40 HP Refresh

[Six Volt]

Made it out to Richard Sedoris's place in Y-Town tonight. Real nice guy. He's pretty young, (compared to me! ), but I remembered his old blue/white split bus from back in the day at GASS events at Jim's VW. He knew Troy H. from back then. He's got a nice little shop set up. He's going to go through two sets of 40 HP heads I dropped off and a set of the 36 HP heads I gave him. I saw some of his work on the bench and it looks nice. Aaron uses him, but I wouldn't hold that against him. He looked over the 36 HP cams/cranks I brought out and he gave me some options.

He's getting married next week, so he's really got no time for me right now. He'll get back to me after the 8th of May. I'll keep you guys posted.

I ended up bringing out two sets of 40 HP heads because when I got home I decided to pull the heads off the boat anchor I got from Kirk. If end up with two useable heads for the beetle, I'll be happy. The other two can be cores for down the road. Thanks Kirk!

I'm getting really good at pulling studs out of cases!

[Ken]

'65 should have square boss heads and is the only 40hp head to have square bosses, as far as I've been told

The Bentley 63-67 Transporter Manual goes in to quite a bit of detail, including engine/head numbers, about the changes that were made to the 40 hp heads during that time period.

[Six Volt]

'65 should have square boss heads and is the only 40hp head to have square bosses, as far as I've been told

The Bentley 63-67 Transporter Manual goes in to quite a bit of detail, including engine/head numbers, about the changes that were made to the 40 hp heads during that time period.

Yes Ken, I need to take a look at that or get the Bentley for the '65 Bug. It's hard to visualize some of this stuff. Richard showed me how VW "did the bolts" on the later 40 HP heads as a fix to the stud problem on the rocker arms. My motor had one head with studs, one with bolts. Kirk's also had one with studs and one with bolts. I guess they just used what they had.

Bill offered me an upgrade kit for the head, (thanks Bill), but Richard said he had them as well so it'll get sorted out.

Also, the 36 HP heads I took in are the old ones I got from Ken. So thanks Ken!

I'm going to take the 40 HP block down to Dale's. He's going to show me how the case savers are put in. I've got three studs that pulled out of the case. Kirk told me about "honing" the cylinders and putting new rings on the pistons as well as cleaning up the piston tops. I don't understand it yet, but eventually I'll learn. I'll get some pics going when we get into this.

[Six Volt]

Autopsy on the 40HP heads wasn't pretty. Below are the pics from Richard Sedoris "RIS". I can't say enough good things about Richard. He is thorough and explains everything. Great guy to deal with.

http://rides.webshots.com/album/577705661ViYJXU?start=0

Were going to work something out with some other 40HP heads you can see in the pics. I'll get them back next week and get the beetle rolling again.

Also, as you see in the pics, one of my "backup" 36HP heads was pretty much trashed. The good news is I have another 36HP motor so I'll pull those heads. That 36HP case I got from Ken and had beadblasted didn't fare much better. Aaron said "he's rolled worse" , but I don't think I'm capable of rollin' in Aaron's world! I'll check the other case and go from there. Aaron did measure the case and it looks like it was never cut and I kind of learned how to measure for bearing size. Thanks A!

Well, at least I have a shinny anchor!

[Six Volt]

L E T ' S B U R N I T ! !

I was afraid you would suggest that!

It looks too good right now to just burn it. I just want to stare at it a little while longer!

Well, Fergus and I took a run out to Richard Sedoris' place in Youngstown tonight. Dropped off Catie's heads and picked up the 40 HP heads Richard put together for me. He does real nice work and was reasonable in my book. Nice German hardware.

I'll have something to do now over the weekend!

I picked up all my extra "boat anchors" that Richard checked out for me. Too many cracks!


These came out real nice.

[Howie]

I think those would look great mounted on the wall of the pub!

[Ken]

I was in a pub in England some years ago and there were parts from a vw engine mounted on the rest room wall. I thought maybe I had too much to drink.

[Six Volt]

well.... if youre not going to burn the case then strap it to your roof rack. looks good up there. almost as good as a vintage cooler

Great idea! I know the cooler I'm running with up there is a little overplayed, and it's certainly not as cool as the boat one famous LEAKOILER once displayed! An engine case would certainly get some attention up there, and might even come in handy at some point!

Now I've got to go out and get the carbon off my pistons.

[Six Volt]

Have to get going on this thing or it will sit forever. Pulled the juggs off and got those little clips out to release the wrist pins which I pounded out with a deep socket. That released the pistons. I didn't lose any of those clips!

End play seemed bad at first, but checked it at Dale's and it was "ok". Still within the limit. I really don't want to split this case right now, so although it's getting near the wear limit, I don't drive it enough or drive it hard where I'm all that concerned.

Here's the case. For what it's worth, (probably nothing), the cam lobes & crank look good.



A lot of carbon buildup and just dirt on engine parts. Engine building is a dirty job! Note: I did remember to mark the cylinders and pistons!



When Kirk came by a couple weeks ago, he told me to "hone" the cylinders and get new rings. I didn't understand "honing"



Well, I had them soaking at Dale's, but Dale got them "honed" before I could get back there after work! So, while I have a good idea of what's involved, I still don't know the full procedure because I have not done it myself. Anyway, they came out nice.



Pistons came out of the tank pretty clean.



I forgot to take pictures, but we got the main seal replaced, cleaned the flywheel and put in a new clutch disc. The old one was still serviceable, but when the motor is out the motor is out! So a new one went in. Here's the old one.



Got everything back together this afternoon.



If Dale has time tomorrow he'll compress the rings. I don't know how to do that yet. Someday I hope to learn and get the tool you need. Hopefully I can start putting it together this weekend.

[WideFive]

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