It has started! Without the crankshaft assembly together, nor the camshaft cleaned, there wasn’t much to do other than give the case one more once over, another cleaning to get the last remnants of any metals out, and get it on the stand. The above pic is the last pic of the case by itself! …
Category: Engine Building
AH Engine – Last Minute Case Prep
So the trials and tribulations of find local AN fittings that will fit without too much case modding proved not to be. Even with some other people’s photos of their layouts, all of the similar 90° fittings I could find had “nuts” that were just too thick, taking a massive chunk out of the pulley…
AH Engine – To tap for oil temperature or not?
The simplicity of the VW Type 1 engine, and the actual car itself, more or less harkens back to an era when simplicity reigned. Especially since simplicity didn’t add any cost. Another major missing “feature” of the engine is the lack of both a true oil pressure sender and gauge as well as an oil…
AH Engine – Porting the new oil pump for better flow.
Now there is one simple mod I came across many times in my research and that involves porting the oil inlet into the pump. Now the Schadek 26mm Oil Pump I purchased has no oil outlet. It is designed purely for use in full flow systems so I didn’t have to tap and plug it…
AH Engine – Balancing the pistrons and con rods
I finally unpacked the pistons, cylinders, and connecting rods. I decided to go all new, given how bad the original pistons were. I probably could have just rebushed the original connecting rods but I opted to go with brand new stock aftermarket ones for this build. Following a pretty standard methodology, I weighed everything multiple…
AH Engine – I’m calling the case ready!
So I completed all I’m going to be doing of the minor mods to the case. There are some that I do not yet possess the skill (or tools) to make but I fell confident I have not screwed anything up. I ran the taps through all of the gallery holes again to make sure…
AH Engine – New direction in plugs!
So the EMPI oil gallery plugs you can buy suck balls. I didn’t expect something as simple as these to suck the amount of balls they do but it is big balls and those are well sucked by these. Yes, the VW Type 1 case is relatively soft compared to many other engine cases. And…
AH Engine – Starting the internal case mods
I started on some of the internal case mods I had mentioned a while back. I got a bit done before my Dremel started giving me problems. I was able to get one of the John Maher Racing mods done which consists of removing some material and relief work to “improve internal pressure equalization between…
AR Engine – Oil Gallery Plugs Pulled!
With the AR engine relatively clean it was time to pop the oil gallery plugs and more or less run in parallel some of the activity of the AH Engine work. Given how much metal shavings and powder debris is generated, I can see why it just makes sense to prep multiple cases at one…
AH Engine – Drilled and Tapped
So with the garage finally de-chaosed, I could finally get back to working today. The AH Engine case had previously been degreased, cleaned and pressure washed, and the oil gallery plugs pulled. It was time to finally overcome my fears of messing up and tacking the drilling and tapping, something I’d never done on an…