Im Back

Chris the Eagle · 26 December 2007, 22:58

Hi everyone

I have recently moved, been gone for Christmas, and finished finals for this semester at school and I am back on the forum. Last you heard from me I was about to remove the motor from my 69' AS and I have not only done this, but I have completely broken down the motor to the case and a complete rebuild kit is on the way. Bookwus, remember how we talked about the motor in my 69' could be the original for the car? I have determined that this is so. The main bearings on the crankshaft are the factory originals and the motor has not been rebuilt before. My kit should be in around the first of the year and I hope to be putting it all together soon.

Merry Belated Christmas
Chris

Bookwus · 27 December 2007, 02:16

Hiya Chris,

Welcome back!

That you have your original engine is fantastic. I would definitely do everything I could to keep it that way.

I'm going to be very interested in how your engine rebuild goes. I too am in the same situation. I have a stripped down 1600 which I can rebuild. However I do have a couple of problems with a rebuild for my daily driver. My primary hurdle is that I have no good VW oriented machine shop anywhere near me. Should my case need case savers or a line bore, I'm outta luck for any kind of quick and reliable service.. So...............I'm thinking that I can either go with a new case or a complete AS specific engine rebuild (from Bob Donald at Boston Bob's).

Either way, once I do have my daily driver set up, I will go ahead and muddle through a rebuild of the parts I have so I have a spare engine.

Chris the Eagle · 27 December 2007, 03:24

I thought I may have the same problem with the need to bore out my bearings. The people whom I bought my rebuild kit from gave me the 411 on the oversizes and scared me. However, there is a small engine machine shop near my home and he specializes in motorcycle engines. He said that if it needed doing he could bore it because he had done some VW work before. But, when I cracked the case I noticed that the bearings were not even close to needing the bore. The Bentley manual had all the specifications and was again a great help!!! Don't worry I plan on having pics up soon.

Bookwus · 27 December 2007, 19:55

Hiya Chris,

FWIW, in general terms I had planned to do the following with my rebuild.................

Heads (if in good enough shape) need to go to rebuilder
Buy new jugs and pistons
Repair and repaint all engine tin (this step is done! Sorry Lee, I used satin black.)
Measure all the tolerances very carefully (and twice) to determine needs regarding case, crank, and cam
Flywheel to machine shop for resurfacing
Rebuild oil/ATF pump (eVW sells a kit for this)
Locate (a tough job I'm finding out) and install a thermostat
And the usual new seals, gaskets, bearings, etc.

68autobug · 28 December 2007, 11:27

Mike
Satin black.... ??
My 2nd favorite color....lol..

I wouldn't bother with a thermostat...
I bought a new thermostat kit from CIP1 [I think]
a few years ago... I've got all the levers etc all working
even the threaded rod coming out the bottom of the cylinders...
but I don't think I'll bother fitting it now...
I'm told it only works for a very short time [closed]
and is then open all the time...

plus when you think that just about all beetle engines
ran for millions of miles without them....

I took My engine out today... mainly to replace the gearbox
but i also had a small oil leak, near number 3-4 cylinders
I was expecting it to be the oil cooler seals..
but stupid Me degreased the engine before i took it out
so there is no tell tale oil or grease anywhere...
the only evidence of oil/dust was on number 4 spark plug\
bakelite adaptor... it had about 6mm all around it...
no where else....

any ideas where it came from??? before I pull all the tinware off??

Lee

Chris the Eagle · 31 December 2007, 01:42

Thanks for the tips Book, the kit that I ordered has:

New Heads, Jugs, pistons, crank shaft and cam shaft along with assorted other goodies. It was higher than most kits, but I wanted to be sure that I had spare parts if I goofed something up. I made the mistake of buying a new oil pump from mamotorworks that was not for a A/S. So I have something to sell on ebay if nothing else!

I will check out eVW for the kit to rebuild my pump. I have a question tho, can you or have you cleaned out your oil cooler or should I buy a new one? The one I have is in relatively good shape, no dings or dents, and it seems that I just need to replace the seals. What would one use to clean it with and how if it can be done.

I also plan to repaint and reshape my engine tin so that it looks like new! Thanks guys for the help

Bookwus · 31 December 2007, 04:59

Hiya Chris,

With respect to the oil cooler.........................just did mine.

I let it soak in a 50% solution of Kafko Oil Eater for a while. That loosened up the gook in the fins and the interior tubing. Took it out and rinsed it with the same stuff in my parts cleaner. Then put it back in clean KOE for another soak. Did this until it rinsed out clean. Finally rinsed it with hot water and then dried it out completely (let it set and used compressed air for the interior tubing). It is definitely clean now.

But a big caution............. make sure that the foam insulation on the cooler is replaced. It has to fit snuggly (allowing no air to escape) in the doghouse housing. Also make sure that your "Hoover bit" (a small sealing bracket at the base of the oil cooler) is present and correctly installed. If you need pictures I can take a few snaps tommorow.

