When I first encountered the rare 1946 VW at a gas station, its owner was in too much of a hurry to stop for pictures, but invited me out to his shop in the country. A very serious air-cooled VW fanatic since the late sixties, Brian has an incredible shop filled with all his VW toys going back decades, as well as his latest project, a genuine 1945 KdF restoration. And he has the resources to do things most of us would leave to the realm of MMing. Want some DOHC heads for your VW rail? No problem; just make them.
Brian has two engines with them, an older first go on here on the bench, with carbs.
I’m not a cam lobe expert, but that profile on the intakes looks pretty steep and wild to me.
Here’s a closer look at the second one, installed in his rail. Now, this was a while back, and I didn’t take note, but he didn’t do all the work in his shop, as the main pieces are obviously the result of a CNC machine, which I didn’t see on the premises. But he designed it, and it works. And don’t ask me what the rail pulls in the quarter…nines, I seem to remember? Must carry notebook!
Awesome!
I’m guessing this is not an engine you want to lose a timing chain on…
Sweet!
Those heads are castings that have been modified by welding on an extension on the chain side. the camshafts look forged. My guess is that these started out as Subaru or Porsche parts.
This is an amazing work!