Cleaning the buggy for 2019

Cleaning the buggy for 2019
20th April 2019

Work started this year cleaning the chrome work on the buggy after converting much of the fuel system to copper and brass. This was a result of the SAE standard fuel lines failing through the hi octane levels being supplied in local garages causing the SAE J30 R6  standard hoses to melt. Two attempts of these pipes was used with shirt runs causing the outer skin to melt and become like a jelly sweet.

The bright-work is looking great and the glass work sparkles thanks to a friends help with some newspaper.


The engine is still a little hesitant due to being in the garage over the winter.  I may need to check the regulator is at 2.5-3.0 psi . Upon checking on this today it was the case that the service changed the setting . This was less than 1 psi explained the problems with acceleration . The weather has been 24 degrees in the UK so excellent buggy weather.

The engine seems to have more get up and go . I still have a few more parts to make to solve issues of some broken parts but am very pleased with the car so far coming through the winter.

A New lease of Life

16th January 2011

I returned to the garage today after purchasing a new battery with 420 amps of starting power in an 63 battery format. I had a great deal of problem explaining to the retailer that this was a heavy duty version of the 63 format and was available . He spent quite a wile trying to tell me all the 63 format batteries where only 330 Amp stating current until he found one on his shelves. :-)

My Perseverance was rewarded as i returned to the garage and found that the battery indeed turned the engine over much better. The engine however would still not start and there appeared to be a lack of significant ignition. I removed the distributor cab and looked and the point working with the ignition in first position. The spark was very week and fragmented. I decided that I would need to replace them and managed to purchase a set from my GSF store along with a new condensor . I put this into the distributor and set the points on the square of the distributor shaft too .016". I put the distributor back in the engine and connected up the ignition leads . I noticed my no 2 cylinder spark plug was not tight so places some oil on it and tightened it up. I then ran up the engine:




The most noticeable thing was the engine speed was very high. I would have to look at this another day as my throttle was not returning as it should allowing the engine to idle. I was not sure whether I needed to lengthen the throttle cable unscrew the stops or fit stronger springs.

On the whole I was very pleased with the day as my new battery was much better and the points and condensor had only set me back £6.00.

Next time I would try to get the Idle speed down to a better tick over and see if the buggy still had its acceleration problems that had dogged me last year.

Refitting a Broken Valve Spring or not due to non delivery from CoolAir

21st July 2011
I got my cylinder head off yesterday that had the broken spring in it. The spring in two pieces along with the valve are shown in the picture opposite. The spring had sheered right through two coils down and the surfaces matched exactly. This is a fairly major failure in this part . I had thought I had used second hand heads but in fact these heads where 040 heads I had bought some years earlier for my engine. I decided to go to GSF and get a new inlet valve and luckily these where standard 35.6mm valve heads with an 8mm stem and strangely GSF had them in stock. It is a mystery to me what GSF stocks as they always only seem to have half of the parts I require for example yesterday morning i spend £68.00 on parts a Valve Compression tool and some valve springs. GSF could have had all of this but instead only had £10.00 for two collets and an inlet Valve . I have to wonder why this is but am happy that my local branch is expanding and they will have more stock room.

The Valve compression tool I bought was a bench mounted tool. which is very simple to use. You simply place the head on the base with the valves in and the arm runs along a track to alter its position to put a valve in in turn. with the spring and spring retainer on the valve the compression tool compresses the spring so that the two collets can be inserted. This was very straight forward and I was very impressed with it as a tool that actually does what it should do for a change.

I decided as I had the tool I would clean up the other valves in the heads before putting the head back on this involved removing each of the collets from the other valves and taking out the valve and cleaning it down with carburetor cleaner and a wire brush. The valves where then re fitted to the head one by one until the head was re assembled again . The head was then refitted to the engine. I new I would need to visit GSF again as I needed a new set of carburetor and exhaust gaskets. With the GSF High quality gasket set in hand I was waiting for a UPS delivery all morning to deliver my springs and tools. Sadly this was wasting my time so I decided to paint some of the tin wear back up with black to refresh it a little.

