Engine Komplete

The engine has been rebuilt and reconstructed. All components are stock standard except that electronic ignition has been fitted.....I'm too old to adjust points!

It's taking shape!

Well after 50-odd man hours at the panel beater, the Kombi is getting closer to a lick of paint!
In the end only one panel had to be replaced, all the rust has been removed and zero bog was used to get the old girl back to a near original state.

The engine is also nearing completion, just trying to source a few odds and ends to allow the mechanic to finish it off.

We now have 2 Volkswagens in the family!

2010 Mark VI Golf TDI Comfortline

An update....finally

Well, it's been a while since I have had a chance to do any work on the bus, or update this blog. (moving cities will do that) Progress has been made. My dad and I have moved the Kombi onto concrete to make it easier to work on. We have jacked it up at the rear to make engine installation easier than when we removed it. 

The engine is almost ready to be put back to together. All the internals have been tested by Retorque in Tamworth (I can't say enough good things about these guys, their service has been exceptional). The pistons, conrods, heads, case and crank are all in good order. The camshaft needed machining but it is also good to go and 8 new valves have been put in. The carbies need to be rebuilt but that is no major hassle as kits are readily available. Still scouring the net for a used factory EFI setup, but no luck thus far. Missed out on one 2 weeks ago and have been kicking my self ever since, as it was 90% complete. Shit happens.

Going to start some serious body work in the coming months in preparation for a respray. As I have mentioned before we have been very lucky with the condition of the Kombi and it's general rust-free state. The vehicle has obviously been in a rear end collision at some point and that it now evident as we have found a fair bit of bog in the rear panels.

As you can see this panel is not really worth saving so it will need to be replaced. This is another thing that amazes me about the whole V.W after market, I can purchase a brand new panel to fit this vehicle 30 years after it rolled off the showroom floor. There aren't too many other vehicles this can be said for. Sure makes my job easier!

Same story on the other side. Too much bog, so off it will come.

The gearbox has also been removed, there is a brand new clutch assembly to go in when we put it all back together. Going to take the gearbox over to the Manual Transmission Factory for a complete overhaul. The fuel tank has also been removed, going to check it's innards for rust and make sure the sender unit is working.

Below is a pic of the engine bay sans engine, gearbox and fuel tank.

Well that's about all for now, hope to have more updates soon.

Engine disassembly

Well, we finally got the engine pulled apart. Due to the amount of oil caked up around the crankcase it made it difficult to find the last 3 bolts but we got there in the end.
Thankfully most of the internals are in good condition. The crank, conrods, pistons and cylinders are ok. There is some wear on the camshaft so I am not too sure if that can be machined or I will need a new one. All the bearings have some wear so those are going to be replaced, as well as the rings. The heads need some work so I will need to get new valve guides put in and new seats also. I might as well get as much done as possible while the engine is out then I won't have to worry about it for a while.

Engine before

We spent a good day just cleaning all the muck off the crankcase. I couldn't believe how stubborn oil could be. Shiny!

Rust

Have started doing some body prep work. There is quite a bit of surface rust on the vehicle. The roof was pretty bad. Luckily it had not eaten into the body work.

So after some "wax on, wax off" with some wet and dry sandpaper it was back to bare metal.

It was just a matter of doing one section at a time and sanding it back until smooth and all traces of rust removed.

Then I applied some rust proofing metal primer for protection and to prevent rust rearing its ugly head again.

Bel says, "It looks like a kid has gone crazy with lipstick"

Painting

Today we got the tinware, heater components and some other stuff that surrounds the engine, gave it a good clean then painted it.

Before

After (clothes lines have more than one use you know!)