[T3] more questions on The Baroness

[Jim Adney]

On 6 Jun 2014 at 16:14, Fiesta Cranberry wrote:

> He says that if it is the camshaft, it may have been caused by a bad rebore
> of the case.  So, the case would have to be sent out and rebored again.  He
> thinks it would be better to buy a new block, instead of fixing what's in
> there.  What do you guys think about that?

I think you need to examine what you find in there and consider all 
the possibilities. If the cam bearings are shot, then the case may be 
warped to the point where repair costs more than it's worth. If the 
bearings are fine, but the cam lobe is worn down, then I'd limit my 
thinking to bad cam/lifter problems.

It's possible for the center web of the case to be pushed out, 
leaving a gap between the 2 sides of that web. That's the web that 
supports the #2 main bearing. That web also supplies oil from the 
left side of the case to the right, so a gap there will mean an 
almost complete loss of lubrication to the right side of the engine, 
along with low overall oil pressure everywhere else. If that web is 
warped, it CAN be repaired by RIMCO, but the cost mounts and it means 
new cam and main bearings. It's also possible that those oversize 
bearings are now impossible to find. If anyone has them RIMCO 
probably does. I've had this repair done, and it worked out okay, but 
I sold the car with that engine and don't know how well it faired 
over the long run.  

To check for this problem, take everything apart, remove all the 
bearing shells, and bolt the case halves together with just the 6 
main bearing studs, properly torqued. Reach in there and see if you 
can still slip a .002" feeler gauge between the 2 sides of the #2 
main bearing web, just above and below the crank bore. If the feeler 
gauge will slip in, the case is warped.

The case RIMCO repaired for me had .020-.030" of gap there.

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