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Project Budget Beater Part IV
Building a 1914cc Engine on the Cheap
March, 2009
By VW Trends Staff
Photography by VW Trends Staff
When we last left Project Budget Beater, we were at VW Paradise, in San Marcos, Calif., where Jason Lauffer had rebuilt my connecting rods, and surfaced my lightened flywheel. At this point, I had a grand total of $550 invested in the crankshaft, connecting rods, cylinder heads, flywheel and ready-to-be-machined engine case. Next, I turned my attention to the $25 engine case I scavenged from my friend Jason Reich's garage. It looked to be a good case, and I knew from using the Energy One line bore checker, that the case was already 0.020in. over. That is, it had been line bored to the first oversize already. Laugher looked over the case and began the machine work on it, so we could assemble the short block portion of Project Budget Beater. | The 1914cc Project Budget Beater Engine--The Bill The crankshaft, connecting rods, cam and gear and case are all ready for assembly. Stay tuned for the next installment of the Project Budget Beater when we will assemble the short block. The case machining cost around $90, thus bringing the total for the engine, so far, up to $650. This should tell you that, if you find a "rebuilt" big-inch engine with ported and polished heads for less than this, you should ask yourself where they cut corners to make the price so cheap. I scrounged around for the best deals I can find, and although I may have gone a bit overboard on the cylinder heads--especially seeing that the engine's intended use is a low compression workhorse for Type II truck--I feel this is an inexpensive route to take for most do-it-yourselfers. Crank/Rods (Gene Berg)$77
Case (AS-41, dual relief)$25
Flywheel, lifters, cam & gear, barrel spacers, case studs, & misc. parts$25
Heads $350
Rebuilding rods $48
Surfacing flywheel $35
Engine machine work $90
TOTAL$650 |  Jason began the machine work...  Jason began the machine work after inspecting the case for any obvious flaws, like broken main bearing saddles, worn lifter bores or cracks. Finding nothing he didn't like, we began by cutting the cylinder holes for the intended 94mm pistons and cylinders. |  Jason put the case half on...  Jason put the case half on a special jig, made especially for this purpose. |  He then measured the bore...  He then measured the bore center so the cut would be centered just right. |  Jason "decked" the case; that...  Jason "decked" the case; that is, he makes sure that the cylinders will have an absolutely flat surface to sit on. |  Next on the machining list...  Next on the machining list is drilling and tapping for full-flow oiling. I could have skipped this step, if I really wanted to save money, but it adds to the engine's reliability and life span. It also makes it a cinch to later add an external oil cooler and/or spin-on oil filter. |  Jason milled a little extra...  Jason milled a little extra case material off so the elbow needed for the full flow oil lines will have clearance to thread in. |  We turned to my Engle 110...  We turned to my Engle 110 cam. Jason chucked it up in a lathe and, using a dial indicator, checked the lift on all four lobes to see if this cam had suffered from "flat cam syndrom." I was lucky; this cam checked out perfectly in spec. |  The cam gear was attached...  The cam gear was attached with the cam bolts (with a dab of Loctite) to the cam. |  We were ready to line-bore...  We were ready to line-bore the case. Jason said that we probably could have gotten away with the 0.020in. that was already done, but not wanting to take a chance, I had him run the 0.040in. line boring bar through it. Some say to never line bore a case, just buy a new one; some say don't ever line bore a case past 0.080in. You will have to decide what works best for you and your budget. I personally feel comfortable on a low-compression, low-revving engine with 0.040in. |  Before he tightened the case...  Before he tightened the case halves together, Jason put his cam bearing saddle checker in there, just to make sure there were no problems. |  Jason now runs the cam bearing...  Jason now runs the cam bearing saddle and line boring bar through the case. |  As you can tell from this...  As you can tell from this photo, the cam saddles didn't needed any cutting, and we now have new, perfectly round, main bearing saddles. |
SOURCES
VW PARADISE
510 Grand Avenue
San Marcos, CA, 92069
(760) 744-9140
www.vwparadise.com
Gene Berg Enterprises
1724 N. Lime Street
Orange, CA, 92865
(714) 998- 7500
Fax: (714) 998-7528
www.geneberg.com
Energy One
P.O. Box 6370
Whittier, CA, 90609
(562) 698-7809
Fax: (562) 698-6922
www.energyonemfg.com
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