Scirocco Register

Not that I'm thinking summer is round the corner but a dry(ish) day of slightly warmer weather meant I could get back on the case.

Been gathering parts and refurbishing stuff for ages now so it's nice to be able to bolt a few things back on.

Started with completing the rear brake lines. My first attempt at this so keeping my fingers crossed for when the fluid goes in.





Bolted the rear axle back on (not fully torqued up yet, that can be done later). Note the shiny new fuel tank







And the front too. G60 brakes and adaptors now looking rather tidy.



Got a small problem in that the ARB brackets don't line up but I'm hoping once it's on it's wheels and I jer jer jer jiggle it a bit it will be ok.



Garage now empty so sorting the ABF engine is the next task. Got all the ancillaries off, now just needs a really good clean before I start taking it apart.

good on u mate

Sunday I got my engine on the stand so I could give it a good clean before splitting the head, sump and ancillaries.

Unfortunately this little baby is going to be problematic to remove as the cap head bolts are pretty shot inside.



Especially this one



Soaking in penetrating fluid at the moment but I'm pretty sure some form of stud extractor will be required.

Trip to Crewe Engineering Supplies first thing Saturday morning. :(

Head off. All looking OK.









A fair amount of carbon build-up and looked a bit oily but nothing serious it seems.



Cleaned the block and then removed the sump.







Next step remove the oil pump, pistons and crank. Check & replace bearings, replace piston rings, re-new oil seals and and hone bores. Hoping to send the block to a man I know who has a "block washer". but if not I'll give it a good degrease outside and then a coat of paint.

One stud on the oil breather is still refusing to budge and is now a bit of a problem. I tried a screw extractor and it snapped like a carrot and is still in the hole. Oh well....sure I'll sort something.. Job for another day.

Progress has been very slow, well none existent actually, pretty much since Christmas as the weather has been so cold.

This weekend I got a bit further on breaking the engine down ready for new shell bearings and rings.

The tolerances on the journals were all pretty much spot on which did make me wonder if I am wasting my time but the engine is 20 years old so could probably do with it. All looks pretty tidy though.

I have to keep reminding myself though it's about the journey not the destination so enjoy the build.

It forecast rain today so I planned on working in the garage. Actually it turned out nice and I could have got the cover off, but I had made plans and I'm hoping for some decent weather next weekend for that.

The head is going away to Motorcast in Wem, Shropshire so I've split it down to box it up and send it next week. Motorcast will just re-fresh the head, clean it, grind in the valves, fit new guides if needed and put it all back together. They did my 1.6 Pinto head for the Locost and did a great job. They have also been really helpful and can source shell bearings, rings, gaskets etc at what seem to be pretty fair prices.

Engine seems pretty sound and apart from a trashed front shell bearing in the first position (crank journals look OK) there is nothing major to be concerned about (I think).

I checked all the dims and they are pretty much spot on with very little wear at all. Main journals measure 93.75 against a spec of 94.00. Not bad for a 20 year old engine with probably 100k+ on the clock.

So standard bearings will be on order and the block cleaned down ready for re-assembly when the head comes back. I don't seem to be able to get the Aux shaft free from the worm gear that drives the oil pump so I'll just leave it in for now.

One interesting point is that it would seem that the VW tech who built this engine made a mistake and put an upper shell bearing in the lower main housing of Nr 4 bearing. You can see it has a groove (and an upper shell part number) so it's the wrong one. All the part numbers date from 93 so I can't see these have been replaced at any stage.

Anyway here's the pictures of today's progress.

Head went away last week and the casting got the thumbs up. New exhaust valve guides needed but otherwise all is OK.

Only spent a couple of hours today on the car and all was going well until..........

First I removed the piston oil cooling jets which Haynes says take out before dropping the pistons. I did try that but even with just the crank in place the access is limited and it was easy enough to carefully remove the pistons with the jets in place.

Haynes is also pretty light on the description for the aux shaft and does not say you have to remove the old dizzy hole plug first to take out the splined oil pump drive.

All good at this stage with no real wear on the parts inspected. Next I checked the cylinder bores and these were well in tolerance too.





Then the wheel started wobbling a bit and soon after fell off. Inspecting the aux shaft bearings it was not hard to see the front one is tatered.



Hopefully this is a service part and I can get my engine man to press a new one in but VagCat does not list it so I'm fearing the worst.

