If you stumble across this site, you always need to consider the fact that I am a self-taught VW air-cooled mechanic with no formal training in anything auto-related either classic or modern. Everything I do related to my cars is because of personal choice, and often, when it comes to documentation and methodology, something that…
Category: Engine Building
Murbella – Day 24 – Drilled and tapped the oil galleries!
To be frank, I probably didn’t need to go this far. However, every time I put a brush or swab down into the oil galleries they continued to come back dirty so I went ahead and pulled only the plugs necessary for oil cleaning, as well as the two other small ones at the rear…
Some love for the Subaru too! A proper oil change!
Murbella didn’t get all of my attention today. I spent about 30 minutes on the Subaru Forester. Now I have a lot of the oil burning issues that plague can plague these cars. In fact, I often consume quite a bit of oil during normal operation and also get awful fuel economy on this vehicle….
Blank gasket material
While at the hardware store grabbing some bolts and nuts to attach the heat risers to the pre-heat pipes of the new engine, I saw that they have various size rolls of fiber gasket material. I decided to snag one of the smaller rolls to have on hand in case I ever need to quickly…
VW Type 1 Case Parts and Gasket Kits
When rebuilding an engine, or starting from scratch from a new case, there are a variety of additional items that need to be acquired to complete the assembly. There are a few critical kits out there from a few different manufacturers. Type 1 Gasket Kit The Type 1 Engine gasket kit is necessary to get…
Rocker Geometry – As good a time as any to learn it.
There are of course a few things I am generally ignorant about, or have never never had the opportunity to really learn. (There’s also the stuff like electrical work that I just downright hate.) Air-cooled rocker arm geometry, as it applies to the valve train as a whole, is one of those areas I’m somewhat…
My engine build – A change of direction!
So after some serious thought yesterday and today, I’ve decided to go in a slightly different direction for the AH engine rebuild that I’ve been working on. I decided that since I bought a brand new AS41 case in November 2018 I may as well truly build a 100% 0 mile engine, since 95% or…
AH Engine – There shall come a short block!
So I took everything out today. I redid the distributor drive pinion gear and made sure it was properly lubed and smoothly spinning. I swapped out the EMPI generic 009 for the Kuhltek electronic SVDA Distributor I had originally planned to put on this engine way back when it was still in the 74. The…
AH Engine – Crank Assembly Diagram
I didn’t get a chance to work on the engine today given that my fingers are killing me and I’m tired as hell. However, I did need to document some things for myself, as well as others who may find it useful. Connecting Rod Bearings: KS Kolbenschmidt Rod Bearings – Standard 50mm Connecting Rods: Connecting…
AH Engine – Day 2 – Crank and cam assembly and pressure valves
One thing I can say is no matter how much I read over the past 6 months or how many videos I watched during this preparation period, it barely prepares you for the actual work itself once you start. So one thing I realized this morning is that the 8 dowels in my my SCAT…