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Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:21 pm

You'll be fine...you are seeing what most of us have seen at some point and most of us managed to actually enjoy our bugs more having done the work ourselves.

Think of this as a hobby...if not a labor of love!

Also, I really enjoy reading your posts....very entertaining!

Wed Feb 15, 2017 5:41 am

Alright. Its a new day. A stock set of pistons, rings and cylinders is only 150 bucks on Amazon. Not the end of the world. And besides, that's the better way right? No more screw drivers until I install freshly painted tin on my freshly built bug motor, which I love. Got it.

I have a flywheel lock, case splitter, oil pump puller and bench mounted valve spring compression tool on the way. Until then... got some reading to do. :wink:

Wed Feb 15, 2017 6:58 am

Buggeee wrote: Alright. Its a new day. A stock set of pistons, rings and cylinders is only 150 bucks on Amazon. Not the end of the world. And besides, that's the better way right? No more screw drivers until I install freshly painted tin on my freshly built bug motor, which I love. Got it.

I have a flywheel lock, case splitter, oil pump puller and bench mounted valve spring compression tool on the way. Until then... got some reading to do. :wink:

What pistons did you buy?

Wed Feb 15, 2017 7:20 am

I haven't ordered any engine parts yet, just the tools to open it all up. I figure I should take an inventory and make sure the case is salvageable.

Here are the pistons I saw for a hundred fifty, pictured with jugs, pistons, rings and pins : Moresa 311198069FD 85.5mm Piston and Liner Set for VW Beetle. Described as: "...Engineered with premium materials, Moresa's reliable, heat resistant 85.5mm pistons and liners ..."

The picture looks shiny too. lol

Also for about the same price is another one AA-8550-T1-VW 1600 Stock Bore 85.5 mm Piston & Cylinder Kit. This one is described as: "New AA 85.5mm piston and cylinder kit. The kit includes cast hypereutectic pistons and cast cylinders. It also includes new piston rings, wrist pins and lock rings..."

Dunno myself, figured I'd do a search and ask some folks. So... while I'm at it what do you think? Are there different kinds of stock cylinder kits? :-k

Wed Feb 15, 2017 7:48 am

Buggeee wrote: Here are the pistons I saw for a hundred fifty, pictured with jugs, pistons, rings and pins : Moresa 311198069FD 85.5mm Piston and Liner Set for VW Beetle. Described as: "...Engineered with premium materials, Moresa's reliable, heat resistant 85.5mm pistons and liners ..."

I just bought, installed, and am using the Moresa kit you describe, had Hastings made-in-USA rings (ordered from CB Performance) in my 1600cc DP engine in my 1970. No complaints.

Wed Feb 15, 2017 8:08 am

^^ this

Wed Feb 15, 2017 8:50 am

The Moresa kit can be had for a little cheaper ($133) off rockauto (where I got my set):

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=5473971&cc=1409352&jsn=416

However if Amazon kit was free shipping, that may offset the lower cost.

You won't find many complaints about either set on here, both the Moresa (maade in Mexico for VW) and the AA (made in China) are supposed to be good quality.

Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:58 pm

today i used my new bore guage set that i got for 15 bucks at harbor freight on my way home from work along with the 3 dollar digital micrometer i got there this summer to get the diameter of the jugs i pulled off and learned that it is a regular ol' 1600cc. good news and now i know what size piston and cylinder kit to order. :D also found a vw machine shop here in ohio that will line bore a case and thrust cut it too for 75 bucks. the plan is coming together. still waitin' on the case-splitter so i can get in there. Oh and I spent 30 (because i'm worth it) on a proper dial indicator with magnetic base so I can shim the end play one day when its going back together (optimism springs eternal in the land of the beetle) :bug_orange:

Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:58 pm

Some tools arrived today. I used this bench top valve spring compressor to hold down the valve springs while I grabbed the little retainer clips with a magnet.

Then moved on to the oil pump puller...

My gut tells me these oil pump gears aren't supposed to bind to a stop part way around when I spin it by hand. So that's probably going in the trash with the cylinders. I am attracted to the idea of one of those oil pumps that have a real spin-on filter to one side. Any experience with those?

I will join the crowd with broken off fuel pump thingy stuck in the case. I found the larger piece of it in one of the boxes of parts and its a match to what is down in the hole. Now I really appreciate the usefulness of these Samba build threads because I already read about this and like a hundred and one ways to deal with it.

Look at all these parts. :D
Time to get out the sandwich bags and marker before I forget what came from which cylinder number whatever... or more likely my dog comes down here to see whats going on and happily helps me reorganize. I have already mixed up all the push rods but the rest is in order.

Ahhh... all the little pieces nicely tucked in to bed.

Tomorrow is a brand new day. I have my case-splitter in hand but the flywheel lockmigigeroony has not yet arrived. I think I will wait on the stoop all day watching for the UPS truck.

Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:19 pm

WTF? :shock: Am I o.k. here peeps? Check out the cylinder stud hole for upper left (or top front) of number 3. Its like a big hole with the threaded insert installed in the bottom of the hole.

A long bottom type stud is used here rather than a short top stud. It ends up the same length as the other top stud because its longer but its down in a hole. It was as secure as all the others when I took it out but its the only one like this. Is this a repair of some kind rather than installing a case saver or something? Can I still use the case, etc?
Oh, and for no reason here is a pic of sandwiching two nuts on a stud so it can be removed by that.

