engine was sitting too high in the car. How in the world did this happen?? The first thought was the new transmission mounts. If they were incorrect then the engine might not be riding at the correct height. A phone call confirmed I had the correct mounts and an experienced Bug mechanic had no ideas why the engine didn't fit the car. After eliminating all possibilities of modifying the mounts to drop the rear of the engine enough for proper alignment, it appeared the only option was to modify the car to make room for the engine.
But why did the engine not fit a car it had lived in for forty years?? Walter had told me the car had received a hit in the rear and we had talked about how the right bumper bracket was not lined up correctly. After carefully comparing both corners of the back of the car, the reason for the engine difficulties became apparent. The rear-end collision knocked the entire back quarter of the car out of whack! The right rear fender well is buckled and the right side of the engine compartment has buckling as well. In short, the right side of the engine compartment and rear apron have been pushed in and infringe into the engine compartment. This problem didn't manifest itself until new tranny mounts put everything back into proper place and then the damaged body no longer fit the new engine installation. I had noticed the engine deck lid didn't fit very well on the right side and the right rear fender has an unusual jog in the welt line, but the significance of the mis-alignment didn't become important until today. There was a hint of trouble to come when the engine was difficult to remove but at the time I just attributed it to bad luck. This is major body damage and complete repair would be far beyond the scope of this project since it would basically involve sawing off the back of the car and welding on another rear body clip. Since this was out of the question, the decision was made to perform whatever surgery was necessary to make the engine shroud fit and the rear apron accommodate the installation of tailpipes. This is a band-aid approach but the only practical one in this case. Unless someone really gives the car a close inspection, the results of the rear ender will not be particularly noticeable. The right rear bumper bracket will have to be modified to make the bumper sit level.
The rear shroud was trimmed enough to allow it to be installed. The tailpipe cutouts in the rear apron were, well, cut out enough to allow the pipes to slide into the muffler. The biggest complication was getting rid of some reinforcement panels behind the apron that prevented the installation of tailpipe clamps. But a combination of SawzAll, jig saw and Dremel cutoff tool eventually did the job. The fit is still very tight but as long as the engine doesn't hit the engine compartment panels during gear shifts we should be fine. After a road test further surgery may be necessary. All in all, the results are satisfactory and will be better after the rear apron receives some cosmetic freshening. These things just happen when you take apart a forty-year-old car and start finding its character lines.
On a brighter note, the engine looks very nice!
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