So after talking to various people and trying to perform a variety of due diligence in my online research, I finally settled on the assembly lubes I’m going to try for the AH rebuild.
Red Line Assembly Lube 80313 is going to be my primary assembly lubricant. It seems to have really good adhesion and will dissolve in the initial break-in oil.
I also purchased a separate lube to use on the camshaft and lifters called from ZDDplus called ZPaste Cam Assembly Lube.
This “Assembly Oils, Greases and Lubes” article at Engine Builder Magazine by John Martin seemed to combine a lot of the different bits that I’d read from a variety of other sources. Of course, these are all general engine building points, not specific to VW air-cooled engines.
I haven’t decided what break-in oil to use yet though I’m currently leaning towards Driven BR40 10W-40 Conventional Break-In Oil but no doubt anything I buy locally available at Jegs, Autozone, or O’Reilly will work as long as they are ZDDP fortified.
One thing I have learned from my research and questions is that everybody has an opinion and more or less their own “go to” products. Hell, there’s so much on the market that I figure a lot of it has to be very similar since chemically there’s only so much one can do.
As long as I don’t destroy the engine during break-in I assume that will be a win for me.