I would love to name and shame but we all know that's not such a good idea. I see this type of thing SO often it makes me very sad, so I feel it necessary to share some of these experiences so that people understand that new doesn't always mean good, and just because someone says 'it's all been done' doesn't mean take anything for granted.

For the first example I will use the most recent.

This is a performance VW engine built by a professional VW specialist. It cost a lot of money and the design brief was for a reliable, torquey engine that will be understressed and live a long life.

The owner was actually very lucky as it caught fire due to carburettor issues that actually saved a catastrophic failure.

So you're aware, it's not just the engine builder at fault here, also with something to answer for is the shop selling the parts. Here the guy behind the counter actually advised against some of the parts manufactures specifications claiming he knew better. This advice was also partly to blame for some of the premature failures inside the engine.

Firstly a brief engine overview

2276cc 82mm Scat crankshaft x 94mm Mahle piston & barrel kit
New aluminium high roof shuffle pinned engine block
New 043 VW heads
Dual 36mm Dellorto carbs

to date this engine has done around 5000km and been 'maintained' by the builder.....

Here's a pic of what came out of the carby accelerator pump. The globs of sh1t on the bench and screw driver were solid behind the diaphram and completely blocking the circuit passages and one way valves.




The next beauty is swarf, that's right, metal shavings that were in the oil passages, this pic is the now blank one end oil pump outlet gallery in the case where the swarf has accumulated




This one is a ripper...here the dude decided to put the bigger cam bearing in the #3 bearing location, but forgot to mod the bearing for the oil drain, therefore compromising the bearing




More tomorrow

Oh it gets better people. I saw this engine.

looks like its up there with the infamous red silicon engine builder for quality.

Dude, my mother-in-laws Mazda 3 MP23 is 6 years old and been regularly serviced by the main dealer. I've been driving it lately and found the auto box to be rather notchy and jerky so thought I'd check the oil. Overfilled and blacker than the black stump. Oh how very well serviced.

I feel sorry for people that know nothing about cars cos in my experience you get ripped off left, right and centre when not in the know yet you don't even know you're being screwed over.

Nothing worse than shelling out $ and getting $h!t

That is disgusting. Fixing other peoples bodgie work is more difficult than doing it right in the first place.

Being a panel-beater by trade, I have had to re-do some shocking repairs in the past, and I know exactly how you must feel, Matt. Hope it all turns out O.K.

Good post.
Who was the builder, you know its the question everyone is wanting to ask?
I am just relieved that I have a good engine builder.

This is one reason that i do all my own work, i had a later box fitted to a 60 beetle by a repairer who i thought was alright until it broke clutch cables all the time. when i had a look at it the bowden tube was too long, when i approched him he just said bad luck, basicly piss off, had to shorten the clutch tube were it come's out of the tunnel next to the gearbox, have not broken a cable since. I make certain that i tell every body to steer clear of him all the time.

My brother got caught by one of these "pro" engine builders aswell. $6k for less than 5000km of engine life. The flywheel and gland nut was glued in because of a poor fit or quality. the flywheel all but cam off destroying the rear main seal, mating surfaces and rear bearing. after pulling the engine down we found alot of the same evidence you are posting above. not a simple mistake, but just hands down lack of concern for the finished product

might be the same guy?

Thanks for your comments to this thread. feel free to add your stories of woe ;(

One thing that worries me with this one, is that this is a combination of shops. The original builder, the parts supplier AND the next workshop that also had a go at it. All been around VWs for a very long time !!!!

This is the way the lower tinware was 'modified' to clear the exhaust.......shame there was no concern for the damaged pushrod tubes that were now bent and rubbing on the pushrods




not just one side either......this guy is good




Here at the very top of the pic you can see where the full flow feed line fitting must have cracked the case during fitting or tapping the thread so he had the case welded




The missing bolt on the top case join was exactly that.......missing




Similar to the sump stud that was too short so .....hey, 5 nuts will be more than enough.....surely????




last tonight is this beauty....how many threads do you really need to hold the head on?????

wow! great attention to detail. I wish I could build engines like that good.

WHY is there a jubilee clip on the oil pick up pipe?

Little off subject maybe but quality of parts supplied these days. For instance, brand new Beetle sloping headlight seals been on for a year and most of that under a house and they have cracked on the outside edge already.

I have no trust in any tradie in Brissy due to the shit jobs I've come across later on.

