Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)

[GoMopar440]

I cleaned the 5 rib today, which wasn't near as bad as the 3 rib as far as crud. However the black paint on the new (to me) trans was a bear to get off. Carb cleaner spray wouldn't even touch it. In the end I destroyed a couple of wire wheel cups to get most of it off. The rest of the paint that even the wires couldn't remove just got scuffed up with a 3M scrubby pad. The grey paint I used on the 3 rib (Rustoleum Metalic) wasn't the greatest and I had a lot of runs with it. While I was out picking up the 5 rib the other day I stopped in town and picked up a couple cans of VHT Wheel Paint (Graphite). I've had better luck with that paint before and this time was no different. It went on easy, didn't try to run everywhere and the color laid down evenly. I've used that wheel paint on my truck over a year ago and my wheels still look almost the same as when I painted them. Up here with the crap they put on the roads in the winter, that's some pretty tough paint. Anyway, here's a pic of the freshly painted trans.


BTW, what does this trans letter code (CM) translate to? I've tried searching through the "Transmissions for Dummies" sticky on TOS, but I couldn't find a link or a chart that spells out the trans letter codes.


While the trans was getting it beauty treatment, I spilled some oil from the reverse switch hole. The oil was practically brand new with only the slightest bit of darkness to it. Looks like the "freshly rebuilt" story might just be true after all. And before anyone asks, the switch was out being cleaned up at that moment.

[GoMopar440]

After a long day like yesterday, I'm surprised I made it out to the shop at all today. But I want to try to get at least something done every day if I can. Sooner or later all these little bits and pieces of progress will add up to a completed rail.

So today was... more cleaning and painting. I cleaned up the starter off the T3 and it looks like it may possibly be the original factory starter that came on the car. It has the VW part numbers cast into it, so maybe. Either that or a dealer replacement some time in the past. That T3 is gone now so all I'm really concerned with is the fact that it works fine and will work with my engine and transmission. Yes on both counts, so it got squirted.

I also cleaned up the metal part of the CV boot and then it got painted along with the outer CV shell. The outer shell is hanging from a wire just out of frame above the top of the pic.

[GoMopar440]

So I used the 1-4 gear figures I got on TOS (1st=3.78/2nd=2.06/3rd=1.26/4th=0.89) in this gear calculator to come up with these specs. http://calc.teammfactory.com/. I used 31" as the tire size and 4.86 as the Final Ratio on Trans #1. For Trans #2 I swapped back and forth between 4.57 and 4.36 to check the changes from the current R&P in the 5 rib. I set the Max RPM at 4500 assuming the engine internals are stock for a 1600 DP engine. From what I've read so far, VW designed these ACVW engines to achieve optimal cooling at 3500 RPM. I input the 1-4 gear ratios into the calculator and recorded the MPH for each gear at 3500 RPM (HWY Cruise) and 4500 RPM (Redline) and this is what I got.

4.86 R&P
1st @ 3500 RPM: 18 MPH
1st @ 4500 RPM: 23 MPH
2nd @ 3500 RPM: 33 MPH
2nd @ 4500 RPM: 42 MPH
3rd @ 3500 RPM: 54 MPH
3rd @ 4500 RPM: 69 MPH
4th @ 3500 RPM: 77 MPH
4th @ 4500 RPM: 98 MPH

4.57 R&P
1st @ 3500 RPM: 19 MPH
1st @ 4500 RPM: 25 MPH
2nd @ 3500 RPM: 35 MPH
2nd @ 4500 RPM: 45 MPH
3rd @ 3500 RPM: 58 MPH
3rd @ 4500 RPM: 74 MPH
4th @ 3500 RPM: 82 MPH
4th @ 4500 RPM: 104 MPH

4.36 R&P
1st @ 3500 RPM: 20 MPH
1st @ 4500 RPM: 26 MPH
2nd @ 3500 RPM: 37 MPH
2nd @ 4500 RPM: 47 MPH
3rd @ 3500 RPM: 60 MPH
3rd @ 4500 RPM: 77 MPH
4th @ 3500 RPM: 86 MPH
4th @ 4500 RPM: 109 MPH

Those MPH spreads with the various R&P ratios look a lot closer than I was expecting. And as I stated before, my goal here is to have the engine turning optimum cooling RPMs at highway cruising speeds. The maximum legal highway speed limit around here is 80 MPH. It looks like the 4.57 R&P is closest at 2 MPH away from ideal speed at 3500. But the 4.86 is only 3 MPH away on the other side of the target speed. I can run either the 4.86 or the 4.57 R&P ratios and be close enough to my target MPH/RPM goals to live with. With the 4.86 R&P I have in the 5 rib now, I can just run a few MPH under the speed limit to get the optimum cooling RPM. IMHO that's an acceptable trade off for the added torque in the lower gears to help get off the line a little quicker and easier. Looks like I'll be running this 5 rib stock for a while and see if the real world matches these calculations.

