1977 2.0L FI Teardown

[D52E]

Documenting the teardown of the 2.0L FI engine with hydraulic lifters. I purchased this 1977 bus 2 years ago. It had been off the road for over 10 years. I replaced many components and got it back on the road after a few months. Recently, the oil pressure started dropping to 5psi at idle. I added a CB performance upgraded pump with no improvement.

I tore the engine down and this is what I found. Mains and cam bearings are coming apart. Cam lobes are showing wear. Engine was equipped with hydraulic lifters.

1) Is there any thoughts on the root cause of the bearings coming apart? I'm thinking corrosion from sitting so long.

2) Oil pump is about 0.0025 to 0.0030 smaller than the worn out stock pump. Should I get a pump that is a tighter fit to the case (European Motorworks modified Shadeck)?

3) Crankshaft seems to have some slight wear. Should I machine it, ask machine shop to review for undersize?

_________________
1977 Bus
2.0 fuel injection
Solid lifters
Manual transmission
GM 105A Alternator

[aeromech]

Wow. I have no answers for you but can offer an opinion. I'm no machinist or professional engine builder. I would get these parts to someone who has the tooling and experience to put it back together correctly the first time. It would need to be someone with T4 engine build time. There aren't many around so do this yourself and roll the dice or do it right and cry once.
_________________
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Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[SGKent]

normally flaking like that is a sign of over heated bearings. low oil pressure, bad oil, reving too high, too many miles on the engine, poor rebuilt last time.

The case needs to be cleaned immaculately then bolted together and the besring saddles measured accurately. The front bearing near the flywheel looks shiny so it may have been walking. That can be caused by the bore too large, hard to say without measuring.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[D52E]

I have started to contact George at European Motorworks. List of likely machining so far:

1. Clean case and oil galleys
2. Pipe plugs for oil galleys
3. Case line bore
4. Case deck
5. Recondition crank (std. size currently)
6. Rods recondition (Std. size currently)
7. New cam and lifters (going back to solid cam)
8. Pushrods for solid lifters
9. Check lifter bores and sleeve if needed
10. Shadeck 26mm oil pump with pressed ring to achieve correct body diameter

Questions remaining:
1) Are there any comments regarding using European motorworks for the machining and parts?
2) Should I try to stay with hydraulic lifters? I only drive the bus on weekends in good weather so it sits a bunch.
_________________
1977 Bus
2.0 fuel injection
Solid lifters
Manual transmission
GM 105A Alternator

[timvw7476]

That 5th image shows a main bearing that's been damaged by a dowel pin.
Might explain the poor oiling to the rest of the engine, partially blocking the oil feed to the works. Don't worry about the flaking, lots of high mile Type !V shed backing material off the camshaft bearing. Although that last one all the way down to the copper is nothing I've ever seen before.
This is why we use a Sharpie to index the bearings on the edge/saddle before final assembly...........

Nothin that can't be corrected now that it's open. : )

[RalphWiggam]

EMW is a good choice. They will do it correctly the first time.

[SGKent]

[D52E]

[MuzzcoVW]

It's been a long time since I've seen a type 4 that needs a line bore! I hope they don't do this just because. They sound reputable so I'm sure they'll check. Also that must be a replacement because the '77s didn't have hydraulic lifters. That's some interesting wear and sure signs of an novice rebuild with that bearing! I hope my '77 doesn't look like that inside, will be tearing down soon.

[D52E]

It would be good if the case didn’t require line bore. Fingers crossed.

I’m still looking for input on these items:
1) Are there any comments regarding using European motorworks for the machining and parts?
2) Should I try to stay with hydraulic lifters? I only drive the bus on weekends in good weather so it sits a bunch.
3) should I buy a modified shadeck oil pump (ring added to diameter.


Pics of stock pump and non modified shadeck

_________________
1977 Bus
2.0 fuel injection
Solid lifters
Manual transmission
GM 105A Alternator

[raygreenwood]

[Fiddlestyx]

[SGKent]

you find a good type 4 oil pump that is still in spec. It is possible Phil may have a couple left that he has blueprinted.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[D52E]

I purchased a set of micrometers (0.0001" resolution) and a bore gauge (0.0005") resolution to measure the case. Unfortunately, it looks like the crank bores in the case are about 0.002" over the service limit. I think it will need a line bore job.

I will measure the lifter bores next.

_________________
1977 Bus
2.0 fuel injection
Solid lifters
Manual transmission
GM 105A Alternator

[Wildthings]

The third main bearing from the flywheel looks to have spun in the case. This was an absolutely shitty rebuild, I would doubt that one could have turned the crank by hand once the case bolts were tightened down.

[Abscate]

[D52E]

[SGKent]

imho .002" is too much however measure each at 2 locations about 90 degrees apart. If it was a GEX case make sure the case halves are the same pair.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[orwell84]

Check out the Jim Martin article posted on this site for a detailed explanation of measuring case bores. He installs a main bearing and turns the bearing for each measurement. This ensures that you are measuring variation in the bore itself and not the bearing.

I bought a case from EMW with all the machining done that you listed. It was good work...a nice well centered align bore.

[D52E]

Thanks for all the feedback from all.

I’m now working on cam selection. I’m leaning towards a solid lifter instead of hydraulic.

I like the type 4 store Jack Raby 9590 cam but I’m concerned about getting the best value (power increase in proportion to cost)

Options:
Stock regrind
Pro - Lowest cost and will work well and tune well
Con - I would miss an opportunity to improve performance

Raby 9590
Pro - likely well designed with good R&D
Con - Cost is higher and performance improvement can’t be quantified (I tried PM Jack and called the Type 4 store and couldn’t get performance potential vs stock on this application).

Scat C25
Pro - cost is more inline with stock replacement
Con - heavy springs and tuning difficulty

European motorworks stock replacement
Pro - Fuel Injection compatibility
Con - unknown reliability

Webcam 142
Pro - Porsche used it on 912e used very similar pattern
Con - cost is a bit higher and performance increase can’t be quantified
_________________
1977 Bus
2.0 fuel injection
Solid lifters
Manual transmission
GM 105A Alternator