I started this process a couple of months ago - in time for Dr. Evil's transmission rebuild clinic at McMark's but as a newbie and for other newbies I thought that I would document what I am doing. This may help out some newer World members but, for my benefit, hopefully some old timers can set me straight when I veer off track.

I started this because the 1.7L 914 I purchased in June had an engine that was down on power and leaked a SIGNIFICANT amount of oil. I also was not happy with the dual Weber IDF carbs so I plan to replace them with FI. A few months ago I found a 2.0L engine for sale a few miles from me so I picked that up to be the basis of the rebuild. That engine was not running and had not run for a few years. Depending on the condition of the crankshaft I will be building either a 2056 CC engine if the crank is good or a 2270 CC engine if the crank needs to be replaced.

My first step was to determine the problems with the engine. While the crank would move it would not turn through a full rotation. I removed all of the engine tins and then the heads. I found that the number 4 cylinder had dropped its valve seat. It was captive and had hammered into the head.

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I had the heads cleaned and lightly bead blasted at a local engine builder. I emailed requests to a number of well known machine shops that specialize in 914/VW Type 4 head work (EMW, Brothers Machine, Headflow Masters and HAM). After a few days I have heard from two of those, Brothers and Headflow. Adrian at Headflow Masters has a very good reputation so I will most likely use them for the work. I plan new valves, seats, springs, the exhaust port repair and the repair of hairline cracks around 3 of the spark plug bores. The heads will also be lightly ported and polished.

Continuing with the tear-down today, I split the case Virtually everything in the engine will be replaced including the cam, pistons and cylinders, oil pump. I will use the existing connecting rods if they meet spec.

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Tomorrow the case and other exterior parts will be off the be cleaned at the local machine shop.

I started looking at the various parts and did some additional tear down. Some interesting issues came to light:

1. No oil baffle in the engine
2. Missing washers on 3 of the large thru-case bolts.
3. Missing the driver and passenger side lower cooling flaps.
4. LOTS of RTV everywhere. Particularly to seal the cylinders to the case.

The case and fan shroud are off for cleaning.

Hi,

does anyone know of a good engine rebuilder in Houston? I am away from home often.

Thank you for documenting your rebuild. I am not a mechanic but I want to rebuild a 2 L engine myself someday. Are you replacing the internal components because you are going to a larger displacement motor or because some or all of them are not in spec?

Thanks for your comment toadman. I started down this path because of oil leaks, low power on my 1.7L engine and also the need to rebuild my transmission. As I started to look into doing all of this a 2.0L engine, not running condition, fell into my lap for $200 which was ahead to pass up. I decided to make that the basis for my rebuild. That way I can keep my 1.7L engine as a "spare".

I am not a professional mechanic but I have done nearly all of my maintenance for years on my BMWs and many years ago on VWs, etc. I do have an engendering background and read things to death before I start a project. One of the best resources to let you see what you are getting into is the Raby type 4 engine rebuilding video.

I wanted to use the 2.0L engine primarily because of the better heads compared to the 1.7 and the 71mm crankshaft. I knew there would be issues with the engine but for $200 I felt that I could not loose. I am replacing components as needed if they don't meet spec or for increased performance.

So far I know that I will need head work done to repair the dropped valve seat and also for performance reasons. This will include new valves, seats, guides, springs retainers and a mild port and polish. I will replace the lifters with those from a1.7L engine so that I can use 911 swivel foot adjusters. While the pistons and cylinders look good they are going to be replaced with 96mm units, again for performance. Same for the camshaft, lifters and pushrods. I haven't checked the oil pump yet but I will most likely replace it with a higher capacity unit. Finally, I did a quick check of the connecting rods yesterday which looked good so I will most likely not replace them.

As I disassembled the engine I but parts in labeled plastic bags. The number of parts is NOT overwhelming. I am having the case and fan housing cleaned at a local performance engine builder (not for our cars). I we'll have the engine tins and other bits powder coated once I find a local shop for that. The oil plugs in the case will be replaced with threaded aluminum plugs.

Most of the ideas for what I am doing come from other threads on this and other forums. That's probably more than anyone wanted to know. By the way, in addition to the issues I found in dissembling the engine, one of the rod nuts was on backward.

You mean "rockers" and since you have a "spare" 1.7, you can just use those.
You can remove them without disassembling the engine.

In fact, you can put the 2.0L rockers on the 1.7 to keep it "whole".

Yes, good catch, I absolutely meant rockers. That will teach me not or re-read what I write. Actually, I picked up a set of 1.7 rockers off of evil bay for a very reasonable amount to make life easier.

Although I mentioned I was planning to utilize fuel injection on the rebuilt engine to increase drive ability, part of the reason for that was to eliminate the whoosh from the carbs. WAF improvement. The 2.0l engine included all of the FI parts except the fuel pump. At a later time I plan a MegaSquirt conversion for the FI and ignition - just for fun.

Very interesting. I will follow this thread closely.

By the way, does anyone know who I can contact to get a copy of the Type 4 engine rebuild video that has been mentioned in this thread? I've got to get me one of them. I understand that Jake Raby has gotten out of the parts business. Was this one of the things that has gone to LN Engineering? Thanks

The rebuild video is actually part of the 'Bug Me' video library and is about 10 years old now. Follow this link to get yours:

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Bug-Me-Video-...build-vol-8.htm

Nozzle, thank you for this information. It is much appreciated.