[T3] That's it

[Adriel Rowley]

----------------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 16:32:27 -0700
> From: fisherfarms at gmail.com
> To: type3 at vwtype3.org
> Subject: Re: [T3] That's it
>
> Have it towed to a Shop if you seriously want it fixed.
>
Mike, if I was that close to Tram (eight hours, right?) I would have it shipped to Tram! I bought his wife's Mercedes and had it shipped about seven hours and I.I.R.C. was about $300. I would give him a reasonable budget and not rush the meister. Bet in actual time be no more than a day, especially if it was just simple engine swap rather than fiddling with the current engine.

I will share my experience. Que in a young, nieve (maybe to the point of idiot), immature, and arrogant young adult. It is a warm SoCal Summer. He is far from home with his Squareback, which has had the cooling boot come off. Instead of reasonable, he thinks he patches it enough with duck tape to get home. However, coming up a long and steep grade he is proven wrong and the engine over heats. He gets away easy, and in the end pulled a couple case studs and toasted the valve guides. Once again instead of being reasonable, pulls the heads off the engine while mounted in the auto and replaces the pulled studs with self tapping studs. This youngster keeps on driving her despite the plumes of smoke so thick he can hardly see out the back window and anyone behind him gets sick. He finally matures a little and agrees he should have just put in a new engine. So he builds one himself, no prior knowledge, just torque specifications and the occasional help from a somewhat kind machinist and a mechanic (Thank you sploogmeister!). The engine isn't perfect, but runs and has power.

Lesson learned: don't try and repair an engine unless you either have the knowledge or access to someone that does, which might cost more than its worth. If money is tight, pull the engine yourself and rebuild it with all new parts. Even better would be to get a rebuilt long block. Order the rebuilt, drop the engine (four bolts, one or two fuel lines, and a few electrical connections), pull all the stuff off, then when it arrives, can be quickly dressed, then installed (the hardest part since fighting gravity). 

Hope this helps... 


Thank you so very much!
Adriel




-------------------------

1971 Sunroof Squareback with F.I. - In the Process of Being Dog Wgn 2
1985 Mercedes-Benz 300TD-T - Dog Wgn
Master's Student, A.S.U., living in north central Mesa, AZ