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1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts

Murbella – Day 25 – Sorting and some and fan shroud/alternator removal.

Posted on 2020-05-252020-05-25

So I needed to sort through all my parts again to see what I had so I could trigger orders at AApistons.com and CIP1. I wish I had my new credit car but I wasn’t thinking about getting that 0% interest line of credit prior to this weekend and I had to take advantage of the Memorial Day Weekend sales, especially since AApistons.com had amazing sales on some key items I needed.

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
My system. It works well enough.

I tend to work for a few days, get messy and somewhat disorganized, then spend an hour or two resorting tools, bins, and cleaning up. I bought some more bins yesterday so I could use the tables for more repair and restoration work instead of just piles of parts.

With the engine parts all sorted, I knew what I needed to still get and trigged my orders.


Fan Shroud / Alternator Disassembly

I had yet to get to the tear down of the fan shroud so that was next up since I needed the tables cleaned up.

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – Motorola, not Bosch

So the alternator on Murbella is not a Bosch and it has the regulator up top. In looking around for some info, I found some old  threads on The Samba about it. This appears to be referred to as a “white box Motorola” by various people.

Samba: Source for Motorola White Box Alternator Regulator
alternatorparts.com:  # M5762 Voltage Regulator for Motorola & Prestolite Alternator
bugcity.com: motorola voltage regulator

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – Motorola Alternator

 

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – Alternator corrosion

There’s a fair amount of corrosion on the alternator and the plenum/alternator stand.  It looks like water pool under the stand to me, at least from the stain in the rear.

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – Disassembled order

The fan is dirty as expected but in good shape. I may clean it up a bit. It could use media blasting but I’m not spending the money on that for this part. I’ll clean it up as best as I can.

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – FI Fan shroud front

The fan shroud is in excellent condition, with minimal surface rust where parts rubbed up against the paint.

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – FI Fan shroud internal vanes

 

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – FI Fan shroud base

I’ll clean all of this up. Look at it… just patiently waiting for the restoration of the thermostat flaps that have been missing for who knows how long.

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – FI Fan shroud velocity ring

 

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – FI Fan shroud rear

I still haven’t looked for stencils to recreate the “517” factory marking. My intent is to try but I’m not going to get all bent out of shape if I do not.

I was not yet able to get the key out of the shaft to get the rear of the pulley off. I tried. But it didn’t want to budge. This is not the first time I’ve seen this happen with such old assemblies and keys.


Crankshaft 

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
AJ engine crankshaft next to my AR engine crankshaft

I got the rods off  fairly easy but add the second woodruff key that was not budging today so I could not heat up the top to get the nasty circlip off and the various gears and bearing off.

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – Crankshaft wear

Now on the whole the journals look ok, but they could probably use a machine shop polishing. Of course, I do not have one within 150 miles of here.

I opted to go with a new cast counterweighed one so I’ll save this for future restoration as an original forged VW part.

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – Crank gears

The cam timing gear on the crank is pretty worn.  The brass distributor gear could probably be reused. I opted to get a whole new set of gears for the new crank anyway.

1979 VW Beetle - FI AJ Code Engine Parts
1979 VW Beetle – Crank

More parts to store away in bins for the foreseeable future.

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