Pushrods/valves SEEM dead / engine build

[raydog]

[Pruneman99]

Whoa. That would do it. I wonder if the cam gear sat in a case exposed to the elements, and the gear rotted at the bottom or something. Then resued in this engline.

I'd what would jamb a cam except a pushrod coming out of the rocker cup, and jamming on something. But the pushrods usually just bend like noodles.

Well OP, you definitely found the problem. Sucks it ended up being a total tear down.

[Cusser]

[Pruneman99]

[raydog]

[Pruneman99]

Ah you might be right. Just a reflection. Pictures can be deceiving.

I guess a lifter could have got jammed up somehow? Something had to have stopped that cam in a hurry. I've seen lifter bores blown out, but not the teeth ripped off like that.

[goober]

Just a guess.

By the nicks on the brass distributor drive gear someone may have at one time put the shims on the drive and drove it home past the gear.

Did you remove the distributor drive before this happened?

Did you find any bent or crushed metal in the case?

[NachoCar]

My guess is that the valve train jammed somehow. Anything unusual with the lifters? Do they all move in their bores?[/quote]

The lifters seemed smooth as butter?!?

[NachoCar]

[NachoCar]

will a standard old engine rebuilder shop be able to tell if case is savable?

I can't imagine ensuring all the oil passages ar clear would be easy.

I really have no idea what to even ask them to do or inspect. Guidance would be great!!

Thanks,

George

[tzepesh]

You can ask to remove all engine case plugs, clean the passages very well, thread and plug with NPT plugs. I did it myself, you just need the taps and plugs.
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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[VW_Jimbo]

I would clean the case as good as you can. Simple Green and a good stiff brush work magically! Clean the crank and the old bearings too. Once all clean, rinsed and dry, reassemble the crank in the case and see if it will spin easily. If it does, send the case out to be inspected. If it does not, send the case and crank.
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[NachoCar]

Thanks Jimbo and everyone

thought I'd make the best of the situation and upgrade to CB performance's 2280 grind 'Cheater' cam, but out of stock till next year......damn supply chain issues.

[ashman40]

Did you find any "metal sand" in the oil pump before you removed it? This would be an indication it had pumped metal particles into the oil passages? If the pump/gears was still clean then the case may be cleaned and reused. May the silver lining is that the cam drives the oil pump. Since the cam gear was destroyed the cam would have immediately stopped rotating and in turn the oil pump would have stopped too. The crank would have continued to rotate for a bit with zero oil pressure but the oil pump would have stopped drawing oil from the bottom of the crankcase. The only question is if the cam started to come apart before it came to a halt.

Extra effort needs to be paid towards cleaning out all case passages if you plan to reuse it. Find a well known machine shop or engine builder that has experience with ACVWs. They can clean and inspect the case and let you know if it appears rebuildable.
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AshMan40
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'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[KTPhil]

Curious if there is any evidence pointing to a root cause. Lifters stuck? Pushrods bent weird?

[NachoCar]

No grit/metal sand in oil pump!!!

Lifters were smooth. I'll inspect the pushrods more carefully as they weren't my main focus during disassembly.

Finding a machine shop familiar with acvw's has not happened yet and doesn't look to happen within driving distance. Afraid I'm going to have to take a chance with local shop.

[MuzzcoVW]

I remember seeing this YEARS ago...if memory serves (probably not) something got in the case and jammed the cam gear while running.

[NJ John]

If it’s all clean and your feeling lucky, fix it. What’s the worse that could happen? You’ll spend a few bucks on necessary parts.
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1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[NachoCar]

Just balancing $3K on a mofoco short block vs cam, cam gear, bearings and machine work. Made a contact on here who gave me a list of names to contact in Memphis with acvw experience. (Thanks Robert!!!)

Seems like it be about a $1000 gamble vs new/reworked short block with 12 month warranty.

I'll make that call after machine shop does inspection, hopefully before a $500 bill.

[NachoCar]

barley worth mentioning as an update....but after the machine shop never got around to my mere VW case after a couple MONTHS, I picked everything up last Thursday. They did manage to polish the crank nicely.

Thanks to a great new Sambaista buddy who let me come over to his house and watched him measure, tap, and re-remeasure.... I now have new bearings.

Newest issue to stress about is drilling perpendicular to the case for a 14 mm od case saver. I don't have a drill press. Got the idea to use a spare cylinder/jug as a guide. After a usable attempt, assembly begins Saturday.