Engine Rebuild: 1

My list...

All laid out ready to assemble

After over a month of cleaning, and organizing, it was finally time to reassemble the engine.  I had been rebuilding this engine in my mind and on paper for at least as long as I had it apart, so by the time the day rolled around, I felt ready.I had my list, my 'Bentley'--the official VW service manual--and all the parts, either cleaned or brand new and all ready to go.  I laid out everything carefully on my work table and with a deep breath, set to work.

The relief springs and nuts

Pressure Relief Spring

The first thing to go in was the last to come out: the oil pressure relief springs and the nuts that hold them in.  One unintended consequence of the engine rebuild was that I learned what these springs actually do.  This is just one example of the things I've learned from this experience.  I as rebuild it, I see just how the engineering design comes together, and how the various pieces have been organized in an assembly process.  It's amazing, really to see how practical solutions are achieved in steel and aluminum.

Case stud o-rings

Originally these were notched

The next step was to begin putting in the interior pieces.  First came the case stud o-rings, followed by the cam bearings and the main bearing dowel pins.  The o-rings were easy to slip on, and the cam bearings were no trouble either.  These thin bits of steel fit into the carefully polished saddles with a push of the finger.

Cam bearing fits perfectly

Cam bearings ready to go in

I marked the dowel pins so they could go back in their original spots, with the same orientation.  Then I put in the two halves of the number three split main bearing.  After this, it was time to put in the crankshaft.

Main bearing dowel pin

Split main bearing #3

I elected not to rebuild the crankshaft or replace the main bearings because a) the bearings looked fine and b) rebuilding the crank is a pain in the ass.  It requires heating up gears and pressing them into place, which is not something I am prepared for.  So, I just lined up the dowel pins with the corresponding holes in the main bearings and dropped it into place.

Crankshaft ready to go in

One half of the split bearing is in

At first, it didn't fit.  This has to be unbelievably precise.  There can be no movement in any direction, but when I put it in, one of the bearings was slipping slightly.  I took the crank out, checked all the dowel pins and holes and tried again.  It took a couple of half turns and a gentle tap or two, but when it was in correctly there was no mistaking the feeling.  It was rock solid and rotated smoothly.

Flywheel dowel pins are marked

The crank is in

With the crankshaft in, the next part to go in was the camshaft and gear.  This just dropped right in, no problem at all.  I lined up the marks on the gear with the marks on the crank and was finally ready to put the case back together.

...and the short block is done!

The case halves are mated...

First, I applied the sealant--Permatex Aircraft Sealant--to the mating surfaces of the two case halves.  Then, I stuck some wooden clothespins into the cam followers through one half of the case so when I picked it up and turned it over to place on the other half, the cam followers would not drop out.  It's a tricky step, and there's no doing it twice.  Once the sealant is down, you must mate the case halves immediately or start over.  With a lift and one simple and smooth turn, the top half was lowered onto the case studs and the two halves were reunited.

Next came all the case bolts, each tightened in sequence and torqued to the proper spec.  Months of cleaning and polishing came to this.  The short block was assembled.

Next: Long block assembly.

Tools

I saw this on the net today and it reminds me that I am not alone:

"Originally from England, this is an old list that's been floating around for generations."

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive car parts not far from the object we are trying to hit.

MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on boxes containing convertible tops or tonneau covers.

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning steel pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age, but it also works great for drilling rollbar mounting holes in the floor of a sports car just above the brake line that goes to the rear axle.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXY-ACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting those stale garage cigarettes you keep hidden in the back of the Whitworth socket drawer (what wife would think to look in there?) because you can never remember to buy lighter fluid for the Zippo lighter you got from the PX at Fort Campbell.

ZIPPO LIGHTER: See oxy-acetylene torch.

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against the Rolling Stones poster over the bench grinder.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar callouses in about the time it takes you to say "Django Reinhardt."

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering a Mustang to the ground after you have installed a set of Ford Motorsports lowered road springs, trapping the jack handle firmly under the front air dam.

EIGHT-FOOT-LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2x4: Used for levering a car upward off a hydraulic jack.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters.

PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbor Chris to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack.

SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog doo off your boot.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit.

TIMING LIGHT: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating grease buildup on crankshaft pulleys.

TWO-TON HYDRAULIC ENGINE HOIST: A handy tool for testing the tensile strength of ground straps and hydraulic clutch lines you may have forgotten to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large motor mount prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end without the handle.

BATTERY ELECTROLYTE TESTER: A handy tool for transferring sulfuric acid from a car battery to the inside of your toolbox after determining that your battery is dead as a doornail, just as you thought.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT: The mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; can also be used, as the name implies, to round off Phillips head screws.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty suspension bolts last tightened 40 years ago by someone in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and rounds them off.