I think that gasket has to be dry .My worry would be that the sealer would react with the paper and eventually make your flywheel loose.Thats just my own thought though and to be honest i have never liked that gasket ,especially in an aftermarket kit.

Ps Love the head repair.

Last couple of nights have just been cleaning stuff - very dull indeed, but at least the fumes from the thinners keeps me entertained.

I was in two minds whether to ditch the push rod tubes for new ones as they were so crusty, but gave them a stay of execution and attempted a clean up.



I left them soaking in the jet fuel for a few weeks whilst other work was done which removed a fair chunk of the crud and left them looking like this as a starting point.



I spent a long time with a brass wire brush cleaning them up which I must say brought them up a treat.

I also soaked them in a bath of thinners and cleaned them inside and out with various brushes to make sure the insides are as clean as the outside and that no dirt is left to contaminate the fresh oil






I think they've come up a treat.







Also started on the rocker assemblies and rocker covers which are in a similar state.







The usual 3 stage clean of jet fuel, thinners and then brake cleaner...





Anyone care to comment on whether the tips on the adjusters are excessively worn, or whether these are ok to re-use?





I'm kind of in the middle of cleaning stuff at the moment, so that's all for now. More progreess soon...

Thanks for checking in!

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Your rocker screws look ok to use from the photo as long as there is no flat spots on the tip.I would pull the concertinered bit and clean between them .You will need to pull them a bit before you reinstall.There is a length to pull them to but i forgot .Also when you install them i always fit them with the welded seam to the top as thats the first place they leak if they are going to .I'll look for the length of the tubes as i am sure you will want to get it spot on :wink: .

Mike.

Might be a daft question, but what is the technique for pulling the tube ends appart without damaging them.

They seam very stiff indeed.

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They are hard to pull especially if they were a bit rusty.I just holdthe middle of the tube and wiggle the other end until it moves out .Warming them helps if you have gloves.Somtimes only the first few concertiner bits expand but try and open all the grooves if you can as it will enable you to clean them as well. ,you only need about 3mm each end to make sure the seal has pressure on it.The reason they have the springy bit is to allow for expansion ,otherwise they would leak when the engine gets warm.

Mike.

More cleaning and prep....

You may remeber that I gave the pistons a quick tidy up so I could take accurate measurements to determine their wear...?

As I'll soon be attaching them back on the rods, I was in the mood to clean them properly. I established that new rings were needed a long time ago as the gap in the top compression ring was out of spec.

After taking the rings out, I noticed that the ring grooves had lots of built up carbon deposits that needed to removal.

I broke an old ring in half and very carefully used it to remove all the crusty stuff, but this still left a surface contamination that I wsn't happy with.



I've tried everything I can think of to try and remove it, soaking them in brake cleaner, acetone, celly thinners, carb cleaner etc, but it just laughed in my face like that girl at the school disco....

Short of getting them blasted, which I didn't really want to do, I was running out of ideas and certainly didn't want any kind of abraisive brush near the soft alluminium.

However, by accident I came accross this in the cupboard under the kitchen sink....



Nothing on the side of the tin mentioned anything about it disolving Volkswagen pistons, so in a moment of admirable bravery, I gave it a go...



I let it soak for about 10 minutes, then with a soft tooth brush, carfeully worked the foam into the piston, making sure that there wasn't any reaction with the alluminium. After another 10 minutes soaking, I blasted them clean with cold water from the garden hose to remove any residue, follwed by a hot soapy bath to neutralise any chemicals that might have been left.

Once they were dried off and I'd given them a quick buff up with a cloth, I can happily report that 8 out of 10 Volkswagen owners who expressed a preference said that this particular brand of oven cleaner works an absolute treat!













Now I can fit my new 'Grant' rings and make preparations to assemble the top end once I get the rockers clean and rebuilt.

Cheers all!

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awesome!

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😎
Phenomenal work there, keep it up!

Whilst my wife was baking the most incredible mixed spice marble cake with toffee fudge icing, I escaped to the garage for some more precision based action (cake was fantastic BTW)

I had a little parcel arrived this morning from my good friend ‘Fuzzyduck’ which contained a selection of crank shims to allow me to set up the correct end float. Cheers Fuzz!





