Early 1.9 to 2.1 conversion - stop me if I'm being stupid!

[CJH]

Hmm - maybe it is the right piece after all. This advert says "Five pieces required on Type-1 and Type-4 applications and one piece is used on all WBX engines."

And searching for that part number (111 101 123) brought up an ebay advert that shows it as the right diameter, even though at 8mm it seems too long. Maybe I'd better measure the required length again.

[p373r42]

This is the dowel in my late DG think the cases are the same.

Looks to be 7 or 8 mm

[CJH]

This is the dowel in my late DG think the cases are the same.

Looks to be 7 or 8 mm

What a star - thank you! I'll order the M5x8 item then. I think you're right about the case being the same. Thanks again for taking the time to check for me.

[CJH]

I re-measured - 8mm will be fine. In fact VW Heritage's ebay advert for the same part gives more information than their main site, and describes it as 4.9mm x 7.8mm.

Thanks again.

[CJH]

Well my ‘winter project’ has already seen three winters. Life got in the way. But I’m making progress again now. My intention when I started this was to learn all about the wasserboxer by building my own DJ, and then to replace the DG in my camper since it has a bit of a weep around one of the head seals. But I’ve taken so long over this that my DG has developed a new problem - it’s leaking compression gasses into the coolant. I’m ok for an hour or so on the road, but since the compression gasses are displacing coolant into the overflow tank I eventually get the low coolant flashing light and I then need to stop and transfer the coolant back to the header tank. This can’t go on, so my DJ build now has added urgency. (More urgent than three years? Surely not!)

During those three years I haven’t been very disciplined about posting related issues in this thread. So here, in an attempt to tie things together, are a few links to things that I’ve been involved with along the way that I think belong to this general topic. In no particular order:

I’m planning to fit a bigger Pierburg carb from a VW LT 2.4, so I visited a rolling road both as a benchmark and to see whether that carb would make any difference to the DG (It didn't, but it'll be better starting point for the bigger DJ).
http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.p ... 0#p8111383" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I’ve bought a camshaft from Silverbullet, and had some fun timing it up with the vernier adapter.
http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.p ... 5#p8094351" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I took advice on camshaft bearings.
http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=159650" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I looked into flywheel bolts and reasoned that the standard ones are not a common size because they’re actually a bit short - slightly longer ones are more widely available.
http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=149071" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There was some discussion about tappets, and I’m planning to use circlips instead of the supplied ‘paperclips’.
http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.p ... 8#p8151110" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Since I’ve got a Speedshop exhaust and I’m fitting a thermostatic sandwich plate to feed an oil cooler, I looked into shorter oil filters.
http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.p ... 5#p8077848" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So on with the build.

[CJH]

For the record, my build is largely a ‘new’ build, and I haven’t used a great deal from the scrapped DJ that I bought. Here’s an attempt to list the various parts I’ve used - I’ve probably forgotten a few bits. I had intended to document all the costs, but I’ve lost track. Probably a good thing, since all the new parts have mounted up. Might be a good thing that the cost has been spread over three years. A good few of the parts in this list could have been taken from my existing DG, but I’ve got half a mind to sell the complete DG once I’ve fixed the compression seal leak and resealed it, so having bought all these extra bits I’ll have the possibility to sell a complete working engine.

From the scrapped DJ:
Crankcase
Crankshaft
Cam gear
Distributor drive
Rocker shafts and rockers
‘Some’ pushrods

Bought second hand:
Flywheel
Pulley
Pistons
‘Some’ pushrods
Hedgehog
Inlet manifold

Bought new:
Flywheel bolts
BZP nuts and bolts throughout
Studs throughout
Con rods with stretch bolts
Big end, main and cam bearings, end float shims
Camshaft
Cylinder liners
Gasket set
Water pump
Piston rings
Heads with valves
Oil pump
Various senders
Pushrod tubes
Stainless pushrod cover plates
Dowel pin
2 x head studs
Spigot bearing
Clutch
Oil pickup
Tappets
Engine mounts
NOS LT carb

[CJH]

So this weekend I've assembled the crankshaft/conrods and stretched the irreplaceable stretch bolts (gulp!). I've set the end float, and I've double checked the camshaft timing. Should be ready to bolt the two crank case halves together very soon. I'm holding off till my oil temperature sender arrives - I want to get a photo of how it sits inside the case.

I've bought new AMC heads, and have started lapping in the valves just for good measure. I noticed that the inlet valves have what looks like oil seals - little rubber washers that sit on top of the guides and stay put simply by being a tight fit over the valve shaft. Being rubber they don't look like they'd last long on the exhaust valves, which I guess is why there aren't any on those valves. I'm sure I read that the WBX doesn't use valve seals.

[itchyfeet]

Never seen a seal don't think they were origionallt fitted.
thought you finished this engine ages ago

[itchyfeet]

Also everybody says AMC valves are cheese
most people replace them with valves not made from cheese

[CJH]

thought you finished this engine ages ago

You'd think so, wouldn't you. Actually I was waiting for your build thread as a reference.

Also everybody says AMC valves are cheese
most people replace them with valves not made from cheese

I've heard that, but assumed it was outdated information. They look fine to me - how can you tell cheese from not cheese?

[itchyfeet]

You can't by looking
You really ned to be on the FB WBX group all the big cheeses are on there trying to.find a post about it for you.

[CJH]

You can't by looking
You really ned to be on the FB WBX group all the big cheeses are on there trying to.find a post about it for you.

Thank you. I'm unlikely to be signing my life over to FB any time soon. Call me irrational. Much happier to go through a kindly intermediary

So supposing for a moment that I'm convinced by the cheese argument - what do folks recommend as a better replacement (8mm stems on inlet and outlet). If they tell me I need to change the exhaust guides to take 9mm valves I'm going to be cross!

[itchyfeet]

Deffo still cheese, have asked about what to use...

[itchyfeet]

Are you 100% sure they are all 8mm?

[CJH]

Are you 100% sure they are all 8mm?

Ooh, good question. No, I'm not - the tops of the stems are all 8mm, but that might just be to allow common spring and collet arrangements. I didn't pay attention to the stems themselves. I'll have to take an exhaust valve out again to check properly, but peeking between the coils of the springs the exhaust valve does look as though it might be bigger after all.