VW Beetle Budget Build Engine Failure - Tear Down and Inspection

We built this engine for Aaron over 2 years ago but he only has about 500 miles on this engine as of the last 4-6 months.
He started having issues with it so we pulled it to take a closer look at what's going on. Originally this was a very tight budget build, only replacing parts that had to be replaced.
Watch as we go though the process and probably dive into a bigger engine build for his beetle.
Thank you for watching.
Please like, comment, share and follow along!
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[@OrignalRobRobert]

Bad engine build from the start

[@richardstone5241]

After market parts are seriously suffering from POOR QUALITY mostly coming out of CHINA. After market CAM SHAFTS is a good example as MANY suppliers are seeing these camshaft lobes wearing down in a few hundred or thousand miles due to no or very little HEAT TREATMENT. A professional LINE BORE and a GOOD set of bearings should fix this and NO on the serpentine belt!

[@VWJawbreaker]

Many of us have been seeing the same things and it’s been getting worse over the last few years. Other case is being line bored. I’ll fit up new bearings to the crank and case and I’ve already talked him into ditching the serp belt setup.

[@richardstone5241]

@@VWJawbreaker Fantastic! Should work out good. Thanks for the response!

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@richardstone5241 yes sir, should be good to go once everything has been mocked up and verified. I appreciate you. I always try to reply to all comments since you take time out of your day to leave one. Have a great week.

[@TheEZGZ]

bummer on the old case

[@VWJawbreaker]

Yes but things happen for a reason. It’s how you overcome the obstacle that defines you.

[@vwcoco]

Engine done well 500 miles but a decent case and jobs a good one. Thanks for sharing Gary !!

[@VWJawbreaker]

Thanks for watching buddy!

[@WolfHausMotorwerks]

Can't win them all! But the new motor will be sweet..... so WIN! 👍

[@VWJawbreaker]

You got that right! He’ll be dialed in for sure.

[@royworks28]

This video is so helpful, and great timing. I will be doing this with my engine

[@VWJawbreaker]

Glad it was helpful, can’t wait to see what you have in store!

[@soggz4246]

My case has just had a alight bore and new bearings. Havnt even put it back in the van yet. Hoping it’s gonna be ok. All the best.👍🏾🛠🇬🇧

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@soggz4246 if the bearing were fit properly it should be just fine.

[@FixinBugsNStuff]

Another great video. It can happen with any case. I have to tear down my engine cause of oil leaks between the halves. It’s FB market place engine, not my build.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Appreciate it man. Unfortunately things happen. I’ll try to remember to shoot you an email for when you tear yours down.

[@HubertusSchaper]

Hi, Garry wow amazing watching you tearing down the engine, then I don't understand too much about air-cooled gasoline VW bugs or buses, but however they may have the same issues. looking forwards to the next EP.🇺🇸🙏🏻🍀🇳🇴🇳🇱greetings Hubertus

[@VWJawbreaker]

Hello Hubertus! I figure with the video, it may help others who haven’t done it before the confidence to do it themselves. Hope you’re doing well and staying warm!

[@HubertusSchaper]

@@VWJawbreaker Hi, Garry I´m sure that those who haven't done this before have a great Instruction video here from you, but they have to realize that`s their own risk to try to do that by themselves. well, I try to stay warm it's not that cold today+ 1 degrees over zero. I may try to work a little on the SC. greetings.Hubertus

[@B0L0NYMan-cy2fz]

Too much rpm and downshifting

[@eugenebaroni1298]

Great video thanks for sharing... Looks like your shoulder is doing well.. Have a good rest of your week.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Thank you buddy! Shoulder is still healing up but the lay 10% takes the most time I was told. Have a great week 🤙

[@ChipsAndSparksGarage]

I see he has a serpentine belt tensioner on the block. I’m not too familiar with that setup for a VW and don’t know how much stress it puts on the crank snout. Could that have contributed to the bearing failure? Good video, Gary. This is how we learn!👍

[@VWJawbreaker]

I’ve talked to many people and the serpentine setup seems to be split 50/50. I can say that the belt was way over tight by someone else who changed out his alternator and a few other things. I do believe that contributed to most of the damage. But then again, could be other things as well.

[@VolksStokes]

"Be kind to one another, be good!" We need these words! We are not kind at all once we are on the road. American Traffic Rule#1: The biggest truck got the right of way

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@VolksStokes it’s easy to get in a hurry and not think of others. However if I can help one or two people be better in some way, I’ve done an ok job.

[@levisbackyard]

No impact sockets??? 😲😲 Good job

[@VWJawbreaker]

Really…..

