Eric's Engine Advice

Last updated 03-15-2007(Changed my E-mail address)

Quote for Today: "The truth is seldom spoken...and even fewer want to hear it" -Eric

The VW Engine

The following is what I have personally learned from experience (not hearsay) and what I have seen happen to others. I do not claim to know everything, as these are my opinions and maybe I can help you so you will have less problems and save money in the long run. Experience is always a great teacher.All names I use of companies and manufacturers is for reference only. Feel free to e-mail me about any ideas, or questions. Two things I can't stress enough: Put an oil pressure light AND gauge on your car!! You won't always see the gauge BUT if the light comes on, you will see it and then you can look at the gauge to verify. The same goes for the Alternator/Generator. If it stops charging, its no big deal, BUT if it stops charging because the belt came off then it IS a big deal. Without a light, you might not never know if the belt is off... until it is too late.

Full Flow
One of the best things you can do is "full flow" your engine. It is nearly impossible to assemble an engine as clean as the factory did and with more H.P. output, a need for a filter is even greater. Even a stock engine will last FAR longer with an oil filter. Full flowing is done by plugging the oil pump outlet in the pump body and then using a full flow oil pump cover. Then drill (9/16) and tap the block in the plug in the front left of the engine next to the pulley. This is the bigger of the 2 plugs that are there. If you look, you can see that the plug you need to tap is the one that leads down to the oil pump hole(outlet). A 3/8 pipe thread tap is used. So now you come out of the pump, through a filter base, and back in the block. You can also add an external oil cooler in this setup. I personally like the factory dog house cooler as this is all that is needed. This setup filters 100% of the oil 100% of the time, unlike putting a filter where the oil cooler originally was and bearing life will last for years. The oil filter base uses the Fram PH-8a filter, but I definitely recommend the Fram HP-1 or equivalent (purolator L39001, Deutsch D-545, etc.) because the PH-8a will not stand a lot of pressure and they WILL bust, especially on cold mornings. Also, I DO NOT recommend 20w-50 weight oil. It should not be needed and I have found bearing life to be a LOT longer with 10w-40.

Solid Rocker Shafts and Swivel Feet
2 other things that MUST be done (unless you are using a stock engine) is to use the solid rocker shafts, AND either lash caps or the swivel feet. I personally prefer the swivel feet that have the "ball and socket" instead of the ones that have the whole end swivel.

VW Cases...WHat to do and look for.

First of all, I must ask this. Why spend $1500.00 or more on an engine and use a questionable used case? If you have a case and don't know if its good or not, then first check for a warped case at the #2 bearing journal "web". Bolt the case together and see if you can see light through it. Look through the main bearing hole from the flywheel side and look at the second flat spot where the case halves bolt together. If you can see through it, then it will have low oil pressure, and a short lived engine. PICTURE Lifter holes are a BIG problem with used cases, check these closely, and if they are worn much, they WILL bust out especially if you use dual valve springs or high lift cams. What about align boring? That will work, but again, if you are going to spend much money on an engine, buy a new case. I have seen people spend BIG bucks on stroker engines and not use a new case, and have a lot of trouble. I gotta ask why. Don't get me wrong, there are good used cases around, just look at them closely. Small stud cases are better than the big ones for the simple fact that the big studs love to pull out of the case after you almost have the engine together and you are torquing the heads down. On the side of the case, you will see the letters "AS-41" or "AS-21" The AS-41 was the first ones made. In 1975 and later fuel injected engines (the ones without a fuel pump hole), the case alloy was change and the letter was AS-21. The AS-21 is better then the AS-41. BUT now VW in Brazil has changed again and went to the AS-41 again, but it is of a different alloy then the older AS-41 and AS-21 and is better than both.-

