Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> At 6:36 PM -0400 5/17/01, Austin Franklin wrote: > > > Magnesium VeeDub four banger? The one in my 67 Beetle > certainly was iron. > > > >The cylinders were, but not the heads or the block. > > OK. I wasn't aware of that. > > I guess in the usual sense the VW didn't have a block, but I didn't > know that the heads or the crankcase were magnesium. What the LUG > isn't good for! It had separate iron cylinders, which made rebuilds and even upping the horsepower...very very easy. A marvel of a design...low center of gravity, crossflow heads, easy to repair, and capable of amazing horsepower...just didn't do well heating the vehicle, and the most vulnerable part was the exhaust system...they always "putt"ed. My very first car was a black VW bug that I bought for $50. The signal lights were little flippers just behind the doors...that flipped up when you signaled. I don't believe it had a gas gauge, I remember a little lever that you flipped when you ran out of gas, that gave you two more gallons or something like that... I didn't have a Leica back then. I had a YashicaMat 124G I believe, and a Beseler Topcon Super DM...awesome camera... I was young and had not discovered the virtues of rangefinders at that point in my life.