Itinerant Air-Cooled

Had issues with the aircooled.net Brazilian intake manifold but with some moderate grinding/filing got it to fit. Not drop-in tho by any stretch.
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Autolinea (Brazilian) Type 1 cylinder heads. They have nice looking castings from the outside (shiny! for you crows) but suffer from extreme flashing that serves to block off almost every flow-through fin through the port areas. You will need to drill approximately 10-15 holes, using your original head as a template. The valve train hardware looks sort of cheap, also check to see if the valve stems line up. Mine had gross variations which leads one to ask, how did they insert the seats and how did they grind the valves? I have heard from cylinder head reconditioners that the aluminum is not particularly dense or hard. Good for an emergency get-it-home situation. I paid $165.00 for a new complete head.
Colin
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Sachs (!?!?!??!?!?!!) Brazilian pressure plate. O.D. does not line up properly with PP bore. Found out via Hall's Machine here in Portland, after taking NEW parts in for balancing.

AMS 3304 silicone valve cover gaskets sold by Wolfsburg West. They're guaranteed not to leak, yet they leaked worse than any gasket I've ever used. The problem is they're too small. I compared them to a cork gasket and you can clearly see the difference. Take a look.




I called Wolfsburg West and was told to "send 'em back" so I did. We'll see if the refund goes smoothly. I'll report back.

dtrumbo wrote:AMS 3304 silicone valve cover gaskets sold by Wolfsburg West. They're guaranteed not to leak, yet they leaked worse than any gasket I've ever used. The problem is they're too small.

I would stick with the cork gaskets. They are cheap and I have never ever had a leak with them.

I have about a dozen cork gaskets for the type 4 engine that I won't be using if anybody wants some.

dtrumbo wrote:I'll report back.

$24.00 credit posted to my card today. No credit for original shipping or return shipping, but I didn't expect that. I called Monday to inquire about the status of the credit (which had been issued the Friday prior) and the guy on the phone did ask what my experience was. I told him how they were just a tad too small, especially in the corners. He said he has them on his bug and they work great. Furthermore, they've sold tons of 'em with no problems. Perhaps I got two bad pair out of a bazillion good ones, who knows. In any case, I'm sticking with cork. Wolfsburg West did the right thing in a timely manner which is why they're in the top two on my preferred online vendor's list.

I thought about those, but cork is cheap. They also sell an oil strainer gasket made of the same material, but you're supposed to reuse the copper washers, which are crush washers and must be replaced at each removal.

hambone wrote:They also sell an oil strainer gasket made of the same material, but you're supposed to reuse the copper washers, which are crush washers and must be replaced at each removal.

I saw those. If you try to buy new washers separately from the gasket kit, you'll pay more than if you just bought the kit. Silly.

Copper washers do not need to be replaced every time. You can just flip them over if they have caved a little.
Colin

Really? Sez you. What about the oil drain plug? That's a weird puffed washer that compresses.
So why the heck does the oil change kit come with new hardware? I guess it's nice and new without grit.

hambone wrote:Really? Sez you. What about the oil drain plug? That's a weird puffed washer that compresses.
So why the heck does the oil change kit come with new hardware? I guess it's nice and new without grit.

New washers are a nice touch. Use them. I am saying that if you are out in the middle of nowhere doing an emergency oil change (all of mine were this category), there is no *need* to replace them unless you lose them or have smashed them unreconizably the last time you used a cheater pipe to install the strainer. My copper drain plug washer on the Road Warrior had well over 100,000 miles or two or three. I had made sure to put the flat seamed side of that washer towards the steel drain plug and the soft aluminum side always sealed well against the case.
Colin

Hooray! I always felt a bit guilty reusing the washers but never seemed to have any issue. I can usually get 3-4 oil changes out of the gaskets too, if I'm keerful.

sped372 wrote:Hooray! I always felt a bit guilty reusing the washers but never seemed to have any issue. I can usually get 3-4 oil changes out of the gaskets too, if I'm keerful.

We of careful re-use are better than everybody else.
Colin

I may add more but so far:

JCS Engines

Bruck Single Port Cylinder Heads

Who will stop this inhumane passing of crap on to others? I could not sleep at night knowing I had sold garbage to someone that will cause them to break down miles from home at best.

Probably old news, but T-1 style Dansk heat exchangers.
Fit was good, but after six years of light to moderate use the heater flaps on both have rusted or broken off the shafts. I have them jammed in heat position for winter until I can pull the engine and afford new ones...maybe in the springtime.

I can't see how this would have ever gotten an excess of moisture up in there, and the rust that is present looks like a dry, slow rust common to inferior steel rather than the bubbly-crusty reddish salt/water type rust, anyway.