Remember building your FIRST engine?

[Sarge]

OK, so who remembers their very first time and all the "fun" they had building number ONE?  For me, it was around 1969 when I bought a used 1500cc engine (guaranteed to run, of course) from a "core" (junk) guy that Ron Fleming knew.  I can't tell you how excited I was to get started.  My goal was a 1600 with 110 cam, single port heads (flycut for more compression...who know's how much MORE?), a Zenith 32NDIX carb and an S&S competion exhaust.  I'd had plenty of experience watching others build VW engines, so why shouldn't I give it a try??  Rule #one ...never force anything...including cylinders that needed a little "help" with a piece of wood and a mallet...I chose a ball peen hammer instead resulting in a large compression leak on all four cylinders.  Rule #2, they put those arrows on top of the pistons for a reason.  Rule #3, there really are 5 bearing dowell pins, not 4.  You get the idea...you'll never learn unless you try...too bad learning has to be so hard sometimes!  Your experiences?

[Lids]

The first engine I built was a 1600 rebuild of my 1300.  I had no idea what i was doing, read a book, took it apart.  Put new bearings in etc, did everything i thought i was meant to.  Then 1000 miles later....BANG.  90mph on the motorway and the bottom end went.

I never had the crank or case checked for wear, so once the engine got hot the oil pressure light would come on when i put my foot on the clutch.  This was the first time I spoke to Jim at Stateside tuning.  He regroung my crank, and line bored my case, i rebuilt it with an engle 110 ported heads etc.  This time it never broke and was quick for a 1600.

[Lee.C]

The FIRST engine I rebuilt was the 1200 out of my very first beetle, it is infact the chassis my buggy is based on, anyway me and my dad went and brought the 1972 1200 base model and on the way home the oil light flickered on and an oil change later the light was still flickering on when it got hot so we ripped it out and began the rebuild - it lasted for another 5 years after that and I even ran it in the buggy for a while till I shook the flywheel loose on the way home from a show 

[Roman]

The first engine I built was a 1914 with FK-89 back in -89 or so.
Lessons learned:
  Do not notch your pistons with an angle grinder.
  Do not rev 9000 rpm with non counterweigt cranks
  4 dowelled flywheel and a three puck clutch is not a good combo!

And regarding my first trans:
  The pinon fits from both sides, but one will get you 4 reverse gears.

[Sarge]

Another problem I recall with that first build was not paying close attention to the piston rings.  The Mahle 85.5's had an expander under the second ring (my set had only three expanders) which I would have seen had I removed all the rings like I should have.  Oh well, live and learn, right?  The lesson learned served me well later on when I bought a set of slightly used Auto Craft 94mm slipper skirt pistons and cylinders.  The first thing I did was remove all the rings from the pistons...then check the rings inside the cylinders for end-gap.  Auto Craft had 93mm pistons and cylinders as well as the 94's...my 94's had 93mm rings on them...the person I bought them from said he could never get the rings to seat!

[Diederick/DVK]

i'm about to start my first project, so it's good reading what i can expect to happen 

carry on lads...

[Jon]

My first build was i fact a "re-build" of a 2176 I bought, I was reading the "How to hot rod book" and doing page by page... and on the phone every night with my more capable friends. It fired up alright and it was all I hoped it would be. The day after was race day so after running in the engine I hooked up a few loose ends on the breathing system. The header had a scavenging valve fitted so I hooked it up to the only other "free" fitting.... which was in the place of the stock gas pump....   The next day in the pits...  oil was SHOOTING out of the stinger?!?!!?

That hadn't happened before     Turns out those scavenging valves really DO work... sucking the oil right out of the case...  ohh well live and learn. 

[javabug]

Mine is also a re-build of sorts, on the road right now as a matter of fact.  I bought a Ghia that was reported to have an 1835 in it, for cheap.  Sold the car minus the engine for the same price I paid in the first place--free engine!  It did in fact turn out to be an 1835, but all else is stock.  I did new bearings and head rebuild, left everything else as-is.  The idea was to keep investment to a minimum.

Learned a lot about bearings and align bores and thrust, etc., since it took me 3 or 4 sets of bearings to get it right.  Long story short, it doesn't have too many miles on it so far but seems to be a decent little engine for now.  Kadrons and extractor with a quietpack--if it runs in the 17s I'll be happy.  Anything faster will be a bonus.

[Rick Meredith]

My 1st rebuild started like this. I decided that I wanted to put dual carbs on the original 1500 in my '67. So I bought a set of Kadrons.

