Cooling fan, hole cover

[Matt Kreeve]

Alfred my understanding from reading on this today is that all the 356 fans have the 8 (possibly generator aimed) holes
... however the early beetle fans don't have them

[Al Zim]

I have a large stack of the fan hole covers. My reasoning for removing them was that it is usually HOT in Texas and by removing the cover it allowed air to move through the generator not only cooling the generator but also keeping it clean. I will bet we have been doing this for over 40 years with no adverse effects. Other points worth mentioning. The 12 volt generator that is usually found on the industrial engines has no provision for changing the brushes. The output of this generator is 12 amps one half the output of the generator used on the street engines. Quite frankly I am amazed that you did not have battery problems driving at night. The next area of thought is 90MM 12 volt generators used on 356B/C and 912's till 1968. We have been unable to purchase new armatures for these generators our rebuilds include replacing the armatures and field coils. If you want to keep a generator, the VW large 12 volt generator will work, you will need to procure a 1968/9 912 generator pedestal before you purchase the generator. The generators are available new at a reasonable price. Zim's offers an alternator conversion that uses the 60 amp VW alternator. This is a bolt on swap with a pedestal designed to accommodate this alternator. The kit contains new sheet metal that allows the alternator to easily mount to the fan shroud. You should replace the starter with a 12 volt gear drive starter so the fly wheel ring gear teeth will not be damaged, All the electrical situations have been accommodated without having to replace motors, relays or gauges. The alternator has a built in regulator. Zim's Autotechnik 800.356.2964 1804 Reliance Parkway, Bedford, Texas 76021 2019/.02/13

[Matt Kreeve]

thanks Al Zim ... so question is does the 3200 rpm siren / whistle noise result from removing the hole cover?

[Al Zim]

I have never heard the sound you describe! I do think your analysis of a hard cardboard ring is correct specifically not sealing between the fan shroud and the plate that holds the generator. why did the factory do this? because the manufacture of the fan shrouds which were 36HP VW were not perfectly machined. If you look in VW books the real early stuff was all hand made. al zim