Lifters
This may not seem like an important issue, but I have seen a lot of trouble with "cheap" lifters. What happens is the push rods will wear through the seat in the lifter causing the pushrod to bind, then break requiring you to re-build. If you are building a mild engine, then stock or "economy" lifters will work, but if you are building any high-performance engine,(dual springs, high lift cam, or even H.D. single springs), then buy a good set of lifters. The Scat ones are great, as well as Engle, and Bug-Pack "racing" lifters. I am sure there are others, too, but if a company offers 2 selections, buy the more expensive one. You get what you pay for as far as quality goes(not someone just making more money). One of the things to look for is the thin head(it is about 1/16 thinner than stock, if you have a stock one, you can see the difference.) The thinner head will also allow the use of larger cams without clearancing the lifter hole, which MUST be checked. Put the cam in and turn it around and make sure it has clearance at the high point of the lobe. I have seen no use for the "wide" base lifters, as it is not needed. I DO recommend the double thrust cam bearings for any high performance cam.

Camshaft
One of the biggest questions, problems, and concerns is the selection of a VW camshaft. There are so many companies making them , with an endless variety of grinds, that no wonder people ask "what cam do I want"? Well, this is also one of the hardest things to answer. First of all, Everything affects Everything else. Weight, carbs, gearing, and stroke determine what cam you should use. Everything else should be picked and the cam last. Of the cams that I have used(Eagle, Engle, Bug-Pack, Scat, and Sig-Erson, I personally like ENGLE the best. They have many grinds, and are consistent in their quality. The W-110 is a great all around cam. For a stroker with dual carbs, then the W-125 is a great choice. For the street, the W-130 or W-140 works well. These are all for the stock or 1.25 rockers. For the 1.4 and 1.5 rockers, they offer several great grinds as well. The ratio rocker cams are easier on your lifter bores and overall reduce valve train wear. Engle also have great recommendations as to what cam works for what size engine, and a selection (VZ-series) for stock rockers only. Bug-pack now carries the Engle Brand, and they list the grinds also. Scat makes some reground cams. These have the gear already riveted on. These are not worth having. The lobes are soft and will wipe off. The scat cams that are not reground, are ok. They used to put the reground cams in their engine kits. I am sure that there are many other cams from many manufacturers that work great also, but there are just too many to name and I have not tried them. Update- Engle just came out with a new series of FK grinds (FK-41-48) and I am anxious to try some of these out. IF ANYONE HAS TRIED THESE let me know how it worked and what combination of engine you had it in.

Pushrods
Stock pushrods seem to work well with SINGLE springs and even the H.P. single springs. I DO NOT recommend them for ANY dual springs. The after market chromoly pushrods are needed for any dual spring setups. The main difference in these is the cheaper ones are thicker, and heavier then the more expensive ones. Scat has a good set for around $40.00. Bugpack sells 2 different sets. Either will work, but heavier ones do take more H.P to turn.

Carburetors

It is easy to get into a BIG argument over carbs. Dellortos (40, 45 DLRA series) and Webers (40, 44 IDF series)..Which is best? There is not a lot of difference between the sizes in the 40-45 Dellortos or 40-44 Webers. Personally, I like the Webers a LOT better. They are simpler, easier to work on and they have the idle jets so that you can remove them for cleaning WITHOUT taking the breathers off. (A BIG help). Dellortos will work and perform as well as the Webers, but they seem to have more problems. Webers,(new), need to have the float levels checked as they are often too high and will flood going over any hill. Set them parallel with the carb top. This is usually close if you don't have a gauge. The weber progressive 2 bbl is a good choice for moderate engines with a stock stroke and up to and including 94mm. Just make sure its a Weber, and not a pinto carb. If you buy it new, then it will be a weber. Pinto carbs have a lot of extra vacuum lines and other components on the outside of the carb. The stock solex (34 pict 3) is a great carb for a stock engine. Does yours idle? :) Well most don't. The idle jet NOT idle screw (on the right side of the carb looking from the back of the engine) always seems to be lean. What I do is burr the threads on the outside of the idle jet. That way, when you screw it back in, it fits tight. This is in effect like having an adjustable idle jet. Screw it all the way in and then back it out until it idles. With the threads burred, the jet wont vibrate out or move. This may sound strange, but it does work and it solves the headache of trying to figure out what size jet you need and from having to buy as assortment just to end up using only one of them.
If you are going to buy dual carbs, the buy the hex cross bar linkage. Stay away from the Tayco linkage. This has a round bar and is JUNK. Also if you are running off road, I recommend the sand boxes and covered 2-stage breathers available from Bug-Pack, CB-Performance, EMPI and others. Keep the inner element oiled. Even though I recommend the 2-stage covered breathers, even they need to be worked on. It seems the old ones were made thicker on the base where the filter sets. The new ones LOVE to break off where the brace that the top screws on meets the bottom. 2 more braces need to be welded here to stop that problem. Use a Mig welder and LOW heat. They can also be brazed. If you have seen many people using these, then you have probably seen some break loose. Its hard to get good quality anymore. See JUNK PARTS below.

