Shop to rebuild type 4 longblock

[nadodave]

Hi: I bought a ‘76 2.0 FI engine today of unknown condition. It reportedly ran, but not well. Could have been an FI issue, but I don’t want to take a chance on a possibly 44 year old engine. I would like to have the long block rebuilt by a recommended shop in the SoCal area. Any recommendations?

TIa

Dave
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Nadodave
Coronado, CA

[SGKent]

[Wildthings]

I would check what you have out well before springing for a rebuild. You can reseal a 44 year old engine for about $100 in parts and a day of your time and be way ahead of a Joe Blow rebuild. If your engine has normal oil pressure and has good compression it may last a very long time still. Probably not original at this point anyway.

[danfromsyr]

Headflow masters are often recommended on the samba.
I have no experience. so do your due diligence in scoping them out,
2472 S Santa Fe Ave, Vista, CA 92084
https://goo.gl/maps/yjX3qU6Q6EjXQRrDA

[SGKent]

Normally when these buses have 40 - 50 years on them they are not fully original unless someone has painstakingly taken the time to restore one properly. In an average rebuild, parts are missing, tin is wrong or damaged, the engine is not original, etc.. There is no such thing as a standard rebuilt. To do it correctly each part must be inspected and replaced or repaired if damaged. Just finding the parts can be a challenge. A part that one could order 2 years ago that fit perfectly, today that same part manufacturer could be making junk, or worse, they are gone. There are also counterfeit parts out there. Not every engine builder's engines have held up well either. I think for a while the shop in Vista was used by lots of folks here then some engines were sent back over issues right out of the crate.

All that said, the weakest parts on a late engine are the cylinder heads. They are known for catastrophic failures. Unfortunately what happens is someone goes to replace them with new ones and finds other things wrong. My suggestion to get with Gary or Robbie to see what they can recommend is the best place to start. Robbie appears on the way to the mid-west to help someone with their bus, so Gary might be the only solution at this time. He is about 15 - 20 minutes from you near Mission Bay. The other issue you will have with a 1976 is passing smog. Make sure YOU have it tested to be sure someone doesn't test another car and hand you what looks like a clean bill of health only to find out in two years you've been had. Without being able to pass smog, you can't license it in California if it is 1976 or later. It must pass smog. We've had a few people here who bought buses in California, were handed a smog cert by the seller, and then 2 years later they discovered that the smog shop is gone, and the seller is too - that the bus needs $3000+ to make it smog legal, and that takes three to six months of work searching for parts - not to mention finding someone who can help them. Guys like Gary or Robbie can HELP YOU but they can't really do all the work. You will have to be involved to some degree. I don't know of one BAR approved shop in So Cal that can do all the work on an engine as well as the smog work. Maybe BusLabs in NorCal or LaVere's might be able to as an approved BAR shop. You bought a 45 - 50 year old car. The shops that serviced them 40 years ago moved on to other cars, or the owner's retired. On top of it, shop rates are close to $150 an hour these days. I am currently rebuilding my 1977 engine. So far I have 40 days working on it a couple hours a day - maybe 120 - 140 hours total if you include research time to find parts, and deal with defects out of the box. Multiply that by $150 and if I were a shop that would be $15,000 - $20,000 worth of billable time. Maybe $25,000 - $30,000 when I am done.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[timvw7476]

there is a guy out of Damascus OR that sells rebuilds, $3.5k outright,
one year warranty. He's on CL/Seattle under VW bus.........
not sure if he ships, at least another $500. if he can or will.

[aeromech]

Hi there,
Send me a PM if you want my help. My current project will be done soon.
Later-Gary
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[hiwaycallin]

[Abscate]

[SGKent]

[westy]

[wagohn]

If my '76 FI motor ever goes kaput, I'd be tempted to put in the more common type 1 1600 earlier bus motor with one of those fiberglass "tin" kits.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=483408
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1976 VW Transporter, 2.0 FI Engine

[timvw7476]

[SGKent]

I have not spoken with RIMCO-FAT in several years so I have no idea what their current production is like. I do know that there was a period after Ed sold RIMCO where lots of people wrote me and told me of the problems they had. At one time Brothers Machine in Ontario SoCal was the most reliable engine although not a premier build. We had RIMCO do work for us in 2009 and it was acceptable but not premier like they had been at one time. I ended up doing the hand lapping etc to seal the valves properly, and had to take them back to get the 3 angle grind I paid for. Adrian was building a lot of engines for folks here and then they started having failures out of the crate. I don't know if that has been rectified. Sometimes people just get too busy.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[alman72]

there was a thread a few mo ago where MOFOCO chimed in, and some have been very happy