VW Engine Exchange Program

[79SuperVert]

Although I have often heard about VW's engine exchange program I have seen very little about it either on TheSamba or in any VW books. I believe I have a VW engine rebuilt by the factory in 1980. However, I have nothing to support that, other than what I believe to be a date stamp on my '64 1200 engine. Another interesting clue is that the fuel pump, while it is an old-style pump, is stamped "Made in Brazil".

Who knows details about how the engine exchange program worked? Were there any special codes stamped on the engines? Can we see pictures of those codes? Were the engines rebuilt in Germany? Brazil? Mexico?

To start off, here's a picture of my engine, showing the 12/80 stamp under the distributor.

In another thread, Rob E UK said the following about his engine:

"no date stamp, just a letter "P" on the join in the case to the right of the fuel pump which ive just been told by an old vw mechanic signifies that its had a top end rebuild by vw, they also stamped a vw logo on the block with arrows circling it which signifies that its a dealership turn around recondition........some times they also had a letter "X" which meant it had a full engine rebuild (crank reground etc) "

[DrDarby]

An "X" after the engine number and a small VW logo surrounder by two circular arrows were the stamps VW used. VW also never used an American date format such as 12/80 it would have been formatted week / year (5280 or such). That doesn't look like a VW built exchange engine to me, not that that is a bad thing, just an observation.
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Midwest Autosavers, Inc. Woodstock, IL

[79SuperVert]

Then maybe this becomes "what kind of an engine do I have", although I still think that the whole VW engine exchange program is an interesting topic and I hope more people weigh in on it here.

Regarding my engine, it is super clean, no corrosion anywhere, very strong, runs like new. The voltage regulator, vacuum advance case on the distributor, and the oil cleaner are repainted. That could have been done by one of the last owners.

None of the previous owners I spoke to talked about rebuilding it or about swapping out the original '62 for this '64. Only the first owner (a former librarian, now I suppose in her 80's, spoke about putting "oversized pistons" in it, which would have taken place no later than the late '70's or early '80's if she knew about it. Funny that a librarian would know about oversize pistons.

Here's a pic of the engine:

[glutamodo]

A few years ago, I was told that the P meant cam bearings were added to the block when the factory redid the block, but that could be wrong.

[79SuperVert]

[ivsamhell]

[Low67vdubinnocal]

[Bruce]

Could be the 12th week of 1980.
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[79SuperVert]

An interesting bit of info from someone that used to rebuild engines in the 70's, from the Bentley Publishers Technical Discussion Board VW Air Cooled forum:

"The Factory always marks the case with the exchange symbol (left arrow) as a prefix to the engine code letter (right arrow) or number. Early exchange engines had a sequential number after the symbol. When they started using a letter code, they stopped using a number. The idea was that you would transfer the old engine number to the new engine. If the exchange engine had the original engine number machined off, that engine was assembled with a remanufactured case. The exchange symbol and the letter code or number would be in this "routed-out" area. Given the F, H0, H5, and B engines' propensity for throwing #3 exhaust valve, I'd bet that most got new cases.

The engine in the attached picture is of one of my Beetles built with a new case. The rest of the engine number appears to be a date: 1 26 73.

It is/was common practice for the mechanic to stamp his/her initials and/or a date somewhere on an engine after performing an overhaul. If you happen to see my initials, AEL, on an old engine along with a date, it is probably one that I overhauled during my career beginning around 1971."

Arthur LeBrun

[Raum]

Did VW use remanufactured dual relief cases on smaller than 1600cc engines? The reason I ask is that I recently used a remanufactured case to build a stock 1600 DP. It was dual relief with the large oil galleries and had the VW and arrow symbol and a D, but no engine number.

The cylinder bores were not large enough for my stock 1600 jugs or for some cylinders off a 1500cc I had lying around. I've always wondered exactly what kind of engine this case was originally used on.
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1964 Sunroof Sedan

[DrDarby]

When VW went with dual relief cases they did is across the board so there are dual relief 1200 & 1300 cases as well. They just aren't common in the USA. Your D with no number would have been a remanufactured 1200 with a new engine case.
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Midwest Autosavers, Inc. Woodstock, IL

[VWTECHEDITOR]

Good Afternoon, Folks,

This composite page with notes may help answer your questions about those markings on the crankcase.

Art LeBrun
vwtecheditor

[glutamodo]

Hah, I guess what I was told about the P stamp was correct then!
I won't have to take down this image I did up a couple of months ago.

[VWTECHEDITOR]

Good Evening, Guys,

Your 40 hp could well have camshaft bearing inserts, but that is not the meaning of the "P". With 0.1 planed off of the left side and 0.3 planed off of the right side, you are left with an egg-shaped hole. This allows the bore to be opened to the original factory size again.

The text reads "The bores are to be reamed out to standard size." We were taught that this meant "back to original" which was the camshaft riding directly on the case material.

The "Notes on the Practical Work" was published in January 1968, and I went to my first engine school in February 1974, so things could have changed in the interim. I looked all through the old Workshop Bulletins books and Repair Manuals in my library and can find no mention made of cam bearings in a 40 hp, but I have seen them before also. I just don't remember seeing what, if any, identifying marks were on the crankcase.

Art LeBrun
vwtecheditor

[Towel Rail]

Welcome, Art. That's fascinating stuff!
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1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car

049 > 070 > 053 > 009

[glutamodo]

Okay, cool. Well maybe I'll take down that image after all. I do know the engine depicted there was an "exchange" rebuild that was reworked. In addition to the cam bearings being added, it also had been changed from M6 to M8 oil pump studs.

[aitor11]

My engine has the "X" and the other mark in the block, plus this:

It was a 1500 sp.

[VWTECHEDITOR]

Good Afternoon, Guys,

Thanks for the welcome, Towel Rail, I appreciate it. I've been around for several years, but as a Bentley Publishers technical editor, I did most of my internet writing on the company technical discussion boards. We've had many spirited conversations over there.

With so many people repairing/rebuilding/overhauling the venerable VW air-cooled engine over so long a time period, there is bound to be lots of confusion over how they have been identified. I've scanned a page from one of the books in my later repair manual set that may help just a bit. Check my gallery for that picture.

Art LeBrun
vwtecheditor

[Seb67]

Okay, so what does these markings on my '63 1200 mean?
(engine is currently in my '64)

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1964 Type 1

[VWTECHEDITOR]

Seb67,

By my calculations, I figure that your engine was produced around the 21st week of 1963. That would make it the week of May 19. As far as the rest of it, that is just normal factory markings that have, to my knowledge, never been fully explained. But I do remember something about factory and shift information; could that be 3rd shift at Hanover? Makes sense to me.

Art LeBrun
vwtecheditor