1978 FI Bug Vert

[MikeH]

Patched area prior to Por-15 Metal Ready treatement


AFter Metal Ready (this stuff was awesome, major rust under my apron was totally removed. Pictures didn't turn out, too bad.


Engine compartment before masking


AFter masking, what a pain


AFter POR-15 and a light coat of primer, like what I see so far. Painting in that small space was not fun for my back and neck.


I can't decide whether to top coat in flat or hammered black. I have new "tarboards" so much of it will be covered and they are black.

My engine tins are gloss black and the fan shroud will likely be gloss black as well though I'm rethinking the fan shroud.

[MikeH]

Soda blasted the engine case.
Removed rear main seal
Ordered transmission seal, new clutch pad. Should be here next week I hope.

[67type1]

Hey Mike - Looks great, nice work!

[MikeH]

Sigh... think I just figured out where all the sooty oily mess came from. I have excessive end play. Haven't measured it but I can easily move crank in and out and see the movement. Plus I hear a little clunk when I rotate the crank back and forth.

Not good. I suppose its possible that just the bearing is spun and a case bore and oversized bearing would be all I need but what are the real chances of that.

This may be the point I bail on the fuel injection and just get a turnkey carbureted engine.

What a downer. Never cracked a case so this project is officially on hold.

[bren]

Maybe someone with engine experience can come help you evaluate before you go on hold.
Maybe the end play can be shimmed. Maybe the clunk is just the crank moving in and out. I am not that engine expert, unfortunately. Or, you could also take it and visit Greg (or other vw engine guy) and have him evaluate it.

[MikeH]

Based on what I'm reading and what I'm seeing and hearing it's pretty bad.

There is a very audible clunk when I rotate the crank left or right and the amount of visible movement is at least 1/16 inch. Extra shims would just mask the problem temporarily.


This is what I'm reading:

If you can detect more than the tiniest front-to-back motion of the bearing, it is likely that the bearing has "spun" in the crankcase. To correct this you will have to split the crankcase, remove the crankshaft from the engine, and install an over-sized front bearing.

Note: The engine will be ruined in very short order if you run it with excessive end-play. Listen to the Voice of Experience -- bite the bullet and overhaul the engine!. We found an eighth of an inch of endplay, and the rear of the engine case had a circular groove worn into it from the flywheel rubbing it. Ours was so bad that the largest oversize bearing would not fit in the engine case, and we ended up replacing the engine case and the crankshaft. An expensive lesson -- cost us 500 bucks!


Another good writeup:
www.vw-resource.com/vw-resource.com_non_ssl/endplay.html
In other words, see if the crankshaft can be push-pulled long-wise through the case. If you can see/feel more than the tiniest motion (0.006"-- same feel as a normal tappet movement), the end-play is excessive, usually due to the bearing. If the bearing has been spun, you can NOT compensate by shimming more.

[67type1]

Hi Mike, I would suggest taking the motor apart to diagnose and check the condition of the various parts. A check of the crank, rods and case will help determine next steps. This should only take about 1 1/2 hrs. I live in Lawton, and won't mind helping you. I have an engine stand and tools to disassemble and take measurements. Let me know if you're interested.

[MikeH]

I'm interested. The engine is out and stripped down to the long block. I'll send you a PM. Having never cracked a case let alone diagnosed a crank I'll definately need some help.

[MikeH]

Good news and bad news.

Enjoyed some help from Ray to diagnose by engine. He didn't think I have bearing issues. We rechecked end play and I was at .0055 thousands not fully torqued down to 200# so within tolerance. We didn't break into the case. The clunking I heard was from a rookie mistake in how to check end play.

Inspection of the cylinders showed nice cross hatching.

Inspection of the heads and valves was less positive. Valves showed a lot of wear on the end of the stem. 5 of the valves had dimpled ends. Also valve guides were worn. So these will go to the machine shop for a full work up.

So on I go. Next step. Trying to powder coat my shroud interior.

[bren]

Greg Hudson of battle creek does this work. He only does vw stuff. I highly recommend him. Pm me if you want his contact info.

[MikeH]

Jul 13, 2011 9:55:08 GMT -5 bren said:

Greg Hudson of battle creek does this work. He only does vw stuff. I highly recommend him. Pm me if you want his contact info.

Thanks, would love to use Greg for this work but thats a long drive. I have a local machine shop here that has worked on VW heads (in fact said they've had a run on VW head lately for some reason). I'll give these local guys a try. Only 4 miles from my house. They'll probably cost me more but gas and time is worth staying local.

Local shop said I need 4 exhaust valves, probably 2 intakes. Waiting on a full quote.

[MikeH]

Heads back from the machine shop this morning. 4 new exhaust valves and a 3 angle valve job. Valve guides were fine. Should have asked for the valves back so I could show how badly the ends where the rockers hit were chewed up.


Head before:


Head after: nice and clean, yea


Had this work done at CD's Engine Service in Hudsonville. Cost me $150 for the valve job + $20 waste fee + tax + new exhaust valves for comparison if you need similar work.

[MikeH]

Prepped my cylinders with some POR-15 metal ready and painted them with a light dusting of engine primer and enamel.

Heavy rust on cylinder fins before:


Removed and POR-15 metal ready on the exterior, used a brash brush to get rid of the zinc oxide and clean em up. Still look a little rough but a vast improvement. I can see why guys with money say to heck with it and buy new jugs. Much simpler. This took awhile.


After light dusting with engine primer:


Then a light coat of engine enamel:

[MikeH]

Piston surface before cleanup


AFter some mineral spirits to clean off the carbon. Looked like black shoe polish on the rag. Came right off though.

[MikeH]

Rings in very good condition. Gap in the compression ring within tolerance.