Date: Wed, 22 Nov 1995 14:57:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: David Schwarze <des@teleport.com>
Subject: Re: rebuild questions
Gary Nichols writes:
>
> The "How To Rebuild Your Air-Cooled Volkswagon" book shows pictures and has
> text describing the "windage tray" found attached to and above the oil pickup.
> My engine doesn't have one! Did some engines not have it? Did somebody leave
> it out on a previous rebuild? The oil pickup doesn't even have a hole for the
> bolt to the windage tray, so I am suspecting that either:
> 1) Some years of the 2L didn't have windage trays.
> 2) The PO rebuilt, lost the old pickup, put on a different one, couldn't
> figure out how to attach the windage tray and what it was for anyway,
> and left it off.
I've never seen a type IV bus engine with a windage tray. None of them
seem to have it. Someone told me once that they did more harm than good
and that VW stopped using them early on. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about
it (or lack of it, I should say).
> Question #2:
> I am paranoid about the dropped valve seat problem. How prevalent is it?
I've seen a lot more cracked heads and broken valves than dropped seats.
> What is the experience out there with rebuilt heads? Do I have 'em rebuilt
> locally by any shop that says they do VW heads? (Does anybody have experience
> with any shops in the Sacramento, CA area?) Or should I send them down to
> Mark Stephens because he guarantees "No More Dropped Seats" and pay the
> shipping charges AND much higher prices (twice as much)?
Can't say much here. If your heads aren't cracked, I personally would
feel comfortable having my local shop install new guides, seats, and
valve gear. *IF* I trusted them with VW stuff in the first place, which
I do (I go to ForMac in La Mesa - Clark is a good guy). Mark Stephens
seems to have a great reputation - if there was welding involved I would
go to someone like him.
> Question #3:
> This engine ate a rod bearing. I am getting the case tank cleaned, but I am
> concerned about cleaning the metal out of the oil cooler. Should I just buy a
> reconditioned oil cooler? Have a machine shop clean out the old one? What is
> the experience here. What do YOU do?
I would never trust a cooler that had bits of metal flowing through it.
No matter how well you clean it, there is still a good chance that you
didn't get it all out. On the other hand, the bearing material is
pretty soft, and a little of it in your oil is probably not as bad as,
say, bits of aluminum. I would go with a *new* cooler if possible, or
if price is prohibitive, a rebuilt one. If you don't need the engine to
last 60,000 miles, have a shop blow out the old one - most likely it
will be ok. It's kind of like birth control. A new cooler is like
abstinance, a rebuilt one is like the pill, and cleaning out the old one
is like timing. How much of a chance are you willing to take? :)
btw, ForMac is at 619-698-7003 for those in Southern California.
-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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