@Jimmy V. wrote- "I have experience with running the 911 fan shroud on a type 1 engine and I believe the cooling was never even and most of the time over cooled the engine."
"The car was used in a TV Pilot for a show to be called "Blow em Up"..."
Great observations, Jimmy. An engine that takes forever to warm up wears quicker than an engine that is designed to reach operating temps quickly. Gene Berg claimed that type 1 engines without the thermostat and flaps had 12-15% faster wear (which translates into shorter life, boys and girls) in southern California, where it never really gets all that cold. Where I live (greater Vancouver area) daily driven engines without thermostat/flap assemblies will almost never reach operating temps for 4-5 months of the year and only last 40-50,000 miles. The 1 friend that still daily drives a VW removes the rear engine apron (the 1 over the exhaust) about the end of October or early November, throws it behind the rear seat for the winter and re-installs it when the weather starts warming up again (late March or early April. And this is in a with a properly operating thermostat/flaps assembly!
The biggest issue with most 911 style shrouds on a 4 cylinder engine, besides not having fast warm up or using significantly more (twice as much?) hp than the type 1 fan is getting all the cylinders and heads cooling evenly- side to side differences exist as well as getting equal amounts of air to the front and back.
One man's efforts to make a 911 shroud work-
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/fo...p;highlight=bergmann
And I remember Jake talking about their efforts for that show. I wondered what they did with the car afterward, but of course they sold it...
@*LongFella wrote- "Discs all around are worth every penny and you can get zero offset and not worry about having enough room. I have them on them on my Speedster and now Coupe build without any fitment issues. In fact, I have enough room to add a spacer if I want...
Also, the Porsche shroud uses a different metal combo (not sure what exactly) that keeps it very lite weight. There is another brand that is supper heavy because it uses a different metal... (I'm still a noob so I can't remember the metals...)"
You are right, Brian, the difference between drums and discs is not to be denied, and if you drive the car in a sporting manner even just occasionally they are "worth every penny", but they do cost more and not every Speedster owner sees the need for them (there are owners who do no more than the drive to the beach for ice cream). And yeah there are front zero offset kits available, but they cost more. I know most rear kits use a type 3 hub, which adds 5/8" track per side (which you can get around by using early axles and tubes or narrowing the irs trailing arms) but I don't know about the wide 5 kits. Why add a spacer when you could put a wider rear tire on it?
Aren't all the Porsche style shrouds fiberglass?