Rebuilding my 1978 2L engine (with pictures).

[hurst_dave]

I just finished tearing down my 2L 1978 Bus engine for the first time and it's been a lot of fun so far. I've been mostly using Tom Wilson's book (How to Rebuild Your Volkswagen air-Cooled Engine), Richard Atwell's website and the Bentley shop manual--and it's been going pretty well. I just cracked the case tonight and decided now would be a good time to post pics of my progress and to ask for advice.

I'm looking to build a better-than-stock but not a "high performance" engine for a reasonable price. The heads are AMCs so hopefully are rebuildable as they're not 32 years old--I was thinking Headflow Masters. The camshaft is VW so I will be replacing it either with a aircooled.net hydro cam/lifters or with a Raby "valvetrain upgrade" kit (though I'm leaning towards the aircooled cam/lifter combo for cost reasons, plus I like hydraulic lifters which Raby doesn't sell). I'll need to replace my pistons/cylinders and I was going to go with aircooled.net's balanced 94mm set. I'm pretty sure I can find a good local machine shop to do the case, crank and rod work.

Now for the pics:

Just removed the engine/transmission per ratwell.com

Engine on the stand. I found the excellent yoke on the samba classifieds (search for "yoke").

View from the top with most accessories removed.

Pulled the heads/cylinders.

Scuffing on the side of the piston (only one). Wilson tells me this is a sign of overheating, which my CHT/oil temp gauges told me.

Top end.

One head. Is that burnt part from a leak?

The other head has the same kind of burn too.

The block waiting to be split.

Block viewed from the front.

Viewed from the side.

The block did not want to come apart. Does anyone know how to remove that flywheel sensor on the bell housing?

Success!

Doesn't look too dirty in there. Look closely at the hacked oil pickup... also missing the "windage tray".

View of the oil pickup in its proper location. It looks like someone over-torqued the oil screen and repaired the damage at some point.

Broken case at oil pickup.

Main bearing seats. Notice the deep wearing on the middle one that has occurred from the crankshaft.

Another pic of the wear.

Crank and distributor drive gear.

Crank journals look okay so far.

Center journal on crankshaft.

Another shot of the same.

Center crankshaft bearing has some shiny spots...

Camshaft isn't worn too badly.

Lifters all look like this one. Not bad.

Any thoughts?...
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1978 Deluxe Campmobile Westy, 2.0L w/ FI.
Don't believe everything you think.

[otiswesty]

Great thread!

I'm stalled on an almost complete built of a camper special. My 2.0 in the bus has a rod knock and a cracked head, but still running pretty well. I used a donor 2.0 motor that was alot dirtier than what your looks like inside, but all cleaned up and bored for the reassembly. The aircooled.net option sounds like a good one for someone just looking for better balance and engine life. I like the thought of the Raby motor making a big difference peformance wise. My goal is to be able to cruise uphill without being too much of an obstacle, but I have no plans to drag race the bus.

I look forward to seeing your progress, nice documentation so far. I am planning on putting on the 74 exhaust setup on my 78 Westy, I just need to wrangle up the '74 alternator bracket. I pretty much have everything else ready to go except time and motivation.
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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1988 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[Wildthings]

That engine must not have had too many miles. I don't think I have ever seen a T4 cam that didn't have more obvious wear than what you have. The outside of the engine appears to be amazingly grime free as well. the lower several rows of fins on the cylinders are often totally clogged with dirt, while yours were clean.

[Casey Ryan]

Man, this thread couldn't have come along at a better time. I have a 78 2.0L engine that needs to be worked on. I was considering a rebuild. I've also got the books you mention.

Did you buy any kits to start?

I was trying to find a rebuild kit but all I could find was the camper special kits and I don't have that kind of cash (although I understand if you're going to do it, do it right).

Thanks, this is awesome.

Casey
_________________
'78 Riviera Camper

Blog: www.facebook.com/VWBusBlog

[Bleyseng]

Order the BugMe video from Jake Raby before you go much further as it will really help on reassembly..the books just don't show everything.

Yes, that is a low mile rebuilt engine but the pistons suffered from overheating and oil leaking into the combustion chambers (leaking rings).
Send out the heads to Headflowmasters for a complete rebuild..
Since you are in Calif. you have to pay attention to SMOG laws and stay stock, so a hydro or solid cam will work but with a stock grind. Make sure they are matched.
Raby is selling Mahle 94mm pistons and cylinder set and they are balanced too..
Remember to set your Deck Height, Compression Ratio and do the valve train geometry as you are installing lots of new parts.

