Blast from the past - Marmite

[steve bain]

Cheers guys. It's getting better by the day. It's soul destroying laying around doing nothing 'recovering'. I want to go and start tinkering but the wife is off all week anyway and is not letting me. Something about one back and not rushing....

[the edmundator]

Listen to your wife.

[steve bain]

So I managed to do a little bit today. Nice easy job. I did a compression test before taking everything to bits just to check it was ok. It came back with 170, 170,175,175 for a dry test. Didn't bother with a wet test based on these. Numbers. Very pleased with that. Well within and at higher end of tolerance.

[steve bain]

Just dropped the wheels and a pile of bits Inc cam cover, belt cover, rad cowl etc off to the powdercoaters. Getting trade price as there are so many bits. Less than £300 for the lot. Will drop some more bits down tomorrow as its so cheap it's hardly worth doing it myself! Bits like the wiper arm etc. If I get it all done now it's negligible cost, but if I want a few bits done later it costs more.

[fa5t808]

This thread is truly epic... I spent a lot of my commute reading most of it.. Truly impressed. Your car is damn lucky to have you lol

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[steve bain]

This thread is truly epic... I spent a lot of my commute reading most of it.. Truly impressed. Your car is damn lucky to have you lol

Thanks mate. I appreciate the positive feedback. It's been a lot of hard work, but worth it. I think a sane person would have scrapped it! Cant wait to drive it this summer.

[steve bain]

so i did about an hour or so today whilst recovering...

i took a pile of bits to the powder coaters and they have added £20 on to my bill! i took loads of brackets, bolts, alternator fan, pulleys, sunroof mechanisms, latches etc. can't believe how cheap it is!

then a bit later on i got bored so decided to paint the block. life is changing again so i cant justify the time to remove the engine and get head work done so instead its a tidy up. i'm going to paint the block, clean up all the metal and plastic, samco hoses have gone in the washing machine! and i've ordered a new expansion tank. i will also respray the two sides in the brown but with block in place still and i ordered the paint today. like i say, tidy, not a show car.

so i made a start painting the block and my die grinder with a wire brush made light work of it and even polished the head a bit!



treated it with kurust.



4 coats of high zinc cold galvanising zg-90.



pretty please with the outcome if i'm honest. just the front and sides. it doesnt really matter what the back looks like!

[mark1gls]

The engine had good compression and if it isn't broke don't fix it..
You will have your work cut out getting every thing back together, it's not long till the days start to get longer and the warmer weather will be hear again.

[the edmundator]

it's not long till the days start to get longer and the warmer weather will be hear again.

Spot the optimist! We haven't even started winter yet.

[steve bain]

I did a tiny bit more. Degreased the whole engine bay ready for sanding and then paint. Removed all bungalows and clips etc. Stripped all the pipework off and degreased, washed and back to blacked it all. Removed all the jubilee clips too ready for replacing with new mikalor t-clamps as they look better. I cleaned up and polished the water pump, alternator, starter motor, inlet manifold, throttle body and fan motor and painted the rusty bits black. I also cleaned and painted the servo and the injection distribution block (normally rusty). I also have been busy ordering parts, engine mounts, etc. Next job is remove the gearbox. I'll get some pics for you later....

[mark1gls]

Removed all bungalows and clips etc.

Don't you just love auto spell

You have been very busy over the weekend.
Any more pictures?

[steve bain]

Not great ones as its always dark when I get around to taking them! I took the gearbox off last night...in an hour! God I love air tools.

When I fitted it yonks ago I realised it didn't have any timing marks and it was set up by ear from an old boy engine tuner. my hazy memory told me I had fitted the flywheel 180 degrees out. So I decided to remove the gearbox and sort it out. Turns out it is fitted correctly, its just an aftermarket flywheel with no timing marks so I shall make my own.

Annoyingly the box didn't need to come off, but it does make cleaning it easier! Was a cm thick in crud in some places. I've decided that with anything aluminium just to clean it up, but not paint it. Anything steel gets stripped and painted.

I'm sort of stuck now. I've ordered a new shaft seal and have to wait for that. But once that arrives I just have to paint the sides Brown and then put everything back together.

Once that's done I have to fit wheels, fit sunroof, fit door glass and its mot time! Shouldn't take long as everything has been cleaned up or powdercoated. Can't wait.

[mark1gls]

I'm with you on just cleaning aluminium parts, on the gearbox I changed last year some one painted it silver and its was flaking off and looked very untidy, was alot easier to just clean it, stiff brush and "Gunk" got rid of most of the silver paint as it was not very well painted.
Check the brass bush which the rods runs through for play as they can wear, easy job to change while the box is off. Use a tap and die and cut a thread in the bush and use a bolt to pull it out, tap new bush in and fit new seal.

You can just get the push rod bush and seal. link to full kit.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Volkswagen ... CPANlZax-Q



Bush 1/2 tapped in.


New seal fitted.

[steve bain]

Ah. Cool. Didn't even realise there was seal there! Makes sense to do it while it's in bits I guess.

[steve bain]

good link this.

http://www.brokevw.com/020seal.html

cheers for the heads up