Full flowing a built case

I did a search but couldn't find much info in the forums either here or on TheSamba - has anyone here full flowed a built case? ie take a working engine out of the car and full flow it without a complete strip down and rebuild?

I have found the following instructions http://www.dune-buggy.com/techtips/fullflow/ which appear to be straight forward enough. However I am concerned at getting metal into the oil galleys with no easy way to remove them, as I am not sure how good the "plumb an air line into the sending hole and pressurize the oil galleys so that the chips blow out as you drill and tap" theory actually works. Great in theory, but what are the realities?

Has anyone tried this and if so, how did it work out for you? Am I better just waiting till I need to do a complete strip down (hopefully not for a long time) and perform the work then?

Cheers,
Dom

Dominic,
Here's the easy way out. Instead of drilling and tapping the Case, just install a new full flow oil pump. I've used these with no problems for years.
They have an OUT port on the front cover as well as an IN port. The body of the pump itself is different than a stock or Genuine VW pump in that the OUT port goes to the front cover OUT fitting, NOT to the case where they normally go.
The external IN port of this pump now points to the Case galley.
So in between the IN and OUT fittings of this Oil pump is where you plumb your filters,coolers, thermostats etc.
Go here to see it: http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=C26%2D115%2D165

Greg B

This is another option:

http://www.aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproductdetail.php?keyword2=ECO0027

Dominick; our pal here Gordon Nichols has done it following Gene Berg's instructions; in fact do a search here and you'll find his very informative technical post. You can actually do it without taking the engine off the car. I've thought about doing it to my car but I'm not man enough to do it because of your same concerns.

Air pressure I believe 45 lbs or so and a good glob of grease in the tap and it works see Gordon's post for same .

Yes Gordon contacted me directly and provided the following link detailing how he did the full flow conversion on his car.

http://www.speedstershop.com/viewtopic.php?t=349

Hope this helps anyone else that wants to try this in the future. I will probably give this a go later in the year before I put speedy to bed for the Winter.

Thanks to all who replied, I really appreciate it.

Cheers,
Dom

I read somewhere that you can also route the return line to a fitting installed in a large capacity sump. It seems that this would be easier than drilling the engine case, but I would like to hear some input from some of you guys.

Thanks
Chuck

I've seen the full flow cover with the return to the sump in some of the pictures on this site. I really don't know how well it works, but interested to find out. I plugged in the candy thermometer to the dipstick hole and the temp was 240 at about a 1/4 of the gauge. It has reached 1/2 before, so I'm pretty sure I need more cooling.

Seems like it would be easier to tap the sump than the case.

Well I got sick of tripping over the box of parts in the garage, so I chucked a sickie yesterday and full flowed the case. Many thanks to all who replied online and offline on advice as to the best way to tackle this, especially Gordon for his pictorial step by step instructions - definitely made it a lot easier, to the point where I didn't even need the instructions that came with the kit.

For those that have contemplated this and decided against it, I can say that it is a straight forward enough procedure, just leave your self enough time, be as prepared as you can be with all the parts you will need and follow the instructions to the letter. I started a bit before 9am and wasn't done cleaning up the garage till after 5pm. This included a trip to the hardware store to get a bigger drill as the 37/64" drill bit has a 1/2" shank and my drill only takes up to 3/8". Not as prepared as I thought :(

Long story short - although the procedure looks fairly complex and the thought of drilling into a perfectly good case seems a little crazy, this is actually a very straight forward methodical task. I am definitely not a wrench monkey, so if I can do it, pretty much anyone can. I did this with the engine in the car so clearance for the drill was an issue, so doing this again I would suggest dropping the engine out to work on as it will make things much easier.

Now I just need to get the exhaust nut that I dropped in the heat exchanger out and I'd be happier than a pig in mud. Looks like I am back to the hardware store for a telescoping magnetic pickup doodaddy thingo.

Dominic -

Welcome to the "Do-I-Really-Need-That" Club.

Hmmmm Dominick you're making me think about doing it. I'll be dropping the engine at the beginning of October to install lots of goodies (new ported heads, dual Dells, new SVDA distributor, Gene Berg valvetrain parts and crank puley, new bigger heater boxes and new exhaust, will install a new flywheel seal (and probably transaxle seal) while at it, etc. ) so it's the perfect time to do that sort of thing. The magnet is certainly worth it; it has saved Jjr's ass many times; I got one at the local Pep Boys for $3.49.

Dom:

So very glad that it all worked out OK, and that my "how-to-do-it" tutorial was of good use!

Yes, it is a lot easier to do all that drilling and tapping and so forth with the engine sitting on the floor or up on a bench, but it CAN be done with it still in the car. BTW; I used a 90 degree angle drive for my 3/8'ths drill to get up in there, for the same reason that you found - not a lot of room to maneuver!!

In the end, any job may look daunting before you start, but if you take your time and think it out and break it down to little steps, you'll get it done.

Hope this encourages more people to "Tackle the big jobs" on their cars, too!

Gordon
One of the "Speedstah Guys" from Massachusetts

Gord's The Man!