Date:         Sat, 7 Oct 1995 15:24:03 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <des@teleport.com>
Subject:      DaBoat 2-liter update - engine work

Volks,
	This morning I set out to assemble the crankshaft.  I went to Sears and
bought a pointer-type torque wrench for $20, and bought some plastigage
from Napa.  I brought all of the clean parts into the kitchen (I learned
this trick from Unca Joel) for assembly since my workbench still has the
remains of Jeff Schneiter's 1.7 spread out over it.  
	First trick was to get the gears on the crankshaft.  The book (How
to Rebuild your Air cooled VW) said the gears could be installed by
heating them in oil and quickly slipping them on before they could cool.
I actually did this.  For a little extra margin I put the crankshaft in
the fridge while the gears heated on the stove.  If I wasn't fast enough
installing the gears, they would lock down on the crankshaft and I would
have to take it into a machine shop to have them pressed on.
Fortunately that didn't happen.  I managed to get the gears on just
before the hot metal penetrated the cotton glove I was wearing and
burned the crap outta my hand.  But, it saved me a trip to the shop.
	There is a snap ring that goes next to the gears which was very
thick and strong, and I almost didn't get that puppy on without
scratching the bearing surface it was going over, but was finally able
to do it with the pair of Craftsman snap ring pliers I had from the last
rebuild.  Next time, I will buy the proper tool, which was $16 at Sears,
and was made *just* for expanding those stupid steel rings.  The snap
ring pliers came very close to bending.
	Next, I checked the rod bearing clearances and side clearances.  The
side clearance was supposed to be .004 - .016 with a wear limit of .027.
Mine were all between .012 and .016, or near the high end of the
acceptable range, but since none of them were out of range, and it would
require a new crank to fix it, I left them alone.  The rod bearing oil
clearance was suupposed to be between .0008 and .0027 with a .0060 wear
limit.  I cut the plastigage up into 1" long pieces and checked the
journals one at a time.  Two were about .002 and two were about .015.  I
thought they felt loose, but if the book says it's right, so be it. 
	I have heard a lot of engine builders use STP engine treatment as
assembly lube.  I looked for it at the store but all I could find was
STP oil treatment, and it wasn't in the familiar yellow can.  So, I
broke down and bought the Sta-Lube moly assembly lube (black).  I
greased up the rod journals, and the sides of the rods, and installed
the rods, torqueing the nuts down in four stages as described in the
book (15, 20, 24, 32 lb/ft) and after putting a drop of loctite on each
bolt.  All looks good, so I will try and assemble the short block
tonight, after I visit the junkyard this afternoon.  
	For the record, this is what I have spent on this engine so far:

Engine acquisition:				$160.00

Main Bearings					$52.50
Rod Bearings					$14.75
Gasket Set						$47.00
Oil seal, front					$3.90
Oil seal, rear					$8.20

Clean & inspect parts			$35.00
Hone Barrels					$20.00
Polish Crank					$20.00
Loctite, Permatex #3, etc.		$15.00

That's about $380, or less than half of what I would have paid for a
rebuilt 2.0 shortblock from GEX, and I have an extra set of Vanagon
cylinder heads that I can sell to recoup some of the cost.  If I have to
buy new pistons and liners, though, I will not have saved all that much,
but at least I have gained experience (and photographs for the web page!).
Plus, if something goes wrong with the engine, I will have nobody to
blame but myself, and I know *exactly* the condition of the engine that
will be in my bus - no guessing if someone dropped a cigarettte butt
into the case when they were putting it together or mistakenly put in
the wrong bearings.  That is worth something to me...

-David

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David Schwarze                     '73 VW Safare Custom Camper  (Da Boat)
San Diego  (Actually La Mesa)      '72 VW Westfalia Camper      (Da Project)
California, USA                    '73 Capri GT 2800            (Da Beast)
e-mail: des@teleport.com           '87 Mustang Lx 5.0           (14.17@99.34)
http://www.teleport.com/~des       '93 Weber WG-50              (Da Piano)
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