My bug - ANGRRR - the ongoing project

[karmakoma]

Daai ding ruk mal!

Sounds great Tony. One day, planets and stars and travel plans will align, and I can go for a spin

[Tony Z]

Anytime Riaan, just get to CPT and drop me a line.

[Tony Z]

I found a pic of the engine as it stands now. A little neater than it was a few years ago...

[hennels]

I wouldn't know... I'm not one for wheel spinning and making a lot of noise at the traffic light. The only time I showed off was when I tried to scare Anakin...

Once I dropped the clutch on Rumours in a fit of road rage and she axle-tramped so hard, the voltage reulator broke... in Upington on 31 December. 'Twas hot... 'Twas after one... 'Twas when the bottle store was already closed. 'Twas not a good idea...

Hey Ron, I remember that trip. This was the one where some of the rednecks burned down the river bank where we camped with a flare?? LOL
Anton went out the next morning to get a radiator j-pipe or something. HR also had some issues. We were driving in the black buggy, Fiona, back then. Naomi's twin sister, Sandra is my mother

[hennels]

Sorry for highjacking.


Tony, THAT LOOKS SWEET!!!! So flippen neat... We must talk. Will arrange a time for me to come visit!
I'll bring the beers!

[Tony Z]

Update...

It never ends.... I spent a little time getting the engine running and changed the oil for new, along with filter.
Also replaced a part of my carburettor linkage which was too short and I had to jippo until I could get the parts to do it right...
So I start the engine and synch the carbs. All is well until the oil warms up and then I spot a small oil leak, 1 drop every 5 seconds...

Easy I think, wait for the exhaust to cool, then take the rear cooling tin off, pull the oil pipe off, remove the fitting and re-seal with fresh goop.
OK, so I pull the fitting out of the case, clean everything up and what do I find????
Case is cracked.
FK!!

So when I get the chance, I'll be pulling the engine out and having the oil gallery welded up to seal... yay, not something I was planning on.
This is the third major failure of the crankcase. So much for the great 1st generation aluminium cases... I hope the newer ones are better, because this one isnt worth the effort.

Anyway, laugh away guys, this seems to be turning into a joke rather than a project.
But dont worry, she will be up and running when I have the time.

[retrovan]

Hi Tony,

Sorry to hear your mishap.

What about drilling a hole in the end of the crack to stop it from running, and then cleaning it up, filling with epoxy and get done with it.

In the past many VW's ran with Epoxy repair.

Saw your post about not going to the show, in another thread, and was tempted to post......."Trailer Trash".....

But felt sorry for you, ...and knew you would hunt me down next time you saw me....



Herman

[Wentzel]

Sorry to hear about the crack Tony. Isn't alu supposed to be much stronger, what can cause it to crack? Bad casting?

I hate pulling the engine I hope you don't feel like me about it!

Good luck

[Tony Z]

the Aly is stronger and heavier. But if you research the very first of the cases made, the casting was shit. This only came to light after I bought the case.
My entire sump is covered in oil. Not from leaks though, from the fact the oil actually seeps through the porous casing. The cam oil scraper return channel was originally only about 10% of the size its supposed to be (which caused my oil pressure problems 'cause it was causing oil to backup and get highly foamed and then this was sucking into the pickup) and lets not forget, others have complained that their slinger return hole didnt even exist.
My first issue was caused by the fan pulley hole being machined offest to the centerline of the crank...

I am very mechanically sympathetic, so dont overtighten things. Plus this is a low stress area. Only thing I can say is vibration on the hose caused the adapter fitting to vibrate, causing the case to crack.


Herman, the epoxy idea would be fine if it was a little crack (like it is) in a non-vital area or by a plug on a gallery which I could epoxy in. This however is the main oil inlet line from the filter/cooler which sees 100% flow and pressure. If this splits, I loose the engine entirely. It just isnt worth doing it a bush-mechanic way.
If I have to, then I'll do a full strip and rebuild, but I hope it doesnt have to get to this point.

[4agedub]

My first auto linea case (which i've still got) has also had a couple of oil leaks... The last one is a stripped oil pressure sender hole. The casing actually cracked right open without the sender unit actually fastened properly. So yes it seems like the first gen auto linea cases was crap.

My 2nd case no problems as yet.

[calooker]

Bummer, thats a real kick in the nuts, I feel for you.
I just hope my case is not the early run (not built yet )

[Wentzel]

Luckily it can be welded hey. But what will be next? Can't you check all known weaknesses of the first cases and weld the weak spots as insurance? Guess its not that easy!?

[vader]

Would a deeper thread tap not help minimise the vibrations?

[Ron&Gill]

Are you going to replace the case? Dave Rowley has the new bubble cases, he showed them to me and to my untrained eye they seemed high quality.

Sorry to hear about this setback, pal, but secretly I know you're happy because you can fiddle all over again... you know you love it, peace and music in your man cave, get to play with your parts washer, beer in the fridge, life is good!!

[jolas]

Bummer Tony, not a nice "wecome home" present !