Motor recon? What to do

We have a 74 kombi with a twin carb 1800. It runs well but the problems we have are. Heavy blow back due to worn pistons and rings causing a few oil leaks, well quite a few actualy. Also the bottom end bearings sound fairly worn. We have had it 2 weeks and are not sure what to do. I know a bit about engines but need help. The heads are newish, 5 / 6 years old. we want to get round Ozz in a year or so. We have been advised by our mechanic that a full recon but using our heads would be a resonable option. $3000 quoted. $4200 with new heads. What do you think? We are in Adelaide at the moment and will hang around. Advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Philip and cLaire

That seems very expensive. I got mine reco'd in Melb. for under $3k incl. new heads a couple of years ago.

Another option would be to install a known good motor. Much cheaper, particularly if you do it yourself. They come up for sale on this forum from time to time.

the prices quoted sound quite reasonable to me. You get what you pay for at the end of the day.

Contact Gary at Conti Engines he does mail order engines with a 12 mth 20 000 km warranty. 2L are around $2200 from memory and they are full reco's

Thanks for the help. It's good to have a few options.

claire

hey phillip
id say forget about getting your 1800 recod. i was in a similar boat a couple of weeks ago and found a 2L with reco heads for $650 on this forum! thanks stuy at vw insomnia for helping me out on that one!! you could ring him 0421022264 and just give him your details, one might come up.


below is another engine from helbus (peter) that i was looking at, just couldnt hold out, but this one sounds like a doozie with new internals
as per u2u from peter....

I have an 1800 motor complete with absoloutley everything on it except starter motor. It is in the bus still and can be test driven and it is pretty good cond. Carbies very good, dizzy was rebuilt 3 years ago with new parts. bottom end was done 110,000 km ago. 10,000 km ago it dropped a valve guide and had new rings and reco heads fitted, with a German gasket kit. It has got German Mahle pistons in it.

The reason it is going, I am putting a Subaru 2.2 in it and the 6 grand or so that is costing me will need to be recouped somehow, or I would keep the motor for another day.

I am looking for $1200, and the motor is not available yet.


also there one in brissy "crazy george", heres hes email
luftundwasser@aol.com

hope this helps bro
adam

sorry claire, didnt see you were posting 🙂
i only read phillip at the top.....

Thanks Adam, where is this 1800 for $1200? We are in Adelaide. Also Brad how can we get hold of Conti Engines? Where are they? Number? Thanks for all the help. This site is a must for all VW enthusiasts.

Philip and Claire

Conti Engines / Volks Heads
2/15 Armitage St Bribie Island Qld Ph 07 3408 3103 The largest Exchange VW engine builder in Australia. Very cheap rates and a 12 mth 20 000km warranty on all recondition engines. Give Gary a call, great shipping rates Australia wide.

marcel

Thank you for the information. We will call them. How hard is it for a novice to swap and engine? Can it be done without a hoist? What do I need. Should I even try. I am hand but am not a mechanic.

snifter wrote:Thank you for the information. We will call them. How hard is it for a novice to swap and engine? Can it be done without a hoist? What do I need. Should I even try. I am hand but am not a mechanic.

Definitely possible for a novice, just be prepared for it to take longer than you thought it would or could! You don't need a hoist but you do need some way of lowering/raising the engine and the rear of the kombi. I did it using a crappy scissor jack, a cheap trolley jack and a skateboard to move the engine + gearbox around. Oh and a couple of blocks of wood to use as chocks for the wheels and the engine when I'd got it out from under the kombi.

You will also need a manual - Bentley is very good but exe.

This site is also useful, though I didn't need to remove as much stuff as he did. I would love to have had one of those motorbike jacks he used!

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/EngineRemoval.html

hey claire, the 1800 motor is in melbourne, but ive never seen reco engines so cheap ($2200), and with a years warranty! if your doing the long haul id go with that option, its worth the extra mula me thinks ....conti engines hey? is gary on this site?

i guess like with any second hand stuff, you could be buying problems.....and also theres a considerable advantages with the 2L over the 1800, alot more torque and pulling power with the bigger stroke, and about the same on fuel (in my bus anyway)

so we will be needing some travel pics!!

Reco heads are rubbish. They're just too old. If your on a budget i suppose youv'e got no other option. Just remember a stock engine rebuild can go to 5000 or more if getting done properly.