0004 Engine and gearbox go for a rebuild

0004 Engine & gearbox go for a rebuild
6th October 2019
Still so much to do !!

Working on engine in trailer

Having got the engine out last week at CCC, I got the engine-less car trucked home, and then hired a 6x4 trailer to get the engine home.  I originally spoke with Peter Walshe at Custom Vee Dub, and was planning to use him to rebuild the engine.  However, for over a week I have been trying to contact him by phone, and no reply, and he never called me back.  So I started looking elsewhere. One place up on the Sunshine Coast sounded good, but was too busy for several months, so I eventually contacted Gary at Conti Engines near Bribie Island, and he agreed that he could help me.  I had two days to get all the excess panels off the engine before taking it up to Gary, and returning the hire trailer.

Removing panels from engine

The engine was just too heavy for 2 people to lift, so we used a trolley jack and when I took the
trailer over to CCC we just raised the jack to the same height as the trailer bed, and slid it on.  Once I got it home, I started taking off all the bits I still hadn't removed, and which Gary wouldn't need for the rebuild.  Distributor, generator, fuel pump, coil, and the many panels which surround the engine and contain the air from the fan around the engine to make sure it stay cool.  This is even more critical on the Type 3 than on the original beetle, and the shrouds are a lot more complicated.

Exhaust finally cut off

The exhaust was well and truly rusted in place, and I ended up having to get the old angle grinder out to cut the pipes off - Don't need the rusty old exhaust anyway !! But to get a good angle, I had to lift the engine up, and so I managed to use a tie-down strap over the fram of the trailer in order to lift the back of the engine

Engine raised in trailer

up - So any of these jobs require one to think outside the box, and work out ways to solve some of the problems you face every day.    Lots of hints that all these parts were original and had never been removed before - Not only did many of the parts have the original "VW" stamp on them, but also some of them had obviously never been disturbed, with quite a lot of old oil and grease, plus a lot of flora, caked onto the pistons etc.  With the muffler off, all the heater boxes and other panels came off fairly easily.

Treating rust on roof

With a few hours to spare before taking the engine up to Gary, I decided to have a go at the rust on the roof of the car.  The roof was probably the worst rust that was visible, but as suspected, it was mainly just surface rust where the original paintwork had failed, exposing the metal underneath, which had then rusted.  I had done a test last week and got back to clean bare metal fairly easily.  So I just worked my way across the roof, section by

Roof in etch primer

section, using repeated applications of paint stripper, scrapers, and then emery cloth, until I got back to bare metal.  It took all day, and some sections were certainly worse than others, but eventually I got it all done.  As a temporary measure to prevent rust re-appearing, I used sn etch primer to coat the bare steel, which can be easily removed prior to proper painting.

Seized cooling vents

Then it was back to the engine, and a lot of other parts had to come off.  There is a diaphragm that activates a set of fresh air louvres to regulate the engine heat, and while the bellows worked well (I tested them in hot water), the louvres

Fan belt on last legs

were seized solid, although in the warm climate of Australia, it probably didn't matter much.  But we will get them working properly so that if it gets cold somewhere, we know they are good.     When I got the fan belt off, it was only held together by the canvas on the outside of the belt - It wouldn't have gone much further !!

Dirt embedded in cylinders

A 2 hour drive north to Conti Motors to deliver the engine to Gary found him in a workshop surrounded by VW engines !  We spent time discussing how he would handle the rebuild, and eventually we decided to keep the engine to a 1600 cc standard capacity, but with a slightly more agressive cam.  This will keep the reliability, and minimise any heat build up on long trips, while still giving us the option to change things later if I decide to.    On the way home I dropped the gearbox off at Northside Transmissions for a rebuild, at the suggestion of Gary at Conti.

Rusty engine panel

Once home, it was time to get on with degreasing, sanding, and painting all the engine panels and
extras that I had removed.  This is a long and messy job, with a bucket of degreaser, then sanding down the panels to remove surface rust before

Panels undergoing treatment

treating them with anti-rust phosphoric acid.  After wiping the acid off with a wet cloth, and wiping the panel again with methylated spirits, it was time to paint them.  For this I used two coats of red oxide anti-rust undercoat, followed by two coats of any rust satin black top coat.  This then brought the panels up to near "as-new" condition, and should look really good on the engine when it is all back together.

Dynamat arrives

Meanwhile, some of my packages I ordered started arriving.  First was a big packet of Dynamat, a butyl based rubber on an aluminium alloy skin.  I have removed a lot of the 50 year old cladding from the car, and this is the more modern technology material that both insulates and sound deadens.  I will be applying this all the way through the car, before covering it with an underfelt, and then carpet on top of that.  Next package came from California, and contained 4 rubber seals - Front and rear windows, and boot and engine cover seals.  It also included one period item - A louvred blind for the steeply sloping rear window, to keep the strong Aussie sun off the back shelf and seat.

Engine covers all painted

By the end of the week, I had finished refurbishing all the engine panels, and just had a few minor
pieces to finish.  I started on a list of the main spare parts that I think I will need so I can start getting prices etc for these. And next week I intend to get the front and rear windows removed, and then I can restart work on the inside of the car, finishing off the application of the anti rust base before I install the Dynamat.  And with the car moved into the garage (rather than outside in the driveway), I can then start on the front suspension and brakes - cleaning it up and working out what I need in order to get it ll back into working order.

Lots of progress this week, and looking good !!

Rest of the pics are here :-  https://photos.app.goo.gl/E5Cgi4w4F6QggHvT6