Engine Tore down... not good.

Well I was hoping that the engine in this car had been rebuilt according to the odometer on the car which says 5500 miles now. um, no - the rust tells me not even close, and the chambers, heads and sleeves shout HIGH MILEAGE!

I'm hearing that there are a few good engine builders out there, but i just bought an engine stand for this thing to tear it down thinking i'd be able to just put new cylinders, pistons and heads on it... but I'm starting to doubt it would be worth that and that i should just start with a new case and go from there.

Who wants to convince me I can build my 1st vw engine to be reliable and not get all screwed up moments after turning it over for the first time. I have tools and I'm no idiot....(experience with sbc's - who doesnt right? :)) but over and over I'm told there are "tricks to building a good vw" - well i dont know any of those so... should i just buy a 2110 longblock and stick it in there? from who would i buy or can someone give me a good parts list for a decent motor that I could build for say under 2k.

Thanks

Nic,

Geesh engine toast ...at least you don't have things hanging out the engine case! What happened to that one?
I would go with a decent preassembled longblock from a known builder and complete the rest yourself.

I second Alan; leave the critical internals to a reputable builder and just add the rest yourself. That's a good idea.

Nic,

If you are asking the question; then you should not tackle the rebuild.

If you want to learn; then get the proper tools, Micrometers (Inside, Outside & Depth) , find a good crank grinder/polisher, Learn how to CC the Combution Chambers, Dial Indicator to Check Crank End Play, Die Grinder for Intake/Exhaust Porting and Chamber work/prep and Build the thing!

If you don't have the time and can afford it, purchase a Long Block.

Good Luck,

Jack

Nic after looking through your pictures. I must say that if you can throw a party where the BOOB Girls will allow us to party with them, whip cream included. You will have a large group of Speedster Owners helping you out. Hell, we may even donate to a motor fund!

Nic,

What size was/is that engine? That was driven HARD, wasn't it?

TC

I also would go the longblock route.

BD

I'm going to rebuild a 1600 I have lying around (this winter). I foolishly sold my 69mm counter weighted crank and 40 Webers, but I still have my 110 cam and stock parts. I may have the case enlarged to a 1914. This will be my first VW full rebuild, so I'll keep the changes to a minimum. Then again, I don't have a vehicle to put it in. If it was something that I drove on a regular basis, I'd do what Alan said....buy a long block and go from there. What you buy depends on $$$$$
Ron

Nic; I agree with Mike on the girls...the whipped cream chick looks interesting....Man, sure your car is a chick magnet!!!

Longblock vs Turnkey is the real question in my opinion. You need to look seriously at all the components and decide if it is worth the hassle and if they are good enough to put on your new longblock. I think I would give a call and see what the difference in price would be on a 2110 or 1915 longblock vs turnkey. I would have spent 3500 vs 2000 in this scenerio, but I can't help, but wonder if I wouldn't have been better off in the long run. So far the rebuild is great, but only time will really tell and during that time I have to wonder?

I've only put about 2500 miles on this car since last october... driven hard, yes, but i dont think I'm the one that made it look like that ;).

I would like to drive the car on a regular basis, but probably wont now that its getting "cold" LOL here in phoenix... its 57 right now and it feels like 37 did when i lived in NE... its amazing how 2 months already changed my body's reaction to temp. I bought J tubes for whatever engine i put back in... my heater boxes were nasty and all they did was help blow crap into my interior.

I think I'm going to bring the heads to a shop and see if they're rebuildable... if so I'll rebuild those. The block im going to tear down completely and take in to have checked out too. Then If they're good, i will probably keep them on a shelf to build an engine with later when i have the time to learn and buy a longblock and put in it now. I'm not in too much of a hurry, i've essentially started to RE build this car now. interior is stripped, engine out, front end has new brakes, new rear tires. fixed some wiring... i bought it for 8, drove it for a year, now paying for the "deal." (but i still wouldnt trade it for anything!)

Thanks for the advice guys, i can always count on you.

