Time to rebuild the VW 16v motor

So, i did dissasemble the motor a little bit more today. While draining the oil lots and lots of water came out. After that there was a good amount of oil and gunk that came out as well. Got worried and called JVL right away. Since i didnt have the tool for the head bolts with me i was unable to remove the head. The plan for tomorrow is to remove head and possibly the crank. Hopefully by next week i will have it sent out to be hottanked. Here are some more pics;

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

Excellent thread Oscar! Keep it coming! Ill have my own story to add next winter when I rebuild my junkyard 2.0.

Dude! You did get a lot of water in there. The brown gunk is a classic indicator.
Is there any chance that the engine got partly or wholly refilled with just plain water? And did you have this problem after starting up after it set outside in the cold? The possibility in that case is that the water froze and cracked the head and/or block. Better do a VERY detialed inspection of the bores and the combustion chamber and head surface for cracks.

If not, then the head gasket really let go big time. May have been helped a lot by a very warped head.

When hot-tanking, be aware than any bearing pressed in the block will be kaput. I assume the VW's have none; just thought I'd mention that hot-tanking ruins bearing and AL parts.

Regards,
Mark B.

The intermediate shaft bearings are pressed in, and tend to be bad anyways.

starion887 Wrote:

>
> When hot-tanking, be aware than any bearing
> pressed in the block will be kaput. I assume the
> VW's have none; just thought I'd mention that
> hot-tanking ruins bearing and AL parts.

A lot of places are switching over to detergents that work about as good as boiling lye but are aluminum safe. Ask around, you should be able to find at least one place to do it.

Given the sheer number of aluminum heads and blocks we find ourselves working with (edging into the import (Honda/Subaru) market, have a good foothold in the LS1 market) it was only natural to switch. It still sucks when you kick open the spray cabinet and 200 degree mist floods out, though But it's bearing-safe.

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Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2008 06:46PM by Pete.

Yeah, according to some performance vw books i have the intermediate shaft bearings will need to be replaced once hot tanked. Also oil galley plugs need to be removed before cleaning in order to do it right. I believe the reason there has been water in it is coz there were no spark plugs on the head. I do not plan on using the head on this motor anyway, so no big concern on that one. Unfortunately i havent been able to do anything ever since last wednesday, and could not dissasemble the head as the garage where the rally car usually stays, and where the motor is being rebuilt is a couple miles away. I ll see if i can hit it again this sunday and have my head bolt tool with me this time...

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

Pete Wrote:
> A lot of places are switching over to detergents
> that work about as good as boiling lye but are
> aluminum safe. Ask around, you should be able to
> find at least one place to do it.
>
> Given the sheer number of aluminum heads and
> blocks we find ourselves working with (edging into
> the import (Honda/Subaru) market, have a good
> foothold in the LS1 market) it was only natural to
> switch. It still sucks when you kick open the
> spray cabinet and 200 degree mist floods out,
> though But it's bearing-safe.
>
Thanks, Pete. I did not know that. Around our rural area, I'll expect that to show up in 10-20 years.

Regards,
Mark B.

Dissapointing day today. I removed the head and the bores are not in the best shape. In fact one of them has plenty of rust. Not sure if i will continue with this block. I might just pursue an ABA/16v at this moment.

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

journals and rod bearings seem unharmed

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

Shitty man. At least the bottom end looks ok.

I didn't know they were a Siamese bore? Well I don't know anything about VW stuff so why should I or anyone be surprised

How bad is the rust in the bores?

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Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

As per JVLs advise I sanded down the bores a little bit. Was able to get rid of most rust by wet sanding. It looks like we are back in business! Didnt have a 12 point 19mm socket with me, nor did i have the impact so could dissasemble the crank pulley. Stopped by a machine shop that seemed to be clueless of anything. Ended up calling somewhere else and the machinist was much more knowledgeable and reasonably priced. Should be handing in the block monday or tuesday for some hot tanking and possible boring. Will have more pics in a few days...

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

Back in business thanks to JVL!
After seeing rust in the bores i was kinda expecting to put a halt to this block project but as per the advise of John, i was able to clean up the bores. The rust seems to be surface only and I was able to clear it up by wet sanding it. The block is fully dissasembled and ready to be hot tanked. The pistons came out easily without any trouble. I did find a much better machine shop than my first try so should be taking the block and parts to be hot tanked within a day or two. Here are some more pics;

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

I also picked up a head which should arrive in a few days with 288 cams, port/polish work, adjustable camshaft and lightweight lifters. I will be using this head instead at the moment.

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

got a ring and pinion yet?

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-Tom
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I had bought the last one JVL had which was 4.25 and had it installed prior to sandblast.

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!