UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Oven cleaner still gets my vote for cleaning pistons, valves etc.. removing carbon is what it's designed to do after all, and it does the job very well.

Funnily enough my main weapons were just a sponge scourer with fairy liquid, and wire wool (one coarse + plain, one fine + "soap" impregnated - oven cleaner?)... some times you just have to get back to basics

If i've got any bits that simply wont come off, then i'll reach for the caustic full-on oven nuking stuff

Loge i'm gonna email em now, if they still give you sh*t ask 'em to hold the stuff for you when it comes in (dont give em your credit card details or any money!) and order it online as well - see who comes up with the goods first and cancel the other if it's taking stupid amounts of time!

No reply from the GSF crew as yet, i was as nice as i could be
Think I will change em as, play aside (it was side-side not up/down so i dont think it'll fix it), at least a couple of them look wear damaged... scratches, pitting, big ass shiny streaks revealing strata, etc. Not chronic, but as ye say - whilst they're out... whats the cost like, if ya know?

Piston ring compressor arrived in my hands at about 7.30 tonight from that selfsame post-restante weary neighbour.... he thinks i'm "buying all of ebay" apparently. Man deserves a medal - well, maybe a thank you card in any case.
(where did you get my address btw? i probably gev it you at some point but soooooo dont remember lol)

looks....... nice. very black. and metal. with gritty bits. hehehehe....

and now my uncle wants to know why the car's still outside the house


edit......... hmmmmmmm wonder how effective it would be were i to try and shine up the cam cover etc.....??? (boredom whilst waiting to see if bearings are about)

the zorst manifold could maybe benefit from a lick of paint, but it's got 100% surface rust (seriously it looks like it's made from prickly terracotta) so chances of that working right are slim...

Phew. My piston rings arrived today, along with my thrust washers.

About time too!

thrust washers = the big end bearings??

so would you say, if i need a certain part, i should get on the blower to GSF brummagem and have them transfer it down from manc?

Big end bearings are £20 from gsf, definately worth replacing if there's any obvious wear on the existing ones, as you know now quite how much of a pain in the arse they are to get to in future

I got your address a while ago when I was going to send you those pistons. Might want to clean the grit out of the compressor before you use it Sorry about that, it's been sitting in a box of rusty engine components for a year.

High temp paint takes suprisingly well to the manifold shroud:
http://uk-polos.groovycarrot.co.uk/groo ... engine.jpg
Mine was also covered in rust, I actually had to trim the edges with tin snips because they were falling apart, but a good wire brushing sorts that out and then the paint takes very nicely. Handy hint, add a splash of thinners to the high temp paint, it leaves great big brush marks otherwise.
Shining up the inlet manifold takes a lot of work, I'd just wirebrush it down and paint it while you're doing the shroud.

No problem, i've shifted enough carbon crap off the pistons themselves, a little more off the compressor shouldn't be a worry... kind of neat that it even arrived (in a fruity box.. )

Forgive me if im wrong but i cant actually see the shroud in that pic! (and i guess i should have put more thought into what i said - the manifold itself is rusty and unsightly, but the shroud itself is merely blanched and pitted, nowhere near so bad). Can't be arsed with the inlet though, it's still attached to the head and i never even got a proper look at it before now.

Not sure whether to paint it a nice blue, silver, or just jet black... might have a look see if there's any HTP in the garage already, because if there is, that's what colour i'll use... even if it's brick red.

The bearings set you mention, they'd be the "main bearings" at £21.60 + VAT? I've emailed them again (from my work address this time) but still not confident of getting a reply. Be on the blower at lunchtime tomorrow if i hear nothing.

No, the main bearings hold the crankshaft in place, it's the con rod bearing set you want. I think it was about £20, I might have been thinking of the mains though.

You can barely see the shroud in that pic, but you can just about, and you can tell that it's black rather than various shades of grey and brown

well theres my prob i guess, i was looking for something red ... think i assumed the black stuff was the slam panel or something.

*goes back to GSF page to look at prices*

luckily in the email i just said "big end bearings", being purposefully vague as i knew i would probably ask for the wrong thing otherwise.

con-rod bearing set says 8.75 + VAT there --- which is like 35+VAT if you need 4 of them, or .... call it a tenner for one set, if it has 4 in it (for 10 quid it bloody better have eight teeny bits of tempered steel rather than 2!)

Yeah, the big ends are 8.75 + VAT. I've just got a set for the GT. You get the full set of 8 in there, so don't worry.

If you are replacing the main bearings, you should replace the thrust washers, which go between the centre main bearing on the crank shaft.

Not sure how in depth you are going with your re-build, but I think it would still be false ecomony not to replace them.

As for the piston rings, mine got transfered from the main branch in Yorkshire. They messed about a bit with the transfer, but as soon as they arrived, they left a messege on my home answering machine to confirm their arrival, so it wasn't too bad.

Don't bother with emails, get on the phone or speak to them in person. If you're stuck for a set, I'll order you some and post them to you.

