After 11 years, 60,000 miles on a second hand unknown engine, there are symptoms that show that it is time to look at an engine rebuild. We are putting aa litre of oil in for every 2 tanks of petrol, and I would assume it is burning as well as leaking, as 5 minutes is long enough to get a few 50 cent size puddles. It is getting very sluggish, and No. 3 cylinder is down 35psi over the others.

Anyway I had a couple of helpers, and this is what we found. The two boys 6 and 8 years old helped get the engine out, and that took 50 minutes, along with the tuturiols along the way. They were very attentive and asked a lot of good questions.

They pulled the motor down to a long block, but including leaving the clutch and flywheel on. The idle valve on the carby was loose, and one of the heater tubes was off. There was blocked fins galore, and both exhaust gaskets were blown, looking at the black soot around them.

The plan is to get a 1776 build with all stock heads and outer components, as they are all very good condition not long ago replaced, or not long ago rebuilt.

Good stuff!

Awesome Pete, You're training next generation Dub lovers! That's Cool.
Pardon the pun but does that make them "DubRats"!
The Beetle won't know itself with all that extra power when you're done.

They will be DubCubs. Because they are in Scouting as Cubs. This is the sort of stuff they can earn a Special Interest Badge for. Maybe Handywork, Engineering, or Collecting badge

When you get good questions like "Why do bolts all do up clockwise?" Then there is some info in regards to the fact there are some LH thread 'nick' nuts, which I could show on a gas bottle. It is all worth it, because there are so many parts of the day that they will probably never forget and may quote as a memory in 40 years time on a VW forum.

Wow! Thats pretty cool. I sometimes get my little 4 y.o brother to help me, he finds it more interesting to just belt things with hammers though!!

looks like me helping grumble the only thing i can pick as a difference is they are way too clean from my memory of helping grumble.

Looks like the motor is ready for me to assemble al the tinware etc. back onto. Unfortunately I have stuff on over the next couple weekends. I had the long motor, rocker cover to rocker cover, and fan pulley to flywheel assembled by an Australian VW Performance Centre.

Picked up the motor today. I have sand blasted and painted all tinware. Cleaned and reco'ed all ancilleries. I just need to assemble all, and then I can take the motor back to be run on the engine stand to run the cam and lifters in, and the carby jetted, timing etc. Hopefully will be looking around 70hp. Has been built 1776cc with W100 type cam and 8.7:1 comp ratio and lightened flywheel. Will be a smooth street low revving engine with the ability to keep up better with modern traffic. Should outdo a Hyundai i20 pretty easily

Nice, i will probably have similar figures, maybe a touch more

Picked up the engine from being run in, tuned and jetted. I just have to fit it to the Beetle, and we are right to go. Just need to find time. I got some new stainless tail pipes while I was at it too.

Finally tonight I fitted the engine. With work, Cub Scouts training, meetings, camps, nights out, interpack activities and other group visits, I have had 5 out of 7 nights a week taken at the moment, and I drink for 1 and I devote the other 1 to my wife.

Took it for a drive. Awesome. Smooth, torquey and well fast enough for modern traffic.

And NO OIL LEAKS. Yay!