[T3] Mahle Cylinder kits

Jim Adney jadney at vwtype3.org
Mon Apr 1 21:58:20 PDT 2013


On 1 Apr 2013 at 20:32, Keith Park wrote:

> I just bought an old stock Mahle cylinder kit, 1600, while I could still get
> it without the Chinese liners.
> However, they are .05mm  UNDERSIZE.  That's right, 85.45mm, now that's not a
> problem but WHY would Mahle make undersized
> Cylinders and pistons?  Ive never heard of this before, has anyone else??

This is probably a non-issue. The P/C sets came in 2 size groups: 
Pink & Blue. Yes, really.  ;-) There should be a color paint dot on 
the face of each piston, and I think there would have been a matching 
color dot somewhere on each cylinder.

Somewhere I've seen what the colors meant, but only the colors show 
up on the parts list. Keep in mind also, that the pistons have to be 
smaller than the cylinders, so my guess is that 85.45 mm was one of 
the actual stock sizes.

I'm sure this was done at the factory to lower their scrap rate. This 
way they could maintain their P to C tolerances without throwing 
parts away. They would just match up Ps & Cs, weigh them, and sort 
them into matched sets to be assembled into engines or sold in sets 
of 4.  

Keep in mind that, like connecting rods, there were also different 
weight groups. They didn't all automatically come out the same.

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