TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Mar 08, 2013 4:36 am

My motor seized and it damaged the crank split bearing saddle on the case. I had the case aligned bored to the first cut.The vw guy, who is very experienced,that did it advised that to be on the safe side, when torquing the case nuts that I should go 20 ft lbs on the middle two and not 25 like the other four. He said by doing so you will you will not put too much crush on the center bearing because there may be still some irregularities in the case but not where he cut. Has anyone heard of this?

Fri Mar 08, 2013 7:06 am

I have a hard time believing this. The case should have been torqued to spec when it was cut, which would have taken any irregularities out of the bearing surfaces. This should have put the bearing saddles true no matter what may be slightly off on the rest of the case.

Fri Mar 08, 2013 7:21 am

So do I. Anyone else.

Fri Mar 08, 2013 7:33 am

I agree with bashr.....

Sounds iffy to me.. It might work, maybe that's how this guy has done it for 50yrs, but it's not proper.....

Caveat emptor!

Fri Mar 08, 2013 9:05 am

NO. always torgue all the nuts the same. I always torgue the nuts 25 before i alignbore the case. and i have been building vw engines since 1963. from the Domeck Brothers

Fri Mar 08, 2013 10:28 am

I spoke with the builder again and this was his reasoning.He said its okay to torque to 25 and it probably not hurt anything but he figures where the case had damage in this area and even though the line bore was on spec, by torquing to 20 would extend the life of the center bearing and the motor overall without hurting anything.He said I will still get the proper oil pressure.I guess that is his style.Any thoughts!

Fri Mar 08, 2013 1:31 pm

Why do some builders think they can out do the factory?

Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:53 pm

You want the bearing shell not to move in the case. If you torque it less than specified it is going to be more apt to move not less. I am all for making improvements over stock, but don't see how under torquing a few bolts would accomplish this.

Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:18 am

I agree.25 it will be.