74 Westy 1.8 Bus Engine Teardown and Rebuild

[Leiif]

To get this started here is a photo of the bus, before engine removal:

I will add more as I go. I have a lot of images but didn't start taking photos until I was well into the project. The next post will be photos as I was preparing to pull the engine. I took a lot of parts off before doing so as I wanted the weight down. When I finally pulled the engine it was basically just the case and the parts that can't come off such as the crank, rods and flywheel.

It went down further than this:

I live near the beach so lots of rust.

Rust and dirt and oil.

Oh, and corrosion.

Not good for an air-cooled.

Number 3 can't breath too well.

More to follow,
Leiif

[sonofamitch]

If you're looking to get your heads rebuilt, Headflow Masters is the way to go. Also try to find a good set of OEM or NOS bearings if you don't mind spending some green. I wouldn't throw in the Mahle bus depot main bearings if I were you.
_________________
'77 Westy 2.0L FI

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=568454&highlight=

[Leiif]

So I had this nice original 1.8 head on the right:

and it looked good cleaned up:

Even the underside looked good after initial cleaning:

Then this happened when removing a stud:

It looked bad:

This is the culprit. The galled stud on top. Then the misfit and 2 good ones:

More to follow,
Leiif

[Leiif]

[udidwht]

I'd scrap the heads. New or nothing. Spend the money now or you'll end up spending more later.
_________________
1972 Westy Hardtop/Type-4 2056cc
96mm Biral AA P/C's~7.8:1CR
Headflow Masters New AMC 42x36mm heads w/Porsche swivel adjusters
71mm Stroke
73 Web Cam w/Web solids
Dual 40mm IDF Webers - LM-2 - 47.5 idles/125 mains/190 air corr./F11 tubes/28mm Vents - Float height 10.45mm/Drop 32mm
Bosch SVDA w/Pertronix module (7.5 initial 28 total @ 3400rpm)
Bosch W8CC plugs
Pertronix Flamethrower 40K coil
S&S 4-1 w/Walker QP 17862
3 rib 002 Trans
185R14 Hankook tires

[bbrowncods]

Headflow masters? Can't get them to answer their email.

[busdaddy]

Then pick up the phone tomorrow.

Reassembling a type 4 with mystery heads with nothing done aside from a clean up and home lapping job is utter madness, they are running on the ragged edge of failure all the time and ~40 years of PO abuse hasn't made them any stronger. That exhaust stud boss is easily repairable but you really need a pro to assess port cracks and seat metallurgy/fit, they have developed propriatery methods and practices that have proven to be reliable. Would you rather spend a couple extra bucks now?, or many more when it swallows a valve or drops a seat in the middle of nowhere?, not only is the long tow and trip interruption expensive, usually when they grenade they take out a substantial portion of the bottom end too, Ka---ching!$$$$$$$$.............
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
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[udidwht]

You've gone this far...split the bottom open. And while it's open check everything (3) times over and also have at those gallery plugs (tap and thread them).
_________________
1972 Westy Hardtop/Type-4 2056cc
96mm Biral AA P/C's~7.8:1CR
Headflow Masters New AMC 42x36mm heads w/Porsche swivel adjusters
71mm Stroke
73 Web Cam w/Web solids
Dual 40mm IDF Webers - LM-2 - 47.5 idles/125 mains/190 air corr./F11 tubes/28mm Vents - Float height 10.45mm/Drop 32mm
Bosch SVDA w/Pertronix module (7.5 initial 28 total @ 3400rpm)
Bosch W8CC plugs
Pertronix Flamethrower 40K coil
S&S 4-1 w/Walker QP 17862
3 rib 002 Trans
185R14 Hankook tires

[old DKP driver]

Also, Please post the 'engine case' part number that is in front of the oil breather tower.

Yes you have 1.8 heads with the EGR ports but, the case appears to be a later model since it has the ignition timing pickup.

Also: as udidwht mentioned you should consider upgrading to New cylinder head casting since the one in your picture is the one with 2 EGR ports and they will overheat that head to the point that rebuilding it is not really an a
good idea.

you can purchase the 1.8 heads without the egr ports. and I run those heads on one of my builds.
_________________
V.W.owner since 1967

[Leiif]

Here's a short version rundown of the back story. I have had the bus since 86. Bought it in L.A. for $1800 when we returned from a 6 month trip to Thailand. Traveled across the US with my wife, 2 children and a cat on its first trip. It has lived in MO, AR, FL, CA, NV, AZ, WI and back in FL now. It has traveled across the US 3 times. I have lived in it for over a year on one of those trips. The second trip was with my wife, 2 cats and a dog.

