[T3] End Play Ick

[Jim Adney]

On 21 Jan 2012 at 16:45, Know One wrote:

> > > So, how bad is end play of .014"?
> > 
> > It all depends one WHY it's so large.
> > If the main bearing is loose, the only solution is a complete  rebuild, an align bore, and new main bearings that are oversize on the OD. <
> 
> Well, the verdict is in, the main bearing is loose. Bummer.

Loose in the case? Sorry to hear that. If so, this means tearing the 
engine all the way down. If the engine is otherwise in pretty good 
shape, the rebuild need not be expensive, if you can do the work 
yourself.

I would suggest that you tear it down and send the case to RIMCO. Ask 
them to install case savers and do a minimal line bore. Get someone 
to measure the crank carefully; it will probably be okay as it is. 
Once you know what size it is, you can tell RIMCO that info and they 
can sell you a main bearing set to go with the align bored case and 
your crank.

Then you can put everything back together again. Depending on your 
budget, you can replace some other parts. I would definitely get the 
heads done, unless they had already been done recently. If the 
pistons and cylinders are old, replace them, otherwise maybe just 
replace the rings.

Don't get caught up in investing in lots of fancy high performance 
parts, unless you really want to get into this, are prepared to spend 
a fair amount of money and are willing to study the process and 
figure out which parts will work well with which other parts.

I have a list of upgrades to invest in, in order of priority if you 
really want to go in that direction. Don't expect to do this cheaply.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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