How do you like the shiny crescent wrench? Hey at least its not a huge screwdriver.

Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:21 pm

It's called a "Deep #3" stud/// it's normal on late model cases.

Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:36 pm

Glenn wrote: It's called a "Deep #3" stud/// it's normal on late model cases.
OMG thank you Glen! I will sleep well tonight. Very kind of you to clue me in. =D>

Sat Feb 18, 2017 6:11 am

Nice work on the engine disassembly. I PM'd you regarding the machine shop.

Sat Feb 18, 2017 7:59 am

Buggeee wrote: I am attracted to the idea of one of those oil pumps that have a real spin-on filter to one side. Any experience with those?
I have CB Performance Maxi2 filter pumps on both my engines, I like them. Yes, some fins on the rear housing of it must be cut or ground away for better clearance of the pulley tin.

The Maxi2 filter/pump on my 1835cc engine has been working for me since about 1980. I just put one on my rebuilt 1600cc engine 2 months ago.

Sat Feb 18, 2017 9:44 pm

A warm front came through and its 50 degrees today! :D So its back outside where I got it in me to pour a half gallon of Walmart's finest paint stripper on the roof of my super. NO FEAR 8)

Here she is after two coats

Archaeological methods reveal that most parts are black rattle can and roller (seriously) over orange but the right front fender wins the day with black over orange over green over red! :-s

I'm just laying it on thick and then blasting it off with my power washer after it wrinkles up. Sure beats the heck out of sanding :!: :!: :!: Maybe I'll have a chance to do some more of that tomorrow.

Once it got too dark to impress my neighbors anymore, I drove about an hour or so each way to pick up my new-to-me OEM flat window Super Beetle hood. (Yes, as it turms out unicorns DO exit after all, and they are easier to find than these hoods). I'll be stripping the 14 layers of nonsense off this hood too if I have my way.

Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:24 am

One weekend, two gallons of paint stripper and a power washer.

Here is How things stood after the second coat

...and here is how it looked after the third, fourth, etc. Once it got down to certain point it stopped coming off with the stripper. Places with prior body work were especially difficult. Bondo softens but still sticks for the most part. What you see here is not rust, but some super duper brown/red primer that melts without wrinkling and some skim coats of bondo over minor dents and dings. Except the hood. I don't think that hood was as much a Southern Bell as was claimed. I can work with it though.

And the glue is out of the engine area...

Mon Feb 20, 2017 6:37 pm

After using chemical stripper, I have to make sure its fully removed from the car. To get into the crevices, I cut back the window rubber. (I have new window rubber for after the painting is done).

Then a good bath with Dawn dish washing soap.

I sent a picture of the stripped bug to the person I got it from (an auto body painter) all proud of my accomplishment and my phone started ringing almost right away. "Listen carefully and do exactly as I say!" Apparently if you are going to chemically strip a car you have to act immediately because the moisture in the air goes right to work on it. Sure enough, the next morning (today), some areas of the naked bug were already showing a soft golden hue. So I pushed it out in the driveway when I left for work to let it warm in the sun all day. When I got home, I used 3-M's version of a scotch-brite pad (those green plastic scrubber pads under the kitchen sink) to polish (dry like sanding) it shiny silver again. I then sprayed it with self-etching primer, which bonds to bare metal, to protect all that hard work from natural disaster. I used Rustoleum brand rattle can because I wasn't smart enough to own an air compressor before dumping paint stripper all over my bug. There are a fair amount of runs, drips and errors but I will be addressing all kinds of issues anyway and now its safe and sound for my garage.

This self etching primer dries kind of like flat army green. I never understood the pictures of bugs done up like that but in person it looks really cool.

Now... I can turn back to the engine again. And on that front, the Cavalry has arrived!

Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:22 am

Don't forget Tom Wilson's book . And read it thru before you start .

Tue Feb 21, 2017 5:26 am

If you're tearing the case down anyway and having it align bored/thrust cut, why not have them work the case for a full-flow setup and run a real filter system?

Sat Feb 25, 2017 12:26 pm

Alright!!! Cracked this case wide open. How fun is that? It's real fun by the way. I looks so cool inside! My posting efforts will be directed at how it went down...

First I had to take the flywheel off. Because I don't have a special clutch compression tool, I had to loosen the pressure plate bolts a little bit at a time in a repeating diagonal pattern until the tension was relieved. Before I did that I had to lock the flywheel with a little gold flywheel tool that was dirt cheap. And I had to mark where the pressure plate was so it could be installed in the same place. Don't know why, Bentley told me to do it.

Once the pressure plate and friction disk were out of the way, I used a super long breaker bar I got for twelve dollars from Harbor Freight and a 36mm axle socket from Autozone to do the gland nut on the flywheel. I had to stand with my feet on the end of the breaker bar, bent over with my hands on the engine case, and kind of hop up and down a bit before the nut started moving, but it did.

Now to pull the flywheel... but before that, I had to mark where the flywheel was mounted to the crankshaft so it could be reinstalled in the exact same place. Don't know why, Bentley told me to do it. I filled in one of the empty holes with a marker and drew a line on the flywheel.

With the bolt is out, the Flywheel is still really stuck on the end there with the four little dowels and all. So... another forty bucks at the Harbor gets me a set of four sizes of three-hook pullers. The big one fit the flywheel just right. A little oil on the threads, a twist of the socket wrench, and off it came. :)

More to come, not that you care... but this is fun. Buggin... now I remember. \:D/