J-tubes

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:50 pm

I am thinking about putting J tubes on my beetle. Don't drive it in the winter and don't really need the heat.

Q: how doe the lack of heater boxes affect the cooling of the motor?? Do the fresh air hoses still go to the muffler or does one just block them off?

How do the lower cooling tins attach to anything other then the crankcase??

fatalifeaten · Post by **fatalifeaten** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:09 pm

I live in Phoenix. I run a header and J tubes. I don't notice any difference on the temp gauge vs heater boxes. By that, i mean I don't overheat by running the J tubes, My gauge isn't accurate enough to tell me if I'm 5 degrees hotter or cooler, just not that granular. Cap off the ducts. most places sell the caps or you can get good ol' freeze plugs. I like the look of the accordion hoses vs the ugly capped off shroud, so I put the hoses back on for looks only. I have the lower tins sitting on my work table while I try and come up with a better solution than bailing wire to the J tubes. Thought I saw some tins designed for J tubes somewhere but now I can't find what I was looking at.

couion · Post by **couion** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:08 am

My bus came with j-tubes. The guy that I got it from made some really cool tins for it.I will post some pics and let you guys see if you can duplicate them.

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:02 am

Thanks for the replies. I think I will give them a try.

I like the look of the fresh air hoses also so I will cap off the outlet ports and put the hoses back on.

empiracer1966 · Post by **empiracer1966** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:49 am

bill hauck,

What ever you do...If you do eliminate the heater boxes and install the "J" tubes, you must block off the ports on the fan shroud for that would be the path of least resistance in the air flow and not cool the cylinders!! For then, it will over heat! Cause the cylinders to elongate and then the rings can no longer seal. Not to mention, when it cools back down, you might have to retorque the heads.

Brian

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:04 pm

I agree. I know someone who "cooked" his motor by not having the fresh air tubes on ddn't have the ports blocked off. I have ordered some from CIP1

volksbugusa · Post by **volksbugusa** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:04 pm

bill
hope all is well. If you are not on a dog house set up I would not use j tubes.
that # 3 cylinder is really going to heat up...just the shear fact that the heater boxes has mass pulls heat away.If you want to install a fan then thats a new topic...
Matt
volksbugusa.

bill hauck · Post by **bill hauck** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:01 am

Matt: yes, I do have a 1660 with a dog house cooler. also will put the J-tubes on a '59 single cab with a 1600. Neither car will be driven in a Minnesota Winter!!!

largede · Post by **largede** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:55 pm

I've just gotten back into all this after being around it all as a kid. I remember my father used to use baby food caps to block off the ports in the summer time. They would fit right on, nice and snug. I guess you might be able to put the tubing back on over them for looks if you wanted.

Dustin

The 1966 VW Beetle Forum

J-tubes

J-tubes

j-tubes

J tubes.

j-tubes

Baby food caps??