ISO Advice on engine rebuild 1300 Sp Vs 1600, 1776

[msfinlayson1]

I recently purchased a Ruby Red 66 Beetle mostly Original 6v car.

I pulled the motor planing to replace the gasket and seals. Do to having pretty good oil leaks. I was anticipating it being a 1300cc but at some point it had been built to a 1600cc Sp engine. Had 85.5 mm pistons.

My original plan was to just rebuild it back to a 1300cc with the correct 1300cc Sp heads.

Or do I rebuild it as a 1600 sp or Dual port.

Then my other option is to get a different case Dual Relief and dual port and jump up to 1776. This is an internal battle. Leave it 6v or go 12v and bigger motor for improved drive ability.

Originally planned was to leave it all original as possible. Wasn’t anticipating that it had all ready been rebuilt before. Which I guess was silly of me.

Thanks for your advice and opinions.

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[jmartini]

My 66 is all original including the engine so I
Chose to leave it as a 6 volt system. If the engine wasn’t original I probably would have opted for a dual port 1600. That being said I get plenty of power from the 1300. Now as far as the six volt system, it definitely has its draw backs. Had mine come with a 12 volt I would have been happy, the six volt system is like running in front of the car with candles at night. I rarely drive at night with mine so I can’t justify converting it at this point.

[Java Green]

Mine is also mechanically original, engine is an F case and the numbers are in the ballpark for being the factory issue for the car. It was converted to 1600sp before my purchase; for me, a pleasant surprise. Since you asked, I'd advise, if your motor is proper for the car -an F case- and is healthy, then work with that. It'll be meaningful to someone else down the road and is an uncommon detail worth talking about. Worth a nod at cars and coffee at least.
I converted mine to 12v for good reason, I was 50/50 about it, but had no choice. Nothing outside of the headlights worked and the much maligned 4way flasher black box turned out to be the predicted problem. And I was gifted a rebuilt 12v Bosch generator, so I took the cosmic hint and did the conversion. WW supplied the 12v blue box switch and everything worked on the first test. Still, if the 6v system didn't have major issues I'd have stayed with that and saved a substantial bit of money too.
Yours looks much, much better than mine did on day one of ownership. It appears complete and stock. That never goes out of style or demand.