VW crankshaft wear ?

[zzr1200]

Mic the crank, if its in tolerance get it polished and checked again. I've re-shelled loads of engines that appear to have wear marks but have been ok.

The photo doesn't really show the surface condition only marks on it.

 

[nickk]

Overhauled mine last year,had crank ground and balanced,shimmed the end float to 0.002”
Fitted an Empi filter which goes in the original hole in base of a deeper sump.i didn’t want to fit pattern replacement,or exchange engine as I didn’t think they’d be as good a quality,i was methodical in cleaning the cases and oilways and careful to ensure the oil pick up was secure in its hole.
Apart from a few short journeys at home ,we drove a few days later thru France and northern Spain,covering 3600miles in 30 days with a smooth oil tight engine.I changed the (multi grade),oil once in the yard then again when we got to a friends in Sussex.As it was a post ‘71 engine most manuals recommended multi grade.also replaced the oil cooler.

 

[Olderisbetter]

As already said, I’d measure it up and see if it can be reground, if it’s a VW crank it will be better than a cheap aftermarket one.

Anyway can’t you just stick a Porsche engine in it, it’s only 4 bolts .

How’s the oval coming along?

The oval is still on the back burner but i have started going through all the parts and boxing everything, i will only get to do one oval in my life so i want something special not to mad just special..

Thanks for all the input guys lots of notes taken

 

[keithski122]

Where I worked about 10 years ago we were getting brand new brazilian built engines for about £1500, for similar money we were getting brand new old stock 2ltr bus engines from ex military use.

 

[Olderisbetter]

Mild update, the engine is fully apart now and we took the crank to a engine place and it turned out he is good friends with a mate in the motor trade so he sent us to a place he uses that is going to polish the crank and check the block, in other good news i picked up a running 1200 engine taken out to upgrade for £100, not a powerful engine but a bargain.

 

[Pete.]

I was going to say don't write that off yet as looks can be deceiving. This is my friend Neil's crank after he suffered some heavy detonation on his supercharged bike.

Looks trashed but it cleaned up beautifully and he sold it 30,000 supercharged miles later still going strong.

 

[nickk]

Not bragging,lol,but when I spun it via the gut buster,I got 40psi,new pump of course,but the engine sure was tight.

 

[cardiffrob]

Google Bob Hoover HVX mods for some good Aero-engine VW tips. Lots of VW engined aircraft (inc mine) that run full filtration and proper head cooling. These engines run almost full power for the full time they are running, hence the need to be reliable at high power.

 

[mcostello]

An old trick I have heard of was to rub a copper penny (don't know the British equivalent) on the journal and if it scrapes some off it needs ground.

 

[Morrisman]

An old trick I have heard of was to rub a copper penny (don't know the British equivalent) on the journal and if it scrapes some off it needs ground.

I was told that if you can feel the grooves with your fingernail then it needs regrinding.

By rights, in normal use metal never contacts metal, it always rides on an oil film, unless it has worn enough to spew oil out the sides.

On that principle my old racing buddy in the Far East ran two oil pressure gauges on his Chevy race motors, one in the normal place, just after the pump, and one at the front of the motor, after all the bearings. If there was a noticeable difference in pressure then bearings were bleeding oil out.

 

[vw-al]

Mild update, the engine is fully apart now and we took the crank to a engine place and it turned out he is good friends with a mate in the motor trade so he sent us to a place he uses that is going to polish the crank and check the block, in other good news i picked up a running 1200 engine taken out to upgrade for £100, not a powerful engine but a bargain.

I’ve got a rebuilt 1200 too, had it for nearly 20 years, it sits in the corner as a spare/back up engine.

 

[Olderisbetter]

Well the crank got a nice polish and as we were inspecting the case we decided to have it line bored which is £100 plus boris bonus but should save the hassle in the rebuild up and just for fun both the heads have cracks, one around the spark plugs and one between the valves.. ☹ ah well it is a part of the fun lol...

 

[nickk]

Replaced both my heads at overhaul time,empi,from heritage,c/w valves all pre assembled,cheap as.....China I suppose? I lapped the liners where they spigotted into the heads.for a good seal.
Have you got any editions of John muirs books,excellent and very amusing.

 

[Olderisbetter]

View attachment 240993 Replaced both my heads at overhaul time,empi,from heritage,c/w valves all pre assembled,cheap as.....China I suppose? I lapped the liners where they spigotted into the heads.for a good seal.
Have you got any editions of John muirs books,excellent and very amusing.

I have a few haynes amnuals for air cooled vw models and 2 manual in tuning but i will keep an eye out for the John Muirs book and yes i think all the Empi stuff is made in China now sadly.

 

[keithski122]

Take John Muirs advice with pinch of salt.I think it was written in the 60s/70s, time and knowledge has moved on.I'm sure that he wrote that chokes for hot start aren't needed,....... possibly in california but not in the uk.

 

[vw1]

Well the crank got a nice polish and as we were inspecting the case we decided to have it line bored which is £100 plus boris bonus but should save the hassle in the rebuild up and just for fun both the heads have cracks, one around the spark plugs and one between the valves.. ☹ ah well it is a part of the fun lol...
View attachment 240960 View attachment 240961

Shame about heads. I'm sure I got new 1641 heads b&p kit somewhere if needed ?

 

[Olderisbetter]

Shame about heads. I'm sure I got new 1641 heads b&p kit somewhere if needed ?

I will keep that in mind

 

[zzr1200]

View attachment 240960

That crank looks good after polishing, provided its in tolerance it shouldn't cause you any problems, just run it in carefully.

 

[Olderisbetter]

Well the engine case was just picked up after being line bored and i am so glad wd paid an extra £20 to have it chemically cleaned

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I’ve got a rebuilt 1200 too, had it for nearly 20 years, it sits in the corner as a spare/back up engine.

You're bound to need it soon[ish], having posted that.