Blowing hot air

 

If there's one technical thing people know about the VW Beetle, it's that the engine is air cooled. In practice, this means that air is blown through an oil cooler hidden in the fan shroud, and over the fins on th side of the cylinders. 

Th fan is attached to the dynamo, or alternator, depending on the year of the engine, and driven by the fan belt. That makes the belt a very vital bit of kit, and if the charging light comes on on the dash, the clever driver knows to pull over and check all is well. Failure to do so will see the engine temperature rise rapidly, and a valve on the number 3 cyclinder, which gets a little less air than the rest, exit via the side of the crank case. 

On the model, the fan and dynamo (This is an early engine) look just like the real things. You even have a voltage regulator sat on top, held in place by tight fitting plastic, not screws. 

All this sits on top of a stand with a oil filler on the side. All this has been painted as there's nothing to see and I think the contrast between black and silver bits looks rather nice. For some reason, the silver, a Humbrol metalcote colour, seems to dry incredibly fast. Over a coat of primer, I was easily able to put the required couple of coats on the parts in an evening.