Have any more info (maker? website? etc.) on your engine rebuild kit?

68autobug · 31 December 2007, 07:31

I have always glued foam on My oil cooler..
its about 20mm thick and i taper it at the top then spray it
with water so it will slide on OK...
I didn't use the bob hoover bit last time...
I glued more foam there about 2 inches high and 1 inch thick...
again tapered at the top...

My oil cooler has never been cleaned...
its never dusty or dirty..
I usually just give it a spray with degreeser and hose it...
when I'm doing the whole engine..

also... what is a Jug??? I know pistons rings heads dizzy carby etc...

Lee

Bookwus · 31 December 2007, 07:41

Hiya Lee,

Quote from: 68autobug on 31 December 2007, 07:31
..........also... what is a Jug??? I know pistons rings heads dizzy carby etc..

LOL............This is something of a loaded question up here in the States. Jug can (and often does) refer to a particular part of the female anatomy. However in this particular case, jug refers to the individual cast cylinder through which the piston moves. Many folks who rebuild VW engines (at least here in the States) simply discard the old jugs and pistons on any rebuild and replace them with new. I would imagine that they have found it cost effective to do so over the long run. Mine have some rust (this engine was down for a goodly amount of time) forming and I'm going to go with a set of new pistons and jugs.

68autobug · 31 December 2007, 11:35

Ok so I presume they are the cylinders...
My engine wouldn't turn over ofter it had been sitting for a few years..
and water had entered thru an open valve into a cylinder...
it looked bad, but it all polished up with steel wool...
but My Son had a similar problem
with His 1834cc engine but the rust had eaten into the cylinder bore
so He had to replace the pitted cylinder....
which wasn't easy to find...

cheers

Happy New year in 2 hours 25 minutes down here...

Lee

Chris the Eagle · 31 December 2007, 20:59

I bought the kit from Mid-American Motorworks and it was the complete stock rebuild kit on their website.
Here is the link: http://www.mamotorworks.com/acvw-2-86-4920.html

I am not sure of the maker but I do know that I had to special order it with the specifications of the main bearings. The bearings said standard and there was little wear on them so I assumed that I needed the standard size. However, I also used a micrometer to be sure on the size. It has been 2 weeks and still no word on the kit.

I bought some degreaser from Walmart that worked great on my engine case to clean it up. It was biodegradable and seemed to break up the 40 years of gunk up well. Could this work for the oil cleaner too? Its funny how some things are harder to find here in the south than they are in your neck of the woods, like ATF oil, cleaners, etc. Thanks again

Well Lee, until I started to tear the motor down I wasn't aware of the term "jugs" for the cylinders either!

Bookwus · 01 January 2008, 05:29

Hiya Chris,

That doesn't look like a bad deal on the rebuild kit. Crank, cam, rebuilt heads, pistons & jugs, and all that other stuff. Pretty nice; but I would be wondering who is responsible for where the individual parts came from. Keep us informed on how the rebuild goes. I, for one, am very interested.

Your biodegradable degreaser will work well for you oil cooler. Just make sure that you rinse it out with hot water and make sure it is bone dry before installing it.

Chris, you can find lots of good stuff at a NAPA outlet. Try looking for one in your general area. They are supossed to be coast-to-coast.

Chris the Eagle · 24 January 2008, 06:34

Finally after weeks of waiting... The kit came in!! But, as all things do, it had to come in right in the middle of starting the spring semester!! And with 15 hours of class I may not have much time other than the weekends to work on the engine. Bookwus the motor kit came from a place near you. JCS Volks Machine out of Irwindale CA. All of the parts seem to be in pristine condition. We will have to see when I go to putting it all together!

greenghia · 25 January 2008, 13:55

Hey Chris, Good to hear the parts are finally there. With school starting and all it seems it will take a little longer but that is okay. Shoot for a 100,000 mile engine and you won't be dissatisfied with the result. Just a note of caution, take you time and inspect each part. Expect to do a little "fiddling work" on each of them and if you find one that is okay, that is a bonus! Other that checking the fit on each part I would recommend (unsolicited) that you make sure to round the edges on especially the hardened parts. The rear journal of the crankshaft that the timing gear sets against is almost always sharp. Sharp edges in hardened parts will result in cracks eventually. Check all the ring gaps and round the edges of the gaps etc. You can just assume that any part that was cut/ground will have a sharp edge. I.E. ring gaps, crankshafts, reconditioned rods, timing gear edges(on the flats sides of the teeth), camshaft lobe and journal edges, etc. What manual do you have? Let us know how it goes.

Chris the Eagle · 09 February 2008, 15:13

I have the Bentley Blue for 1966-1969 VW's. I have taken off the distributer and cam gears off my old crankshaft and pressed them onto my new crankshaft. Which was alot easier than I thought. Thanks for the heads up green, I did notice that all the parts did have a sharp edge to them. I also noticed some wear on the gear connected to the camshaft and the double oil pump. Is it bad enough that I need to replace it? I am up for suggestions. Thanks

Chris