I know the middle of nowhere. No offense to those that live there but look up Overton, NV. Replaced #3 there. 106 degrees with a wind. I also broke down in Santa Cruz, CA. Spent over a month at the KOA replacing #3 again.

Now I do know a bit more about this engine than I did then. In the Santa Cruz repair I replaced the head with a 2.0 head. Ran for 10 years on that. Never ran great.

Now I know why it didn't run so great and why it always ran hot and smelled of burnt oil. Not only did I have 2 different heads, I also had no cooling flaps, so NO air was forced through the oil cooler. I also had one wrist pin that was 18 grams heavier than the others. The heater boxes had a layer of asbestos screen that was oil soaked from who knows when.

Its a basic shade tree rebuild. I live in an apartment and have hijacked a 4 by 6 section of a storage closet as my workshop. This won't be the best that could be done. I will buy a CS kit when that time comes.

I haven't caught up with the photos yet. The case has been cracked open. Well a lot more than cracked. Its been cleaned and emptied of everything. Painted with aircraft case paint, Superflite, from Aircraft Spruce. The rod bearings are worn, the cam bearings are shot but the mains look good.

Its an AW case.

The main "upgrades" will be a Scat C25 cam, a 30mm oil pump and basic static balancing. Other than that it is just a matter of getting it running again. It ran when I started this but no so well. This will be mostly for around town but when I finish I wouldn't be afraid to cross the country as it will be far better than it has ever been.

More images to follow,
Leiif

[Leiif]

Onward. While the head was getting the stud boss welded I decided the engine bay needed to be cleaned up. This is how it started:

Pretty dirty.

With more rust and grease.

Oil and dust

and a crappy ceiling.

It cleaned up O.K. :

Better

but not

good enough.

More to follow,
Leiif

[Leiif]

So, I found out while doing some basic balancing that one wrist pin weighed substantially more than the others. Way back when the junkyard guy said "Sure it will fit". That probably was introduced when I changed the 3-4 bank to a 2.0 head but it could have been as far back as the piston replacement in the desert. One light one next to the heavy one:

After a week or so of searching and contacting Samba sellers I ran into a seller on ebay that had 3 wrist pins for a 1.8. I didn't know if they were the right weight but I could use the one heavy or any of my 3 lighter ones to make a set. Luckily the ebay gamble paid off and they were the lighter ones.

During that time I sprayed some rust converter on the rusty engine bay and gave it 2 coats of brush on paint:

Much Better.

I can see a lot better when in here now.

The ceiling won't drop pieces on me any more.

More to follow,
Leiif

[sneakyjack]

Looked Bali Yellow at one point - similar to my 74.

keep on at it..

thanks for sharing
_________________
Nothin left to do....
www.idolmakerfilms.com

[Leiif]

Many other parts were cleaned and painted that I have no before photos of. I will get an after photo of those soon. I spent days researching parts and ended up with 5 different orders for VW parts and one order for some taps and inserts. Spent over $1,100 so far and there will probably be more down the line.

One last ceiling image:

Measured the deck height:

I will get more photos online tomorrow,
Leiif

[busdaddy]

[Leiif]

[raygreenwood]

Um.....just a note. You say you are having the cracked exhaust stud welded?......is this in conjunction with a complete rebuild including valve seats? It should be.
You should not be doing any welding on the heads unless they are heated first. Generally when doing this you need to remove all the ferrous metal so its smart to do any crack welding in conjunction with a full rebuild including seats. Ray

[aeromech]

I'm impressed. Some folks don't have the money to afford a Headflow Masters rebuild. Looks to me like you're doing good work so far but I'm not convinced that you'll have a 50k mile engine when you're done. Kudos to you for working hard on this.
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[SGKent]

your intentions are good. This will probably be a nice bus to drive on a Sunday or to the park once in awhile, but it is not going to be trustworthy as a daily driver unless you take the time to measure every piece for wear and fit. Even new parts can be too tight or too loose. Learning what to measure and how to use the tools usually requires some sort of training or a mentor taking you on as an apprentice. Now that you have found out you have an interest in those sort of things, see if you can find a mentor who will help you out. Example - wrist pin fit is by feel. Unless you know what they should feel like those replacements may be too loose or too tight.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Leiif]