Project Budget Beater Part V

When we last left the "Budget Beater" 1914 cc engine, all the internal parts were machined and cleaned. Now, we get ready to assemble the short block; that is, put the engine case together with the connecting rods hanging out the cylinder holes. Once again we travel to VW Paradise, in San Marcos, Calif., where resident engine builder Jason Lauffer goes to work. Now, as a word of caution--this article will simply show some of the more important steps taken when assembling an aircooled engine. There are a number of books out there that go into great detail about how to correctly assemble a VW engine, and there isn't enough space in the magazine to get into all of it. I would suggest the Bentley manual, the old "Rebuild you Air Cooled VW" book by Tom Wilson (available from H.P. Books,), and for those of you that have joined the 21st Century and have a VCR, I would also suggest a copy of BugMeVideo's engine rebuild tape. If you still don't feel confident, you can always call Jason at VW Paradise; they ship engines all over the U.S.

One good thing about a 1914cc engine is that it is really no more than a big stocker, as there is no clearancing needed for a stoker crank. Once the case is machined, and cut open for the 94mm pistons and cylinders, it goes together just like a 40 horse, a 1300- or 1600cc engine. Good power can be had from one of these "big stockers," if all the details are thought out beforehand and the engine is built correctly.

Since we upped the displacement, we decided to add a little more horsepower in the way of a free, used, Engle 110 cam, added to the reliability by the use of the Gene Berg 69mm counterweighted crank and rods, and tapping the case for full-flow oiling.

The first thing Jason does is to make sure he has all the parts he will need. Main bearings, rod bearings, cam bearings and cam plug, gasket set, dowel pins for the main bearings and oil pump, along with the crankshaft, connecting rods and cam and lifters and gears and oil slinger.

Then, everything is cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. After he is done cleaning and drying all the parts, he does it again. I cannot stress enough, how important cleanliness is. If you even think it's dirty, or could have a piece of lint or dirt in it or on it, clean it again.

There is the "Budget Beater," in short block form. Figuring that we had a total of $640 in the engine before we started, and we spent an additional $113.38 on the gasket set, main, rod and cam bearings, 30mm oil pump, and full-flow cover, and rear main seal.

The total so far, is $753.38.

Not too bad for an engine that was built primarily from used parts! As previously stated, this is not a step by step how-to on assembling your VW short block. That has been covered by us many, many times in the past, and there are books and video's available that address this subject far better than we could in magazine format. Next, we will install the pistons and cylinders, set the compression to the desired level, install the heads, set the rocker arm geometry, and the long block will be complete. Stay tuned.