Impi & The Fig with the Dormobile transplant

[sarel.wagner]

See the Pictures and Videos here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarel_wagner/sets/



Rgrds

[louisvr45]

Hi what exhaust did you put on there?
Is it a std 1600 TP?

[fig]

Thanks Sarel!

I posted a report and pics here:

http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 90#p202178

I spent the weekend at IMPI's replacing the engine and transmission in my 63 Dormobile.

Thanks to the IMPI family for the hospitality and hard labour!

Bugger built the new transmission from a heavily abused Fleetline box and RGBs and the results speak loudly for Bugger's magic hands. The new trans runs quiet and shifts smoothly. Thanks Bugger!

IMPI built me a 1776 with twin Weber 36IDFs and what a SWEET engine. I'll start a separate thread on this build and particularly the costs of building a mild performance custom type 1 engine to give forum members a sense of what goes into a proper engine build (mostly lot$ of money ).

Because of spending most of the time up to my elbows in grease, I didn't take many pics, but Sarel Wagner dropped by on Sunday in his new Jag and took some pics and vids of the start-up.

Here's what I have:

Boer maak 'n plan. I forgot my 46mm socket and power bar. IMPI didn't have one and we didn't find one in a quick trawl of the Orkney pawn shops, so we borrowed a 46mm spanner from a neighbour. But how to apply a cheater pipe to a big spanner?


And the end result:



The pics of this engine installed just don't do justice to the work of art (and MAGIC) that IMPI produced. The 36hp fanshroud has full doghouse internals and is a work of art all on its own.

Right after getting the bus running again on Sunday, I loaded it up with all my tools, a large trolley jack, and the old engine and transmission (about half a ton's worth), and headed back to Lindequesdrif. Even on a tight new engine and driving slowly the power was amazing. I reckon the new engine is giving at least double the power of the old one with great torque. I'll post full specs in a dedicated thread.

The engine still needs some fine tuning and I need to properly tighten the new oil pressure sender, which leaks a bit, and get the alternator to charge, but otherwise it ran sooooo sweeeeetly on the way home, carrying the load with ease and flying up the hills, which was the main purpose the engine was built for.

Thanks again Armand, Wouter and Yolanda!!!

The header on the engine is an old Cowley???, because the Wildcat header didn't clear the CB filter/pump. The silencer part is Wildcat. I'll be taking the header back to Wildcat for mods so I can give IMPI his test-bed header back.

[IMPI]

Hi
Fig asked me to walk everyone through the build as it would be of interest to people thinking of doing the same thing.
Fig collected a lot of parts prior to the build and it is a good idea to start looking for some parts long before you are ready to build.
The list of parts dropped of by him was as follows
90mm bigbore kit
welded counterweighted crank (8 doweled)
engle w100 cam
Empi filter pump
nice sheet metal
Alternator
and a never rebuilt SFAD casing with 10mm studs
two brand new Auto linea twinport heads
2 40 dcn carbs with huge venturies and Huge ported manifolds

When stripping down the donor engine it was obvious that it was still in very good nick
The casing was line bored to 0.5mm over to clean up imperfections and the cylinder spigots opened up to fit the big bore kit. bothe cases were trued up at the sealing sufaces.

this pic shows the thickness of the cylinder ledge after boring for the cylinders

this pic shows the std ledge

this shows checking the center main saddle for distortion (none found) this is also the reason many builders skim the casings before boring as many engines are distorted here.
the studs were removed and newer style inserts fabricated and installed this work was done prior to machining the spigots so as to ensure accurate faces


all sharp edges were de burred and generally cleaned.
the conrods recieved their share of work. bothe big ends and small ends were re machined to std dimensions
The photo shows wear on brand new bearings when the customer tried doing it himself and didnt believe me that engine lasted 3 km (Not Figs engine )


Installing an aftermarket camshaft also poses some challenges if you buy only the camshaft.
The cam gear must be machined for countersunk bolts

the cam gear has a number which preferably should stay with the specific casing (not a big deal for std engines)

with a new cam it is a good idea to check whether there is play between the lobe and follower when installed as no clearance here will ensure total destruction.