[Leatherneck]

Good info. Nice work. Keep it going

[GoMopar440]

It took me quite some time to piece together all those bits of info from various sources. I believe I got most of it either from here or TOS. In any case, I figured It would be helpful to put it here all in one spot for anyone else that might be looking for the same info in the future.

Today I finished up the last bits and pieces of one of the CV axle assemblies. I just have to let the paint dry before I can reassemble it. The pieces I worked on today all look pretty much the same as the others so I didn't take any new pics. The first axle is now blue and the two CV's are gloss black on the outside. I don't want to tear the other axle shaft and CVs apart until I get the first one back together. That way I can refer back to the assembled one to make sure I get it put back together properly.

I'm not sure yet, but from the looks of the dents that remain in the cages I've worked on so far, I may need to replace both of them to get these first two CVs working without the notchy feeling. I'll have to test them out after I get them back together to be sure. I also had some scoring on one of the inner stars that was worse than the other. However it cleaned up much better than the cages so it should still be good. Most of the balls in the second CV I pulled apart were starting to get a short line of some rust colored stains that I had to polish out on the buffing wheel. I can't feel any pits on them now so they seem to be fine.

[dustymojave]

One thing ya gotta watch out for in "polishing" or "race-prepping" CVs is getting one ball race ground away on one side farther than the others. You really don't want the load to be uneven between balls.

Hell, that SOUNDS like a situation you wouldn't want to happen...

[GoMopar440]

If these two CV's are still notchy after all this I'll try two new cages next. If that doesn't get them fixed up I'll just replace them entirely with two new CV's and keep these old ones as spares. I just checked online and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Type 2 CV's are close in price to the Type 1 CV's.

BTW: I tried to keep the time I spent polishing each groove and window fairly equal as I worked my way around the parts. Hopefully that will help to keep them fairly evenly loaded. I don't know of any way to measure the grooves the balls ride in so I can't tell if I may have overworked those parts with the craytex bits or not. I'll have to go by how the CV's feel after they're reassembled in order to make that call.

[GoMopar440]

I've been searching around for a little while now and haven't been able to come up with what I'm looking for yet. I'm trying to find some blueprints for Bus to Bug front, rear and top trans mounts. I want to make my own since I have the material, machinery and skills to make some. Time is the one thing I have plenty of, but I'm short on cash right now or I'd probably just buy a set.

The mounts I'm looking for are the ones that keep the trans level in the frame and center the CV flanges so the L&R axles are equal in length. I do not want the mounts that tilt the trans 10* to put the nose back in the tunnel, or ones that leave the CV flanges offset. I'll be raising the shifter box and running the shift rod higher to match the shift rod on the nose of the Bus trans. I'd also like to retain the stock style rubber or urethane mounts. Since this is going to be used in a DD I don't want to use solid mounts.

So, does anyone here have any leads where I can find the prints/specs or have any suggestions where to look?

[Leatherneck]

Blueprints and specs might be hard but finding somebody who has a set that you can copy is probably easier or set the tranny where you want it, hold it up start fabbing your own set. All your after is you want to mount to the frame horns secure on the front and sandwich it in the middle. Some of us have used the top mount holes to secure the bell housing to a upper brace. This I know you can do.

[GoMopar440]

I have the rear trans mount from the T3 SA transaxle I can use as the start of a pattern if I have to. I just didn't want to reinvent the wheel if someone has already done it and published the blueprints. If I can't find that info anywhere maybe I'll try drawing it up myself and post it here in this thread. That way other people looking to find the same info may have better luck than me. I still have student editions of AutoCAD and Inventor on my laptop from the drafting classes the VA Voc Rehab program was sending me to a few years ago. I'll just have to brush up on using them before I can make anything useful on them though. I just hope there's a free file viewing program available that lets people with out AutoCAD or Inventor open, view and print those files. That would probably be the last big hurdle to clear at that point.