I got a phone call from CoolAir VW a little while later as I had called as was getting worried as nothing had arrived. They told me that nothing had been shipped out to me there had been a problem with an email not being sent and although apologetic I was told I would and could not have my parts today. This meant I could not get the car back together for bugJam.

I was so cross about this it started me thinking . I had an old valve spring compressor that was made by Laser this would not fit my beetle heads and without the proper equipment arriving I decided to try some customization of this item to see if I could do anything with it. You can see I used my angle grinder to remove to nicks from the very front of the tool so that it would not interfere with the lip on the cylinder head. I then filed it so that it had no rough burrs and was smooth and kind to the soft aluminum head. I found that the scissor action of the clamp was quite difficult yo use. I also found that when you had it clamped onto the head that you could not increase the pressure further by tightening the screw as the bottom of the screw just slid of the head of the valve. This was rather disappointing, however I soon found that if I tightened up the thread hard . I could not close the cramp but I could use a rubber mallet to hit the leaver to make it force the spring to compress. This was a good find as it pulled the spring up tights so that the collets could be removed. The image right shows the top of the tool and how close it is to the edge of the head even with the section removed from the jaws of the compression device. Without this removed the device could not compress the valve enough to allow the collets to be removed. This was obviously a flaw in the design. The collets were then removed and the apparatus was removed to allow the spring to be released. I took the spring and cleaned it up with a wire brush and then wd40. I then placed the new valve old spring and new collets into the head with the same process only i had to balance the device on the compressor before i could compress it this turned out to be considerable easier. The picture right shows the valve inserted in the head and the head pushed onto the cylinder heads. This was then bolted back on turning up the nuts in a diagonal pattern so that it pulled the head up evenly. The newly painted tin ware was then placed under the fan housing and then screwed down tightly. I then inserted the Alternator with the fan still on the back into the housing and strapped it down with the strap before doing up the tin ware screws in this way i could ensure that the fan spun without hitting the housing. I found i needed to pull it forward before doing up the strap to achieve this. When I had the alternator bolted in then I did up the tin ware screws. I then put the carburetors back on using new gaskets . I put the cross bar in whilst the carbs was loose this gave just enough room to get it in so they bolted up with it in place. Whilst I had the engine in bits i Changed my Distributor back to a VAC model and connected up the engine electrics and fuel eager to see if this had changed anything.

My Buggy Engine running .


The initial run was much smoother and the car ran better. I took the car out for a run

The initial Run


I returned finding that it would not idle when it was hot. I readjusted the idle screws to get it to idle and left the car in its garage to cool down for the evening. I was still very cross with CoolAir Vw they did appologise but I was very upset that they new I needed my parts to get to Bug Jam and there had obviously been a failure in their systems.

Rebuilding the 1600 long block

1st August 2009

The small block I started last month seemed to be a distant memory as personal changes in my life were at the fore of my mind and I was finding difficulties in locating the parts I needed for the long block.

I had sourced the 1600 barrels from a very good friend in return for a bottom end rebuild he wanted me to do for him. I negotiated that it would be better if I told him how to do it, so I was going to show him when he was ready to get it done and hopeful pass on some lessons I had learnt on my first rebuild.

The Barrels were in reasonable condition for their age

with three of the pistons in good condition with the third showing some significant mark on the surface. I decided this would have to be replaced and placed a thread on Vzi to locate a replacement . I cleaned the barrels up using a degreaser gunk and then with a wire brush. I used 600F degree VHT black paint to paint them. The barrels seemed easy to find unlike the Marle piston rings that seem to be disappearing sadly from the shelves of GSF and many other VW suppliers. I hope this is just a problem with the import and does not mean we are losing them as I still favour Marle above other makes. You can see pictured right I have checked the alignment arrows on the piston surface that face the flywheel and placed a circlip pin in the same end so that I could not mistake the direction that the gudgeon pin had to be driven in. I eventually found some Marle piston rings and started to fit them to the pistons. Generally this is much easier to do if the piston is covered in oil. The packet of rings is normally divided into three sections with the rings for the bottom middle and top slot all held together. Starting with the bottom ring position nearest the connecting rod. The correct ring can be identified easily as its the widest one and usually consists of a spring device or frame, cover two separate side rings or a frame that fits over the spring frame. I have seen both types of bottom ring oil seal in Marle kits so it is good to be familiar with the different types. My Marle kit contained the undulating frame and two separate rings The undulating frame is colour coded to allow it to be correctly placed together. Personally I think it is better to fit it and try overlapping either way to ensure that its profile fits nicely together. The two thin rings sit either side of this to ensure a good oil seal. The undulating frame keeps them separated and sprung. The next ring up is a much larger ring and you must be careful to get it the correct way up by finding top marked on it. This can be slid over the piston crown in much the same way the other thinner oil rings were introduced. More care must be used though as its large size makes it more brittle. The top ring is also marked on one side 'top' be sure to also get the orientation of this ring correct. Slipping it onto the piston in the same manner used before. With all three rings on the piston great care must be used to ensure the gaps in the rings do not line up. Generally speaking I put these at 90 degrees to each other so that no gas could escape past them. The ring assembly procedure is then repeated for the other four pistons.

