Thought I would start a thread for my pending first rebuild. I have a '73 westy which I've brought to NZ from the UK, been with me for 23 years. The egine which has just let go was installed in France in 1986 in a place called Colmar by a VW dealership called Dittel - they're still there, still deal VWs. It's got 95k miles on the clock, I've done stuff like oil coolers and pushrod seals, but I've never had cause to split the block.
A couple of weeks ago it let go rather spectacularly - huge clouds of smoke behind, some coming up through the heater vents. My heat exchangers may also be in the firing line for a bit of work. Managed to get her switched off pretty quickly. Initial investigation revealed a very oily #2 cylinder and not much oil left in the sump. A bullet dodged, I think.
I've wrestled the engine out of the bus and begun to tear it down. Initial findings are that a valve guide cracked and danced the fandango on top of #2 cylinder before embedding itself in the head.
Untitled by Simon Bishop, on Flickr
Untitled by Simon Bishop, on FlickrI can at least confirm the engine that was fitted in '86 was a 1700 with Q heads.
I'm not 100% that the guide failed there and then. There's no scoring in the cylinder barrel, as far as I can see it could have been running like that for ages. I am presuming that head and piston are toast.
The plan is to build something that's as close to stock as I can get without it being a massive pain in the arse, and to re-use as much of the engine as I can - I've read Clatter's thread a bunch of times, what a resource. Thanks! As far as fuelling and exhaust goes, I quite like the lack of volume of the stock exhaust, and I've been running ICTs for years, which are great if tired. It will be getting a set of Way Out Westies ICTs.
I've found someone in NZ who can regrind the cam and lifters. I've been religious with oil changes, and when I've had the engine out in the past I've been careful to validate end play is in spec, so hopeful case and crank won't need too much work. We shall see...
First question...of the P&Cs that are on the market now, the 1700 offering's all seem to be flat top. There's some dished 1800s out there (and a few sets of COFAP rather than AA). Better option for a bus, yes?
I'm looking for a Q core head to match the (hopefully) good one that's coming off the 1&3 side...
Thanks for attention, reality checks, etc!