It took me several attempts to find the right combination of 3 shims to get the end float just where I wanted it at 0.1mm, which is dead in between the tolerances in the Bentley manual. Sad I know, but I just can’t help myself…

Anyway, first up was to clean the flywheel…. With my new found friend!





Which did a splendid job of cleaning up the friction surface where the clutch disc sits.





I then polished the surface of the flywheel where the oil seal sits to ensure a good seal.





In preparation for my new genuine original VW oil seal!







Next up was to prep the gland nut. Some say use a new one, others say the original one is fine if in good condition….. I cleaned the original one, inspected the fibre washer for wear, re-greased the roller bearings then added a little loctite to the threads just to be on the safe side.









Now for the fun bit!

First on was the paper gasket – I gave this the slightest smear of K2, just enough to dampen it, but not enough to smear or squeeze. If nothing else, it stopped it falling off during assembly!





With the shims and gasket installed, I added a smear of K2 to the outside of the new crank seal and inserted it into the case as carefully and as straight as possible using a block of wood and a mallet.
I was amazed at how difficult it was to get in – I’m confident that it won’t leak from the outside part, that’s for sure! The books say that the early seals are fully home when they are flush with the case, but mine still sat proud even when ‘home’.





This was a concern to me, but it simply wouldn’t go in any further….





As a last resort, I took a look at a picture I took when I first removed the flywheel, and to my relief, saw that the original seal from the factory was proud by the same amount also! Phew!





At this point I took out my massive tool…. In order to apply sufficient torque to the gland nut, you need to find a way to lock the fly wheel.

I bought a flywheel lock too which will come in handy for the front pulley and other lighter duties, but I’d heard of a couple of broken cases around the stud hole where they fix and didn’t want to risk it.

So…. I took a long length of box section, drilled two holes to match the holes in the flywheel for the clutch plate and braced it against the engine stand.





Simple, but very effective!


Now for a VERY large torque wrench!







217 ft/lbs is the factory torque figure, yet many books say to do it tighter – some up to 300!! - I chose 250 ft/lbs as a nice round figure and torqued it up with ease, thanks to the length of the wrench and the sturdiness of the brace bar.

And now for the moment of truth – re-checking the end float.

I used a magnetic dial gauge like so…





With the crank pushed all the way in, I set the dial at zero….





Then with it pushed back fully the other way, took another reading!





That’ll do nicely, sir!

A word about measuring end-float accurately…. I found that pulling the edges of the flywheel against the outer edge of the case with your hands highlighted a small element of flex in both parts which depending on how hard you pull, distorted the readings. After an awful lot experimentation, I found that it is best to push the flywheel from the centre, not against the engine stand which is mounted to the case flange, but against the front end of the case as if you where trying to squeeze the case. This removes any possibility of flex. Likewise, I tapped the crank pulley end of the crank gently with a lock of wood and a mallet to ensure it was fully pushed the other way, rather than pulling on it the other end. After doing it this way 5 times, I got exactly the same readings every time.

Anyway – here it is, another small step forwards.





Party on!

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Hi
I finally had a look at my spare end float shims and discovered I only have used ones and pretty well used at that, I must have used the last new ones I had on the last Porsche motor I rebuilt, I hope you have some luck with the Porsche guys you could even try a main dealer, Porsche that is, as they can get hold of quite a few bits and pieces for their older models, as for push rod tubes I always replace them as their cost is easily justified by the potential hassle of fixing oil leaks or contamination caught in their concertina sections, their not dear so why risk it.

Shims sorted thanks - as per above ^^

As for the push rod tubes - I know what you mean, money is not the issue, I just want to keep as much originality as possible.

I did a leak test on them and they're fine.

I managed to pull a couple of ends open and other than a light coating of dirt, they're fine there also.

Maybe I've just been luck (so far!)

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Having just worked 12 days straight without a day off, I'm very tired indeed, so only managed a quick job tonight before I decided to quit whilst I was ahead...

Fitting the new piston rings - what a satisfying job.

I'd heard only good things about 'Grant' rings, so decided to explore their engineering brilliance first hand... I was not disappointed!





