Wiggling Rods

OK, last night produced no rats to vacuum up. I did get the heads, jugs
and pistons removed and I also pulled all the head bolts as they were
installed by some moron that new nothing of what he was doing. (Me btw)
Amazing what time does to ones knowledge base, plus reading RAMVA.

Anyway, I was looking over the internals of the short block from those
wonderful ports holes VW put in the sides. I grabbed one of the rods and
wiggled it fore and aft and was surprised by the amount of angle it moved.
Not just side to side on the crank, but you could actually move the rod
from being perpendicular to the crank. Should I be able to do this
noticably or not? I would think that some movement is acceptable but these
rods move at least 1/4 inch side to side at the wrist pin end. I suspect
that I have more digging to do into the short block. If I do need to split
the case, I feel better about catching it now than at 70mph and that red
light and strange clanking noise bringing it to my attention.

End play on the crank is within spec.

--
Terry B
AKA VDUBBS
Buggin in Bama
http://vdubbs64.tripod.com

I recently stripped my 1600 engine down andfound no play -- everything
is actually very tight (in a good way).
>From memory so don't quote me, but I remember they spec the play of the
piston rod at right angle of the crank to be only a couple of thousands
so check it to make sure.
Not sure what the play in the rod along the crank is, but would imagine
that should be pretty tight. If it were sloppy, those bearings would
wear like crazy.

Not a bug expert, though. Others here will probably disagree with me.


Remco

Rod bearings are cheap, change em'. This is not difficult without splitting
the case, just don't drop a rod nut into it! LOL

VWs have big mains, they are often ok, but the rod bearings do wear.

John
Aircooled.Net Inc.

TerryB wrote:
> OK, last night produced no rats to vacuum up. I did get the heads, jugs
> and pistons removed and I also pulled all the head bolts as they were
> installed by some moron that new nothing of what he was doing. (Me btw)
> Amazing what time does to ones knowledge base, plus reading RAMVA.
>
> Anyway, I was looking over the internals of the short block from those
> wonderful ports holes VW put in the sides. I grabbed one of the rods and
> wiggled it fore and aft and was surprised by the amount of angle it moved.
> Not just side to side on the crank, but you could actually move the rod
> from being perpendicular to the crank. Should I be able to do this
> noticably or not? I would think that some movement is acceptable but these
> rods move at least 1/4 inch side to side at the wrist pin end. I suspect
> that I have more digging to do into the short block. If I do need to split
> the case, I feel better about catching it now than at 70mph and that red
> light and strange clanking noise bringing it to my attention.
>
> End play on the crank is within spec.
>
Purchase an assortment of "Plastigage" strips.
You should be able to unbolt the rod and Plastigage it without
splitting case.

But, I suspect there's nothing wrong.


Speedy Jim
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/

John Connolly wrote:
> Rod bearings are cheap, change em'. This is not difficult without splitting
> the case, just don't drop a rod nut into it! LOL

And if Murphy sits on your shoulder, use a flexible stalk magnet to
collect it. )

J.
>
> VWs have big mains, they are often ok, but the rod bearings do wear.
>
> John
> Aircooled.Net Inc.
>
>

Spread (stuff) a rag out under the rod you are working on. If you drop a nut
it won't go far!



"Speedy Jim" > wrote in message
...
> TerryB wrote:
>> OK, last night produced no rats to vacuum up. I did get the heads, jugs
>> and pistons removed and I also pulled all the head bolts as they were
>> installed by some moron that new nothing of what he was doing. (Me btw)
>> Amazing what time does to ones knowledge base, plus reading RAMVA.
>>
>> Anyway, I was looking over the internals of the short block from those
>> wonderful ports holes VW put in the sides. I grabbed one of the rods and
>> wiggled it fore and aft and was surprised by the amount of angle it
>> moved. Not just side to side on the crank, but you could actually move
>> the rod from being perpendicular to the crank. Should I be able to do
>> this noticably or not? I would think that some movement is acceptable
>> but these rods move at least 1/4 inch side to side at the wrist pin end.
>> I suspect that I have more digging to do into the short block. If I do
>> need to split the case, I feel better about catching it now than at 70mph
>> and that red light and strange clanking noise bringing it to my
>> attention.
>>
>> End play on the crank is within spec.
>>
> Purchase an assortment of "Plastigage" strips.
> You should be able to unbolt the rod and Plastigage it without
> splitting case.
>
> But, I suspect there's nothing wrong.
>
>
> Speedy Jim
> http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/

True - mine are good, but why not change them since I have it all open.
Thanks for the suggestion.

TerryB > wrote in
. 1.4:

> OK, last night produced no rats to vacuum up. I did get the heads,
> catching it now than at 70mph and that red light and strange clanking
> noise bringing it to my attention.
>
> End play on the crank is within spec.
>

Saturday night about midnight, I got the rods out with no surprises and
Murphy was some where else for once. I found a couple things to be
good. First, my crank has not been turned as it has not been stamped
anywhere I can see and the rod bearings are not very thick either.

Second all the rod bearings are still nice and gray as described in the
Bug Me Video, no unusual wear.

I am going to get some new rod bearings anyway, as they are cheap. I am
going to carry my single port heads to a local shop and get them worked
over. This is a shop I know and trust as I have been doing business
with them for a while.

I am also going to get a P/C set after the head work bill has been
tallied. I want to get the german set from Aircooled, but will have to
wait to see how much coin is left after the heads. May have to go with
the cheaper set Aircooled sells. I am going to get new wrist pin
bearings put in the rods. The others had a good bit of slop or it could
be the wrist pins themselves as they were old when I built the engine
the first time.

To double check the crank, what size is a factory rod connection for
lack of the proper term? I can measure the crank and know for sure the
size it is and I can measure it in either mm or inches. I got one of
those Harbor Freight Mic's that is digital for $20 and it works great!!

Thanks for all the replies so far and keep watching for updates.

--
Terry B
AKA VDUBBS
Buggin in Bama
http://vdubbs64.tripod.com