Crankshaft

The heart of it all..the crankshaft. DO NOT EVER buy ANY cast crankshaft for the VW engine. My only exception to this would be the new cast counterweighted 69mm stroke cranks. Since they are only a 69 mm stroke, these should be ok. The welded strokers are ok, but why spend X amount of dollars on an engine and use a cheap crank? . Some companies call a welded stroker a forged stroker because a stock crank (except for the new ones) are indeed forged from the factory. The ONE PIECE 4340 Chromoly forged ones are the best. Bug-pack cranks are excellent quality, (their forged rods are too) as is most any other company that offers a one piece welded 4340 chromoly crank, CB-performance, Scat, etc.. The Porsche rod journal is also the best way to go. (they are narrower therefore the crank is made thicker, and stronger) Stock clearanced rods are good for a 78 stroke, and I have been running a set in my 82 stroke off road buggy with no trouble. For any high compression or larger strokes, I recommend the carillo style rods. The Eagle rods from CB-Performance are good also, but they are not as of yet offered in the porsche journal. For an 84 stroke, the 5.5 length is recommended and the 86 stroke use the 5.6. The 86 mm crank has the 411 center main which is also stronger by design. Good rods are not cheap, so if money is tight, go with a 78 crank or maybe an 82 with the stock clearanced rods. Demello makes a great welded stroker crankshaft. But DO NOT buy a CAST STROKER crank from anyone. How to tell if it is forged or cast. Good question. Experience is the best way. A cast crank will usually have a line on the counter weights. This is where it was poured in a mold. A forged crank will look "scaly", and not have the lines in the counterweights. Hopefully I will get a pic of this. Also a forged crank is usually has a lighter grey color where as the cast crank is darker. And or course, a welded crank is easily distinguished by the welds on the rod journals.

Flywheel-Weight/Gland Nut Torquing

I know the books say to use 253 ft lbs. This is very true, BUT this is for a STOCK engine with STOCK performance. 99 out of 100 flywheels that come loose is because of the wrong torque and or gland nut. See my "tips" section on how to make a flywheel holder. For ANY performance applications, you MUST use an aftermarket chromoly gland nut. The stock nut will only take around 275 ft lbs before it cracks (or strips) and is only for stock use!!!. There are several good chromoly nuts available, but it seems that no company can agree as to which size is best. I have seen them in 36mm(1-7/16), 1-1/2, and 1-7/8 inch sizes. Either will work, but the 1-7/8 Bugpack one is hard to tighten because of the narrow head on the nut makes the socket want to slip off when torquing. About torquing, find someone who has a torque wrench, and if no one does, then I suggest invest in one. An impact wrench will tighten , but you never know what the torque is on the nut...and its only a guessing game. Using a torque wrench, AND a chromoly nut, tighten it to 350-375 ft lbs. This is what I have been doing for years and I have not had one come off yet even with 2387cc engines. 8 doweling is great, but 50 dowels will not hold if the big nut gets loose. If you have a 8 dowel crank, be sure that no dowels come through the flywheel and interfere with torquing. I have seen this happen because someone didn't drill the holes deep enough or used dowel pins that were too long. What happens in this case is the nut tightens on the dowels, not the flywheel. I have run up to 1915cc with the stock 4 dowels and a chromoly gland nut torqued to the above, and have had no problems. Wedgemating is also great, but until I have some start coming off, then I will use the regular f/w. Why fix it if its not broke?
Flywheel Weight
What weight should I use? Good question. Small horsepower engines should use the stock weight f/w for more bottom end torque. If you have enough hp to overcome this and not too large of a camshaft, then definitely go with a lightened f/w, say around 12 or 13 lbs. A lighter f/w decreases thrust bearing wear (as does a counterweighted crank), and will reach rpm much quicker. A lot of other things affect your option to use a lightened f/w also, including carbs, cam, and heads. If you have a small engine (1835 is borderline) then you may just have to try both and see which you like best for you are doing. If you are buying a lightened f/w, I recommend the balanced one.

