Drilling, tapping and plugging the oil galleries

[Devastator]

Congratulations and good job! Glad you liked those interrupted flute taps.

last question on this, will threadlocker (Blue Loctite) do the job or should I use proper pipe thread sealer?

Either should work. I have a hangup with using threadlocker in aluminum when I expect to remove something again, but maybe that's just me. The sealers we recommended earlier should work fine for your application.

[doc]

Nice work! Always rewarding for me to see someone get through a seldom done, first time job and have it come out great. Pays to have buddies.

doc

[fusername]

only thing i can say you did wrong was use a socket there, you whould really use a T handle tap (super inconvenient in a few places, and on aT4 impossible in afew as well). this is because when you are only pushing from one side, you cut harder on one sideo f the hole. thats why all taps are Ts, to make sure you are only twisthing the tap, neverp ushing it side to side. It's too late now and thigns will .probably. be fine, but I hate taking risks with oil systems.

[Devastator]

only thing i can say you did wrong was use a socket there

Different isn't necessarily wrong. I agree that it is very easy to put more pressure on one side of a tap than the other. With a pipe tap, the thread is tapered, so if you have a complete thread, (the drilled minor diameter has been cleaned up by the tap's minor diameter), then your plug should seal, even if it's slightly crooked to the original bore. Also, there are many commercially available tap handles that have a 3/8 drive socket in the end of them so you can use a ratchet to drive them, in the same way that the socket was being used in those pictures. In my 23 years machining, I've used everything form a ratcheting tap handle to an adjustable wrench in order to drive a tap. As long as the tread is good, the method is irrelevant. That being stated, always try to use the correct tool for the job.

[spartacus]

I'm interested to know what size the 2 front (right hand side of case) plugs should be.
One to the side of the oil pump and the other near the pulley.

[Dangermouse]

You mean these ones?



Neither of these seem to be routinely removed, the bottom one just leads to the oil pickup tube which is accessible anyway. The upper one is a mystery to me I have to admit, there's nothing behind it and I have no idea what its purpose is or why it should be the only one to incorporate an allen socket in it. Nobody ever seems to mention it

[spartacus]

Yes, I had wondered why there was no mention of them. I'll just leave those ones then.

[72 1300]

So did you not tap the number 4 one then (the stepped up plug)???

Im doing mine over christmas hopefully

[Dangermouse]

Me? No, I left that one alone.

[72 1300]

Dangermouse, did you pull all the front plugs apart from the two on the right, and every other one apart from the small stepped plug??

[Dangermouse]

On the front/side I pulled these ones (everything but the two on the right and the stepped plug by #4 bearing) -



On the rear, I pulled these -





If I were doing it again, I would just do the two on the right and not bother with the two small ones going to the lifter bores.

[JSL56]

This is an awesome thread!!!!

Thanks so much for sharing all this info guys! I have about 4 or 5 cases I wanna do

It is possible to list the final taps reamers & drills you settled on? And perhaps a link to where you got them from? Including the plugs? That would be very helpful as its all double dutch to me. Everything is metric in the UK

Cheers,

J

[Dangermouse]

Hi J,

It's more difficult and expensive outside of the US innit These are common sizes in the States (which means cheap and commonly available) but most everywhere else NPT is difficult and expensive to get hold of as they're oddball fittings.

The bits and pieces I eventually ordered were as listed on page 1, as follows -

• 1/8"-27 NPT National Pipe Taper HSS Interrupted Pipe Tap
• 1/4"-18 NPT National Pipe Taper HSS Interrupted Pipe Tap
• 3/8"-18 NPT National Pipe Taper HSS Interrupted Pipe Tap

• 'R' HSS Drill Bit
• 7/16" HSS Drill Bit
• 37/64" HSS 1/2" Shank Drill Bit

• 3/8" NPT pipe reamer

I got all of this from http://www.victornet.com/; as always it's the shipping is the killer but at least now I have a set.

The plugs I used were BugPack as available from the usual VW parts suppliers -



I would suggest and recommend ordering a second 3/8" tap and maybe grinding it down a few threads, so that you don't have to drill and tap as deep into the oil pressure relief valve bore in order to achieve sufficient diameter to sink the 3/8" plug; does that make sense? Or find a bottoming tap if you can, I think that does the same job. What I'm meaning is described here - http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q= ... 1I7SKPB_en

I have only now finished the engine and put it in




So far, I can confirm the Loctite threadlocker did a sterling job and, thus far, the engine leaks not a drop. I am experiencing some high oil pressure issues though, which I hope and pray are not attributable to the pressure relief valve and my tender ministrations in that area. I've checked that the plunger is still free in its bore and all seems well, it travels the full length of the bore and drops out on its own. But I'm seeing 40psi at idle and 80-100psi at higher revs so something ain't right... 26mm schadek pump and 10W40 oil. I do have a Gene Berg pressure relief cover on the pump which should cut in at, I think, about 100psi which should hopefully stop anything blowing up but yeah, something must be sticking. Next port of call is the front pressure control valve to make sure that's not stuck...

HTH

[JSL56]

Hey Dangermouse!

Thanks so much for that!! Ive scowered that site and fond the following which I think match up ok

NPTI-1/8 1/8"-27 NPT HS Interrupted Pipe Tap
NPTI-1/4 1/4"-18 NPT HS Interrupted Pipe Tap
NPTI-3/8 3/8"-18 NPT HS Interrupted Pipe Tap
JSP-7/16 7/16" HS HD Split Pt Jobber Drill
JSP-R R HS HD Split Point Jobber Drill
SDI-37/64 37/64" Quality Import 1/2" Shank Drill
RMPT-3/8 3/8" HS NPT Pipe Reamer

I couldnt manage to get a quote on shipping to the UK so Ive email them direct

I found this a really great thread, and am seriously looking forward to getting stuck into my engine rebuilds.

Do you also have a thread on your engine build? If you do and its anything like this thread I would imagine it would be an interesting read!

Where abouts are you based? New Zeland?

Cheers,

J

[Dangermouse]

Hi J,

These are the parts I ordered -

NPTI-1/8 - 1/8"-27 NPT HS Interrupted Pipe Tap $9.40
NPTI-1/4 - 1/4"-18 NPT HS Interrupted Pipe Tap $10.50
NPTI-3/8 - 3/8"-18 NPT HS Interrupted Pipe Tap $13.40
RM-NPT-3/8 - 3/8" HS NPT Pipe Reamer $14.30
JBR-7/16 - 7/16" HS Prod. Import Jobber Drill $3.56
JBR-R - R HS Prod. Import Jobber Drill $2.15
SDI-37/64 - 37/64" Quality Import 1/2" Shank Drill $5.70

US$59.01 total. Shipping via good ol' USPS was $39.32; I asked them not to include the catalogue to keep costs down, don't know if that helped any.
(Just the three taps alone if I were to try and buy them here would have cost in the region of US$200 )

Closest I ever got to a build thread is located here http://www.nzveedubnuts.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6041, although it's not so much a 'build thread' (which suggests the steady, forward progress by somebody who knows what they're doing and just sets about doing it) as a litany of trials and tribulations. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot, for next time...

Where abouts are you based? New Zeland?

Yep; though I'm originally from Dublin, I live here now -



Best of luck with your projects; always remember to take lots of pics for the amusement of others

- DM