Waxes

fiver

Well-Known Member
I use straight 30 wt with a little Lucas oil treatment.

I also burn non ethanol premium fuel in the lawn mower, the 4 wheelers, and the boat.
the boat gets drained every fall but the lawnmower and 4 wheelers will sit full of gas.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I use straight 30 wt with a little Lucas oil treatment.

Exactly. Straight weight, NON DETERGENT oil for the air-cooled sling-lubricated engines. If it has a pressurized oil system (sump, pump, and filter), it's ok to use detergent oil because it won't foam up. The Lucas does wonders for cushioning plain bearings and improving running compression.

Back when I drove a VW, I'd drive out to our local municipal airport on half a tank of regular unleaded and top off with 120 octane aviation fuel at the Dugosh station next to the Mooney plant. Especially in the summer when the engine was running on the verge of seizing up from heat. I could advance my timing a tick or two without burning holes in the pistons or having to pop the clutch to make it stop running after turning off the ignition, and it seemed like it gained at least two or three horsepower, which actually would have been quite significant.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Nah. The earliest were 25 hp, but went to 36 hp in '54 or '55. By '61 they had a blistering 40 hp, which would make my
Ghia do 82 mph, which is where it cruised all the time. Bugs typically would do 72 mph on a 40 hp, and a 40hp bus would hit
the governor at about 57 mph. Not all had govs and many were removed. A '63 bus at top speed of maybe 65 was a bit
terrifying in any wind at all.

By '67 they had 53 hp 1500 cc, and a bug would hit 77 mph, showing the futility of getting
higher speed via hp, and in the Squarbacks with the dual carbs, 66 rompin', stompn' hp! :rolleyes:

But 3 HP added to a 40 or 53 hp bug would be noticeable.

As far as high octane fuel....my brother's '60 (36 hp) ran out of gas one day (no gas gauge,
had a reserve lever like a bike) and we were far from home. Had a quart of Coleman fuel, and
it got us to the next station, about 12 miles. No idea what the octane of Coleman fuel was
but a 36 hp had something like a 6:1 compression ratio, so wasn't too picky.

Bill
 
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Ian

Notorious member
Mine was a Karmann Ghia, very aerodynamic. Had the '69 1500 in it and then I put 2100 CC jugs on it later, and a dune buggy camshaft. It was a pig off the line but would really climb hills on the highway, at the cost of overheating. Valves got so tight one time it started running ragged and finally shut down, had to wait a couple hours for it to cool off, back off the valves, and get home. Oh the fun with air cooled engines in hot/humid climates! It really liked the 50% AV gas with either engine, ran much cooler and smoother with more power than even premium pump gas.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Much later and more powerful motor than I could afford at that time. One time I had to go to a junkyard and buy the rings off
of a junkyard engine laying on the ground with heads and cylinders removed because I could get them for $10 and that was all the
budget could handle for a few months and the oil burning was REALLY bad. I was pretty poor in those grad student days.
Earning $100 for a doing a VW clutch job was a HUGE boon! And that included parts. o_O It would more than cover my half of the rent that month.

Bill