short block finished - next step: long block assembly!

After I lubed all bearings, coated the cam lobes and lifters with Molykote 3402-C and cleaned the sealing areas really religious, I finally assembled the halfs and torqued all bolts to the correct values. I used sealant under all washers and nuts - in hope for a clean, leak free engine.

Then I started the piston + cylinder assembly.


Every component got a bath in my ultra sonic cleaner to make sure they are really clean:

the pistons are lubed, the wrist pin clips are positioned with the sharp edge to the outside, I de-burred the edges from the stamping process prior assembly:

the cylinders required a little persuation for a good fit - of course only with a "soft" hammer!

as the seats for the cylinders were machined for a nice overall sealing surface, I have almost "0" back lash, the piston ends exactly where the cylinders ends - not good for a healthy compression ratio!

In order to calculate the compression ratio I cc'ed the heads. Starting with 60ml of motor oil in clean, new mega-syringe:

(the pic shows it filled to 61 cc - but I adjusted it to exactly 60cc before I started)
the combustion chamber, topped of with oil - spark plug hole sealed flush: 


... and the rest in the syringe: exactly 10ml

So, according to the helpful website of CSP, which provides an easy way to calculate the CR ->  look here  <- we need these values:
bore: 90.5 mm
stroke: 69 mm
head volume: 50 ccm
back lash: 0 mm
result: CR: 9,88  which is a little too high - so I will double check all values and maybe use 0,5mm shims to reduce the CR to 9,34:1 which is almost exactly my target (9.5:1)!

 

engine assembly, again

no big news, but some info regarding the stuff I used on the lifters and the cam surface:

I found a fuel pump block off plate, deep in my parts stash - I am still undecided if I use the mechanical VW pump or an electric one...

Later this week: short block assembly!

Oh - of course I was at the Techno Classica in Essen, the biggest classic cars show on earth - according to the organizers...
All I can say, it is not cheap to go there, the prizes for classic cars are unreal and it is more and more a meeting for the "rich and famous" - unfortunately!
I still found a few parts, but almost all of the VW part dealers are not there any more, strictly Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari and other high class classics...
Here is what I found:

a new cushion for my car jack, a 38mm socket with 3/4" drive, a new coil and some electric stuff.

... more assembly pics

Here is the marking on the Schleicher cam:
RO248.7 = which equals 296°; 9 mm lift

set up of axial play measurement: 

current reading is 0,12mm - but it wasn't torqued to the max, so I expect ~0,1 axial play

another -very easy- job was to add a missing bolt for the oil strainer plate:
(of course loctite'd)

 result:

In the meantime I test-fitted the housing and internals several times, the next step is to finally bolt the halfs together, using the correct sealant. Porsche recommends Loctite 574, so I will use this, too. If it is good enough for a Porsche it should be just right for my VW as well ;-)

engine assembly, continued

Here are a few more goodies:

chromoly cylinder studs, a good quality engine gasket set and the CSP oil pressure valve screws with a nice allen head instead of the mega slot...

the story so far:

Engine assembly, first steps

This week I started with the assembly process of my 1776 ccm engine...

the con rods, equipped with new bearings:

the balanced crankshaft:

the flywheel, resurfaced and lighter than stock:

first check: main bearings and crank, note the markings on the bearings to allow easier assembly

I chose to use a closed spacer ring, even though this motor will not see excessive rpm's:

new followers - always use new followers with a new cam!

 the new Schleicher camshaft 286° - which is the correct duration for this (single carburator) engine

cam bearings installed

cam installed, important check: Is there enough clearance between the cam and the follower?

assembly of gears onto the crankshaft:

the gears and spacer have to be heated to allow them to be installed, it is a press fit

As the distributor drive has to be installed early as well, I modified a 009 "copy" to contactless

step 1: remove points and condenser
step 2: assemble the module with the white heat sink paste on the underside 

step 3: route the cables to the outside:

step 4: Damn! the cheap chinese copy distributor has the wiring routed different than the Bosch original part! A rectangular grommet will not fit into a round hole!

 This was the routing of the copy...

 step 5: snip snip - cut off the crimped ends and remove the rubber piece

step 6: use some sleeve to protect the wiring and find a round rubber grommet which fits

route the cable inside the dizzy and secure the tubing with zip ties, so it won't interfere with the moving  rotor

 looks good!

final step: install the original screw to close the unused thread 

(oops - next step: clean your fingers...)

dome light

A few days ago I cleaned the dome light, which was really dirty...

 afterwards:  Not perfect, but way better than before...

body to pan installation

... it is comming together!
Today I bolted the body onto the pan, after I inserted the bakelite heater channel pipe - of course with a new seal!
first of all I used body sealer and rust protection on the edge I fixed a while ago:

the heater channel pipe - with new seal:

afterwards I coated the area with some underseal and attached the pipe:


next topic: body to pan hardware installation:

right side finished (note the perfect, rust free, original heater channels!)

screws and hardware to fix the body onto the front axle beam (steering column connected as well):

lower front screws attached:

left side, finished as well: