1.6 Air cooled...go faster stripes or something else?

[2011dandd]

Hi
Short of putting a different engine in the camper what modifications can I make to the 1.6 air cooled engine to get a wee bit more power from it?
Relatively cheap and not hugely worried about the fuel economy as the fuel consumption as it is is not very economic

[bigherb]

Twin carbs.

[2011dandd]

Haven’t got that kind of money to be spending on it at the moment. Wonder if there are any gains from a k&n filter to be had?

[Smcknighty]

Probably


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[T25Convert]

Haven’t got that kind of money to be spending on it at the moment. Wonder if there are any gains from a k&n filter to be had?

It might let a tiny bit more air in, but they are also proven to let more dirt in too. The standard setup is not strangling the engine, so you probably won't see any gain, but your engine will see most dirt. This is bad if you want it to last, but good if you want an excuse to get a bigger engine!

Having had various 1600 Aircooled engines there are no bolt on extras that make a difference except twin carbs. Even they don't exactly transform it! Beyond that it's more aggressive cans and capacity upgrades. Good exhaust can give you minor gains (or rather a poor one can lose you loads).

If you are serious about wanting more power I'd save the cost of the K&N and any other go faster bits you fancy, and ultimately either buy a set of second hand twins and refurb them, or save for a second hand larger engine.

[2011dandd]

Haven’t got that kind of money to be spending on it at the moment. Wonder if there are any gains from a k&n filter to be had?

It might let a tiny bit more air in, but they are also proven to let more dirt in too. The standard setup is not strangling the engine, so you probably won't see any gain, but your engine will see most dirt. This is bad if you want it to last, but good if you want an excuse to get a bigger engine!

Having had various 1600 Aircooled engines there are no bolt on extras that make a difference except twin carbs. Even they don't exactly transform it! Beyond that it's more aggressive cans and capacity upgrades. Good exhaust can give you minor gains (or rather a poor one can lose you loads).

If you are serious about wanting more power I'd save the cost of the K&N and any other go faster bits you fancy, and ultimately either buy a set of second hand twins and refurb them, or save for a second hand larger engine.

Sound advice
Thanks very much

[george2490]

Twin carbs can be had for less than a hundred pounds and rebuild is easy.

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[2011dandd]

Twin carbs can be had for less than a hundred pounds and rebuild is easy.

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Are they poor quality though? Or second hands?
Is any of his worth it in the long run. Will I gain noticeable power improvement?

[Mr Bean]

As youngsters we used to make our stuff go faster by simply bashing out the baffles in the exhaust.
All in our heads of course

[T25Convert]

Twin carbs can be had for less than a hundred pounds and rebuild is easy.

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Are they poor quality though? Or second hands?
Is any of his worth it in the long run. Will I gain noticeable power improvement?

What's a decent power gain? What are you hoping to be able to do?

Twin carbs will give it a bit more oomph - the weakest point of the older Aircooled engines is the enormous inlet manifolds. Twin carbs remove this. Do need balancing and setting up properly as well or you'll see a decrease in power. Just pulls better in all gears, might get away with not having to change down every time there is a slight gradient.

However, twin carbs won't significantly reduce your journey times, make you able to pass slow moving tractors on country roads or do 70mph on the motorway. If you want this you need more displacement!

[2011dandd]

Hmmmmm
Perhaps I should just leave it well alone. I’m loath to take the original engine out for me it’s the heart of the thing and been in there for almost 40 years. Sounds great to

[weimarbus]

You could try changing your driving soundtrack, Born to be wild, bat out of hell etc. it has always worked on mine , feels much faster

[sarran1955]

Hello,

Sorry if I'm late..

Hmmmmm
Perhaps I should just leave it well alone. I’m loath to take the original engine out for me it’s the heart of the thing and been in there for almost 40 years. Sounds great too

Well, until the motor is out there is no point spending money on bling carburettors.

The CT at 30 kw is de tuned, producing less power than an AD 1600 bay (34 kw).

I have uprated to 1700 cc displacement with large valve heads. This has proved to be quite adequate without fitting 2 carbs.

( I do have a set of Solexes that I may try on the CT to see what happens...)

Spend your pennies on getting the motor really clean, airtight, no missing bungs or seals, lock the wongly flap open.

Check the crankcase pressure occasionally, when it starts to puff, and drop oil into the air cleaner, then you will hopefully have saved enough for that re-build.

Air-Cooled bliss...

Cordialement,