What moves you dude?

I took apart my engine. It was pretty easy for me. Long ago, when my car was still a bug, I built an engine stand out of wood and it worked really well for me when it came time to break down my engine.

My car really ran well when I pulled it off the road (aside from the clutch.) I was confident that there would be few, if any, major issues involving the engine itself. I was tempted to just leave it be and just swap out the clutch. I, however, really wanted to get the experience of taking the thing apart and putting it back together. It's a good thing I did. As I broke it down I was excited to see that everything appeared to be in great shape. The cylinders were nice and clean with no cracks or marks. The rings seemed to be nice and tight. The heads looked good, from what I could see. They were pretty gunked up from carbon. The end play seemed alright. The crank had a little scoring on it but looked like it could be ground down some. The rods looked fine as far as I could tell. I was a little disappointed that I broke it down at all.

It turns out that everything but the cylinders and pistons are junk. The heads had several cracks under the carbon as well as busted up valve guides on one. The crank just isn't worth machining since I can get one for less than it would cost to machine the old one. The rods might be OK I just don't know. Basically, the only thing I'm reusing is the case. I took it to a local VW guy to have it machined for the main bearings and bigger cylinders that I'll be putting in it. So I found an engine kit that pretty much covers the whole deal here. With the machine work and new heads, I'm going to be into this thing for about eleven hundred dollars. I've done a lot of research into performance mods for VWs and learned a ton. There's a wealth of information here.

I decided on a 1776cc engine kit. there are several reasons for this. First, My car might weigh 1400 pounds when I'm done so I won't need too much power to push it along. Second, everything I've read leads me to believe that the 1776 option is a reliable upgrade. Third, this car is going to be a weekend warrior. It will never be out in the rain unless I just happen to get caught in it. So dependability, while valued, just isn't critical. Fourth, in my opinion, there are benefits to going the cheap route. This might seem stupid to some but there is method to my madness. I've never built an engine before. So I'm basically planning on screwing it up. It's better to ruin a forty dollar part than a four hundred dollar part. As I get better, I plan on getting more valuable equipment.

So here are the specs for my engine.
- New 90.5mm Forged piston & cylinder kit
- New 69mm counterweighted, 8 dowel crankshaft
- New forged I-Beam connecting rods
- New stock Camshaft
- New lifters
- New pushrods
- New heavy duty oil pump
- New gasket kit with silicon rear main seal
- New heads bored for the bigger jugs
- New dual 40mm Kadrons
- New stock clutch
- Old case align bored, thrust cut, and cleared for the bigger cylinders
- Old 4 dowel flywheel machined for 8 dowel crank
- Old rockers
- Old Spin on filter kit
- Old doghouse and new tin
- Old accessories (starter, alternator, dizzy, ect.)

Assembly will start in a couple weeks.