TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Nov 06, 2009 5:07 pm

What tools are required to tackle an engine rebuild.
What sort of kits are there to avoid if any.
Should I even bother with a kit? Instead, break down the engine until I see the problem(s).?

This is meant to be my daily driver.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 5:15 pm

andrewsanteiro wrote: What tools are required to tackle an engine rebuild.
What sort of kits are there to avoid if any.
Should I even bother with a kit? Instead, break down the engine until I see the problem(s).?

This is meant to be my daily driver.

Tear it down and take pics and post them, a lot can be seen visually by many with a good eye on this site. Not 'tolerances' per se but obvious signs of bad things. Then you have to have a local trusted shop that knows VW's to check the internal case, crank and rods etc for if they are worth rebuilding or need machine work. Or in some cases it's better to bite the bullet and send the stuff out to be machined by a known reputable VW machine shop

Kit's are iffy... I'd say order parts specific as you need and from different vendors if need be to get the quality you want to do it right once...

Sat Nov 07, 2009 12:10 pm

keifernet wrote:
Then you have to have a local trusted shop that knows VW's to check the internal case, crank and rods etc for if they are worth rebuilding or need machine work. Or in some cases it's better to bite the bullet and send the stuff out to be machined by a known reputable VW machine shop

What sort of costs are associated with both of the preceding methods?

Sat Nov 07, 2009 12:18 pm

It really just depends on your local shop. If you have the choice between the crusty old guy or the new high tech shop, well I would choose the crusty old guy. He will probably charge you (oh say $20 or something like that) and will know what he is doing. The new high tech shop will surely get you very accurate results (if you are building a race motor this would be the route to go) but they will charge you for every minute that they have their hands on it (from my experience anyway). Either way those checks are best left to people with the equipment to do it.

Sat Nov 07, 2009 12:40 pm

MoparFreak69 wrote: It really just depends on your local shop. If you have the choice between the crusty old guy or the new high tech shop, well I would choose the crusty old guy. He will probably charge you (oh say $20 or something like that) and will know what he is doing. The new high tech shop will surely get you very accurate results (if you are building a race motor this would be the route to go) but they will charge you for every minute that they have their hands on it (from my experience anyway). Either way those checks are best left to people with the equipment to do it.

Hm... sounds like you know Jim's Motor Machine, huh? Cool old guy and really knows his stuff!