They all came in their own little bag, with a detailed instruction, hint and tips sheet and are absolute top notch quality - highly recommended.





The oil scraper ring is a 3 piece design with a spacer ring and two thin oil control rings. I spaced them as per the instructions and will be sure to set these at the 12 o'clock position on the piston when installed, with the others at the 4 and 8 o'clock position for equi-spacing.





The two compression rings have individual cross sectional designs and have a top and a bottom marked on them.









And there we are - ready for mounting to the rods.... I'm off this weekend too....





As you were!

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Looking good indeed. Did you buy those Grant rings new or are they one of your NOS treasures?

Good one...

I actually had the choice to use original style ones, or the new 'Grant ones'

I was tempted to go the original route, but in this case went for the most modern version I could. This is simply because the new design of the grant rings, especially the twin/thin oil scraper design is far superior to the original in this important area and will do a much better job of controlling compression and oil on the already part worn piston /cylinder clearances.

If I was using new B/P's I'd use original rings, but as I'm using the original units, I'll give them all the help I can.

For the record, after some phoning round, I found that VW Heritage stock them of all places and ther werene't particularly expensive. Beautifull items though.

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Couple of jobs done this afternoon – first up, cleaning the oil cooler which was in a right mess.
I soaked it in a bucket of steaming hot soapy degreaser to get the majority of the crud loosened off, which soon did the trick.





Then it was time to clean the inside, and deep within the fins. I did this buy submerging it in cellulose thinners.





Cleaning the inside was a very long winded and labour intensive process that involved filling the cooler with thinners, sloshing it about for ages, then pouring the contents through a filter so see what came out. I was amazed at how much debris was in there just waiting to destroy the bearings!









I repeated this process over and over again using a little less thinners each time (got through half a gallon) and blasting it with the air line in between each flush to loosen any more crud.
After about the 20th time, the thinners finally ran clear with no debris coming out at all. Scrubs up well!





Next up was to do all the preparation for mounting the pistons. I’d stored each wrist pin in order and orientation so I could put them back exactly where they came from.





They then sat in a bath of thinners for a deep clean…





I used a thinners soaked tooth brush to clean the insides, followed by dragging a rag through them until they were spotless.





Like most of the components in this engine, there is precious little wear in evidence.





The circlips were trickier to clean and were caked in carbon deposits, so I used the oven cleaner again to great effect again – amazing stuff!









At this point it is time to plan the order of assembly. To allow access to drive the pins into the pistons, you need to do this from the rear of the engine forwards towards the flywheel, as the bell housing hinders access from the front. So, using long nosed pliers, I inserted the forward most circlip into each piston, as a stop for when the pins a driven in.







With that, I had another decision to make – do I install the pistons in the barrels first, then offer the entire assembly up to the rods, or so I fit the pistons to the rods ‘free’, then add the barrels afterwards.
Given that I don’t have the VW style ring compressor, and that I could get much more control with everything loose on the bench, I opted to fit the pistons into the barrels first. Another advantage of doing it this way is that the barrels sitting over the case studs will act as a great support for the piston to keep it square when the pins are driven in.

Next up was to thoroughly clean the cylinders to remove any grit and debris left over from the blasting and de-glazing process. Again, a hot soapy degreaser bath and a pan scourer did a great job of this.







To prevent rusting, I quickly dried them off with a paper towel and the air line.





Then coated then in a light film of oil, ready to receive the pistons and new rings.





Out comes the ring compressor – a great tool! Make sure to oil the inside to allow the piston to slide out easily.





With one last final check to make sure I had the gap in the rings 60 degrees apart with the oil control ring gap at the top, I carefully inserted the pistons into their rightful home using the soft end of a screw driver to gently tap them in making sure that nothing caught or snagged on the way in. Didn’t take much to get them snugly home.





I pushed the piston up and down a couple of times in the cylinder to make sure everything moved as it should….





Then pushed them out so the hole for the wrist pin was clear, ready for mounting on the rods.





At this point, I was called in for my dinner…. Stay tuned for more engine build action soon!

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Some good progress today….

