flex plate hitting engine

[75 lagrande autostick]

I have a 75 autostick bug. I had the old engine in the car and it ran good but made a horrible knocking type noise when you first started it up and for approx 5-10 mins after running. Then it would quiet down but not totally. I figured it was an old engine and rebuilt the entire engine, both upper and lower ends. When I put the new engine back in. I still get the same noise as well as the flex plate actually hitting the back of the engine case. I am quite sure the end play is ok and not the problem. The only other thing I was told it could be is the torque converter. Has anyone had this problem? Can the torque converter go bad and wobble causing noises which sound like the an engine with bad mains in it and actually move or wobble enough for the flex plate to "flex" enough to scrape the back of the engine?? Any other ideas of what it might be??

Thanks

[68AutoBug]

Hi,
It seems unlikely that the flexplate would hit the engine, unless the torque converter is moving about...
I put My torque converter in and out a few times when i had problems..
but the last time, I had moved the torque converter...
and the inner splines did not line up....
so, the torque converter was damaged beyond repair...
the torque converter was non permantly out of balance...
lucky i had a spare torque converter... Lesson number one...
I am very careful now replacing the torque converter when its been out of the gearbox...

All the toque converter bolts are in place... non hitting the sides...
only when i replaced the special bolts with modified allen headed bolts..
lesson number two...  I'm now up to lesson number 25 ?? [guessing]

check out My website for all the things that happened to Me...

including the flexplate rivets coming loose.. twice.. [another lesson]

all the things that have gone wrong have made a terrible noise when the engine was operating...

Lee -- 68AutoBug -- Australia --

http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug

[68AutoBug]

Hi again,
I just remembered that there is VERY Little clearance between the flexplate and the engine or gearbox...
so the flexplate has to be perfectly flat...
but I've never thought why its called a flex plate??
if it does flex , and its thin enough to flex slightly...

the ends of the bolts may hit the housing when going round...
if the rivets have come loose... twice for Me..??
it will also make a terrible noise....
First time I knocked the rivets in and had My Son [welders ticket] weld the flexplate to the hub in 4 places...
but maybe it does flex, as the welds broke in a very short time...
I then had Him weld it continuesly around the center hub...
but I then got a replacement hub from Volkenstein...
so i used the replacement flexplate...

Lee -- 68AutoBug -- Australia -

http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug

[volkenstein]

75-L-AS,
            Now, I remember reading somewhere (STF I think) someone mentioned that one of the plugs (Cam?) had to be in backwards because of the flexplate as it poked too far out.

Can't remember whether it was steel or rubber and I truly don't know whether it's true but you never know. What I do know is that, yes, the flex plate runs real close!

Also, the converter has a spigot which is meant to slip into the Gland nut for alignment. What sort of Gland Nut do you have? It has to be A-S specific.

I'd check everything Lee has mentioned as well. Bajachris88 on this forum didn't align his splines and had trouble doing things up until we sorted it out.


HTH
Volkenstein

[Crasher]

The cam plug is the opposite way around on an AS engine.

[CrazedVW]

I just posted a topic about my '73 Super AS that might be making a noise similar to yours.

http://www.volks.org/vwar/forum/viewtopic.php?t=512&sid=6be62ef1a6a32c9fc5a033ef30d305b0

is the noise you were hearing simiilar?

[68AutoBug]

I think My Son had a late camshaft and early pump [not autostick] and He said he just ground off some metal from the back of the pump...

It could be the other way round too....

Torque converters do wear out [I guess] and then they would be out of balance and they would just keep getting worse....
and sort of self destruct... I was told they aren't fixable...
but really nothing cannot be fixed... [could cost heaps$$]

I put My original torque converter in without aligning the splines....
and destroyed the torque converter...
this is also possibly why My flexplate rivets came loose later on...
from all the force of the out of balance torque converter...

Lee Noonan