[@ToughShiftGarage]

Awesome video, im just about to tackle this to reseal the engine case, i have a leak coming from the bottom just in front of the oil strainer. What do you use seal the case halves?

[@VWJawbreaker]

I’m a big fan of Yamabond. I’ve tried other sealants and Yamabond has worked the best.

[@ToughShiftGarage]

@@VWJawbreaker thank you!

[@klausuhlig7141]

I watched this because I'm having problems with my hydraulic lifter blocks colapsed and thinking of replacing them, but it looks like I need to split the casing, which I'm not equipped to do, any one got an idea how to reprime them

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@klausuhlig7141 I honestly don’t have much experience with the hydraulic setups.

[@klausuhlig7141]

@@VWJawbreaker but I do believe the lifters got a shoulder on the flat side, so they cant just be pulled out from the side,

[@nealmont]

Can anybody help? I have been away from the VW scene for decades. Why would somebody build a "hot rod" motor with single port heads? Although there is a 36 HP Challenge at Bonneville which is pretty cool. Thanks.

[@VWJawbreaker]

This single port is for a bus. It’s one of the signature engines this builder builds and that’s what a lot of people still want for their bus.

[@nealmont]

Thanks for the help. Enjoying your videos.@@VWJawbreaker

[@VolksStokes]

Love it! It's like a therapy!!

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@VolksStokes totally agree.

[@type4revolutionstudio]

Proper line bore and quality bearings will fix both those cases.😃

[@VWJawbreaker]

I totally agree. Case and heads are in the shop getting machined now.

[@martinharris5017]

@@VWJawbreaker Make sure the machinist matches/grinds the crank to the bearings (see my rambling comment above)

[@V8N8T]

Dang I wonder what caused that to happen? I wonder if the vw community is suffering from bearing quality issues?

[@VWJawbreaker]

I really think it was mostly due to the serpentine belt being way too tight… the guy who swapped out the alternator adjusted the hell out of it. Bearings fit snug in the case when i assembled it. .. hard to say exactly.

[@V8N8T]

@@VWJawbreaker very true. Hmm that has me thinking I wonder what extra wear the supercharger belt tension did to my s/c'd bearings?

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@V8N8T that would be a good exploration video.

[@V8N8T]

@@VWJawbreaker I agree:)

[@vwmountainman9701]

I had to rebuild one engine 2 times. Everything good - fire up & run for break-in. No apparent issues. Upon restart - no go !!!! Both times - bearing issues Now - I order 2 or 3 sets of bearings. To get hopefully - one good set. Shouldn't have to do that - but that is what's it's come to.

[@VWJawbreaker]

You’re so right, it shouldn’t be that way but unfortunately that’s how things are going now.

[@bushpig6837]

Subscribed. These engines are fascinating. I grew up trying to fix my mk1 golf GTI myself, I learned more about engines messing about with air cooled single cylinder bikes more recently. I'm no mechanic but I can just about follow this. Thanks for making it understandable.

[@VWJawbreaker]

I appreciate you subbing! Hopefully there’s little tid bits that’ll help you out along your journey. I’m not an expert, just a guy doing his thing and putting it on KZbin. There other great channels out there as well, check them out in the video description below 🤙

[@christophersustayta5974]

Hi Gary I need some help I have a 2054 vw stroker motor with an oil filter and thermostat electric oil cooling fan. My question is what would be the correct level showing on my stock dip-stick ?

[@VWJawbreaker]

With all of that you still want to run the engine at the full mark or between the add and full mark. Are you running an oil sump on the engine?

[@vayabroder729]

I love 90.5s. A single port 1776 built up right is a peppy torquey motor. For internals you can never go wrong with Scat, Gene Berg or DPR.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Yes sir! Reusing the C25 in this will be nice. I did a similar build a while back with the Engle 100 cam, man it’s a beast even with a single 34/3 carb on it!

[@Mtbeaver9]

Yes my friend that is what I’m going thru. I can’t find a machine shop to line bore my case so Looks like new case. Do you think that if my fan belt was to tight that would make the endplay worse? I try not to ride the clutch at stop lights. Just looking for someones brain to pick. Thanks for your great video as usual. I love your humbleness. You always stay Positive.

[@VWJawbreaker]

If you’re going with a new case I prefer the super aluminum cases vs the magnesium cases but that’s just my opinion. Tight fan belt won’t make the end play worse, it’ll wear out the case nose main bearing. Hard to say why you’re having an end play issue, could just be a worn out case…. They’ve been through a lot in 50+ years.

[@Mtbeaver9]

@@VWJawbreaker I been looking at white Rhino. Trying to figure out cam and gears. Straight cam gears or heillical. Any suggestions on camshaft ?

