TheSamba.com :: View topic - DesertBob's "Last" Baja (Trail Ready at last!)

Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:31 pm

Plate looks nice, like the pushrod protection.

Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:32 am

No so good news. Gonna pull the engine this weekend. See thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=374413

Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:04 am

Fingers crossed for ya, Bob. Hope it's a cheap/easy fix.

Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:17 pm

Soooo, it looks like we won't be hitting the trails this weekend then... Good luck with what you find.

water cooled is more reliable... 8)

Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:31 am

Correct no trails for me. Due to the heat and all the brush fires I would be supprised if Silverado Gate was open anyway.

Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:44 pm

Update: Engine knock got worse. My engine builder split the case today and showed me a cracked block (2 places) and 1/2 head. Also had one badly scuffed piston/barrel. Amazing that it ran as well as it did.

Needless to say going with new AS41 case and will use new stock heads. Going to run a Web 86 cam (builder recommended), counterweighted 8 dowel crank with stock 8 dowel flywheel. Gonna get the case full flowed as well. CR will be 8:1. Should be a good little engine when done. Wish me luck. Hoping to get in the car by the Stodard Wells trip.

Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:57 pm

Any idea what happened to it? Your motor looks 1000 times better than mine... Did you just clean it up when you had it out? Did you just beat the snot out of it?

Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:17 pm

These types of failure rarely have anything to do with the cleanliness of the motor, or paint for that matter! :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sounds like the case may have had a small crack when you started. Who knows? Glad you found out what it was without being twenty miles from camp... :shock:

Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:19 pm

Good question. The long block and sheet-metal were in the car when I got it. I tore it down to a short block but did not see the cracks in the block or head at that time. I did clean it up when I got the new carb, exhaust and fixed and painted all of the sheet metal so it obviously looked better on the outside than on the inside.

The hypothesis is that the cracks allowed the bearings to starve for oil which raised the internal temps. I did not run it that hard but as mentioned in another post it got really hot coming home from the SoCal Baja meeting a couple of months ago and on the Saddleback (Brokeback if your Jeff) trip which resulted in low oil pressure to the #3 and # 1 pistons.

Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:03 pm

Skidmark wrote: These types of failure rarely have anything to do with the cleanliness of the motor, or paint for that matter! :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol:

A motor covered in oil and exhaust soot is a good indicator that something is wrong in my book. Just looking at it, I wouldn't have guessed that anything was wrong with it. Looking at my motor, I can think of a few things that are wrong. Cleanliness doesn't fix anything, but dirty is a symptom of something wrong. I know more than one dirty trans that's on it's way out. :wink:

Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:31 pm

Bob let me know how that rancho rebuild works for you. I have been thinking of going rancho so I don't have to change the mounts or mess with the shift linkage.

Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:01 pm

Bummer Bob. So your builder's gonna have it done that soon? Cool. I was wondering why we hadn't seen you for awhile.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:51 am

57baja wrote: Bummer Bob. So your builder's gonna have it done that soon? Cool. I was wondering why we hadn't seen you for awhile.

They hope to have it ready by Saturday. Now I have to find a location for the cooler and oil filter. May be ready by the Stoddard Wells run - may not. I can hope though! :D

Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:25 am

I have maybe 1 or 2 more trips before we head east to Tennessee in late December/early January so I need to get this Baja together quickly.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:06 pm

For what its worth, here is where my filter is. I think if I was to incorporate a cooler, I might mount it above the filter with a small duct to the rear and have it slaved to an electrifan. Plumbing has changed somewhat since this picture was taken...Lines are more or less the same, but the brass hardware was part of an application on another VW.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:37 pm

DesertBob wrote: Update: Engine knock got worse. My engine builder split the case today and showed me a cracked block (2 places) and 1/2 head. Also had one badly scuffed piston/barrel. Amazing that it ran as well as it did.

2 reasons I always go water cooled... everytime there is a problem with a type 1, you seem to always need a case,crank, and the valve seats crack.... 2, no more GD fanshroud!!

ps... having just now seen that last pic, I have heard some builders say a sideways filter allows cavitation and can increase oil foaming... same guys won't run the oil pump bypass filter for this reason ... 2 cents

Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:08 am

On the filter mount; I've heard the same thing, but I have run this very motor with this filter setup in a Westy( with a thermostat block and a cooler), a convertible, and now in this buggy. I've torn down the motor each time it has changed automobiles, and I could say honestly that I could have left the bearings in and undisturbed each time. Just my experience, and I do undertand that others may feel differently,but...I've had this setup or something similar since I bought these engine components from the Bergs in 1989.
I think another concern revolves around how much you ask your oil pump to pump "uphill"....I wonder about that every time I see a cooler on the roof of a car. The mounting point you see in the picture is on the edge of what I would feel comfortable with in regards to height.

Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:22 pm

Racers put oil coolers 6 feet away from the oil pump all the time. It will build pleanty of pressure to pump it up to the cooler. Baja champs run their engines all day long like this.

Above the rear window takes advantage of a stock bugs aerodynamics and puts clean air right on the cooler in that location.

Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:39 pm

Michael, I have seen the same thing, and in fact had more line than that in my baywindow bus application...I just wonder if any air bleeds into the downhill side of that system when it is shut down, leaving an air bubble to push thru the system before good, solid oil volume and pressure is delivered. I always just figured that since it was a race application, longevity was less of an issue....all it has to do is work for as long as the race.
At any rate, larger oil capacity, an external filter, and a cooler in hot weather, regardless of any potential drawbacks, have to be better than a recycled screen door in around the pickup tube in the case.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:11 pm

Any updates Bob?