I watched it with the engine running. I am 100% sure of the location. I am getting M8 aluminium bolts as well as M6 in case I need to go up a size. Why do you say it isn’t going to end well. What do you think is the problem with a bolt?
I think the concern is the ends of the crack are ouside the drilled out area so it will leak either side of the plug
Sorry for being naive but when did vw air-cooled engine become so expensive. I just had a look at worst case scenario engine replacement. The last time I checked recon vw 1600cc TP engines were £800. I was thinking a 1776 or something decent worth spending on now would be better than a standard 1600cc but the prices are £4-6k
I can try and find one for you,if you like. I know one guy has 2 and another has 3… I bought my 1303 super beetle for £500,and just converted it to a 1600. Runs well.
Yes, ridiculous, engine builders trying to survive amidst a parts shortage which they are also getting stung for - if they can get them at all. Facing that, you can see it might be worth completely stripping yours and getting it machined for 1776 plus get that crack welded up? Last time I checked a few months ago, assuming your heads are useable, you could DIY a 1776 including the head and case machining for less than £1K
Another approach to a linear crack is to do what I managed to do with my oil pump cover which was cracked. Working on the basis that its messed up if you do nothing, the repair can mess it up more but maybe work.. If this is a low pressure oil gallery then it wont take much to seal it up. As you mention, a PO might have even managed to get away with carb cleaner blasting, then some JB Weld just smeared over it, only to have it fall off at some time. If the crack is in metal thats more than maybe 1-2mm thick , what you can do is use a small round burr in a Dremel to carefully open the crack out into a round tube with a slot in the top, or a trench with a wider base than top. Then really clean up any oil around the place, and then use JB Weld to fill the crack. The profile of the crack, like a dentist's drill with a filling results in the epoxy glue being held in by the taper of the trench. As it is low pressure oil it shouldnt take much to hold it back. The JB weld will not soften with the heat of the engine .
I think there may still be a better fix than JB Weld,if it’s available. Some stuff called Benzone,I think. Used to use it years ago in the engineers dept,where I worked. Used to be used on fast running print machines. I may be wrong,but I’m sure it’s called something like that. Used to come in two silver foil packets…Hard stuff,drillable, etc.
Okay. I am going to investigate tomorrow. I have bought new taps and drill bits and have ordered aluminium bolts, loctite 270 and the loctite accelerator. I will assess the gouge once cleaned and prepped. It looks like a very small gouge than a crack. The oil was coming out of the gouge in a very precise way. I like the idea of JB weld but I really am not sure about it from my experience. It is just the heat cycles I am not sure if it would separate from the casing.
If you know someone with a cheap 1600cc I may be interested. I am going to try and fix this one, but it would be good to know if there is a running 1600cc available as I’m not far from you.
At first I thought you were being sarcastic “engine builders trying to survive”. But I don’t think you are? I respect that costs have gone up and it is a dying art but £5-7k for an old air cooled engine seems excessive to me. I would be very interested in building my own engine in the near future. I just need to use the van now for a bit of a break before the sun has all gone. £1-1.5k feels much more something I would be happy to spend on a DIY 1776cc.
I do think that price is ridiculous, but I do think it's a shortage of parts/price of parts/engine builders trying to make a reasonable living... and times change - everything for a bay has gone mental price-wise over the past few years. Over the time I've owned them they've gone from old crappers owned by odd ball types and run on a shoestring to classic vehicles owned by professionals with seemingly bottomless wallets. Yes I'm generalising and exaggerating a bit but that's the general direction. Inflation is a bugger, when I were a lad heads were £60 and a set of barrels and pistons £45. I bought a turnkey 1600 for £50 that there was nothing wrong with apart from the distributor advance was stuck. The older you get the more inflation there has been.
Engines and parts now have at least doubled. As a loose example, in 2008, a head barrel and 1600 piston kit from Just Kampers cost me £265.00 if memory is correct. Now for the same kit is £500 odd…
The price of steel has gone up over the years. I remember when a genuine vw front arch was £150, then £250 then I think £350. Now not available I guess. I have limits on what I am prepared to accept as reasonable. I mean I refuse to accept the price of £20-30k for a bay but that’s me and I know people think that is the norm and acceptable now.
If it’s a crack , unless it’s smaller than the M8 bolt and you can get a flat face to seal the head it will still leak ? It seems the area is really thin either due to corrosion or whatever .. good luck however you tackle it ..
I think the underlying problem is that VW licenses the case design to Autolinea in Brazil who shut down production for Covid and now have a massive backlog. Meanwhile there appears to have been somebody else in Brazil who copied the cases without licensing the design and got shut down. At the high price of cases now it must soon be worth it for other suppliers to pay the license fees and make money. Materials cost inflation due to Covid is also a factor. I think its time to get my second align bored cracked ( can sleeve the oil gallery that leaks ) case out and reasess it for a sweep the floor engine build...
Young man! The first genuine arch I bought was £50 and it was buy one get one free so £50 for a pair.