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@Mtbeaver9 suggestions will depend on a lot of factors. What size engine are you building? What is the intended purpose for the engine? Cruise, weekend warrior, drag race? A mix of in between? What heads will you be running? What carb setup? What exhaust setup?

[@Mtbeaver9]

@@VWJawbreaker yes I know I should give more details. I have a 76 mm stroke 92 bore, panchito 44 heads and duel 44 with merged headers and 8:1 compression

[@Mtbeaver9]

Cruiser mostly but still like to get it on sometimes with some imports with fart cans.

[@wickedwerks]

Not good but still could have been a lot worse! Interested to see how those 90.5s will run with the single port heads. Pretty torquey I’d imagine!

[@VWJawbreaker]

I did a 1776 single port a while back with a w100 cam, stock intake and single carb… it runs great!

[@wickedwerks]

@@VWJawbreaker Did you have to jet it up at all? I imagine you used an H30/31? May have to pick your brain in the near future, I've got several motor builds on deck 🤣

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@wickedwerks I think it was a 30/31 but I definitely don’t remember the jetting as it was a few years ago. Good luck picking what little brain I have left 😂 but I’ll be happy to help anyway I can.

[@backyardkombi5466]

Looks like you are getting it all sorted.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Most definitely. The new plan will come together.

[@christophersustayta5974]

Six quarts of oil where should the level show on the dip-stick

[@VWJawbreaker]

6 quarts of oil is double what the engine takes unless you’re running a deep sump.

[@aaronchilds2568]

Lol I know you keep calling it a budget build. But almost 4k in the old motor, I couldn't imagine what a non budget build would be. :)

[@VWJawbreaker]

Well, 4k wasn’t for me to get it built and running…. Non budget build, you don’t want to know with todays prices.

[@martinharris5017]

Ten to twenty thousand for no-expense street motor sounds about right. By doing almost all the work at home my engine comes in at about 2500 NZD. That includes $1000 on getting a GOOD engine builder to do the align-bore, thrust-cut and crank-to-bearing custom fitment.

[@DemopVWgarage]

Wonder if its the alloy crank pulley and serpentine belt? A few engine builders I've talked too will not use them because of the damage they can cause to the case. They come loose and slap the inner case surface.

[@VWJawbreaker]

The person who installed the new alternator definitely torqued that belt, I have a feeling that’s what contributed to the majority of the issues.

[@martinharris5017]

They only come loose if not torqued correctly (and preferrably loctited).

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@martinharris5017 honestly with the amount of contact surface the serpentine belt has vs a standard v belt, you don’t have to hardly put any tension on the belt tensioner.

[@hussianmohmmad4613]

All vw same problems last bearing near fly wheel

[@VWJawbreaker]

Very true.

[@martinharris5017]

This is what my engine looked like before I rebuilt it. The wobbly bearings at each end and a ton of concentric play! My 1600 sp is a budget engine, almost totally home-assembled. Almost. The one part of the engine I handed to a pro was the case. I asked for an align-bore. He said "It will cost you, and I INSIST you give me your case, your new bearings, and your new crank." What he did was remove all the oil galleys, hot-flush the case, perform the align-bore, install the bearings and match up all the oil holes, check the crank runout, and then grind the bearings and crank together for "zero misalignment". When he gave me the quote for the work, he saw me choking. he sat me down and said, "either you take the risk, just chuck your bearings and crank in and then install your nice cam and heads etc, and you'll be back in a few thousand miles with a wrecked engine, or you spend the money on the bottom end NOW and never have to open that case again. You can spend money on the top end as and when your budget allows and have total peace of mind that your crank and bearings are good for the life of the engine." And he was right. It cost money, but it was worth it.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Excellent points as always! I agree with the builder. It does suck to spend that much up front but in the end it’ll be worth every Penny!

[@douglasbarnhart3324]

Thanks for the video Gary see ya on the next one.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Thanks buddy 👍 Have a great week.

[@larrymcgarage2152]

I don’t understand why he would want to go single port. If he wants more power, it makes no sense, except to save money on intake and carbs. If it was mine I’d spend the extra money. Even a single 40 Weber would make more power than dual single port carbs.

[@jimmywilkinson9190]

it has been said ! even a well ported single port aint got the volume of a stock dual port !!!!!! he would have to get dp intakes and those carbs would still work .

[@VWJawbreaker]

He doesn’t want to go dial port and spend more on heads. It’ll still run great being a single port but he’ll just sacrifice top end rpm is all.

[@VWJawbreaker]

I’ve seen many single port engines preform very well, they just lose top end rpm is all. If it was mine, I’d put on a set of Pachito heads and run the same carbs.