In preparation for installing the top end, I first needed to expand the pushrod tubes. To do this without damaging the ends, I inserted a neatly fitting socket, then carefully bent it round my thumb, then whilst keeping it bent, rotated round and round until it was expanded a few mm. Doing this a both ends lengthened them about 7-8mm which is enough to give the heads something to compres against to ensure a good seal.





After a leak test which they all passed, to prevent them instantly rusting again, I sprayed them with some protective transit sealer which gives them a nice golden finish.







Last look at the internals before we part company…







Next up was to fit the gaskets that go at the bottom of the cylinders. These received a very light coat of K2.







To help get things started, I pre engaged the wrist pins part way into the piston so they were ready to engage with the rods when mounted.





And crunch time – I set the rod at TDC and carefully slid the assembly into position. I took quite a bit of juggling to get the rod in the perfect position to line up with the pin, but I got there in the end. I used a socket on an extension bar as a drift to tap them home. Only gentle taps were required. Once In position, I fitted the other circlip, then slid the piston home.











One down, three to go…





I won’t repeat the pictures for the remaining cylinders as it would be repetitive. Once I’d got the second cylinder in position, I checked the deck height and was pleased that they were exactly the same at 0.045”. Sorry to use imperial, but I left my metric feeler gauges in the friends bus at the VW Action show.





Next up is to fit the lower cylinder deflector plates….. which I’d forgotten all about and found them abandoned on the shelf looking like this.





The usual three stage clean began which left them looking like this.





For the record, I am deliberately not having the tinware blasted and powder coated – remember I’m keeping everything patina’d and original as this is not a restoration, but a preservation project.





On with the copper sealing ring at the top of the cylinders – the joint side of the ring goes towards the head.





Next job is to install the pushrod tubes. The sealer was dry by now so I removed it from the ends of the tubes with brake cleaner, then fitted the seals, followed by some sealer and then pushed them into the case.









Really exciting now – unlike Anne Boleyn, it was on with the head!







It was the extended pushrod tubes that were preventing it from fully seating at this point, but they soon compress as the head is torqued down.

For the second time today, I discovered that I’d neglected some preparation – the head bolts and washers were still crusty, rusty and oily from when they were removed.
Yes, you guessed it….







Then, for the third time today, I discovered that I’d neglected some preparation – I didn’t have any high temperature silicone sealant for the head bolts and washers that sit in the rocker box.
Yet again, Dad came to the rescue and provided me with some Airbus approved high temp sealer – thanks Dad (again).








I applied some copper slip anti-seize compound to the base of the nuts to prevent future seizing and also to aid accurate torque measurements.





The head bolts torque down in a set sequence that is far too dull to document here, but it starts at 7ft/lbs, and finishes at 27ft/lbs.





At this point I put the camera down and did the exact same to the other side which eventually found me with something that resembles an engine!!!!!









What can I say other than….

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seriously nice job :wink:

can't believe how good mr muscle over cleaner is:shock:

Fantastic job mate, I'm hooked on this thread!

Super job LT ,I have used Mr muscle for a few jobs over the years (caustic soda from the chemist works to)but my first experience ended up not being so good.My friend phoned me one day to tell me his new discovery of how Mr muscle cleans stained vynl headliners and makes them look like new ,so i tried it on my type 3 fastback with amazing results as my sunroof fastback now has a factory fresh headliner.One slight problem though as i discovered 3 years later when i took the windows out to repaint it.The headliner had turned into a giant poppadom and cracked with every touch because the chemicals had dried and shrunk the vynl 😞 .
Apologies if you own that car now :oops:

Quick questions....

1) What are the valve adjusting screw/tappets made from - just a hard material, or are they specifically case hardened?

2) Who in the UK for quick delivery, sells early adjustment screws?
I tried all the usual suspects, KK, Heritage, M/C7 etc but they only do the '61- later ones.

The reason I ask is that on closer inspection, some of them are worn to excess and need either replacing with new, or re-facing.

If they are just an intrinsically hard material, I'll reface them on a stone (correction, Dad will reface them on a stone...) but if they are case hardened, thenthey're scrap as the wear will have broken through the shell.

Any clues boys and girls?

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