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Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:31 am

novetti wrote: VWBrasil stopped the cast of any mag case in the Anchieta plant around 6 years ago. The foundry building was closed down at that time, and they don't have any plans to bring it back operation there.

So any case you get made in Brasil was cast before around 2002, and from stockpiles of OEM who will eventually run of in some time.

Then we'll be left with only one option, the Aluminium cases.

Eu comprei os dois últimos blocos AS 41 na Vw de Curitiba, e achei extremamente interessante as impressões dos Americanos a respeito do melhor bloco. Eu ainda acredito muito no AS 41, e como colocado acima, utilizo tb camisas de Nikasil, e a folga, pelo fato de ser menor, reduz o consumo e aumenta a potência...

1 year ago I bought two AS 41 cases, was a great deal. :)

Thu Aug 21, 2008 11:24 pm

"So any case you get made in Brasil was cast before around 2002, and from stockpiles of OEM who will eventually run of in some time."

Not true! A friend of mine who imports direct from VWB was at Anchieta this week, and they are still making cases (but maybe not there). They would have had to have mountains of them kicking around otherwise, as he imports thousands each year. There are variations on quality by year. Older dated cases have been comming out of VWB recently, and they are pretty crap on machining - probably held back after the last batch of complaints hoping we would forget. A BIG problem though, case prices are about to go through the roof (our trade cost $700) so you might want to get one sooner rather than later when the price rises filter through.

Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:18 pm

Something I just noticed on a three year old CB AL case I am just now getting around to building is that If you swap out the cheesey Brazilian oil pick up tube for a German unit,check up inside the hole for green locktite.

The hole the pick up tube mounts in had the stuff in about 3/16". I only caught it with a very bright light. I used a 80 grit sanding disk folded in half then rolled up and suffed into hole to gentley remove the stuff. Before this the German unit would not fit. I did not remove any aluminum just the locktite build up... the German unit just wiggles in now with a little coaxing.

I do not know if this practice is being done on new AL cases but it is something to look out for...The Brazilian pick up tube really needs to be swapped out on these AL cases. To bad they cant just make them standard on the AL cases and charge the extra $20 upfront. It would save everyone the hassle.

In another recent thread a gentleman sanded down the German pick up tube like .040" to fit...... I wonder if his case had the goop in there.. it was hard to see in mine. It was a two minute fix for me....

Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:16 am

In the end the best case is the one you have or can get hold of. I see Ferrari uses sand casting in their latest 599, a vehicle that can reach speeds of over 200MPH. So why then is sand casting bad? I sense a bit of brand bashing here.

Old cases are old cases. You can't always repair them and to be honest the old addage of "they don't make em like they used to" is true in the sense that they make stuff better these days. It's called progress.

Yes you do get crappy craftsmanship and dud units but all manufacturers have that sooner or later.

I say buy what your heart tells you to buy and take advice the way you want to. In the end it is YOUR money so spend it the way you want to

Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:19 am

Sand casting is not bad. In fact many avaition parts are sand cast. The problem is in when you use sand casting and minimum wage employees. It just doesent work well.
Anyways, these days most end users want a nice smooth shiney surface. They relate that to quality. But there can be a big differance beween quality and apearance in casings. It is true that many of the early aluminum cases had leakage problems on the top of the case. Tis is mainly because of porosity caused by the sand cores that they were using then being too wet and flaking off and leaving holes in the metal.

Mon Sep 29, 2008 1:02 pm

bigsmellyfart wrote: 1200RS wrote: jamestwo wrote: I like the as41, but with all the aluminiums ones on the market, I finally got one. First impression, it's heavy.

So far it checks out, but I haven't started the motor yet.
of course
density of magnesium 1.8
density of aluminium 2.7.
50% more weight.

evry time peaple tell me about alu, I report what say Ian Clark in GB
"aluminium bloc is probably better, but I dont need it."
He ran in the mid 10's :twisted:

So 50% more weight adds up to how many extra lbs./kg. ?
Just got a CB one today, its heavy!!! but great value for money and just what I needed for my roller cam setup.
I will weigh my as41 and see what the differance is.

Fri Oct 31, 2008 6:45 pm

It Is a better case in alot of ways. Who cares what it weighs. Most folks are usually building 2+ liter motors with them anyways otherwise why buy clearenced for stroke. Over 100 Hp you are losing nothing with the extra twenty lbs. You are gaining strength and losing some bad traits the mag cases have. Most of the people bitching about the extra twenty pounds should look at their own waist in the mirror..... I could lose Twenty off of mine.

The only case better will be Jimmy's........SOMEDAY.

Tue Nov 25, 2008 4:30 pm

ok, for those who were building with the alum cases and promised to let us know how they were working out.... how about it? Let us know what you have encountered working with them and if they are an alternate to the mag case.