My Baja Bug Rebuild

[Edmond]

Managed to get some more work done today, casing got cleaned of all the 9 yrs of grime, sand and oil on it, looks squeaky clean now, heads got cleaned and stripped, they still look good, even the exhaust guides seem okay still with minimum play and looks like no cracks in the combustion chambers.

Next on the list is to send the casing to get a linebore and thrust cut, crank to get polished and the rotating assembly balanced, I might skip the flywheel and crank 8 dowelling but will still get the flywheel skimmed and lightened slightly.

I swapped the spare exhaust and decklid for a set of .020" over sleeves and pistons so i have a spare set now.

Also trying to work a swap deal with swapping the uncut spare casing for a set of Main Bearings, Big End Bearings and Cam Bearings we will see if I can pull it off.

Need to do some parts shopping next month namely a set of .040" piston rings, 4 x 32mm exhaust valves and a few other small bits, also need 2 x stock pushrods.

[Edmond]

Took the Flywheel and crank assembly to shawn at FFR today to get the flywheel nut loosened, opened up another can of worms, the flywheel shims have cut deep into the flywheel side crank snout, about 4-5mm deep, its a pity as all the crank needed was a polish.
Any way I can fix this, I have another crank with messed up dowel holes but will still std mains and bigends but needs a cut on the mains to .010 and the bigends to .020 (they measure out at 54.65mm but still had std bearings in the conrods), maybe I can get the new dowel holes drilled and the crank snout face resurfaced.

[Edmond]

Crank I got from Tony Z is getting sorted by Dave at FFR then im sending it to get reground at a engineering place just around the corner from my work.

Unfortunately the crank that came out the engine is a nice doorstop now, the shims cut all the way to the flywheel dowel pins probably the reason for the big oil leak at the flywheel end of the engine, had Dave at FFR have a look at it today and he said its just scrap now so just getting the gears pressed of to keep.

The casing is going to Uncle Claudes next weekend hopefully for a linebore and thrust cleanup.

[Edmond]

Sent the casing to Uncle Claudes for a Linebore and Thrust cut today otherwise no other progress.

[Edmond]

Repaired crank is back from Dave at FFR(thanks again Dave), also got a set of exhaust valves and a new set of piston rings.

The casing should be ready early next week according to Uncle Claude.

i need to send the crank to get reground still, maybe I can send it next week, then I still need to get a full set of matching bearings(cam, big ends and mains)

Might get a chance to work on the car tomorrow, maybe I can finish cleaning the heads, relap the valves and assemble them, also need to cleanup the barrels and give them a very light hone.

[Tony Z]

Glad the crank could be saved. Good show

[Edmond]

Glad the crank could be saved. Good show

Yes thanks to Dave working his magic on it and it didn't even cost much.

[Edmond]

Casing is back from Uncle Claudes, line bored .060" over and thrust cut, Claude is still a legend.

Other stuff has gotten in the way so haven't been able to work on the engine for a while

[Edmond]

Crank is at Mr Cylinder Head in Retreat for a regrind, hoping to get it back next week, then its buying the bearings and then starting to assemble the casing.

[Edmond]

Crank is back from the machine shop, it was quite worn on the mains and big ends so they had to grind it to.020" on the mains and .030" on the bigends so it still has some life left in it.

[Edmond]

Managed to find some time to work on the baja's engine, heads are all cleaned up, no cracks but looks like the exhaust valve guides need replacing, intakes are still nice with very little play, valve spring, retainers and cotters all cleaned up, Started cleaning the pistons, looks like they can go one more round, not much wear, ring side clearance at.004" with new rings on so they are still good, sleeves look good just need a quick hone to deglaze them. My 50L compressor seized up so had to call it a day, next time its strip and fix compressor, then to clean the casing of all the machining swarf.

Still deciding if I should send all the parts for balancing I am using a different crank with the flywheel that came off the engine and if I should get the conrods resized, the small end bushes still look good with a tiny bit of play but the big end bores of the conrods have no honing marks left.

i've also got an alternator on the way from calooker(Rui) so can finally ditch the genny at long last






"

[Edmond]

Haven't done any work on my Baja for over a month. I need to send the heads for new guides I'm going to send them to mr cylinder head spoke to the guy there this past Friday and they know aircooled beetle heads and he showed me a set they had just worked on plus they are right next door to my wife's work. Every other machine/engineering shop I've tried doesn't wont to work on beetle heads, clauses will do them but the last set I had done there some of the guide bosses on the heads came back cracked.
I need to make a plan next year to get the bearings and start assembling the engine before I lose interest in this project

[Edmond]

The finances have improved so the project is back on, going to get the intake valves, big end and cam bearings tomorrow from Alert Engine Parts.

Heads are at Mr Cylinder Head for exhaust valve guide replacement, cleaning and new valve job(they just need the new intake valves)

Also going to order the main bearings from Masterparts, they found a set at their Durban branch.

Need to visit Flat Four Racing for a few other bits sometime

Still deciding if I should get the cam reground to something a bit better than stock and getting the rotating assembly balanced.

[Tony Z]

definitely get it balanced. Will extend the life and possibly free up a little hp.
Saving R300 by not buying new exhaust valves is the wrong place to save money. But hey, each to their own...

[Edmond]

I have a set of new exhaust valves already but got new intake ones to be on the safe side dont trust the 40+ yr old ones the heads had in,I will never reuse exhaust valves on a beetle engine rebuild.

I thought about the balancing today and since I have a different crank than the engine previously used it would make sense, just need to give Dave Ingle a call and see if it still costs around R600