Pic for today's progress.
One down, one to go. I don't have any CV grease in the cleaned up joints (both Lobros) yet, but they still feel almost just as notchy as before. The joints don't feel sloppy or loose apart from the notchy feeling, so I don't think I over polished the internals. I'm going to get new cages and a star for these, but also order two new replacements for them at the same time when my next payday rolls around. The other untouched axle feels nothing like this first one and is completely smooth at any and all angles as I rotate each joint around. I wouldn't have a problem using it as is other than the way it looks. I'll still go ahead and clean it up and paint it like the first one and add some new grease while I'm at it. All the CV boots are intact, but I can see some cracks starting to show up at the bottoms of the bellows, so four of those are on the shopping list as well. I don't want to slap them in there and then have to take them right back out shortly afterwards when a boot, or boots, fails. The two notchy CV's and weathered CV boots I don't plan on using will be set aside for emergency spares.

I used flat aluminum paint on all the bolts and retainer plates for the first CV axle. I'm still not feeling 100% and it's too cold in the shop to stay out there very long so I made it a short day for today.

[GoMopar440]

I was sick of getting greasy working on the CV's so I took a break from that for now. Instead I pulled the CV flanges off both sides of the trans and cleaned them up. I decided to paint them blue to give the axles a bit of contrast. They were hung over the wood heater so they dried fairly quickly.


Next I started fabricating a new bolt flange for the cylinder top tins to replace the cracked ones near the intake. I used a thin cut off wheel on the angle grinder to remove the cracked flange. I had some of the metal from the fan housing left over so I used some of that to make the first flange. I got it close to the same size as the flange I cut off, but added an edge that I could rivet to the top tin.


The first trial fit showed where the fins on the head were hitting the tin and keeping it from sitting where it was supposed to. I used the cut off wheel again, this time to make a small notch in the fins to clear the top tin and the new flange. It took a couple of test fits and small cuts before I ended up with this for a clearance notch.


Here's the end result with the flange bolted loosely in place and the top tin sitting over it where it is supposed to go. I removed that step in the flange as it wasn't needed with the way I made the new flange. The metal the new flange is made of is almost twice as thick as the top tin metal. I don't see any problems leaving the new flange flat instead of stepped like the original.


All that was left was to hold the pieces together while I drilled the first hole through the flange. I riveted that hole together before starting on the second hole. The second hole was drilled while holding the two pieces together in the proper alignment. One more pop rivet installed and the first flange was done.

[GoMopar440]

Today I finished up the second flange for the other side of the cylinder tin I was working on yesterday. The edges of the top head fin got trimmed back on this side as well.


While I was taking the tin off and on for test fitting I decided to remove the spark plugs for a little extra clearance. The heads were kinda gunky around the bottoms of the plugs so I cleaned that area out with some picks and compressed air before pulling the plugs. Once the plugs were out I cleaned up the outsides and threads of the plug and also checked the tips. Both plugs were fairly oily and sooty, so this engine was probably running fairly rich when I got it. As I went to reinstall the spark plugs, I noticed one of the plugs was feeling a bit difficult to thread back in. I pulled it out before it got too far and saw a thread repair sleeve that had started to back out of the head, where it was flush before. It had backed out of the head almost 1/8" up from being fully seated. I cleaned the threads on the head and the plug again so I could at least plug the hole with the spark plug for now. This time the plug went in smoothly, but the threads of the thread repair sleeve must still be sitting up out of the head. Now I can easily see the difference in height between the two installed spark plugs. I don't have any way to fix that issue right now so I'll have to deal with it later. Definitely before I put this engine back into service though.


I had that grungy valve cover staring at me while working on the top tin so I pulled both it and the bail off and started working on those pieces next. First I wire wheeled all the rust, crud and paint off the cover and the bail. Next I looked the valve cover from the inside and was able to see a few small dents in the cover. I tapped the dents back into shape with a hammer from the inside and then leveled the worst of the high spots down with a file from the outside. After that I put the pieces into the sand blast cabinet to smooth everything out. I worked over the dent repair areas a little extra to blend them in to the surface around them. Once they were dusted off I shot the bail gloss black and the cover gunmetal grey. While I had the grey paint out I scuffed up the top tin and repainted it grey as well. It had a few runs in the paint with the other paint from before. Lastly I hung them all over the wood stove to dry overnight.


While I had the valve cover off I saw some rust on the rocker shaft so I pulled it off to clean it up. I didn't know that T3's came with solid rocker shafts, but this one did and it even had the VW stamp in one end of it. There weren't any surprises here thankfully so everything just needed to be cleaned up. I also polished up the shaft and put it all back together the same way it came out. I also scrubbed the gasket surface while everything was out of the way so I'd be less likely to have any leaks there.

