Hi, I'm new here, I have had my 1972 S/B for 15 years now, I drive it most every day. I had the eng. rebuilt 13 years ago and it still runs like a new one, so I hope I'm not making a mistake, today I put it in the same shop that rebuilt it 13 years ago to have a 1776 cc eng. put in, the guy that owns the shop has been building air cooled VW engs. for 40 years and is thought of as the VW bug "guru" around here, he tells me their will be a big diff. in power, but that that eng. will run hotter then the stock 1600. any advice from anyone that knows about the 1776 eng. Thanks.

It's a bigger engine and makes more power . . . it will also make more heat.  Like ASBug said, make sure all the tin and seals are good and you'll probably be OK.  You can always add a deep sump or an external cooler if it's too much heat.

Stand-offs are pretty standard for big engines in older bugs as they didn't have louvers in the deck lid and can't pull enough air to run a big engine AND keep it cool with just the louvers below the rear window.  A 72 had 4 sets of louvers in the deck lid, so you might be ok.  A lot depends on how much HP you try to squeeze out of the engine.

Another point to remember is that on an air-cooled engine the oil does more than provide lubrication.  It plays a big part in cooling.

A deep sump increases the amount of oil in the engine and the surface area it has for cooling.  My son put a 1600 single port in a late bay window Westie bus.  He added a deep sump and an external oil cooler with a thermostatically controlled fan.  The fan was supposed to kick on when the oil got to 180 degrees . . . on the hottest day climbing the steepest grades, he could never get the oil hot enough to kick the fan on.  No matter how hard he worked it, the engine stayed cool.  I've run several different 1600 in place of the original type 4 on my 73 bus and they all have tended to run a little warm, but I wasn't using a deep sump or external oil cooler.