Rebuild Thread (Probably)

[937carrera]

It's difficult to measure pump wear with feeler gauges, the thread below (which goes to the n'th degree due to the specific type of pump) shows how to do the job. WBX pumps are very similar, and more importantly available and cheap. Enjoy the read

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewt ... p?t=693726

When you fit your new pump it's important to make sure the clearances are as tight as possible, Paul fits his without a gasket to help get the best oil pressure.Some more reading for you.

[itchyfeet]

pair of AMC used heads £100 on facebook 8090 page

[Ciaraneng]

Thanks Paul. It looks as if someone got in there first.

[itchyfeet]

the early bird...

point is lots of bits and broken engines come up regularly.
if you are in a hurry you have to buy new but if you can wait parts will come up.

[Ciaraneng]

lots of bits and broken engines come up regularly.
if you are in a hurry you have to buy new but if you can wait parts will come up.

Good to know. Have joined the FB page and will keep an eye out. Not in a massive hurry so can afford to wait a bit.

[Ciaraneng]

My camshaft has a -4 gear size and there is currently a backlash of .13mm between the gears. Does anyone know what size cam gear I should be trying to source?

I think I'm getting to the bottom of my camshaft mystery now. After a bit of research it turns out that there is no -4 gear size for a WBX and it was a practice amongst some rebuilders to replace worn T25 camshafts with Beetle camshafts and to put in solid lifters at the same time. I seem to be one of the unlucky ones who ended up with one of these abominations. My camshaft and gear part numbers are 113.109.101F and 113.19.111B respectively which correspond to beetle parts. My problem now is that if I want to buy a new WBX camshaft and gear, I have no way of knowing what size gear I should go for.

I think my best chance now for a rebuild is to find an old DG and to try to recover some original parts. If I were to source all original parts I'd be looking at well over a grand including heads, crankshaft, seals, pumps etc. And that's before measuring pistons, barrels and crankshaft...
Oh well, all part of the T25 journey I guess. I was fortunate in the condition of the van itself. Seems to have been stored really well and taken care of. The engine alas is in dreadful condition.

[itchyfeet]

lots of bits and broken engines come up regularly.
if you are in a hurry you have to buy new but if you can wait parts will come up.

Good to know. Have joined the FB page and will keep an eye out. Not in a massive hurry so can afford to wait a bit.

and

VW T3 Vanagon WBX Waterboxer Wasserboxer Engines
VW T25/T3 VANS AND PARTS FOR SALE

[Ciaraneng]

VW T3 Vanagon WBX Waterboxer Wasserboxer Engines
VW T25/T3 VANS AND PARTS FOR SALE

Joined, thanks.

[itchyfeet]

you need to go right through what you have to see what you need.

Cranks are usually good so you need to know if the pistons and barrels are OK.

remind me do you have snapped or bad studs?, thats the biggest concern everything else is readilly available, good cases are not

[Ciaraneng]

you need to go right through what you have to see what you need.

Cranks are usually good so you need to know if the pistons and barrels are OK.

remind me do you have snapped or bad studs?, thats the biggest concern everything else is readilly available, good cases are not

Hoping to measure the crank, the pistons and the barrels this week. The studs are in remarkably good shape so there's a bit of a silver lining...

[itchyfeet]

yes indeed the glass is definately half full

[937carrera]

I think I'm getting to the bottom of my camshaft mystery now. After a bit of research it turns out that there is no -4 gear size for a WBX and it was a practice amongst some rebuilders to replace worn T25 camshafts with Beetle camshafts and to put in solid lifters at the same time. I seem to be one of the unlucky ones who ended up with one of these abominations.

That worked well then didn't it

I'm really pleased you split the case, you wouldn't have known otherwise.

[Ciaraneng]

Things have moved on a good bit since my last post. As Itchyfeet recommended I found a doner engine for parts to keep the cost down. I opted to get the bottom end rebuilt and the heads cleaned up (guides, springs, seats, etc.) and barrels honed as I don't have the tools or skills to do this. I reckoned I'd be looking at about €300 worth of tools to do the job and it set me back about €1100 to have it done. They have lent me an engine stand and a torque wrench to do the top end. Although it was in pretty bad shape outside the doner engine was actually in better shape than the original which had been rebuilt previously with solid tappets and had been badly worn. I sourced all the parts myself which kept the cost down. I picked up some parts (oil pump, water pump, gaskets, etc.) and I'm ready to start on the heads. I'll keep you posted and no doubt ask for advice as I go. Here are a few photos to show where I am up to.

[Ciaraneng]

First question: What's the best way to deal with a bent stud on a head? I'm worried about breaking the head if I hit it with a hammer.

[Ciaraneng]

End drift done and down from 1mm (:shock:) to .07mm.