Air Cleaners

This sounds simple and is often overlooked. Like almost everything else, it depends on what you are doing. For the street , a K& N air filter will work fine. Just always keep it oiled! A dry FOAM breather is about useless. Off road is another story. Personally, I use the 2-stage breathers form Bug-pack, Empi, CB, etc. Either foam on foam or the paper on foam. (Oil all foam!)BUT it seems now that someone in China or wherever has been making these so cheap that the brackets break out of the base at the bottom. This is a BIG problem and I have seen 20 or more of these do this recently. The only way to cure it is to weld 2 more brackets on them (making 4) even before you run them new. It is a shame that most of the time today even if you buy it new, you still have to work on it before you can use it. I used to use the stock breather. Yes, they are ugly, but they do work and will not break.

Clutches And Pressure Plates

In this case, bigger is not always better. I like to use the weakest one that I can that will still hold. It is a lot easier on other parts. I have seen a lot of people use the 2500lb or 2700lb "green" pressure plates and 4-puck discs. Be assured, this will DEFINITELY hold, but to what expense? This setup is REAL tough on the drivetrain. Axles, transmissions, etc., not to mention the left leg! I have been using a stock pressure plate and a bug-pack or scat disc in my 2276 engine off road. Well, something has changed because this used to work fine but when I put a new one in and it slips in 3rd and 4th. I put in a KENNEDY 4-puck and new stock pp and it works fine. I think the problem is that the scat or bugpack (same disc)4-puck is too thick for the stock pp working range because after it was ran a while, it stopped slipping. Either that or the new stock pressure plates are not what they used to be. Another setup that works well is to use a 1700lb (kennedy is the best) pressure plate and a stock disc. Again, like I have said so many times, it all depends on what size engine, what you are doing, and how deep your bill-fold is. Just try smaller first. It will save you headaches and money later. For drag racing type starts, then see the Trans Talk section of my site about the anti-shocker.

Junk Parts

Yes, there is a LOT of crap on the market today. Besides what I have already mentioned somewhere else in my site, here are a few other things that are just plain JUNK.

The Blue ALUMINUM spring loaded pushrod tubes. These do not have a chamfer in the middle where the seal goes and they will cut the seal into and cause a leak. You would have thought that the makers of these would have done better. These would be a great product if they would have just done this one detail.

The Chrome valve cover clips. If you ONLY run in the open area and not the woods, brush, etc. then you might get by with these, BUT, if you are into any of the above, then they will not hold. First thing they stick out way too far on the sides and will catch sticks, rocks etc. But the worst thing is they do not have the holding force that a stock clip does. I have even straightened out the little bend in the stock clips and put them on instead of the chrome ones.. a LOT better.

Head Studs. (8mm aftermarket) Some of these are real problems also. The BugPack cheaper cost ones, are not worth having and they WILL NOT torque to 28 or even 26 ft. lbs. I have seen a lot of these break. If you buy these new, MAKE SURE you buy chromoly. Bugpack offers chromoly, but they also offer the cheap ones too. Scat also sells chromoly as does alot of other companies.

Chrome Alternator/Generator Nut. Here is another item that will ruin your alternator or generator shaft if you are not real careful. They seem to go on "OK" most of the time, but sometimes they will not come off no matter if you anti-seized them, oiled them or whatever.

Assembling The Engine

This is next on my list of updates I am taking pics now....

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