I disassembled my intake manifold carb etc. and started to set up the new intake manifolds <tink> damn... drop a 10mm nut... crap... went down the left side manifold.... ok pull out the manifolds... go fishing with a magnet for about 45 minutes.... crap haven't caught anything... hmmm I wonder... pull off the VC... oh double crap... number 3 intake is open.....

SO I drop the motor and pull the head and sure enough there's the nut in #3. Then it be came one of those "as long as..." projects...

as long as... I have the head off, maybe I should pull off the other head... just to make sure that everything is ok.
as long as... I have both heads off, I should pull the cylinders off just to make sure that they and the pistons are ok... I mean the motor is 12 years old...
as long as... I have the motor broken down this far, I might as well check out the bottom end.
as long as... I have the motor completely disassembled, it would be a shame to put all the old stuff back into it..
as long as... I have the motor completely disassembled, I'll take it to Rimco, and have them go through it... and do all the trick stuff... tap for a full flow as a I don't have much confidence in the screen... line bore, shuffle pin, deep stud...
as long as... I have the motor completely disassembled... what, you have a Super Beetle cooler and shroud you'll sell me?
as long as... I have the motor completely disassembled... hmmm where's the number for that guy who ported Dyno's single ports... I think he's in Costa Mesa.
as long as... I have the motor completely disassembled... I might as well punch it out to 87mm... won't cost me any more.
as long as... I have the motor completely disassembled... gotta run a Engle 110 in it... gotta help those new heads breath!

so it went from a stock 1500cc to a 1641cc, dual Kadrons, Engle 110 with ported heads.

This wasn't the first motor I built as I had done a couple of Ford V-8 and a helped with a couple of small block Chevys. It was my first VW motor... John Muir saved my life and showed me the way!

[javabug]

Mmmm, ported singleports.  How did that run in the end?  I really liked my singleport with the Kadrons.

[Sarge]

Great stories, guys...keep 'em coming!  As for those ported single ports, a lot of us did that before dual ports came along only because thats all we had.  Save your $$$ for dual ports!  Roman, your bit about the "flipped" ring gear brought back an old memory.  When DKP disbanded in the early 70's, a few of us built sandrails (myself included) and hit the sand.  My first was a mid-engined frame built by an old guy named Bob Pusateri (Sandrail Manufacturing, Montclair, Ca).  Bob's son Scott had a similar car which Bob borrowed for a weekend only to blow the trans.  Being a good dad, he had the trans rebuilt for Scott...you already know what's coming .  It's a long (225 mile) drive to Glamis...an even longer drive back after discovering the "reverse four speed." YIKES!!

[Rick Meredith]

Mmmm, ported singleports.  How did that run in the end?  I really liked my singleport with the Kadrons.

It actually ran pretty well. Dyno Don had similar heads on his notchback. Dual Ports were available when I built the motor but I was on a budget and trying to work with what I had.

[Zach Gomulka]

Winter of '98-'99 for me. I too wanted to add a little pep to my single port motor in the '67- I thought a top end rebuild with dual port heads and dual single barrel Webers would do the trick. I searched through my dads part stash, found a couple dual port heads, and had them semi hemi cut (Gene Berg said it was good), and then flycut (Bill Fisher said it was good), they both couldnt be wrong!!! I bought a new set of 85.5s and got to work. With my more VW experienced father looking on, I got one side of the motor almost buttoned up when he asked me if I was going to install the cylinder deflector tin. DOH! He let me get that far without saying a word!! Well, that was the first and last time I let that happen! Tore it back down, reassembled it, then moved on to the other side. I get down to tightening the head, and "Houston, we've got a problem". Head studs start pulling out!! Tear the motor all apart and use the short block for cores. My dad gives me a dual pressure case that needed .060" align bore, I saved up and bought a DMS c/w crank, 110 cam, lightened the flywheel, doghouse cooling, and finally got the top end together. I thought it was sooooo fast!!!! Took it to the track and ran a blazing 18.78 first pass!!! I was shaking!!! Hahaha!! I eventually whittled down the time to 14.87 @ 88 over the course of the next 3 years, always remaining my daily driver.

[Mangokid]

Not the hottest of stories, but hell, it was so much fun, I'll never forget.

The very first one was a super high comp, ultra-revving bastard of a 1600 twinport sporting no more than a single 40mm Weber DCNF on an old Trimco manifoil and an Engle-cam of some sort, plus a 009 and a blue coil of course. I think we put the whole damn thing together three times, tore it down, back together, tore it down and back together one last time, just in fear that we might have done something wrong, amazingly enough, we hadn't. A friend of ours, (I built the engine together with another guy here on the lounge) did the heads a few months earlier, and boy were they flycut, sporting twin-springs of unknown origin etc..

