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After I got out of the Army, was more into Motorcycles .
I remember getting off the Street called the Highway in Florida( one block away from Sage street.), turning left , fast of course?, and hitting a patch of loose dirt and doing a somersault over the Bars ,
and the Car I landed just in front of was my Dad's!
He had a good talk with me , and felt that I should at least have a car as well!
Well he had a Beetle at Home with a badly damaged Motor 1961 Model with a 1200cc motor. Gave him R200.00 for it.
Did not take me long , I did the Motor up, put it back together , now to put it in?
I had 3 Sister's all attending the Florida Park High School half a Block up the Road, put out the word I needed some Help?
I am not sure how to put this modestly?, their Brother , played in a Rock Band, Had hair halfway down his back , and was considered a real catch by the opposite Sex!
After School about 10 Schoolgirls rock up to help put my motor back! Am I too proud?, not a chance, about 6 of them pick up the back of the Car, while I roll under with the motor on my chest , lift it, and slot it in! 20 minutes later the car is running.
Strangely enough while doing sound at a Bike rally a couple of years back ,met a Guy who informed me that his Mother still spoke about helping me put a Motor in, and what a big crush she had on me at the time!
Anyhow, I had about 3 x 250cc Bikes at that time , so the devastating Power of a 1200cc Beetle soon wore off!
I found an abandoned wrecked VW 1300 , front end crash, lying in Marshal Street , as it was still there a month later, I was sure they had actually left it for me!, So I , of course , towed it home . My intention was naturally to prevent it being a Road Hazard, What a selfless person I am!
As I cannot leave anything alone, stripped the Motor ( threw the Body away) Ported it , Drilled extra holes in the Crankshaft Big end bearings (flowed more oil to enable higher Revs)Put a smaller Drive Belt pulley on the Crankshaft , to slow down the fan ( less power to drive it) Built my own inlet Manifold for a Double Choke Weber Carb and also made a 4 into 1 exhaust system for it.
Put it in, certainly went quite a bit better , but the truly amazing bit was at under 80MPH it would deliver 50MPG!
Beetles were never known for economy!
Just to make sure, I went to the Police with the engine number saying" Some Guy's offered to sell me a Beetle engine cheaply, this is the engine number"
Result, straight into an interrogation room, All those words starting with W , Where, When, Who , What, etc, Promised to call them as soon as they got back to me !
Needless to say , 1200 in again, Look for another Crankcase , Rebuilt all the innards into a 1600 Crankcase I bought ( with Papers)
Let that be a lesson to all of you, Crime does not pay! Or more correctly Crime can cost you a lot, both in time and money!
As only intellectuals are on Steemit, you will have gathered that this story is not complete, and this was just the start of some very interesting , and Quick Beetles that I built , I quote:-
" If it is not fast, what purpose does it serve?"
Alan W.G. Bibb 1967a.d.