My 1680 I built back in 70s I had a track use only cam in it. Idle was theoretical at best, cam lobes were almost as round as roller cam lobes. No clue what the hp was but I don't know what car of mine was quicker my bugs or my firebird 400 Ram Air IV. The first day I had that 1680 in I ripped the flywheel off the crank. I thought I might have forgotten to tighten gland nut to spec. Had to tear down and install new crankshaft/flywheel and this time I made sure it was tight. Took the car out and sure enough I tore the flywheel off again. I went to this vw Guru who was German and asked him what gives. I went through my procedure and he said I did everything right but then asked me what I did to the engine. He said Holyshit you need 8 dowel pins and lent me the jig to add 4 more dowel pins. I did that and never had a problem again. Now after looking at a few videos including yours I realize everyone tightens to around 245-252 foot pounds, I only did it to what my book said and that was 219 ft/lbs. It was an official vw book from the 60s I believe. I specifically remember 219 because I did it 3 times in a week on this bug I had. I built a 1800 and a 1835 for a buddy and used that same jig to add 4 more dowel pins and torqued to 219 and never had a problem. I now know it should've been to around 250 ft/lbs 🧐 I believe book was only for 1300cc engines ! I find out 47 years later my mistake. I am now retired and looking to pickup a hobby to keep busy. I've worked on a lot of different cars and engines and motorcycles but nothing wakes up with soo little effort like a classic vw engine. So I feel like doing another 47 years later and when doing the gland nut I'll tighten to 250 😁
Idle was “theoretical” 😂. That’s similar to what the Pertronix was giving me (just had to take it out again.) That’s a scary situation when a flywheel lets go! I’m not sure but I’d reckon that you’re right about the 219lbs being for 1300. Of all the things I worried about on my 1800 build, the flywheel was high on the list. I went ahead and bought a new one, but later found out that my buddy has a jig for for converting 4 dowel into 8. Congrats on converting your flywheel because I’ve heard that can get messed up if not carefully done. Yes sir, the simple and utilitarian Aircooled engine has captivated me as well. When I’m driving it, and everything is running perfect-ish, the satisfaction of knowing that I built it is indescribable. No matter how cool a kid in his new car is, if he didn’t build it then it’s just not the same. Too bad parts and cases have become so expensive now or I’d build a lot more!
@@bomberobus LOL, yeah you know how much work is involved with re-drilling dowels, so doing it twice for myself and once for a friend I pretty much got the hang of it but now decades later realizing all I had to do was tighten another 31 ft-lbs, well that's where the saying live and learn comes to mind. If you're not learning you're basically dead so I'll live on ! P.S. as far as cost, I can build a 600 hp chevy LS engine for less than a bug engine. If I remember correctly back in the bug builds were under $1000 and that included everything from jugs, cam, bearings, crankshaft, heads, carbs and yeah a sbc engine about the same. Only difference is you triple the hp of a 1600 lbs car compared to maybe doubling hp in a 3500 lb car. It's all about the math 😁
@@bomberobus Just researched and yes 1200,1300and 1500 required 217 ft-lbs of torque. I remember 219 but that could've been just me, I tend to go to the tighter side when putting something together. What I do remember is gland nut looked fine but crankshaft was stripped. Gland worked fine in new crankshaft but I used new one. So originally 1200-1500 flywheels were torqued to 217 ft-lbs and I believe crankshafts were just cast back then and was the limiting factor for torque setting for gland nut. It Does state 254 for all applications now and I read drag racers torque to 350-400 ft-lbs but I'm betting they have forged 4340 crankshaft that enables them to torque to such high settings. Torque setting are to obtain the highest clamping force within the limits of the to parts be mated together and in my case I believe the crankshaft was the limiting factor in my case. When I drilled those 4 extra dowel pins and drilled holes .005 smaller. I tried putting pins in but were too tight on purpose and froze them and with a little tap popped right in. And 217-219 did the trick. So what I ascertain, you can torque all engines to 254. If running a stock cast crankshaft I wouldn't torque to any 300-400 ft-lbs. Just thought I'd give you a heads-up for future reference 😉
@@benkrom2737 really good info! I put a 4340 crankshaft in the 1800 I recently built because it really wasn’t much more cost than the 4140, even though It’s probably overkill for a daily streeter. 😂
@@bomberobus I believe that 4340 let's you tighten gland nut to whatever you want 250-400 ft-lbs. I just know with 8 dowel crankshaft you can getaway with only 217 😆
mine seems to have a rear main seal leak and a pushrod tube leak so this is gonna be painful to do an engine pull and reinstallation my marking spots aren't as bad as yours was mine are tiny
Thank you. It is like I was standing there getting personal coaching. I am going to buy a new gland nut before I start on mine (taking your advice), but there seems to be so many that I can not tell the "good one" from the cheap ones. Who do I purchase my gland nut from to be sure I get a quality one? Will it come with the wave washer or is that an additional purchase? Thanks!
