Club 80-90 Forums

Hi All

Pretty much a VW virgin so don't know much about anything! My Aircooled van currently has a 1600 CT engine in it. Which from talking to people I gather is relatively rare. Here is what the net says about it.
http://www.tunacan.net/t4/tech/ct-cz.shtml

My problem is that my engine overheated and spark-plug number 3 blew a hole in the head. (Hope this is making sense to you.) I need replacement heads for the engine, which my mechanic can't find anywhere. Is this because in this engine they are particularly unique??
I am considering trying to find a replacement engine, but I am on a massive budget. Would it be possible to put a 1600 beetle engine in the van or would this not work as well?

In which case...does anyone have any whole WORKING engines around 1.6 or 2l I don't care!! That they can sell to a single girl with a small budget??

Cheers

Buffy

Same engine as mine. I rebuilt the whole top end (cylinders, heads, pistons etc.) with beetle parts but a whole beetle engine will not go into these vans.
These people below are pretty good, used them a while back for a load of parts for my beetle but they also have stuff for your 1600 CT engine.

Clicky here:- http://www.vwheritage.com/vwh/VW-Camper ... lateID=vwh" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hope this helps!

to be honest I'd dump the 16 and move up to at least a 19.

Look here https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=73085" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Do the decent thing and dump the CT in the bottom of the nearest canal and bolt a 2.0l in (CU code) the 1.6CT is an attrocious engine, underpowered, slow not very economical and very very unreliable.
For what your going to spend on putting a boat anchor back together you could be spending that money on a half decent engine that will give you better service.

as above.
Dugcati is dead right get the lot bought or what you need, helps keep these running then you can sort out other engines at you leisure.
mike

Hello,

Welcome to the ct owners paradise!!

I have an 80/91 T25 with rebuilt engine and running gear.

Before you pay too much attention to the screaming hords of anti ct fans, lets keep the whole thing in perspective

The ct engine was only available for a short time, as the Aircooled vw engines were already on the way out.

It was (a very expensive to design) an answer to the problems of the beetle and camper van engines:

Namely:

1)Cooling fan: If the fan belt goes and you don't notice the tiny generator warning light within 30 seconds, youll cook the oil, 3 minutes and the block goes bang.Answer: Shaft driven turbine.

2) Useless heating.Answer: primary and secondary heat exchangers plus a dedicated belt driven fan

3) Clattery tappets with service interval 3000 miles.Answer : Hydraulic cam followers

4)Terrible tickover after a long run.AKA:Blip the throttle syndrome. Answer Electronic ignition with stabiliser and amplifier

5) No purchase for an overhead crane.Answer: 2 lugs moulded into the engine casing.

6) Oil strainer from the '40s. Answer : Positive pressure oil filter (keeping pressure and oil up in the engine when stopped) reduced engine wear.

etc.etc.

However nothing is perfect. The CT engine was mated to the standard VW 4 speed gearbox of the time, and was limited to 50 BHP. With its all up weight,(especially in camper rig) you will struggle to overtake a Citroen 2CV

There is a saying in french: You can't make a race horse from a pack mule

If you want to cruise at 90 mph, sell the van and buy a modern VW front engined turbo diesel.

I bought mine as a £400 basket case with the motor in 3 cardboard boxes and many small pieces missing. It did not help that the panicking previous owner had tried to detach the exhaust system with a cold-chisel and disk cutter

Since then to build up the motor it has cost me about £400, but I did have a set of beetle pistons and cylinders in stock.

With a bit of research all the necessary bits are still available, in France, Germany ,Belgium and the USA.

So, don't panic and fling money about, help is out there, and you can easily have a fun camper to trundle about in at a very reasonable cost.

It's a VW thing

Keep in touch,


Cordialement,

Hey

I am feeling much less panicky today. Thanks for the advice and reassurance...

VW Camperfan...I informed my mechanic of this site (apparently they had said that they were out of stock when he last contacted them) and he has now ordered the parts. I think I have also found a cheapish CT engine which I will purchase for future spares/repairs.

Gunslinger...your advise has been incredibly helpful and has given me a more realistic view on changing engines.

Sarran...you have helped me keep my head screwed on and have reassured me in my decision to stick with the CT (for the time-being anyway)

Thanks again guys!


P.S I really am getting to learn a lot about VW engines now!!

Thats the spirit girl!
The CT engine I use has been rebuilt with beetle heads but to do this you need to change the barrels as well so it can sometimes be cheaper to use a doner engine instead of rebuilding your old one but in your case I think the replacement head is probably the cheapest and easiest option at the moment to get you up and running again.
The CT engine does have it's drawbacks, mainly related to the heads used (the valve guides can wear and cause oil to leak past them resulting in a smoky exhaust etc.) but providing it's looked after and oil is changed when it should be you shouldn't have too many problems. I now have no problems with mine and with the addition of a few other parts, have a reasonable power output from it.
As with all Aircooled engines, the timing has to set correctly or they can overheat so it will be worth getting this checked.
Your problem could have been caused by many means... Spark plug being over-tightened and stripping threads or not being tight enough and stripping threads! Other stuff too including overheating but providing the timing and fuel mixture are correct and everything else is where it should be they won't overheat.
Right... Breathe...

The lovely CT engine

Back in May I had plug number 2 blow from the head, and several nasty cracks in both heads, this was a so called rebuilt engine from a so called specialist. I won't go of ranting about it honest.

As mentioned above VW heritage to stock proper CT heads, they also stock beetles heads.

You need to make sure what heads you need first as beetle heads will not fit CT barrels and vice versa, an espensive mistake I made when I rebuilt it properly.

As mentioned You can convert the top end to Beetle providing you replace the barrels and HEads with Beetle parts.

If your feeling brave you also have the option of going 1776 like mine
As said the CT was/is renowned for cooking heads BUT parts are readily available as beetle stuff fits them (says he who is now defecting to the 2.0l side )

yea yea the CT is slow etc but hang it's an Aircooled - they are ALL SLOW! - except Gunslingers monster!

My monsters going Dug. Reverting back to 2.0 for the mo. Got cooling issues with the 2366 and ended up with piston slap. Twice now in 7k. Might ditch it completely and tune another 2.0 instead. Still keeping the dells of course and got a turbo thomas sytem on order too so should still be pretty good

The bugger is a CT converted beetle parts engine...needed bettle heads all along!!

This engine gives me a headache!!

It's not mine... Honest!
I know it's not mine 'cos I drove it into work this morning!

Need some more help now...
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=73196