BTW, know anybody that wants a clean 02 silverado with 18k miles on it? $23k obo? With that finally gone i can spend whatever i want on this one :) pic on my website... snflupigus.tripod.com

o, and I almost forgot.... As for the girls already posted (and the beercan covered room - featured on collegehumor.com)... left em all back in NE... BUT! here's the new ones from Phoenix. :)
3rd from left (& 2nd from right in the other pic) is my new roomate. I knew her for about 30 minutes before deciding "what the hell, sure I'll live with you." She worked at one of the apt complexes i visited while scouting for a place to live before relocating. Her manager volunteered that she would be happy to store the speedster since they didnt have garages... then said, "actually, michelle needs a roomate, if you aren't going to live here, why not move in with her.." Initially it was a joke i think, but.... she really needed a roomate, and i really needed a garage and nice place to live... Here i am now 2 months later and these are most of my friends. crazy chicks, just plain crazy... and talk about dramaqueens! LOL... o well. hehehe. and i cant forgot, they've all asked to get their pictures taken with the car (insert own mental picture here)................... dont worry, ill post em, you know i will.

oh man nic!!! I'm married, but if I get down to Pheonix "what happens in Pheonix stays in Pheonix"

Nic you lucky ....! They are all cute!!

Nic ....Nic ......N I C .................
Wake up man you're dreaming :)
What a Speedster tech support team they are!

Ahh...Phoenix. I remember going to a restaurant called Suede where all the girls were awesome. I am thinking I need to get there. You know with age comes wisdom. With Wisdom needs Viagra.

Okay, someone needs to put a V8 into a speedster. It can be called the 356/302 or if it was bored out it could be called the 356/356...wouldn't THAT be cool? (only positive responses needed...Ron and Robert, I mean you two).
Ron

'only positive responses needed'

I am positive that that is positively the dumbest thing I have ever heard; positively positive, that is.

Ron,
Check out www.porchev.com. Small block V-8 kits for 914's and 911's.
Tony

Hey Robert, why don't you go for a ride in your beautiful IM? Oh, I forgot...you sold it (ha, ha)
Ron

Thanks,Bruce,
Now I'm up to speed...Why is youth wasted on the youngsterzzz?

youngsters... come on I'm 23.. LOL

I went to suede a few weeks ago... it's accross from Axis/Radius. Scottsdale is cool but MAN are people fake as fake can get up there. Its crazy what a different world this is compared to the midwest. People are just morons and they're all trying to be somebody else. I'm damn proud to have been raised in Iowa now, whereas before, i thought i was missing out. I didnt miss out on anything except being instilled with the idea that i have to put on an act all the time for other people.

As it dropped into the 50's last night, i think maybe i should keep my heater boxes... nahhhh, that'd be being what we call "a sally" ;) Performance first, luxury second. :)

Nic,

50's are just getting to be good Speedy weather, top down of course. Get yourself a good stocking cap and a pair of gloves with a ski jacket and you are there.

I agree with you on the phony balonies in the current bars scene. As a long time midwesterner I find it pretty humorous watching all the posturing going on at these places. To set it straight though, that same thing goes on all over the world. I've seen it in Chicago, Boston, anyplace where there is a trendy bar that caters to that clientel. They are all B.S.ing each other. I was ushered into that type of deal in Chicago in the mid 60's and after about 2 weeks of the pub crawling I realized all I was doing was making the bar owners rich. I bailed out.

In my old age I love to go to those places and get a chair in back and nurse an O'Douls and watch the people. Great entertainment!

Bruce

Where is the "Trendy Bar" in Beantown?

...or was that have your nurse wheel you off to the men's room after downing an O'Douls, Bruce?

Gordon, "Cheers", What, you say that was a TV prop? Seriously I was in a bar like that about 15 years ago in Beantown. It was down on the waterfront fairly close to "Old Ironsides", had to cross a bridge to get to Ironsides if I remember.

Paul, see what you have to look forward to when you get to my advanced age, wheelchairs and O'Douls. Hey, I woke up this morning so that was a small victory

Old Timer Bruce

pulled the oil pump... took all the case bolts out... i dont have any angle iron so i think ill drill into my engine stand and make a key so that it CANT turn. Then I should be able to get the gland nut off... I've got a half inch drive breaker bar and the 36?mm socket ready.. Also bought the fly wheel lock so that it cant spin.

