My Baja Bug Rebuild

Give details and pictures of your ACVW projects here.
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Edmond
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Got the parts on Saturday new intake valves, cam bearing set and big end bearing set, I see the cam bearings are now aluminium backed not steel any more like a few years ago, i got KS(Kolbenschmidt) big ends and cams they cost a small fortune but the quality on them looks ok except for the alu backed cam bearings, im sure they will work ok on a stock motor.

Heads might be finished by friday, machine shop is waiting for the guides to come from JHB, im having the heads chemically cleaned so they will look like new

Main bearing set has been ordered cost R570 with courier fees from durban, I could only get the Smagon brand but these seem ok the ones in the engine were Smagon make and still looked perfect after 140 000 km


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Edmond
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Main Bearings arrived today great service from Masterparts as usual.

Need to get some flywheel shims and a performance gland nut from FFR
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Edmond
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Heads are back from the machine shop, they look brand new again valve seats all cut new exhaust and intake valves, just need to lap the valves and assemble the heads.
Will try post pics of them tomorrow.
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Casing and No1 Main Bearing got dropped off today at Flat Four Racing for Dave to Machine the Bearing to fit the case correctly, hoping to get it back on Saturday, also got a cam plug from FFR

Got a lot of cleaning still to do on the conrods, pistons and sleeves etc, ran out of paraffin so got a 5l tin now and a spray bottle of engine cleaner

Engine assembly is slowly drawing closer but first need to get everything ready and clean for the balancing job
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Feel like an absolute idiot,somehow I mixed up the main and bigend bearing sizes, found this out while I was miking up the crank. So now I need to try and swap the bearings for the right sizes luckily Dave hasn't cut the no1 main bearing yet. I managed to cleanup the sleeves,pistons and conrods also assembled the heads so they are ready to go. I might get the conrods checked out 3 of the 4 have no honing marks left in the bearing bore.
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by retrovan »

Real Bummer, sorry to hear, Hope you come right.

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Edmond
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Bearings are all sorted, got another set of mains, never used this make before but I like the oil groove on the inside should increase the casing life a little, the bearings look dirty but its just the protective grease/oil still on them

Swapped the bigends for the right 0.5mm undersize and swapped the shitty aluminium backed KS cam bearings for a set of steel backed Mahle Double Thrust cam bearings.

Now just need the rear main bearing thrust cut to suit the casing
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Machined No1 Main Bearing and casing are ready for collection so might be able to do the final cleaning and then trial assembly and setting end play while the crank is still on the bench this long weekend.
Also made a jig to hold the sleeves under torque while I hone them
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Picked up the casing and bearings from Dave at FFR(Thanks Again Dave).

Did some more cleaning today, casing got another cleaning will still give it a final hot soapy water cleaning before assembly.
Sleeves got a quick hone also need to give them a hot soapy water clean before they are ready
Tried to mockup the crank and flywheel on the bench but it looks like the gland nut is too long, need to have 2mm cut off it before it will tighten down fully, this is strange as it was fine on the previous crank with the same flywheel maybe it is because the crank had some material removed from the flywheel end, im sure only enough to clean it up was taken off, will investigate further.
All the crank gears and casing hardware got a cleaning, also the con rods are going to the machine shop for inspection and if necessary new small end bushes and the big end bores resized.
Still debating if I should get everything balanced, the budget is getting really tight again but I want to make sure its done right first time
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Tony Z »

balancing will help keep things smooth and add longevity to the engine. But it isnt required.
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Edmond
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Found out complete engine balance is R800 so going to give it a miss, besides this will be a std low revving motor.

Also found out about getting the conrods resized and new small end bushes fitted is R900 for all 4 does that sound right, I might just reuse the conrods as is, the small ends are not too bad, gudgeon pins are a sliding fit but not that loose that they fall out when you put the conrods on ther sides.

Also going to build a homemade torquemeister tool with a 36mm socket, starter drive welded on a bolt and some thick flat bar steel to torque the flywheel up easily
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Done a trial assembly of the casing this weekend, fitting the crank with bearings turns nice and smooth with the case torqued up, also checked the cam in the casing by itself, turns smooth as well with cam endplay at 0.05mm or 0.002" so next time its casing final assembly
.
Also found out my gland nut problem, the shoulder od on the gland nut was a little too big to fit in the crank, carefully ground way 0.2mm and polished it with some emery cloth, screws all the way in the crank so that is sorted

Trial set the endplay on the bench with the crank in a vise i get 0.8mm with no shims so need to get a shim stack of 0.7mm

If I use two shims(0.34 and 0.36mm) I get 0.1mm providing it is safe to use 2 shims otherwise I can use the metal gasket with 3 shims(gasket 0.3mm Shims 0.32mm & 2 x 0.34mm) to give 0.1mm endplay, I could use 3 x 0.24mm shims to get 0.08mm endplay will have to weigh my options, I have a 0.24mm shim. a 0.32mm shim and a 0.36mm shim but need to get a few more, they are pricey at R55 each though
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

Casing is assembled, struggled a bit to get the main bearing by the flywheel to locate on its dowel even though I marked its position but it finally went in
crank rotates nice and smooth with all nuts torqued down, almost forgot the no2 main bearing for the right case half or the half with no studs on.

Scratched around in my parts stash and found 4 flywheel shims in a box of goodies so managed to get a shim stack of 3 x 0.24mm shims which gives perfect end play at 0.07mm right on the lower limit.

Next time I need to install the oil pump and double check the end play along with oil seal installation and final flywheel torquing.

The motor should be finished in the next month or two then its onto replacing the front suspension and the floorpan halves.
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Edmond »

End Play all set, oil seal installed and flywheel ttorqued up to 400Nm with a home made torque multiplier made from a 36mm socket, heavy angle iron, a starter gear and a few bolts and nuts, it actually works quite well with a multiplication factor of 10 so 40Nm at the torque wrench equals 400Nm at the flywheel.
Did a test on it by setting the torque wrench on 10Nm tightening the nut with the torque multiplier and then setting the torque wrench on 100Nm and trying it directly on the nut, torque wrench clicked without the nut moving so seems accurate.

The homemade torque multiplier has a bit of flex though so need to gusset the angle iron, grind the welds smooth and give it a coat of paint.

Next time im hoping to turn the engine into a long block
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Tony Z
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Re: My Baja Bug Rebuild

Post by Tony Z »

Edmond wrote: Did a test on it by setting the torque wrench on 10Nm tightening the nut with the torque multiplier and then setting the torque wrench on 100Nm and trying it directly on the nut, torque wrench clicked without the nut moving so seems accurate.
Nice job and nice tool
The torque wrench clicked at 100Nm, but did you turn the torque wrench to 110Nm to check that the nut still turns? Did you check at what torque the nut starts to turn again?
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