@Sacto Mitch posted:.And as long as we old farts are gathered around the digital campfire exchanging old oil stories, there's this to keep in mind, too.
The 'high' and 'low' marks on the dipstick were, of course, calibrated for the stock VW engine — with no extended sump. When you bolt on an extended sump, the 'low' mark is no longer nearly as low as it used to be. When it says 'low', you now still have lots of oil in your extended sump. You could probably run the car with the oil at 'low' all the time without mucking anything up.
Because he's a "half-full" kind of guy, our fearless leader Mitch is giving the Chinese dipstick makers cabal the benefit of the calibration doubt. It's good to remember, however, that the engines on the vast majority of engines in Speedster replicas are built up from parts, not from any particular core.
This means that the case was an Autolinea from Brazil (most likely) and that the heads are either Brazilian, Mexican, or Chinese cores... unless of course, they were cast in the USA (Mofoco, etc.).
The cams are from the USA, but the lifters could be from anywhere... and on and on until we get to the "bits" - the engine tin, the alternator stand, the dipstick, et al. These are almost universally EMPI parts, made with all the care and pride you would suppose would be mustered up by a 3rd world peasant working for 16 hours/day in an East Asian "factory" at a rate not to exceed $1/hr.
(the aforementioned is way closer to the truth than anybody "looking for a deal" is willing to admit)
... but I digress. The end product of this 21st century global commerce is dipsticks which may (or may not) actually indicate the optimal oil level in any given crankcase, given (as is the situation) that neither the case manufacturer nor the dipstick maker knows which part will go where (creating a situation where nobody knows their dipstick from a hole in the ground).
On my Type 1s with extended sumps (not the dry-sump motors), I try to keep the oil level high enough to keep the pickup covered and low enough that there isn't a bunch of windage. You'll know when the oil level is too high when the crank pulley area looks like the Exxon Valdez. I don't like to run it lower than the bottom mark... but again, the marks are somewhat arbitrary.
I like the thinline sumps - Scat sells one that uses the stock sump-plate gasket, CB makes one that uses a size giant sump-plate. I'd get the 1-1/2 qt. thin-line from either one.
Forewarned is forearmed. Be well.