How To Rebuild Your Volkswagen Air Cooled Engine

Comments

1. Raymond Hogue says:

   October 1, 2010 at 5:56 am

   Very complete and usefull manuel for the VW air cool enthousiast or owner. A must have!!!
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. Luis Arturo Abrego Rodriguez says:

   October 1, 2010 at 6:33 am

   Me encanto, el libro de Tom Wilson, Glen Grissom es un libro que te lleva de la mano en la evaluacion y reparacion para el motor de tu vocho, exelente y bien descrito paso a paso.
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. David Wilson says:

   October 1, 2010 at 8:19 am

   Tom Wilson’s book brings the mystique of engine rebuilding down to a level that your average backyard mechanic can understand. It is as easy to use as John Muir’s book when is comes to rebuilding a VW engine. It does not take hundreds of hours to do nor does it take thousand of dollars. Rebuild kits with cylinders, pistons, etc are relatively cheap and, if these parts are servicable, a gasket kit and rings will be well under a hundred dollars. I rebuilt my engine for about three hundred dollars and it runs like a charm. It took one week to do part time; about twenty hours. Little in the way of specialized equipment is needed. Machining, if needed, is usually minimal and not costly. I only have the usual range of socket wrenches and stuff and no specialized equipment. Muir’s book even tells you how to make inexpensive substitutes that work excedingly well. Wilson’s book cuts to the chase and tells you what you need to know. If you have an average level of mechanical ability you can do this.
   Rating: 5 / 5
4. David Wilson says:

   October 1, 2010 at 8:59 am

   Tom Wilson’s book brings the mystique of engine rebuilding down to a level that your average backyard mechanic can understand. It is as easy to use as John Muir’s book when is comes to rebuilding a VW engine. It does not take hundreds of hours to do nor does it take thousand of dollars. Rebuild kits with cylinders, pistons, etc are relatively cheap and, if these parts are servicable, a gasket kit and rings will be well under a hundred dollars. I rebuilt my engine for about three hundred dollars and it runs like a charm. It took one week to do part time; about twenty hours. Little in the way of specialized equipment is needed. Machining, if needed, is usually minimal and not costly. I only have the usual range of socket wrenches and stuff and no specialized equipment. Muir’s book even tells you how to make inexpensive substitutes that work excedingly well. Wilson’s book cuts to the chase and tells yo what you need to know. If you have an average level of mechanical ability you can do this.
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. Anonymous says:

   October 1, 2010 at 9:02 am

   Having just recently finished rebuilding a 1200 engine, my experience with Wilson’s book was frustrating. Not only are key details about the 1200 engine omitted but issues such as compression ration/deck height are poorly explained and the uninformed reader is left to guess. This is fatal when considering the composition of modern, lead replacement fuels which require a lower compression ratio. Other important issues not covered are – how to get the timing right when inserting distributor gear shaft (which should be done after crankcase assembly), lubrication details (using white grease for assembly as he recommends clogs oil galleries), checking bearing crush for big end bearings, as well as adjusting rocker arm geometry. Having said all this this happens to be the only book which deals with rebuilding in this depth, so it is useful but think for yourself! Another important aspect is the cost of a rebuild and the number of hours required – expect to spend thousands of dollars and hundred of hours of time. Although the book claims to make rebuilding easy, without the proper machinery and tools rebuilding is time consuming, costly and annoying. Expect to either buy or borrow specialised tools such as large sockets, micrometers, depth gauges, etc and to pay for machining work such as regrinding values, crank, etc. Rebuilding can end up being merely a reassembly task of work completed by a machine shop.
   Rating: 3 / 5