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Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:22 pm

Quote: But if his are really new, I'd be willing to bet they're not KS.

and from the impression i get of the guy; if he had ks or mahle mains for a t4, he woulda been one of them types that would put them up on ebay for 300+ and let the bidding frenzy commence.....

hope you wbxer guys are appreciative of your parts availability.....

Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:05 pm

klucz wrote: No way, reusing old mains over new? That's very good to know. I was going to use a new set of Mahle mains in my 1.9. I had also bought a set of new (nla) KS 1.9 mains still wrapped in plastic but they looked beat up. The babitt material was coming off so I returned them. The original KS mains definitely show some wear but they don't have any material flaking off like the new ones did.

If you're putting them in the same places in the same case, the surface finish isn't eaten away (i.e. it's still all babbitt with minimal scoring) and they bore mic out with good oil clearances (which you had better do with every set, new or not), there's no reason not to use a good set of used mains, you save a good chunka-change doing that. Same goes for rods, and even cams, but fresh sets of those are so cheap there's just no point in it.

I'm running for 50k miles now in my daily on a used set of mains, reportedly with about 50k miles of use before me, but who knows how long they really went. The thing about hydrodynamic bearings is, if the oiling system were always doing its job, there would be zero bearing wear, zero, over any amount of mileage. Almost all the wear occurs on cold startups before the oil lubricates well. Because we don't run engines continuously that is unfortunately unavoidable, so there is accumulated wear over time even with a perfect oiling system, along with the occasional transient events where the ZDDP kicks in or the babbitt has to do its job.

But lest anyone get the wrong impression, all my customer engines get all new bearings, mains, rods, and cams.

Quote: hope you wbxer guys are appreciative of your parts availability.....

Well we're not as bad off as Type4 builders, but it ain't no walk in the park either. Std. 2.1 mains are still available, but offsizes are getting harder to find. I can get ten unders reliably, if I hunt around maybe I can find some twentys if I get lucky, but overs are scarce. That's 2.1's; full 1.9 sets in anything but std. are just as scarce as full Type4 sets. Sucks that the only unique 1.9 bearing is the thrust, it's not a Type1 nor a Type4, just slightly diferent than a 4, when the rest is Type1 exactly. Given that every single 1.9 case I have yet seen has a bad thrust, all those cases are officially junk where I live.

Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:12 pm

2.1

Manual

Unsure

Owned for 4 years

261,xxx miles

10k miles a year

Has never let me down...knock on wood..fingers crossed etc, etc.

Fri Feb 11, 2011 4:40 pm

tencentlife wrote: Std. 2.1 mains are still available, but offsizes are getting harder to find. I can get ten unders reliably, if I hunt around maybe I can find some twentys if I get lucky, but overs are scarce. That's 2.1's; full 1.9 sets in anything but std. are just as scarce as full Type4 sets. Sucks that the only unique 1.9 bearing is the thrust, it's not a Type1 nor a Type4, just slightly diferent than a 4, when the rest is Type1 exactly. Given that every single 1.9 case I have yet seen has a bad thrust, all those cases are officially junk where I live.

Regarding 1.9's. Can you use Type1 mains for #'s 2, 3, and 4, and IF you can get your hands on a custom cut thrust bearing, can you use those instead? I know nothing about Type1's or the quality of available parts but I do see that main bearings in different sizes are available. I realize that this would probably be a waste of time and money in most cases, because rebuilding a 2.1 might be easier and cheaper (and you'd have a little more power), but I was just wondering. Could you do it that way or is there more to it than that?

Thanks

Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:16 pm

tencentlife wrote: Given that every single 1.9 case I have yet seen has a bad thrust, all those cases are officially junk where I live.
:cry:

Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:31 pm

Quote: Well we're not as bad off as Type4 builders, but it ain't no walk in the park either. Std. 2.1 mains are still available, but offsizes are getting harder to find. I can get ten unders reliably, if I hunt around maybe I can find some twentys if I get lucky, but overs are scarce. That's 2.1's; full 1.9 sets in anything but std. are just as scarce as full Type4 sets. Sucks that the only unique 1.9 bearing is the thrust, it's not a Type1 nor a Type4, just slightly diferent than a 4, when the rest is Type1 exactly. Given that every single 1.9 case I have yet seen has a bad thrust, all those cases are officially junk where I live

ugh, you guys too, that sucks...im still kickin myself over the ones ive binned as a wear item in the past...already raided my circle file for the ~pseudo marginal ones...in the hope of something, anything...raby had made mention that there are bearing reconditioners but i got the impression its spendy....dont mean to be an ass but im glad i only build for myself, hope these five sets i have last me till im too incontinent to drive anywhere :shock:

iirc...fusername on stf sells various wbx thust bearings...not sure on anything beyond that....thought i heard rumor he 'inherited' boston bobs oddball bearing collection, take it for what it is though, just something i kinda remember seeing

Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:14 pm

Yeah I've heard of fusername's stash too. I don't know anything more about it either. He's also on thesamba btw. From what I've gathered a 1.9 case can be align-bored and thrust cut. So if you can get the right bearings together then it would be doable. Or so it seems.

Fri Feb 11, 2011 7:11 pm

Yeah I bet fusername still has BB's stash of bearings.

Quote: Can you use Type1 mains for #'s 2, 3, and 4, and IF you can get your hands on a custom cut thrust bearing, can you use those instead?

That's the deal. The drag is finding that #1 bearing. It's the same diameter as a Type4's, but the saddle width is different.

Then to align-bore you need both the Type1 and 4 cutters. But if the thrust bearing had been loose you probably (not always, but most times) need to shave the side of the saddles, too, and then you're looking at an oversize thrust bearing as well as overbore, that could be a real hard bearing to procure, never mind the crank size you have to match.

Gotta watch it with custom made bearings out of straight aluminum, too, making that work isn't as simple as it seems.

Fri Feb 11, 2011 7:19 pm

I have seen it :D it is realhe hassome for sale not much left as he works with old cases for himself without much mchining he saves all the old cases he can.

Sat Feb 12, 2011 2:13 am

Sounds like DH is the bastard of the Wolfsburg flat-4 fam. Tough luck I guess.

Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:54 am

klucz wrote: Sounds like DH is the bastard of the Wolfsburg flat-4 fam. Tough luck I guess.

I always thought I would make something of these DH's I have piling up here, little 1.9 turbos is what I had in mind, but seeing that every one has a loose thrust bearing and with the scarcity of the parts I would need to make these into anything...well let's just say anyone who wants six DH cases, they're here for the taking. Pickup only, I'm not going to spend my time packing and shipping scrap.

Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:10 pm

Anybody have information on these guys? http://www.importmotor.com

I saw them advertising here on the samba for a 2.1 Waterboxer Longblock VW Engine Price: $1915

Just curious if anyone has any feedback on them. This price seems too low.

Thanks!

Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:04 pm

tencentlife wrote: little 1.9 turbos is what I had in mind
That's like awesome and cute, and brutal... in an evolutionary sort of way.

Nuthin wrong with big turbos though!

Sun Feb 13, 2011 12:01 am

that's what I had in mind too, a nice little 1.9T.

Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:44 am

1983 Westy

1.9
stick
unknown, but PO switched to a carb
2 weeks
147000
hopefully 10-15 thou
runs strong but needs a radiator