Hello every one this is an odd question so i hope this is the correct section for it lol. I have a 77 vw beetle fully restored and i absolutely love the car. The only problem is i hate how slow it is. I do have a bunch of engine mods but unless im planning on spending 10k i cant get it to go much faster sadly . So i have been reading up on it a lot and i was wondering what you guys think about a rotary swap. I was wondering if people on here have done it and if they liked the turn out. I was planning on putting a fc single turbo engine into it. Please give me comments and sites to check out for this swap cause if i do decide to do it im gonna need all the help i can get lol

 

There's at least one VW bug with a rotary. https://www.rx7club.com/old-school-other-rotary-63/rotary-70-vw-bug-906636/

I think it's pretty cool tbh.

 

I did it with a Karmann Ghia. There are plenty of conversions on the net. Ckeck out volks swap. http://frost.bbboy.net/vwengineconversions

 

im almost finished with mine. i started working on it 11mo ago. its a NA 13b for now. ill probably find a 4 port and at least street or half bridge port it. plan on dropping some cash on a stand alone ECU there is no sense using the stock ecu on something you want to go fast. and if you have not already upgraded your gear box plan a couple grand for a decent one so you can put the power down. what is your current engine setup?

 

my engine is about a 1800. Bigger bore pistons (i think 88mm), big engle cam, performance lifters, bigger carb, performance intake, lightened flywheel, performance exhaust, um i think thats it. My dad wanted to keep it slow cause it was my first car but now that im a little older her does not mind me having a fast car. The stock vw motor is just way to expensive to upgrade. Thats why i was thinking of doing a rotary swap. They are easy to work on ( so iv heard ) and parts are cheap.

 

I guess i cant run the stock transaxle anymore with this set up... Any advice on transmissions? Should i get a beefed up racing trans, or maybe some kinda of 5 speed?

 

I have a Pro-Street Trany on mine, but I do not take the car racing and I do not have a turbo motor.

 

VW motors way too expensive to upgrade? i just went from a 1641cc to a 1914cc fully balanced, new bearings, 94mm pistpons, straight cut gears, 44 idf's, full rebuild, clearancing, and machining of heads for higher compression, and bigger valves and a ton of other stuff for way under $2500. rotaries are fun, but cheap they are not in comparison to an air-cooled veedub!!

but yeah, a veedub with a rotary will be fast, just dont let your guard down one day and see an air cooled motor humble you again!!
(there's a 2110cc turbo super beetle here in town that runs down Z06's at the track and leaves them by about a full car or more...and its a street driven full interior car, not a trailer queen!!)

 

what are your ultimate goals? need a reliable driver? fast as possible? 1/4mi? 1/8 mi?

the problem with a hot type 1 motor is that when they are big and powerful their life goes way down bearings get hammered out quick. if you do a rotary swap with a stock to mild motor and a conservative tune it will last 5 times longer than a turbo type 1 but witha bad tune you can toast a rotary in minutes and be out the cost of a rebuild. i was looking at a rancho pro street trans seems solid but since my bug is going to be a toy/strip car i will probably be getting one custom built and will cost about $2500 ish but will be good for 250hp and similar torque. you by all means can do the swap on a stock gear box but you will need to not drive it like a pissed off teenager. as far as cost of the build i have spent in the neighborhood of 3500 to do the swap and i have done all my own fabrication alot of parts scavenging. if i didnt have access to a full machine shop it would have cost way more over the span of the build. im not trying to discourage you but i would lok into building a nice type 1 motor with a reasonable stroke and 94mm jugs some nasty heads and a good oiling system and either fuel injection or a nice set of weber 44idf's and you will be screaming. oh then you got to look at upgrading you brakes before any engine mods are done. also want to make sure your front end and suspension are in tip top shape.

 

All i can say is, there is no other engine that sounds like a vdub. A little whistle, a litle lawnmower action, and oyther noises. I personally will not find a hopped up bug engine that plays to my fancy. Before my swap, my beautiful bug engine had webers, 1900 cc etc and it just didn't cut it for me. I have the super beetle freeway flyer transaxle, tranny support braces, keffar bars, stage 3 racing clutch setup good for 350 + horse to hold the power of my 13b-re tt. It is expensive for sure to do this swap. And the fact that an aftermarket ecu may be needed...

 

hey just wanted to say i have a 1971 super beetle with a 1991 13b turbo11 engine i will say this much i love my bug but i will never go back to air cooled engine, i had a 2180 duel webber stroker engine and boy did i spend big bucks on that dam engine i ran it at the track best time was 15.1 in a 1/4 mile with my 13b stock engine no turbo at the time and 750dp holley 100shot of nos ran a 13.2 in a 1/4 mile with spin thrue 3 gear do the swap you will love it

 

A 15.1 with a 2180? I ran a 14.6 with my 1914cc.
What size webers did you have? On a 2180 i wouldnt run idf webers, stroker motors need an ida with larger venturis, at least 42's and then jetted accordingly.

 

44idf