Grandma's Corolla we bought from her had been regularly serviced and maintained by her 'trusted' local garage. She had to give me $1200 to buy the parts required to get it thru the roadworthy cert for change of ownership. If the work had been done by a garage it would have cost the price of the car to fix it all.
Oh, and they tried to change the cam belt, maybe, but couldn't get the crank pulley off so when putting the camcover back on instead of pay $20 for a new gasket they used hardening gasket sealant under a rock hard rubber gasket. Hence the engine was covered in years of caked on oily crap.

Oh, I so could go on but WTF happened to the old days when a bad tradie was in the minority?

Yea Iam interested in the hose clamp on the pickup as well ?
How much did the original build cost this customer?

Hose clamp is the cheapo way of securing the oil pickup extension for the deep sump. Should be welded although a sealed hose clamp job when using the og strainer will suffice. This one though was quite loose, so much so I took video of it coming off without loosening the clamp.

Original build cost......$10k

nice pics

Great quatity of work, must have trained with the best. i like the nut, australian standard is three threads past the nut.

The hose clamp is usually supplied in the extended sump kit, but I have never seen anyone actually use it before?
The engines I have seen built are always welded on.

and how much of that $10k was parts, and of what quality?

It just shows what a waste of space our education system is! (Tafe, Universities etc)

I miss being up at your joint matty working on volksies, But I definatly don't miss this kind of shit!One thing is for sure I've forgotten how may times I heard people say I've been to X,Y and Z shops my shits still all jacked up and now I've got no money to fix it properly?Do people ever go back and lay this kind of crap on the table and ask for an explination?I had bad service at a vetinary surgery recently went back saw the owner told him I'd park out front with a sign outlining my problems for as long as it took and that was over $200 and he saw the point I was making,for $15,000 Youll wish you never heard of me.

I think the most important thing missing here other than workmanship or quality is pride.
How can a business take pride in this type of work. Shame on you. How would you like it if someone did this to your kid or mum.
Good post Matt

Now, where were we.......

mmmm, a nice 2275. Price breakdown I don't know as I've not seen any paperwork. Scat crank, cam and rods, VW 043 heads, Mahle p & b kit, Empi case, clutch & manifold & linkage kit.

Now remember the last pic of the head nut with all of 2 threads engaged, that was 3/4 side, so here is the other head, 1/2 side, and just so it wasn't left out, it also got the same treatment.




Obviously 1 or 2 threads isn't enough thread to hold on the head, so #3 cylinder had the stud fail which cause this massive blow-by




I forgot one other shop (#4 for this engine and it's only 5000km old), after the fire the car was towed to a VW repair shop where it sat for a month. The shop was asked to take care of the fire extinguisher powder that covered the engine as it's extremely corrosive and the owner was worried about his expensive engine. Well they removed the carbs and put water down the cylinder creating this mess once it sat for a few weeks.




Here is a pic of the failed lifters




and centre main bearing very scored with copper starting to show




Silicone should NOT be used on case 1/2's. It holds the cases apart which prevents the case providing the correct bearing crush



you can't see it in the pic, but the owner was told he needed a Hi-torque starter as the new engine was tight to turn over.....that would have been because the timing gears were so burred they bound even after being forced to run together for 5000km !!!!!!!!!

so what the hell is is even usable after all this? pretty much nothing? conrods maybe?

I'll answer that once everything is checked properly.

More than the last job of similar fate.......but that's another story

Man I'd take $10k outta that builders hide. This is shocking!!! But not unusual these days.

I heard very reliably that a body shop that does high end vehicles couldn't be bothered to weld up the trim holes in a decklid but said that a bit of filler would be perfectly OK. Wow, so it may look great for a while but after a few years at best you won't be so pleased with your expensive paint job

Friend is having a house built and the builder dug the footings in the wrong place and now has to get new building permission cos the drawings given to the customer weren't the ones submitted to the council. Awesome!!!

sad world we life in now

Vlad, you should watch Holmes Inspection on Foxtel 119. Now that's an eye opener

Most of these people that hang a shingle outside there shop have never seen inside a Tafe, $100 a hour to get a great job done like this, to do that job properly the average vw person cannot afford the time required to build a engine properly, i only farm out things like paint and panel and that's another story, you only have to look at the welding that comes out of some places, I just looked a super bug a you person bought with a road worthy, they had welded up the frame head and passed it, absolute rubbish. looked like they forgot to turn the gas on.