With the rings in place you can insert the pistons into the barrels I have tried many home made devices to fit the pistons in but to be honest they do not work as well as the piston ring compression tools that are on the market and can be bought for as little as £10.00. The only disadvantage of these cheaper ring compressors is that you have to remove the gudgeon pin to take the ring compressor on and off. With this in mind the piston ring compression tool can be slid onto the piston and the ratchet then ratcheted up to pull tight against the rings. It is important at this point to ensure that the piston ring compression tool fits around the piston with the top of the piston flush with the skirt of the piston ring tool. Also if the piston ring tool is made of spring steel rings ensure all the rings are flush. Lubricate the bore of your cylinder. Place the piston upside down on the neck of the barrel. With a piece of wo0d placed inside the crown of the piston, knock the piece of wood , whilst holding the piston ring compression tool and piston centrally over the barrel. A few short taps should place the piston in the barrel. Make sure the skirt of the piston is protruding from the barrel so that you can re-insert the gudgeon pin.

The barrels can be then placed on to the engine block. You must start with the cylinders nearest the flywheel end of the engine. If you tap the gudgeon pin so that it slightly protrudes inside the piston, you can locate the gudgeon pin in top of the con-rod. so that it can then be tapped home with a round drift like a socket extension so that it sits comfortably against the clip. Place the clip in the end of the piston to secure the gudgeon pin taking care not to spring it inside the engine. A piece of cloth can be draped over the engine apertures to ensure this does not happen as a complete rebuild is needed to remove it!. With the two barrels nearest the flywheel in place the other two barrels can be placed in the same manner remembering the securing clips for each. As you work putting the barrels on you may need to rotate the engine to get the con rod out far enough to make the connection to the piston. With all the barrels on the short block tap them with a mallet so they sit firmly in the case. Fit the air deflectors to the underneath of the barrels - these clip in between the barrels and fit on the bottom of the barrels blocking the air flow from pushing straight past the barrels.

With the barrels and pistons sourced and fitted I was left with the task of finding some 1600 heads. The answer again came from a friend Huw from vZi who drove them down to me. It was very nice to meet him face to face. When buying replacement heads it is important to check that the heads have no cracks in them. The spark plug areas are notorious for this and need cleaning to ensure they are crack free. Also check the fins are intact and the threaded areas are good and not stripped. The heads were in very good condition and did not take much cleaning to bring them up to good condition. You can see pic right that they didn't look like they had more than 500 miles on them as they still carried the lustre of new heads. I cleaned them down with spray-on-Gunk rinsed with my favourite garages jet wash. This was particularly funny as it was tipping down with rain and instead of getting wet from the jet wash I was soaked from the rain too I must have looked comical. Once I had them back I covered them with carburetor cleaner and wiped the remaining residue off with a cloth. I left them to dry before assembling. I was very pleased with the heads after cleaning them up. I removed the tired exhaust studs from the heads as I always think it is fool hardy not to as they are very inexpensive to buy. They can be removed by locking two nuts onto each other on the stud and undoing the lower nut. This process will remove most studs but invariably there is always one or to that you need to apply heat to so that they will start to move.