If so the casting will be scrap unless I can think of another plan.



Still not got the oil breather off either :(.

Quick update on the aux shaft bearings.

The kind chaps on the CGTi forum have pointed me in the right direction for the bearings and they are on order. So the job is back on the rails.

For future reference the part numbers are 056 103 501 and 056 103 521.

Neither Bentley nor Haynes mention these and VW did not have them on the screen so the only way to find them is with the part numbers (which are discontinued at VW anyway).

Front shaft dia is 43mm and rear is 42mm.

Hopefully a gently tap out and press fit in and we're back on track.

Cannot wait to see this in the flesh

You not going to paint/treat the tank!?

Loving the work.

Roxylife wrote:You not going to paint/treat the tank!?

Loving the work.

I did think about painting the tank and rightly or (probably) wrongly decided not to.

I've sort of assumed it was zinc plated but on reflection I may have slipped up on this one and it may just be bright steel.

Not a major task as the suspension is not fully bolted up yet and it wouldn't take long to drop it and give it a coat of something.

I have a bit of Rustbuster which would be fine after a bit of degreasing and probably wouldn't need a primer if it's not zinc plated.

Thanks for the comment I'll give it some thought and probably wait for a sunny day later in the year.

In the meantime though, the head is BACK!!

The head looks well. What did they charge you to overhaul it?

MJK 24 wrote:The head looks well. What did they charge you to overhaul it?

Basic cost £140 plus £40 for new exhaust guides and £12 carriage each way. Total with the dreaded VAT was £240 ish.

With new seals, guides, valves cut with 3 angles and ground in, plus a good clean, spray and skim I thought it was a fair deal.

I could have taken it apart myself and maybe just ground the valves back in but it would have had to go away for new valve guides anyway.

Block, crank & pistons are now with my engine man for measuring & inspection plus cleaning in his machine. Hoping for (good) news later in the week.

He'll also source the bearings, seals, gaskets and rings so I can then start the re-build.

Still a long way to go

Seems ages since I posted but then that's probably because it has been. I've joined a band (my main passion being guitar) and practice is on a Saturday afternoon so slowing the build down. Block has been away anyway though and I retrieved it last weekend with bits cleaned and the stubborn bolt removed. Sadly at the cost of a new breather assembly but at least I got the bores honed while it was there.





I tried at the weekend to replace the rear aux shaft bearing by pulling it in with the new one, but it didn't work so I left it and just replaced the front one by drifting the old one out and the new one in. All the load is really on the front one anyway and the back one looks OK.







Finally gave the block a good scrub, clean, dry and a coat of Halfrauds engine paint. Will probably give it another tomorrow.





Postman came today with the goodies and they all look pretty much spot on (thanks Derek at Motorcast) and so the re-build (the fun part) can now commence.



Also picked up and EDIS and coil pack for reasonable money ready for the Megajolt some time next year .



Good job I'm in no hurry. Anyway first gig is 20th July so got some practising to do .

Hopefully coming out of some dark days with Project Rocco after many soul searching moments totting up what I'd get back if I broke it up .

First up ATp advised my tank IS galvanised so no need to paint it for the use it will get from me. This saves me having to remove it and strip all the rear suspension so I can now bolt it all up and finish off the handbrake cables and hubs. I'll probably give the underside of the tank a de-grease sometime and a coat of some left over "Rustbuster"just for the odd stone chips but I don't know yet whether I can get it road legal again without a CAT on a 1993 engine.

Main problem now is sorting the Aux Shaft bearings which I have got but need someone to press in. I've already tried myself and it didn't work so had to buy more new ones. Also there is a slight score in cylinder 3 after the honing so I need to get that checked out too with my engine guru which (fingers crossed) won't need boring out and the costs associated with that.

Last weekend I took advantage of the warmer weather and finished off the front suspension, fitting the ARB end brackets and cranking up all the bolts to the right torques. Also fitted the replacement gear shift linkage bolt which ticked another box. I finally gave the car a "T" cut, wax and polish to try and preserve her a bit longer although I'll need another cover as the present one has just perished. Bit disappointing after only 2 years but cheaper than renting a garage I guess.

Can't make the National this year (band practice) and probably still be building next year so hope everyone has a good time and I might be on the circuit in 2015. I'll try for the 25th birthday of the car but not sure I can make it.