Don't forget to get the case hot tanked after removing all the case plugs. Drill and tap them for threading plugs. You want to scrub out all the galleys with a bottle brush to clean out everything.
The bearing wear is typical and looks good.
So the oil pickup was just sitting in the bottom of the case without being installed?? great...
_________________
70 Ghia Black convert-9/69 build date-stock w/133k 1600 SP-barn find now with a rebuilt tranny and engine
77 Westy 2.0L w/Ljet, Camper Special engine-95hp and with LSD!(sold)
76 Porsche 914 2.1L L20c, 120hp Djet (sold)
87 Syncro Westy Titan Red 2.1L 2 knob 100k miles

[regis101]

Good on ya with the rebuild. The hydro cams from AC.net are Web grinds. The 107i is supposed to be user friendly with stock FI
If my data is correct on a stock 2.0 with AMC heads, using the 107i cam will yield 7.4 static and 6.3 dynamic CR. Build it. Drive it for another 100k.
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Peace, ~R

[hurst_dave]

I just moved from CA to Oregon (I forgot to update my profile--fixed!) so now I don't have to worry about smog (until they change the laws...) so I can upgrade my cam without worries. I'm also going to replace my exhaust with something a little less restrictive than stock but keep my headers as they're good.

I've had the bus for about 4 years and put on 16k miles on many small trips and 2 big ones (CA to northern Washington and CA to southern AZ) without any serious problems. I put a DD CHT and VDO oil pressure/temp gauges on a year or so ago (after those big trips, of course) and saw I was running hot and tried a variety of things to bring my temps down to no avail. Then this past summer I started seeing my oil light flicker and decided I'd do a rebuild before damaging the engine.

The oil pickup was properly plumbed into the right side of the case (you can see it in one of the pics) but its mount is a hack to make up for the damaged case. and the engine is missing the windage tray as a result.

I looked into Raby's kits and they look great but more than what I want and kind of take the fun out of finding/rebuilding good parts on my own--though he is a great resource which I appreciate. I think I will get his rebuild video however.
_________________
1978 Deluxe Campmobile Westy, 2.0L w/ FI.
Don't believe everything you think.

[regis101]

Cool.

It would benefit greatly to find the 72-74 HE's and use a t-bird style header.
I know some one who tried to use a somewhat mild perf cam and had trouble tuning the stock FI. There is nothing wrong with the 107i and the early exhaust. Otherwise sell me your FI stuff and switch to dual carbs, :)
_________________
Peace, ~R

[BUSBOSS]

Dave-

Great thread!

Keep us posted on which way you go and where you get your parts. I'll be undertaking this project in the spring so I appreciate your efforts and will turn to them as a resource.
_________________
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
1976 Westfalia
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (sold - but not forgotten)

[regis101]

Will you have to smog the Bus?
_________________
Peace, ~R

[BUSBOSS]

[Randy in Maine]

I would be looking for a new case.

RIMCO in CA used to be able to fix the "type 4 syndrome" (over tightening the oil pick up tube bolt), but those guys are all retired I have heard. I have never used them though.

You might call Adrian to see if he can fix it. I would have him improve the valves at the same time if it were me.

http://www.headflowmaster.com/Home_Page.html

[keifernet]

Are you talking about the brazing of the hole to mount the oil pickup tube?

Also not all these engines came with a windage tray... 914 engines yeah...

[hurst_dave]

[busdaddy]

I'm not seeing the problem, any closeups?
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

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[hurst_dave]

[keifernet]

The brazing on the pickup tube is normal... that's how they were made. And unless my old eyes are letting me down, I don't see where your case is busted?

This thread has many more pics to view.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=367562&highlight=oil+pickup+tube

[Randy in Maine]

I thought it looked broken, but I will defer to keifernet. He knows a lot more about these than I do (thank god).

We might need some better pictures.[/img]

[otiswesty]

What's a windage tray

You could find a donor 2.0 for about $300 that will have a spare 2.0 crank, P&C's and heads if you wanted to go that route.

I am in Portland. The 2.0 P&C's I have are serviceable, heads not so good. I'll trade for that AC compressor if you are not using it.
_________________
1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1988 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[busdaddy]