I'm in the process of tearing down a 1973 2.0 engine (I have only done 74 and newer engines).

During disassembly, I am noticing a few things I'm not sure of.

The first thing I found was that the rocker arms have small adjuster screws (not 10mm as I am used to). They seem to be 8mm. Were these swapped out some time in the engine's life, or is this typical of 1973 2.0 engines?

Is there a difference between the 1.7 adjuster screws and these 1973 2.0 adjuster screws?

Is there a reason I can't use 1974 1.8 rocker arms (10mm) with these 1973 2.0 heads?

Another strange thing (to me at least) that I found was a number stamped in blue ink on the case right next to the GA serial number. The number appears to be original. Did all of these engines have an inked number just below the oil filler neck?

Someone at some pointreplaced one of the pistons in the engine. 3 pistons have a slight "dish" in the piston tops and are MAHLE pistons, while one has a much more pronounced dish and has no manufacturing mark (that I can find).

The last unusual thing I found is the lifters. All four intake lifters are nearly FLAT while all four exhaust lifters are concave (dish slightly in). I thought that type 4 lifters should be convex (dish slightly out). When I hold two lifters face to face, there is no light seen between the two lifters. I would typically think that these are worn out, but I can see no wear patterns on them at all.

If someone could help to shed some light on these things I am finding, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

early 1.7's had 8mm rockers.....

my case also *had* a blue ink mark by the filler.

benefit of 8mm rockers, they *can* be used for 911 swivel feet with machining...

that being said, i may be interested in them if you want to go back to 10mm

From searching through my Parts Book, I see that from Engine GA 0000001 to GA 0005472, 8mm Valve Adjusting screws were used. From GA 0005473 on, (10mm Valve Adjuster Screws were used).

I am considering using later model Rocker Arms so I can go with the 10mm adjuster screws. (Less expensive)

Lifter faces were ground with about 0.001" side to side difference so they would rotate.

If they are flat or concave, they're screwed. concave would indiate mushrooming and they shouldn't have come out of the bore without splitting the case.

The INTAKE lifters (all four) are concave (dished in) and they all slid out of their bores. The EXHAUST lifters (all four) appear to be flat and also slid easily out of their bores. I see no wear patterns on any of them, but I'm sure they are all trash (as well as the cam) I just thought they should all be convex (slightly dished outward).

My main question should have been: Should alll four lifters be identical and convex (slightly dished outward)?

I'll post pics sometime this weekend. I may end up using another case as I'm not getting warm fuzzies with this one. I'll check the case and crank for straightness when I split it later today or tomarrow.



Thanks for looking.

QUOTE (JOHNMAN @ Sep 3 2005, 08:53 PM)

From searching through my Parts Book, I see that from Engine GA 0000001 to GA 0005472, 8mm Valve Adjusting screws were used. From GA 0005473 on, (10mm Valve Adjuster Screws were used). I am considering using later model Rocker Arms so I can go with the 10mm adjuster screws. (Less expensive)

The 10mm screws are far more expensive than the 8mm ones also used in T1 engines. ALL the lifters are the same profile, convex. If you replace the lifters, you have to replace the camshaft, and vice-versa. Work hardening of one will eat the non-workhardened material of the other. I've seen such failures in as little as 300 miles. Go with the cam lifter kit offered by many camshaft suppliers. Note!: I haven't done a complete T4 rebuild in close to 20 years (I used to do 5-6 a month), so what's out there may be different and better/worse than the products I've used. Web Cam makes a nice product. Dial-in-Cams doesn't. You want to stick with a stock replacement grind if you keep the FI. Not even a bit "hotter" or you'll have drivability issues without a LOT of time and expense dumped into the FI (which still won't be as good as stock). The Cap'n

Thanks Cap'n.

That's what I thought.

I spent part of the day cleaning the crap off of the outside of the case Super Clean works very well.

I eventually split the case and found out why there was an oddball piston. Aparently during some point in it's life, one of the pistons broke into small chunks. Some of the chunks were still inside the lower sump stuck in muck coating the inside of the lower engine case.

Some of the bearings looked good. All were still tightly held in the case. One of the cam bearings is bothering me though.

Five of the six cam bearing "shells" are of the same type. Three of these have the same VW part number, two have a slightly different number, but appear to be the "other hand". One of the "shells" (the oddball) has flanges on both sides.

I really must post some pics as I can't describe it well.

Anyway, it appears that the case may have been split before when a piston came apart, but if it was apart, why would some dumbass leave crap inside the case like that...

I will do some research and take some pictures of my parts I am wondering about.

I plan on having my case and crank checked, changing all bearings, replacing the cam and lifters, using a set of low mile MAHLE Euro piston/Cyl set that I have, and basically rebuilding a stock 2.0.