RE: [T3] Forging ahead with short block

["Jim Adney" <jadney@vwtype3.org>]

On 6 Mar 2002, at 0:52, Justin C. Earl wrote:

> Thanks for the input!  I went to the Gene Berg website and quite frankly it is a
> little annoying.  There are no prices, no 800 number, and very few pictures. 
> They could really learn a thing or two from Aircooled.net as far as layout,
> product info, pictures of products, etc. is concerned. Can you tell me more
> about what is included for $140? And the procedure? Will I have to cut my rear
> motor mount, or does their kit prevent me from having to do this?

Web sites are misleading. Berg certainly doesn't put much effort into theirs. 
Buy a catalog, they're full of info and well worth the price. 

> Also, I have just now found several references to how BAD it is to run a
> line bored case.... meanwhile, I got my freshly line bored (.020" over,
> .040" thrust) case back from the machine shop today.

IMO, what you want to avoid is a case that has had a hard life, especially if 
you expect to work it hard yourself. Don't expect to restore a badly damaged 
case, but I think you can expect to make a somewhat used case perfectly 
good again, especially if you just want it for street use.

That said, here's the down side: You made a big mistake. There was no 
reason to bore THIS case. One of the reasons I wrote up the engine rebuild 
instructions that I did and passed around last week was so that people 
wouldn't be tempted to take their cases to random machine shops to have 
them align bored. Once you did that, you no longer know the precision of the 
bore. Random shops will do a random job. The reason I recommend RIMCO 
is that I know that they have the experience AND the better grade of 
equipment that will enable them to do this job right. Perhaps your shop did it 
right; you and I don't know, but we do know that they took the thrust out the 
full .040" so that next time this case is JUNK.

RIMCO will remove a minimal amount from the thrust surface and then cut a 
set of bearings to fit. This means you have to buy your next set of main 
bearings from them (and you can do this using the 5 digit # they stamp on 
your case) but the thrust can be cut several times if necessary. The way 
yours was done, this cat has just seen the last of 7 or 8 of its 9 lives.

So you have taken a perfect case and removed most of its value. I think this 
was an expensive lesson.

> On a 30mm pump, Aircooled.net is saying that it is too high pressure (as
> high as 300psi at the pump when the oil is cold) for a stock motor... anyone
> care to comment?  Anyone ever use an oil pump from Sealed Power or Dynagear?

It is common to think that more will be better, but this is just another case 
where this is wrong. The VW OE 26mm pump that fits the dished cam is 
plenty big and will also fit in front of the rear mount crossbar. More oil just 
wastes horsepower; the extra oil will be dumped by the pressure relief valve. 
So in the end, all you are doing is burning extra gasoline to produce extra 
horsepower which you can use to pressurize more oil which will just get 
dumped by the pressure relief valves putting turning the energy into heat and 
heating the oil.

Melling used to make a cast iron pump which was perfectly rediculous. You 
need an Al or Mg pump body so that it has a good coefficient of thermal 
expansion match to the case. Otherwise it WILL leak. I don't know if this is 
what you're looking at, but if Melling is still making that pump, avoid it.

Here are 2 books that you should own and study. They should save you from 
making similar mistakes in the future.

Volkswagen Official Service Manual
Type 3 Fastback and Squareback 1968-1973
published by Robert Bentley, Cambridge, Mass, 1974
ISBN 0-8376-0057-X / LPV 997 383 / VSQU
(excellent book, complete and well written)

How to Hotrod Volkswagen Engines
by Bill Fisher
published by H. P. Books, Tucson, AZ, 1970
ISBN 0-912656-03-4
(excellent book, well written and researched)

-
Jim Adney
jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711-3054
USA

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