Aircooled VW South Africa

Weird.. I don't have enough experience to know whats what.. But all looks "normal' rocker side. No idea what the white stuff is. and the combustion chambers seem ok.
Tony, Impi, what say you guys??

That seriously looks like aluminium corrosion from water being left in the cylinders. If they are however like small chips in the pistons (the pic is too small to see for sure), its probably caused from pre-detonation.

Did you find the cause?

The JURY IS OUT!!!

Friday night saw the FINAL STRIP of the Sub-Assy - couple of seriously eager lads in the JBC got stuck in as soon as they arrived - I captured this whole process on Video, will try and figure out how to get it to an uploadable size - perhaps gooi it on Youtube...but let me not digress.

The Guilty party:
No. 1 Main Bearing on the Crank seized - they "cut" across was to get the bearing off the crank, but the 'lip" was broken off, the bearing obviously gripped onto the crank and rotated a wee bit so much so that the locating pin sat at about a 15' angle (not 25' Alan - your friend was quite close with her guess!!! HEHEHE).
Having said all of this, it seems that whoever assembled the engine might have cocked-up the end play, by putting TOO many spacers in there - 4 x spacers coming to 0.89 (see last photo with sizes) - so this begs the question if it was too little end play, or was it a port that was blocked, or both!!!)

The "Line Boring" that was done on the Casing leaves a couple of questions as well...Wehrner had some measuring rings made back in the day, and the 66.5mm sat like this on Main Bearing No. 1:
whereas on No. 2 it sat nice and flush:
Couple of other niggles that I've not taken photos of:

1) The Small-end Bearing on Piston 2 had some play - all the others came out with a couple of taps, whereas this one almost left a mark on the belly as it shot out!
2) The Cam-followers are all concave, instead of convex (put a steel ruler on it and the light shines through in the centre, instead of at the ends!)
3) Crank seems to have been cut - bearings are already ~2mm oversize
4) No. 3 bearing must have taken some heat as the crank was discoloured - nice & blue
5) No. 3 & 4 Bearings both sat loosely on the crank (~0.15 bigger ID than crank)!
6) Oil Pump gasket is apparently TOO Thick!

The GOOD Side:

Conrods weights are within 3gram (without bearings) - all NEW.
Cam followers all at 87gr.
Pistons are still NEW.
Cylinders are still NEW.
Cam still NEW.
(Bearing No. 2 not measured due to it being 2 halves)

So the Verdict:

The Wise men advised me that first price would be a new case and new crank!
Option 2 - Send the Sub-Assy to machine shop to fabricate bearings to fit current casing/crank!
Option 3 - Sub-Assy Exchange - where can I get this from???

I do not wish to go WaterCooled - just before that is added to the list!

So the search begins...get a Kombi motor to start enjoying the Bus!

Hi U should speak to Pierre at Vdubtech he has got some nice blocks and cranks in stock

Marius,
agreed. get hold of Pierre first. Let him see, (if he hasn't already seent his thread), and discuss options.. You'll be up and running in a few days boet..

My prediction is that the oil cooler was blocked from the old wear and tear, and starved the engine of oil, or that a blob came loose and blocked your oil port to the crank.

Herman

Tx Herman, I shall investigate...I have found on the Sump plate, hidden in a "sludge bath" a nice thick'ish piece of silicon, so the chances of ports being blocked are very good. I am also convinced there must have been oil starvation, not only lack of end play, the fact that the crank journal for No 3 has severe discolouration confirms that in my opinion.

Cheers,
Marius.

is the crank or the crank journal discoloured? It might be that the engine siezed on that journal before and the crank was reground to repair... thus you might be chasing your tail on that one ----- just a thought.

Good luck with the rebuild, we are following closely

Hi from the observations made.
Most if not all gasket sets these days have a too thick oil pump gasket which allows oil to recirculate and lowers oil pressure.
You do not say if the pump was used but this could also cause lower oil pressure.
if end play was too tight and it looks like it from the sides of the bearing then that bearing had nowhere for the oil to go and thus could end up being starved of oil. the thrust surface on the block may have been machined wrongly and thus caused the bearing to distort also the cause for a broken flange as you may see.
too thick oil cooler gaskets may also block the oil cooler most gasket sets have two too thick gaskets/ o rings which was only used in 62 and 63 type threes and nowhere else.

lastly a good option is to have the halves skimmed at mc donalds and the holes rebored to 1.5mm oversize I would like to see a crank that is ground no more than 0.5.
Obviously if the rest of the casing is good.

Armand

REPLACEMENT ENGINE
I've been able to get me an apparent "Factory Rebuilt engine" that another OOM bought some 15 years ago as a spare "for incase" (he didn't even know / realise that it was a KOMBI engine - lucky for me it was up for sale a wee wile back, and that sale never came through!!!). Took this to the German Doctor the past weekend to check it out and he gave it the THUMBS UP!

Float was NUMBER 1 priority to ensure the case is good...took a while to get the shims right, the float without shims and flywheel was sitting at 0,85mm. Took a while to get 3 shims that gave us 0,78mm to get the float down to 0,07mm, but alas SUCCESS!!!

So I sat there on Saturday to start assemble of the motor - it was at casing, cam, crank & conrods assembly when I collected it. Its at "sub-assembly level currently, having spent a lot of time to "grind/seat" the cylinder barrels properly onto the heads to ensure there ain't no blow-outs, refurbed the push rod tubes (took out the dents & dings and gave it a lekker clean with the wire wheel).

Couple of interesting "challenges" - but that seems to become the NORM!!! - (1) the fuel pump sleeve did not fit into the casting ring in the casing - quick clamp onto the Lathe and a rub with some sandpaper, and Voila - snug fit! (this was after the previous red bakelite and the black sleeves were both tested, and both got stuck about 5mm short of where it is supposed to be. (2) Then we realised that the Distributor bottom end is "loose like tastic" - if you close your eyes you could swear it had a universal joint - took a while to disassemble and get the spacer in to sit tight. (3) Where the Oil Pressure Sensor screws into the casing - according to Werner it is the first casing he has seen that it does not have a seam running through the centre of the hole!

Over the next couple of days I should be able to get everything back to where it should be, get oil in and start "commissioning" the engine. Hopefully after the long weekend I shall be able to give the ALL CLEAR / THUMBS Up / SATISFIED SMILE again and start enjoying the BUS!

ROCK & ROLL BED
While sourcing the engine I've also decided to modify the base of the R&R bed that I've built for the Bus...chopped off about 50mm to ensure that the top of the SEAT Back Rest doesn't damage the side pillar's linings - it was just too tight on the dimensions I've got on the drawings in earlier posts. It now sits SCHWEET!!!

The "No News is Good News" applies to this thread - I've rebuilt the "Factory Rebuilt Engine Case" to full motor, fitted to the Bus, "primed" the oil system a couple of times, but the oil just did not come squirting out of the "oil pressure switch hole" - eventually gave up on that, fitted the pressure switch, cranked the engine over a couple of times, then fitted the spark plug leads and all other wiring and piping to where it should go. Got the laaitie to "swing the motor" to get it started, but the bugger just did not wanna go - sounded like "back firing" which immediately get me thinking that we're out by 180'. Double checked the dizzy, and then remembered when we inspected the Dizzy Werner said that it needed spacers - long story short, I had to remove the bottom "connector plate" that engages with the worm gear shaft, rotate that 180' and reassemble. Did the STATIC TIMING again, and when we swung the motor it started immediately...and we shut it down immediately as well....oil was pissing out the bottom of the engine case, behind the crank pulley!!!!

Stripped off everything to get to the oil pump, only to realise that I've checked ALL bolts and nuts, except those 4! Hour later all was back in place, swung the key, and Voila - she's purring like a kitten.

Last weekend we've taken the bus for a test drive - around the block, then around the bigger block, then around the Suburb....it feels like one of those yucky experiments - the first 100m, 500m, 1km, 10km, 100km, 1000km, and then you can trust that ALL IS WELL! At least there is hope, the light at the end of the tunnel is SKYE COMING THROUGH!!!

So now it is time for an event or two, and then a roadtrip or 6 to really start enjoying the Bus. It has been standing for way too long, but this time round at least I know what was done to the engine, as I had to do it myself! Great learning experience.

A lot of thanks goes to Oom Koos that parted with the engine, and to Werner for all his guidance, advise and telephonic assistance when needed.

Cheers,
Marius.

well done man - enjoy your bus

Marius, excellent news, so happy for you.. And glad to hear you got a good rebuilt motor done. Will look forward to some of your adventures with Skye in the not to distant future pal.. Happy days buuuudy.

Al