Email basically fobbed me with "we don't do big end bearings at all". Will have to see on monday how they responded to me stating how you received yours from them this week

though they also asked what my engine number was as i expressed interest in a water pump, and it changed at some point in 91

im sorry mate, but ive got to this point now where i havent even a clue what bearing it is you're on about. i'm stretching my budget, ability, and everyone elses patience (real life, and, i suspect, online) as it is so i might just tempt fate and leave that one as it was never part of the plan...... f*ck, the BEBs weren't either, but i have to draw a line SOMEWHERE or i'll never finish and will p*ss all rather than merely most of my money away doing this - it was originally meant to be a cheaper and more guaranteed alternative to getting a scrap/swap/ready re-con engine in and hiring a hoist. i'm pushing the boundaries of that remit as it is, and if they havent the bits in the bham branch tomorrow my time is going to get squashed even more. the MOT and tax clock is ticking down you see....

spent the eve giving the pistons their final prep, removing what i could of the strangely adamantium-like carbon deposits out of the ring grooves (i eased off a bit when it became plain they were quite a bit tougher than the easily-remoulded aluminum they sat upon) etc. now all i can do is put the rings back on...... think i might put them back in the bores as well, as i've removed all the bearings and removing/replacing them appears to be a piece of p*ss even if obstructed...... slide off, slide on.

The main bearings sit inside the shells that hold the crankshaft in place. It's a b***h to get out, don't think you actually can remove the crankshaft with the engine in situ, don't worry about them if you're trying to do it on time / budget. They'll go eventually, but they really should last a lot more than 80k, even if it's been given a pretty rough life at times. Given that you're just overhaulling it so sell it at a half decent price, I'd just go with what you've got already, it'll stop it burning so much oil, you should get some power back from the restored compression and at least you'll have some kind of peace of mind with the replaced big end bearings.

I looked it over in the haynes manual, i know which ones you guys mean now - the other bearings actually holding the crankshaft in place, rather than holding the pistons to the crank. the lower ones look fairly easy to renew, but to do the top ones seems to involve removing the crank ... which also means taking both the alternator pulley and crank sprocket off (cant really get the alt pulley off until the sump + shafts back on anyway), not to mention the oil pump (argh) and the clutch & flywheel (not a chance).

Sorry like

I just hope it hasnt taken quite as much of a pounding as the actual BEBs have - compared to the new ones they look even worse than before, and re-reading the haynes section on checking them has revealed they seriously needed doing. A lot of the coating has come off, and the steel is blued in places...

And yes - i have the stuff. Got the part numbers off the GSF website, went down there with them on a bit of notepaper, just told the guy i was after "a water pump, number 17051, and conrod bearings 16185" (think those are the right numbers???). Took him all of two minutes to find them on the shelf and a further two to bill me and debit my card. Easy as - and they are the right ones, too.

Think it's just the general retail-worker syndrome that's caused problems before - i.e, they take anyone, and if they're told one thing one time about a specific thingamajig, for some reason they'll then think it applies to everything, permanently. Probably they stopped doing BMW piston rings and bearings for a few months some years back when a factory burnt down or something

Doing grand with some mr muscle oven cleaner and an old toothbrush getting the carbon crap out of the ring grooves .... but i'm still troubled by the number 1 bore.

I've given it a fair old wellying with some tough wire wool, detergent, clean oil and so on, and it's come down a bit (removing carbon stuff), but it seems to have hit a point where it's not getting any less - like it's a ridge of metal formed by e.g. the old top compression ring gouging out the metal of the bore... and where the piston reaches the top of the stroke is where the ridge forms. It's only slight, i'd estimate half a millimetre tops, but enough to be felt. Probably the thing that was causing the impression of a burnt out ring, regardless of how decent the old ones still look??

Seeing as the ring's going to be below this when it's all put back together anyway, should it matter much? The arrangement of it is such that it wont cause any trouble getting the stuff back into the bore (though retrieving the rings after doing the initial fitting and checking *may* be more troublesome).

Or does it need to go off for a rehone? (= i.e. sod it all)

........lol.... i've just realised that not four minutes walk from my house there's a tool hire shop where i could probably rent an engine hoist by the hour, and roll the car down there on the gradient... hmmm! Pass it almost every day and it's one of those things you dont notice until, suddenly... pfff

Oh, and the water pump looks like a doddle to replace, but the fitting instructions supplied with the new one mention something about applying sealant? Is this special stuff that would have to be got from halfords, or could a bit of universal bathroom sealer do the trick?

edit: also tried turning the camshaft so that all the valves are shut, so i can clean it and make sure it's flat....... stiff as f*ck, i need to find something very hefty to brace it against before i'll succeed - should it be so difficult? Feels like it would be putting a hell of a strain on the cambelt.

Sounds like your big ends have been overheating then, if they are blued. Lack of oil possibly. If they are bad, what sort of condition are the journals in?

There will be a ridge there, as there is mechanical contact between the piston rings and the bores, therefore wear will occur, leaving a ridge where the piston reaches TDC and the top compression ring is at it's highest point.. It's whether that ridge is still within tollerence that's the important thing. You'll have to get it measured up. When this is done, you can also check for ovality in the bores as well. If they are too worn and outside of the manufacturers tollerences, it should be re-bored and fitted with oversize pistons if you are going to make a propper job of it, but I doubt you'll want to do that. New rings should suffice, but as I say, it all depends on how worn the bores are.

Are you going to get the bores honed?

The sealant the instructions for the water pump is talking about is a gasket sealant. It will tell you to apply it to the sealing o-ring for the water pump. Hylomar is what you need and you'll need it to seal other gaskets as well (such as your sump gasket if you are going to re-use it) so you my as well get some. GSF stock it.

The camshaft will not be 'easy' to turn, as remember you've got to give it enough force to compress the valve springs. If you want to turn it, screw the pulley bolt back is and use a 19mm socket on that to apply the force. Not much point anyway, as you won't be able to close all the valves, as two will always be open, unless you remove the camshaft.