I am considering rebuilding my '85 1.9l motor myself, but it appears few people are doing this. The reason I am considering this route instead of a re-man motor are mostly financial, but not entirely. My current motor runs well, but is frightfully low on oil pressure. It has a new oil pump, lifters, oil pressure spring, 8 collapsible return tubes, etc. All this would be gone on a trade in. The compression is still good and it uses little if any oil. With 20W-50 oil and a VW filter, I get 75 psig at start up, but it drops quickly as the oil thins out. The pressure loss must be at the main bearings. I only have 10 to 15 psig once the engine is hot and at 2500 to 3000rpm. Is there something about the rods and crank that a competent shop can't handle? I rebuilt a Suzuki Samurai motor with excellent results using a local shop that specializes in high end (racing) engine work here in Delaware. The waterboxer has some obvious quirks, but are oversized bearings available if I have the crank turned and the rods rebuilt? Am I just asking for trouble? Should I chuck this motor and go re-man? The motor has ~125K on it. Jay Snyder '85 Westy '89 Jetta Diesel '87 Suzuki Samurai '65 Corvair Corsa Conv. |
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