using different pumps and cams also calls for constant checking of clearances

huge pumps often catch on the bolts used for holding the cam gear and it is good to check and clearance parts the empi pump filter combo needed to be clearanced as it also hit the crosmember boss and would not slide in all the way.
another often overlooked problem is that the drive gear on the pump presses against the cam and oes not fit all the way forgetting to check this means a ruined engine.

next
Assembly

[fig]

Thanks Armand! I can see this thread will become required reading for anyone wanting a performance engine.

When Armand has finished his story we'll tally up the costs.

[IMPI]

Hi all
Assembly of the engine is made quite a few times in order to check that parts are compatible. this checking results in an engine that lives and minimises mistakes.
I like installing the conrods onto the crankshaft first.


Closely followed by the timing gears and main bearings
final cleaning of the case is followed by installing the distributor drive and distributor drive this way ensures that you dont battle to install the drive later and possibly damaging the brass gear. Then the crankshaft is set in place i like to use vaseline as a pre lube and this has served me well. Next to follow is the lifters (I lube these with CV grease if I dont have the lube as specified by the cam manufacturer)


A final check that everything is in place and that the bearings are correctly aligned on their locating pins.
Now is the time to ad sealant. I use two types on the case


Loctite 518 for the cam plug and the studs straddling the camshaft i also use this at the oil pump and cylinder bases.
The Curil K2 is used on the rest of the casing this is the stuff used by VW
Once the case is torqued ( I religeously follow VW torque settings only deviating on conrod nuts where I use loctite and the std setting

I then set the end play

I use a modified gland nut and a special steel washer to spread the load

As this washer is thicker than stock the gland nut needs machining for clearance.
The rest of the engine is fairly straight forward (dont forget the piston arrows face the flywheel and the forget me not plates)
When torqueing the heads alternate between sides and gently increase torque until the desired settings are reached.


General notes.
If you buy a counterweighted crank secondhand get the flywheel as well. Or get the person to do the 8 dowelling before purchace Fig only had a crank and matcing the dowels was the biggest obstacle in this build.
We swopped oil pumps earlier on because I like the CB performance pumps fit on cases with cross member bosses better. I have used the EMPI pump and it does the job just as well.
Dont assume that the crank is center in the block as it is usually off set to one side a bit this can be compensated for when making the cylinder base shims
We used 7.6 to 1 cr and the engine is running well for a bug this can be bumped to 8 to 1. Whilst this may soumnd very coservative it will aid in longevity and still put a smile on your face
the filter used is the short version as used in newer vws and I have begun using the new Polo Filter which has a nut at the end of the filter to aid removal
the big bore kit needed filing at the bases to clear the studs
The auto linea heads needed lots of de burring and even downright drilling of small holes in order to get the airflow to go as VW intended but the heads are real nice.
I used used ALfa carbs and the EMPI linkage kit would not fit straight on I ended up copying the empi geometry onto the Alfa throttle levers this works well as each carb keeps its return springs.

Modifying the fanshroud
Those nice EMPI manifolds and linkages dont fit a Dog house shroud and they dont tell you
I have been doing this little mod for a while now and it has proved to give good results every time
I cut open a old style housing and a new style doghouse and then mate the to getting the best of both worlds


the only real hassle is centering the fan but that is easy to do
Armand

[YvaneS]

we'll tally up the costs.

[sarel.wagner]

Edit a new video on this enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarel_wagner/11297374296/

Rgrds

[Tony Z]

I saw the FIG!!!!!!!

[slak]

Nice engine it sounds very lively
the crank looks well done where did U get the counter weights done ?
not alot of engineering shops are up for the job looks like

[fig]

Thanks Sarel!

@slak, I bought the crank from calooker, already counterweighted, maybe he knows who did it.

[slak]

Thanks will ask him

[62vwbeetle]

Sounds good what kind of performance in bhp do you estimate this motor makes ?