Best type 4 engine rebuild book or guide? Options

[Tdskip]

Looking to learn more about our engines, I've found rebuild guides to be a great resources on some of my other cars.

Is there a go-to source for these you can recommend?

Thanks!

[bbrock]

Just a quick word as someone who has used both Haynes and Tom Wilson's books to rebuild engines. The Haynes is barely adequate to get the job done and is missing some stuff that you may regret not knowing later (like reusing old valves might grenade your engine (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) ). Wilson's book is WAY better but lacks some information I've learned from this group about things that contribute to a quality build. Things like decking the case to make sure cylinder registers are even and perpendicular to the crank, and cc'ing heads for getting the compression ratio you want when setting deck height.

I'm not knocking those books. They are great (especially Wilson's book). I just wanted to share my experience of what was missing that I wish I had known.

[Superhawk996]

Just a quick word as someone who has used both Haynes and Tom Wilson's books to rebuild engines. The Haynes is barely adequate to get the job done and is missing some stuff that you may regret not knowing later (like reusing old valves might grenade your engine (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) ). Wilson's book is WAY better but lacks some information I've learned from this group about things that contribute to a quality build. Things like decking the case to make sure cylinder registers are even and perpendicular to the crank, and cc'ing heads for getting the compression ratio you want when setting deck height.

I'm not knocking those books. They are great (especially Wilson's book). I just wanted to share my experience of what was missing that I wish I had known.

Agree - recommend both books. However, remember VW's are notoriously robust engines. The points you make differentiate a great rebuild from an average one.

I used both books referenced when I rebuilt my 1.7L to a 1.9L back in early 90' or 91' and didn't put in the attention to detail ( like decking the case, line boring, etc) and my engine went about 80,000 miles with no issues. Tough little buggers! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

I had a early 70's VW bug (flat windshield) with a type 1 engine. Bought it for $50. After a few months of owning and driving it, at the gas station I noticed a huge puddle of oil had formed under it. Looked under it. No source of oil leakage. What the heck?

Started it and then looked under it. One of the cylinders was moving back and forth and when it moved out from the case, oil was leaking like mad.

Popped off the valve cover, tightened the bottom four cylinder head nuts. The top 4 can't be reached without pulling the tin so I had no choice but to leave them.

Being poor, in college, and lacking a place to properly fix it, I drove it several thousand miles with only the bottom 4 bolts tight. No more oil leaks. down on power some but it ran pretty darn good for about a year before I finally dropped the engine. Even then I just tightened up the upper head nuts and then ran it another couple thousand miles before I finally sold it for $75.00 to a guy that was using it for a sand rail donor.

Moral of the story - tough little buggers! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

[bbrock]

Agree - recommend both books. However, remember VW's are notoriously robust engines. The points you make differentiate a great rebuild from an average one.

Absolutely! and as fantastic as it is, Internet advice sometimes leans toward dogmatic which makes it difficult for a dummy like me to know what must be done for any decent build and understanding the benefits and trade-offs of the other things. I could expand on this with examples but won't.