[@jimmywilkinson9190]

@@VWJawbreaker those carbs will work even on the 1776 . Use the dp heads Aron brought and find some used intakes . I am not knocking sp heads with the right cr they give good low end .

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@jimmywilkinson9190 those carbs work great even on 2L in busses. Their heads he brought need more work than his sp heads, not sure those stock dp heads are worth it imo. I put together a very similar combo a few years back and it’s an absolute beast and that’s not even with dual carbs.

[@robertlambert5299]

Woah. Did he ever change the oil?

[@VWJawbreaker]

He did, just got it really hot.

[@robertlambert5299]

@@VWJawbreaker never seen one do that with the bearings.

[@VWJawbreaker]

All I can say is, it was touched by others after it left my place. The serpentine belt was so tight it could have been used a a guitar string when we pulled it from his car. Things happen 🤷‍♂️

[@christophersustayta5974]

Oh yes I also have a sub oil pan.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Not sure what you mean.

[@briansmythe3000]

Bummer Bro thanks for sharing your tear down procedure Verry Interesting one of them things I suppose Never done a bottom end before on Bess One day I will when I upgrade a few things Cheers

[@VWJawbreaker]

Things happen and we know why they did on this one. Figured it would be good to take everyone along for the ride. They’re a very simple engine but things have to be right in order for them to work right.

[@zimms-world]

Good video. Thanks for showing your process and talking through it.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Thanks you as always for being here, I appreciate ya!

[@shawn9878]

Got a couple questions, if you don't mind... I know my build I went from stock 1970 block to 1776 90.5x69,and big valve heads and Engle 100 tiny cam my rocker shafts had to be shimed .130 .iam thinking wtf .so I am leaning towards cutting pushrods.130 tho?

[@VWJawbreaker]

It’s not so much the fact you went from a 1609 to a 1776 but the difference in the aftermarket jugs. There’s a variance I’ve seen between some different sizes in deck height. If you were able to shim the rockers to obtain the proper valve geometry, you could leave it at that instead of cutting new push rods. Up to you but either will work as long as you have plenty of threads for the rocker arm nuts.

[@vayabroder729]

@@VWJawbreaker Right on; this is something that needs to be mocked up and measured. Sometimes shims are the right solution and sometimes not.

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@vayabroder729 I don’t mind a small shim if needed only because I hate cutting push rods. However, if stacking multiple shims is the only way to get the geometry right, then the right way is to cut the push rods.

[@shawn9878]

@@VWJawbreaker yeah, It keeps me up at night.i think @.130 tho I'll get some push rods . The Porsche adjuster didn't help the height issue had to clearance the underside of rocker arms . Thanks for letting me know

[@VWJawbreaker]

@@shawn9878 anytime you switch the adjusters from stock style, shims or cut push rods are needed from what I’ve experienced.

[@tasnikas746]

Nice vid Greg, thanks for sharing. Regards from Down Under

[@VWJawbreaker]

Thank you for being here 🤙

[@KCPurpleBug]

That is to bad

[@VWJawbreaker]

It’s fixable 👍

[@aaronchilds2568]

Maybe in the next video, we can reveal the car it's going into. :)

[@VWJawbreaker]

That’s my plan for later down the road 🤙 Gotta reveal that beauty.

[@mikehammer4546]

So it sounds like he/your going with a 1776 ?

[@VWJawbreaker]

Yes sir, he’s going up to a 1776 but staying single port. It’ll be a good combo.

[@annies_vw]

nice. i love an engine teardown and diagnostics vid.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Me too! It’s discovering new things and learning.

[@kevinhamling1963]

Hey man ✌️

[@VWJawbreaker]

Kevin!!! Hope all is well brother!

[@kevinhamling1963]

@@VWJawbreaker ✌️

[@rongibbs1778]

Where do you find the specs on the vw engines

[@VWJawbreaker]

There’s the Bently manual that has all of the specs in it.

[@rongibbs1778]

Thank you I try to find one

[@type4revolutionstudio]

Fun fun...

[@VWJawbreaker]

Shouldn’t be too bad 🤙

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

👍

[@VWJawbreaker]

We’ll get it done right.

[@VWBEETLEOVAL1955]

that is nasty oil for a 700 miles engine. first red flag: getting hot. second, if that belt hasn't had the right tension on it, it can harm the crank big time. how was that bearing on the inside? be sure to check out the oil pump for wear. i love these video's.

[@VWJawbreaker]

Hey man! Yes, engine got hot. Belt had way too much tension on it by someone who swapped out the alternator. Bearings facing the crank look good. Rod bearings look good also. Oil pump will be replaced since the other case takes a different pump. 🤙