Almost Ready for Assembly

I did in fact get the second package of VW engine parts last week, on Thursday. Unfortunately, a couple of the main bearing and cam bearing shells were nicked up. Looks like they got shuffled around during shipment. So far my luck with getting this situation resovled with SoCal Imports hasn't been that great. I called shortly after 9am and was told that Candice handled returns, and that she would be coming in at Noon. I called at 12:20, and was told Candice was at lunch. This made me chuckle and question the "JC" when exactly does Candice work? JC was a douche. No I couldn't leave a message, and no she wouldn't call me back. But he suggested I call back at 1:30. I called at 1:30, and Candice had gone home for the day. Ha! Turns out, Candice is the owner, so she must work banker hours. Fortunately, "Josh" took my call this time and logged all my info. He said Candice would call me Monday. I'm holding my breath.

Notice the nicks and scratches on the main and cam bearings:


This means I couldn't do much in the way of assembly this weekend. One of the main bearings gets installed on the crankshaft before the cam gear get installed, followed by a ring, spacer, distributor gear and some woodruff keys. So what's the point of getting all that stuff installed to find out Candice wants me to return the full main bearing set? Exactly...

So I turned my attention to the cylinder heads. I had ported them a few weeks ago, so they were ready for new valves and high-rev valve springs. It was a pain in the ass to get things on, as the valve spring compressor tool Mr A gave me apparently didn't have enough "span" between arms to take into account the longer high-rev valve springs. I really had to muscle things on. The first head took me a good hour, while the second head only took me 20 minutes start to finish.

I also finished cleaning up the engine case, and cleaning up the remainder of the engine hardware. I also pirated the fuel pump, distributor, and generator stand off the 1200cc engine.

Here is a pic showing most of the engine goodies. If SoCal Imports suddenly shows some amount of customer service, I could possibly start the assembly process this week. Looks like I'll have both Tuesday and Thursday nights to myself, as Susan will be busy both nights.



I still need to dril the flywheel for 8-dowels, and I forgot to order a piston ring compressor tool, that is omewhat unique to VWs. I did however pick up some Permetex Aviation gasket maker at NAPA and some hi temp silicon. The silicon is used for sealing the cylinder barrels to the case, while the Permatex is for sealing the case and anything else that will need to seal oil.

C'