Need some advice.
Had to split the case on the 1500/1775 motor cause of blown rear seal. Came to the oil pump and found that the hex screws holding it on were absolutely soaked in what i thought was Locktite. Anyhow after cutting flat
screwdriver slots in them and messing around for 2 hours my friend said he had a hammer screwdriver -after pounding the hell out of the screws they eventually came out.

On to splitting the case. When I split my 1600 it fell apart as soon as I hit it with a rubber mallet.On this motor I could slightly split the pulley end but not the flywheel end.
I took out almost every single bolt that i could.using two nuts. Some of the smaller nuts just rounded off because off tons of goo that was on them. Still unable to split the case I soaked the fly end in everything for a week -nothing. A friend turned up and he said he reckoned becasue the goo was orange, that the genius who built the motor had used a product called STAG,a joining compound and the only way to get it off was to heat it which i did as much as as I dared because of the flammable mag case...Nothing!

So I made a case splitter using a scissors jack between 2 pieces of wood and using the motor to trans bolts. I put a ton of pressure on it using heat at the same time -nothing!.I cannot beleive that anyone in their right mind would use stag on a mag block because it's so brittle for starters. And this guy is a professional VW bulder in the ACT area.

Just wondering if any ideas on how to seperate this case.I am gonna try soaking some metho this pm, but thats the end of the line. Can't find anything on the internet re removing this stuff.I will check with a plumber friend when he gets home because they use stag as well. I am told.


Any ideas let me know quick -i may have aleady warped the case I dont know as yet until actually split the freakin thing,which I am going back to have another go at.It's only taken 2 weeks already.

Why are you splitting the case to replace the seal???

Actually I am not but while the motor was out I wanted to check if any damage had been done to the rear main bearing plus do few other checks because she had racked up a few miles.If the case had split like it should have this could all be done in a day.

you sure you have ALL case nuts undone ?

Have a good look, best have a 13mm socket on a 12 inch extension and look really really hard, maybe clean some crud and have another good look

I got a jack hammer u can borrow if u need it

Believe me there are no nuts holding this case together,and my friend who owned a garage for many and is ex NRMA has checked it out. Also he case is easy to inspect because it is really clean.No crud at all. And as i said i have even removed most of the case bolts themselves which were extremely hard to remove.
I should have been alerted when the flywheel had come off and I found that the were was Locktite on the gland nut. I had to get`a workshop to remove it.

I was told by a bikie that this Stag is used on bike engine cases sometimes.He is a chemical engineer and he said he won't use it because it does dry hard as a rock and using a jack will only break the case.He was the one to tell me to soak it in metho. which I will do.
I think I will be buying a new case somehow, so this Stag will cost me well over $1000 and even more time.http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/images/smilies/grind.gif

Yeah grumble I already checked the end play and while still in tolerance, the bearing can still be chewed a little, so why not open the case rather that putting it all back in and then having to remove it again because a major problem develops from a damaged bearing? As I said if the freakin case had split like it should - No problemo!

no fun here for sure.......yeah double triple check the case bolts/nuts......couple hard to spot

i've found carb cleaner to break down sealants well when cleaning up. not sure on something of this strength tho, worth a try

Will acetone eat away the case? If not, try acetone on the stag. We use it at work to clean up spilt resins, and hardeners and it eats away everything pretty much, except most metals.

Used about a can of carb cleaner. Acetone I haven't tried-that's really nasty dangerous stuff but it could be an option. I will try and contact the stag manufacturer next week and see what they say.

I'm pretty sure acetone would get that crap off for you, it's just a question if it will react with the case or not. We make resin capsules at work which are used to hold up mine walls and roofs. It's tough stuff when hardened and acetone cleans it up if we spill some and hardens on the floor and machinery.

Yeah thanx for thate guys ,i will have to swipe some of the little woman nail polish remover. Just read that brake fluid is also deadly on sealants.The one big problem with all this stuff is getting the stuff to penetrate because the mating surfaces are so close together.

Good luck, sounds like you are making a bit of work for your self.
years ago The stag that I used on cars was only a sealer not a lock tight?????

have you undone the 6 nuts between the cylinders? they are on the right side of the block as you look at the front of the motor.

A silly question but did you ask the engine builder how to split the case since he used the stag? I find it hard to believe a professional vw engine builder would use the stuff since there are a lot of better more reliable sealants available.Cheers and good luck. Les

Yeah i took out not only the bolts and the washers which can also hold things up but the case bolts as well.There are quite a few types of Stag. This stuff was orange and it was laden on every bolt in the case. Anyhow I have the case separated now.I went for broke and applied a little more pressure on the jack and for the first time it has open opened about 5mm. Too tired to deal with it any more today. Re the builder - I actually never knew his name because I bought the motor off someone else and he told me the motor was built professionally in the ACT area. This is my 6th. air cooled motor and I have never experienced anything like this before and hopefully never will again.Thanks for all help.

All my life I have used "Permatex Aviation gasket glue, "Non Hardening" expands & contracts as alloy motors go hot & cold, great between case halves

Yeah I agree Permatex aviation is really good. Incidentally besides using a hammer screwdriver on the oil pump cover I had to drill out the small bolt near the # 4 cylinder because it had so much Stag on it with a hex head nut - brilliant!

Just one more point -the guy who sold me the motor is absolutely honest . I do know that the motor was built by a full time "professionall " but just how professional he was is a matter of opinion.