Before installing your heads you should check that you have the correct fitting kit. Some heads need a copper washer to be fitted but others like my 1600 heads require a straight fit. You also need to gather the push rod tubes push rod seals and push rods as you will need all of these to fit the heads onto the barrels. Personally I always use new and fit the seals onto the tubes with grease up front to fitting on the heads. You should firstly fit your heads as a trial fit to ensure they go onto the studs and fit snugly onto the cylinder heads. If you are using older heads then it is better to grind the heads to fit the barrels. This can be achieved by using valve grinding paste on the surface of the barrel and rotating it in the head until it finds a flat seating. If you have to grind your heads ensure both parts are cleaned thoroughly to remove the valve grinding paste (Very important.).

The head install is a four handed job that requires a balancing act of the push rods and the heads. Personally I start with the head placed onto the studs. After greasing the ends of the push rod tube I then place each push rod tube in situ. I use the push rod to poke through the tube so that the tube is supported and does not fall out and is held on the push rod this is repeated for one side four in total. With everything in position you can try to slide the head into its final position as you do this keep an eye on the push rod tubes and ensure that they stay seated into the concave recess or the engine case and head. Once you have the head on far enough you can use two of the nuts to wind it in further checking again that you have not trapped the push rod tubes. You can now start to torque up the heads. This needs to be done in a precise order so that the heads are pulled on evenly to the barrels. Start by torquing the nuts up to 7ft/lbs or 9.0 NM ensure you have a washer behind the nut follow the 7ft/lbs diagram (Far left) in order to tighten the bolts in sequence. Once you have torqued up the nuts change the setting on the torque wrench to 23ft/lbs or 31 NM and re-torque the bolts in the order of the 23ft/lbs diagram (far right above) Note there are two different sequences for tightening the heads this is important. During this process check that the push rod tubes have not moved and are seated properly. This procedure must be repeated for the other cylinder head.

The end float must then be calculated for the crankshaft to allow the flywheel to be fitted. The tolerance for this needs to be between 0.07" and .012". It is generally easier to do this with the front pulley wheel removed. Both the the mating surfaces on the flywheel and the crankshaft must be thou roughly cleaned. You must then ascertain whether you need a paper , metal gasket or o-ring seal and no gasket. I was using a 200mm later flywheel with an o-ring that used no gasket and just needed the o-ring replaced. With this done check the dowel pins in the end of the crank are good and straight and load the flywheel onto the end of the crank. Be careful you may need to support it with a block of wood as it is fairly heavy. You then need to pull the flywheel onto the crankshaft tighten the flywheel nut and torque it up as high as your torque wrench will go. With this done you can start to get a feel for how much end float you are dealing with by pulling in and pulling out the flywheel to see the extent of this movement. To measure this you either need a DTI and magnetic support arm or a vernier gauge with a dial indicator on it to improve its resolution. The vernier gauge has a depth gauge on the lower half of the gauge and it can be used to measure from the surface of the flywheel to the engine case. Start with the flywheel pushed back towards the back of the car as far as it goes. Use the DTI or vernier to measure this distance. Pull on the flywheel as far as you can get it out measure again from the surface of the flywheel to the case. Subtracting these figures will give you the gap that your flywheel moves. This will need to be packed with three shims that will reduce this gab to the correct tolerance . Shims are available in 0.24", 0.30", 0.32", 0.34" and 0.36" only. Select three shims that give a total width that when subtracted from your gap brings the end float back into tolerance as near as .07" as you can get it. Once you have the three shims remove the fly wheel and place the shims on the crankshaft. Replace the flywheel and test to see that you have good end float. When you are finally happy remove the flywheel and fit the fly wheel oil seal into the case. This may need to be driven into the case with a block of wood. refit the flywheel and torque it up to 230 ft/lbs.

Once this has been completed your long block is complete. The only exception being the rockers and valve covers both will be covered fully in the next article.

Parts Used.
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FREE Barrels & Pistons.
£10-15 1 x Replacement Second Hand Marle 85.5mm piston.
£120-£150 per pair Second hand 1600 cylinder heads.
£20 - £25 - Marle 85.5 mm piston rings.
£10 Piston ring compression tool.
£20 Push Rod Tubes and seals.
£10-15 Engine Gasket set.

N.B All Prices included as a illustrative guide only.