I think If I stand on the engine stand and have my 230 lb buddy put some force into the breaker bar, it'll come loose. then I can split the case.

In looking closer:

Heavy wear on the cylinder walls with a groove at the tops and no cross hatching visible where the piston traveled. there are however straight grooves :(

so far as i can peak into the case, the cam doesnt show too much wear... we'll see when i split the case.

I pulled insurance on the car besides comp... its gona be in the garage for a while, while i build an engine for it... I've decided I want to know what the hell it takes to do this.

Nic
My method of madness...Flywheel lock and 24" bar on a 1/2" breaker bar, the gland nut will come loose with no problem.

ok, i split the case, left the flywheel on the crank... i figure that i can just give it all to my machinist. I'm betting he can use an impact on it and it will come right off in or out of the case if he's gotta bolt the base back together to get it off, fine. i didnt want to wait to see inside this thing.

Looks like i've got 2 nasty gouges in my cam where it mets the water pump... the waterpump shaft also has these gouges as if it started to walk out or something. that normal? it looks like wear to me, not something designed. no pics of that yet.

I have pics of the rest though, ill post those tomorrow.

Nic,

Water pump?

Must still be in sbc mode? Tough to break old habits.

Nic:
When reassembling, you can have the crank,flywheel balanced as an assembled unit.

I got my flywheel off ok, using a neighbors 500 ft. lb impact wrench.

I really don't like those litle flywheel locks that attach to an engine mount bolt (I've seen them break the bolt mounting tab right off) so when I re-assembled everything, I made up a flywheel torque bar from a steel bar, 4 ft. long by 1 1/2" wide by 3/8" thick (from a local ACE hardware). Used the pressure plate as a guide to drill holes in the bar for the flywheel bolts, then simply fasten it to the flywheel so the gland nut wrench is acting against it as a scissors.

I don't have a 300 ft. lb torque wrench, so I use a 3/4" drive slide bar with a 24" piece of pipe on it on the gland nut, weigh myself on a scale and figure how far out on the pipe/slide bar my weight will apply 300 ft. lbs., and then just stand on the bar at that point till it stops - voila! 300 ft. lbs. of torque at the gland nut, and the bar cost me $10.

gn

300 foot/pounds pretty much equals what a co-worker used to call "spot torque"- torque it 'till you see spots :)

I have a question related to what Nic is doing...

I too recently split my engine case in half, I used a 550 lb-ft pneumatic wrench on the gland nut - came off no problem. I and am now in the process of putting everything back together.

In reading the literature, one item that seems to be used a lot is PERMATEX 3H sealant. Now I have tried and tried, but I am buggered if I can find anywhere that has even heard of 3H, let alone stocks it!

Is there a reasonable alternative to use instead?

Cheers,

Jim.

PS - I have found GASGACINCH and am using that where possible.

oil pump.... sorry....

sbc mode, probably but i think i was just tired when i typed that. :)

I will take the case halves, cam, crank & flywheel, and heads into the machine shop tomorrow sometime.... Then I'll find out where to go from there. If I have to buy a new case I'm going to be held back a little longer than I thought in building so I just might order a 2110 long block.

I'm thinking now as well that I've been away from the car this long now without driving it... though its killing me, I might as well make sure the tranny and everything else is good before putting it back together. This might just have turned into a 6 month project instead a 3 weekend engine rebuild.

Nic

Jim: When I put my engine together, I used Permatex 3-H and found it at a local NAPA store. Used it only for the case halves, and Permatex Blue just about everywhere else.

If you still can't find the 3-H, then you can get some Curil T from Aircooled.net This stuff works great, and a tube will last you forever. Their part number is CAS0002, and details are here>

www.aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproductdetail.php?keyword2=CAS0002&cartid=

gn

Anyone else with a TIV love the fact that instead of standing on a breaker bar to get the gland nut off at 300ft/lbs, all we need to do is take off 5 (or was it 6?) normal bolts?

Jim; you can also use Curil K2 which is a German sealant that's recommended for sealing Porsche & VW cases. It was used in a VW machine shop I used to work in and is used by reputable engine builders such as Jack Raby and John Connoly at aircooled.net.

What fun is THAT?