After the final assembly we strapped the engine to some planks out in the backyard for the run-in, coupled it with a stinger and, bam-bam-bam, after a few turns it ran, sweet and sound just like it should, so we decided to let it run long enough to break in the cam. It was about 3 or 4 o' clock in the morning and lights started coming on round the block, but we were already done by that time. I went to work at around 5 and came back to put the engine in the car later that morning, and off we were to BugRun at Mantorp Park.

Later that year we did a 15.06 pass at Gardermoen Raceway in a full on street-bug that had lost only it's bumbers. Still got the time-slip. Not too bad for a first build right?

Today the very same engine sits in the back of my dads lobugget racecar, "The Turtle Bug". It drips a bit of oil, but still screams like Axl Rose.

[Jim Ratto]

Winter of 1988-89, pulled stock-cammed dual port 1641 out of my '67. About 6 months prior I started 'saving up' for all the stuff to build what was then a new engine combo in Nor Calif, the 1914cc (94 x 69). Reality was I was working part time, after school, making pizzas. The heads I was after (SF II's) were a pie in the sky dream. By the time winter set in, I had the 94-bored case, cam and lifters, and a 12lb flywheel (black oxided). And little money. So I got the bright idea to just rebuild my 1641 but with the 1914 cam/lifters and flywheel, and adding stuff I could afford like solid rockers, good springs, swivel feet, c/w 69 crank, etc. I had a filter pump stashed and a Scat gland nut too. After a visit to BH to see Jerry I came home with 2 new 041 heads with HD springs and retainers ($69.95 ea on special), 69mm c/w crank, line bore in my stock case, solid shafts, swivel adjusters, new set of Cofap 87's, bearings, gasket set and a bottle of 3H.
If we were talking chores around the house or homework, we'd be talking huge procastination at the time, but being I was 18 and knew an 18 yr old's priorities, I got started right away. All kinds of disasters from the word go. Pinned # 1 bearing (of course I didn't know), broke a top ring installing it, used way too much 3H on everything and everywhere (but motor still leaked), and thought rocker geometry was just bullsh*t made up to get you to buy more parts. The end result was a 1641 with 9:1, an Engle VZ25 cam, Scat lifters, 12lb flywheel, 39 x 32 041's, Hd springs and all the stuff that goes with them.... topped by a single 36mm 2bbl DRLA on chrome isolated manifold and screaming (literally) through an old S & S Rallye 4 tip exhaust. When I took the short-block in to have Jerry set the end play and install the flywheel (I owned nothing more than 3/8 drive stuff at the time, prob SAE size at that) he tried turning crank and shook his head in disapproval and said "Welp.... you've pinned a f++king bearing.....nice goin' kid" and in a few minutes, he had the case apart with an air ratchet... and here comes more comments "Of couuuuurse... you just HAD to pin the f++king thrust bearing I had to fit to you god--mn case I thrust cut.... and could you have used more 3H???!!" Little did I know I'd be working for this guy in about a year!
Anyway, after weeks of hand wringing and gutache, I got the thing in the car on a Sunday and lit it off. It fired right off and sounded MUCH different than my old motor. Instead of a wheezy gasp, now the carburetor had this deep chested growl when you cranked the throttle. The valvetrain sounded like it was coming apart (it actually was- more later) and it cracked and spit and snarled a lot like the drag VW’s I had watched warm up @ Baylands a few years before. The initial test drive told the story. Everything happened harder and much faster. It idled (stretching the definition of “idle” here) @ 1300rpm. You might think with the long duration VZ cam it would have nose dived at low rpm, but you’d be wrong. This motor meant business from tip-in. You’d pull away from a stoplight and it only wanted to rev and not stop. By 4500 it was on and the engine’s note changed from a growl-buzzsaw to more of a high pitched shriek. It was night and day from my stocker.
About the valvetrain. After a few days driving to high school and back, I noticed a pronounced “clack” from the motor at idle. Hoping it was within reach, and not in the case, I pulled the valve covers in auto shop and found the issue. One of the swivel balls had gotten pinched in the adjusting screw and had started to mushroom the end of #4 exh valve. The retainer had a groove worn into it and the stem of the valve was all peened over. It was a lot to take in. I’d have to go back to see Jerry for sure and he’d have my ass. So the motor came back out…. Drove it back to Hayward, went in with my tail between my legs and broke the news. He was actually tender. He asked me how I set the “geometry” up and I know I gave him the answer with my blank look. I left it there for a week and then picked it up, new valve, new retainer, new keepers, new swivel adjuster and geometry all set up. And a box of the remains.
Funny….about 3 weeks ago, my friend Sheep was down to visit from Sac. He was around for a lot of this in ’88-89 and we ended up driving that motor everywhere over the next few years. We both said “for a motor that should have never ever worked in a street car, that was actually a blast and it got us everywhere.” It was the first of many to go in my ’67 (lost count now a days) and it was the one I learned so much on. Yeah a far cry from some of the big 12 sec strokers I’ve run since, but it still has a special place in my memory.

