I bow my head and listen attentively to the lesson from the teacher Stan San. Jorge 85 Wolfsburg Weekender with many things that need replacement to the point where a spreadsheet fits the purpose of record keeping
On Fri, 21 Feb 2003, Stan Wilder wrote: > Many of the problems encountered with VW engines is the extreme lack of > maintenance. > Sure; Everybody changes their oil, fuel filter, air cleaner but there are > other components that develop their own personalities over the ten to > twenty five years that the vehicle has been on the road. > Some examples; Injectors develop hairline fuel tracks that can leak since > the fuel pressure is constant. > Distributors wear the bearings, gears, cams and advance springs rust or > just get weak. > Camshafts wear down and lifters quit rotating. > I've had a go at bunches of Vanagons and Westies, I find that many owners > are very conscientious about maintenance and spend hundreds of dollars to > fix problems that never get fixed, ultimately I get my hands on it and it > is something very simple like the screw holding down the point set is > 1/2" long and blocks the distributor advance. Other things come to mind > but don't make the point. > Replacing your engine is 90% of good thinking but neglecting other things > like the injectors, distributor, proper grounding, proper fuel pressure > will get you about 90% of the potential of your new engine. > Having collected many spare parts and get me by parts over the last eight > years I've had the opportunity to select the best of the good parts for > installing on my Westy. > Out of thirty Fuel Injectors I've chosen the best 4, out of eight fuel > pumps I chose the one pumping 62 psi, out of 40 CV joints I chose the > ones that fit tight the story continues with best of the distributors, > best of the AFMs. > Most of us didn't buy our Vanagons or Westy new and don't know the > potential of a near perfect combination of the proper parts functioning > as they were designed to do. > When I built my most recent engine for my Westy (July 2001) I collected > and tested every part. Some were markedly better than what I was > currently running. All of this went into the car at the same time and > everything else came out. > All of the internal parts on the engine were new, all of the external > parts were used but the quality of the external parts were known to be in > very good condition because I tested them. > Gathering the parts is a challenge in itself; I'd suggest that a list of > the various part numbers be written down and if you visit a automobile > bone yard compare the part numbers with other Audi, Porsche, VW parts > since many are interchangeable. The CVs are almost universal on the VW > automotive line at the output shafts on transmissions even on front wheel > drive cars. The ignition modules fall into an also fit for many VW > applications. In many situations a look alike part isn't necessarily an > interchange but that part number will qualify it for you. > If you're going in for an expensive shop built engine I'd suggest that > you dig a little deeper and replace the fuel injectors, distributor, fuel > pressure regulator, ignition wires, fuel lines, clutch if you got one, > temperature sensors and senders, oil pressure senders. > If you have known to be good parts because you've had them serviced or > tested you can skip those replacements. > To many of you that have hung in this far, this might have sounded like a > unnecessary scolding for something by an old fool with too much time on > his hands. > I must say at this point; I was absolutely astounded at the performance > of the pure stock Air Cooled VW engine after giving the external > components as much consideration as I did the internal engine parts. > Try it .............. you'll like it. > > Stan Wilder > 83 Air Cooled Westfalia > > ________________________________________________________________ > Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today > Only $9.95 per month! > Visit www.juno.com > |
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