[Marc]

Those are stock rockerarm/shaft assemblies as used on all `65-up Type I engines. `61-`64 were similar but used different stands and 1:1 rockers vs 1.1:1. Pre`61 rested directly into cradles in the head casting but otherwise were also of similar design.
When VW guys talk about "solid" rocker shafts they're referring to ones which have been modified (or purpose-built) so as to do away with the spring clips and wavy washers. The shafts are drilled & tapped for bolts in the ends, and selective-thickness shims and spacers are used to set the individual rocker sideplays to ~.004". This stabilizes the valvetrain for high RPM and eliminates failures due to broken clips or wavy washers.
"Solid" shaft kit:


If the sparkplug insert is steel and grey or black in color, it's most likely the "K-D" style offered at your F.L.A.P.S. If copper colored or aluminum, it's a "Time Sert".
Time Serts have the same thread pitch on the inside & outside, allowing them to be thinner than the K-Ds which have a coarse, crude outside thread. Time Serts are also manufactured with the last thread or so not fully formed - after screwing them in you use a broaching tool to finish-size the thread and expand the insert out to lock it into the head. Properly installed, they're the best repair option short of welding. If you've got one that's backed out, odds are it's a K-D (they're infamous for that). Get a couple of new ones and plan on replacing along with that plug, at least until the head threads wear out to the point that a larger-O.D. insert is needed to keep the head in service. ½" length will work but a little of the insert ends up hanging into the chamber, allowing carbon build-up, so try to find 12mm or 7/16".
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/kd-t ... 22988146-P
The Time Sert kit is kinda spendy to purchase for occasional use. Some places will rent the kit out, though (but it's of no use once a head's been reamed out to the larger size of the K-D insert). http://www.mechanicstoolsandbits.com/ti ... 21_54.html

More often than not, if the plug threads needed repair the head is cracked - but it may still have years of service left provided you can get a plug to stay in the hole

[GoMopar440]

Thanks for the clarification about the solid shafts. I was assuming that the solid shafts I kept hearing about meant that there was a hollow shaft version out there. I'm still learning new stuff about these VW's just about every day.

The insert looks copper colored so I'm not sure what kind it is for sure. The color looks like it may have come from copper anti-seize. Either that or it may be a Time-sert if it really is copper. The threads on the plug that came out of that hole were copper colored as well is what is making me question it. I didn't use any kind of solvent on it since I didn't want to chance getting any of that stuff inside the cylinder.

Personally I prefer using Time-serts whenever I can. It's all we used in the machine shop in the Navy. I never saw a Helicoil in the shop, or a K-D type for that matter, unless it came in on something that was repaired out in the field. If a Time-sert couldn't fix it then we'd plug the hole and get it welded so we could redrill and retap it back to spec.

I'll pull the heads off to fix them so I can make sure the inserts don't protrude into the combustion chamber. That will also give me a chance to clock the spark plugs at the same time. I'm planning to just go ahead and do all four spark plug holes at the same time. From what I've read about them it's a common weak point on these heads. If it's a crack that is causing the insert to back out, I'll deal with it at that time. Worst case scenario, I'll have to replace the head with another stock one.

BTW: This engine is a single relief "U" code engine from a 1968 Type 3 1600 that originally came with fuel injection from the factory. The engine in the rail now is a dual relief Type 1 (other specs unknown). I'm planning on keeping this engine I'm working on as a fairly stock 1600 mostly due to it being a single relief engine. I'll tinker with hopping up the dual relief engine after I swap it out.

[GoMopar440]

I lit a fire in the wood stove and spent some time out in the barn again today. First I made the two mounting tabs for the other cylinder top tin and got them riveted to it. The paint and rust on the tin was mostly wire wheeled off first before putting it in the blast cabinet to prep it for paint. I also pulled the other valve cover and bail off the engine and cleaned and painted those as well.

When I hung those parts over the stove to dry I noticed that it had gone cold and the fire was out. I didn't feel like relighting it so I just hurried up and painted the last big tin piece I had left, the fan shroud. I guess I should have waited to paint it until I had some heat as the paint didn't want to lay down nicely like it did on the other parts. I'll just have to scuff up the shroud next time I'm out in the barn (with the heat going) and give it a second coat to get it looking better.

My wife had commandeered the camera today so there's no new pics for now. Other than the crappy paint on the shroud, It would have just been the same as the last progress pics I posted anyway. The only difference is the parts are from the other side of the engine.

I still need to clean and polish the rocker shaft on this side yet. The spark plugs on this head were the same as far as oily mess on the tips, but the plug threads in this head don't seem to have any of the problems the other side did.