Jim Ratto

[Cheesepanzer]

I'm trying to remember when it was exactly, but it may have been 1982.  I had a good running s/p 1600 in my '70.  Can't recall why the project started exactly, but I set off to hot rod the 1600.  I tore down the engine and discovered that the case had been bored .060".  This broke my heart because everyone knew you shouldn't bore beyond .020" otherwise the case was junk.    

I picked up some NPR 87mm slip-ins, an Eagle camshaft (280x.421") and somehow came across a pair of dual ports.  I bought a used pair of Kadrons and a fortuned exhaust from Berg.  I was ready!  I home-ported the stock dual ports using my brother's dremmel tool (small ovals), and we installed some H/D springs.  During the assembly I goofed up two times:

First, when bolting the case halves together I failed to properly align one of the main bearings on the dowel pin in the case and crushed the bearing ruining a new set of main bearings.  DOH!   

Second, did you guys know that the cam and cam gear only go on one way?  Yep, its true.  The timing mark on the gear must line up with the slot on the cam.  Sumbitch, didn't know that.     Figured it out when the heads were on and the valves weren't opening and closing when they should.  Luckily there was enough piston clearance that nothing happened.

The engine ran great.  Lasted quite a while before being replaced with my second build, a 2110 IDA powerplant.
 

[iowa mark]

Oh my! 1975 I get out of the Navy and find a bug for sale with a bunch of parts for a rebuild. My first two cars had been a 36 horse '57 and a tired '61. Here was a 1500 with a set of '87's and a J.C. Whitney reground cam, some new bearings and the crank already fresh from the machine shop. Hand port and polish using the "How to Hot Rod" book, a set of type 3 carbs from the junk yard (everyone knows that dual carbs are better than one 30PICT) with the single port manifolds given an extra few inches of height using conduit. The thing flat out screamed right up to the the big bang. Leasons: Never reuse exhaust valves. Take the time to calculate the compression ratio after flycutting the heads. White spark plugs might mean things are a bit lean. 135 xzx front tires will scare your riders as the speedometer goes way past the end of the numbers! That first engine lasted all of three weeks. But, I was hooked long before that!

[Erlend / bug66]

My first "build"?

It was a AS21 ex-waterpump engine that was in my car when I bought it.

It did not really need a rebuild, but I fixed up the SPheads, bumped up the compression, ported the heads a little, fitted 1,4 rockers on the stock cam. It got a 1 3/8 exhaust and a hide away muffler. Combined with ITC carbs it rocked!

I wish I did not sell it, but kept it on the shelf..

[Chris bugster]

My first 'hot'engine was a 1600 with dual Kadrons that I had bought from Berg. This was about 1988. I couldn't work out how to get the standard intake manifold off so I cut through it on both sides with a hacksaw. Fitting the carbs was then the easy part.

[dragvw2180]

 My first VW rebuild was for my brother in law for his van in 1975. I went by the book and did everything step by step as per the instructions. I had a date that night with my now wife Sue and got as far as getting the engine back in the van before I left. My brother in law said he wanted to get it running , my last words before leaving were " make sure you put oil in it" .  He called me at the house and said sarcastically that I didn't do a very good job because it only went a short distance before locking up. I asked if he put oil in it ? Only silence on the other end !!!!!  I still pick on him over that,hahahahahahah  Mike McCarthy

[modnrod]

Remember? How could I forget!

1984, a friend decides to tune my just-bought '73 Squareback (first family car for new baby........could have been a lot worse!), and after the first minute spits a plug out, thread and all. 
Next day, a REAL friend and a mate comes round to help. Just posted into Australia from Japan (US Marines), we worked together, and he was a VW nut. At the time I had a long history already with them, so when he persuaded me the head had to come off, then we discovered the rings were a bit ordinary, etc.
It was all pretty straight forward really, a few weeks later we had a hotrod 1641 that revved really well and sounded tough.

On the first test drive through town, we were sitting at the lights next to a V8 Commodore, and well, off we went!  Got 100-150m down the road, Commodore revving hard behind us, but not gaining at all, when he turns on the lights and sirens........

The copper let us go, shaking his head in disgust! Two servicemen, both in uniform, just about falling out the car we were laughing so hard! 
Damn, those little 1641s go pretty good!