I usually check out CB Performance first for most things. They have a chromoly “racing” gland nut. It’s only 5 or 6 dollars more than a stick gland nut, but it comes with the washer as well. Check them out and type gland nut in their search box. It’s probably overkill for a stock engine/flywheel but still works great. Good luck and I hope you don’t find any gremlins while you’re in there LOL.
This video was very helpful, detailed and edited very well!
Thanks man. They leak enough already, so gotta take care of the big ones.
Both of mine are doing this and I also think is throwout bearing time on one. So is on the to do list once it cools off thanks for the vid👍🇩🇪
I understand waiting until it cools off. This tends to be one of those jobs that leads to other “might as well do it while the engine is out” jobs 😂
My 1680 I built back in 70s I had a track use only cam in it. Idle was theoretical at best, cam lobes were almost as round as roller cam lobes. No clue what the hp was but I don't know what car of mine was quicker my bugs or my firebird 400 Ram Air IV. The first day I had that 1680 in I ripped the flywheel off the crank. I thought I might have forgotten to tighten gland nut to spec. Had to tear down and install new crankshaft/flywheel and this time I made sure it was tight. Took the car out and sure enough I tore the flywheel off again. I went to this vw Guru who was German and asked him what gives. I went through my procedure and he said I did everything right but then asked me what I did to the engine. He said Holyshit you need 8 dowel pins and lent me the jig to add 4 more dowel pins. I did that and never had a problem again. Now after looking at a few videos including yours I realize everyone tightens to around 245-252 foot pounds, I only did it to what my book said and that was 219 ft/lbs. It was an official vw book from the 60s I believe. I specifically remember 219 because I did it 3 times in a week on this bug I had. I built a 1800 and a 1835 for a buddy and used that same jig to add 4 more dowel pins and torqued to 219 and never had a problem. I now know it should've been to around 250 ft/lbs 🧐 I believe book was only for 1300cc engines ! I find out 47 years later my mistake. I am now retired and looking to pickup a hobby to keep busy. I've worked on a lot of different cars and engines and motorcycles but nothing wakes up with soo little effort like a classic vw engine. So I feel like doing another 47 years later and when doing the gland nut I'll tighten to 250 😁
Idle was “theoretical” 😂. That’s similar to what the Pertronix was giving me (just had to take it out again.)
That’s a scary situation when a flywheel lets go! I’m not sure but I’d reckon that you’re right about the 219lbs being for 1300. Of all the things I worried about on my 1800 build, the flywheel was high on the list. I went ahead and bought a new one, but later found out that my buddy has a jig for for converting 4 dowel into 8. Congrats on converting your flywheel because I’ve heard that can get messed up if not carefully done.
Yes sir, the simple and utilitarian Aircooled engine has captivated me as well. When I’m driving it, and everything is running perfect-ish, the satisfaction of knowing that I built it is indescribable. No matter how cool a kid in his new car is, if he didn’t build it then it’s just not the same. Too bad parts and cases have become so expensive now or I’d build a lot more!
@@bomberobus LOL, yeah you know how much work is involved with re-drilling dowels, so doing it twice for myself and once for a friend I pretty much got the hang of it but now decades later realizing all I had to do was tighten another 31 ft-lbs, well that's where the saying live and learn comes to mind. If you're not learning you're basically dead so I'll live on ! P.S. as far as cost, I can build a 600 hp chevy LS engine for less than a bug engine. If I remember correctly back in the bug builds were under $1000 and that included everything from jugs, cam, bearings, crankshaft, heads, carbs and yeah a sbc engine about the same. Only difference is you triple the hp of a 1600 lbs car compared to maybe doubling hp in a 3500 lb car. It's all about the math 😁
@@bomberobus Just researched and yes 1200,1300and 1500 required 217 ft-lbs of torque. I remember 219 but that could've been just me, I tend to go to the tighter side when putting something together. What I do remember is gland nut looked fine but crankshaft was stripped. Gland worked fine in new crankshaft but I used new one. So originally 1200-1500 flywheels were torqued to 217 ft-lbs and I believe crankshafts were just cast back then and was the limiting factor for torque setting for gland nut. It Does state 254 for all applications now and I read drag racers torque to 350-400 ft-lbs but I'm betting they have forged 4340 crankshaft that enables them to torque to such high settings. Torque setting are to obtain the highest clamping force within the limits of the to parts be mated together and in my case I believe the crankshaft was the limiting factor in my case. When I drilled those 4 extra dowel pins and drilled holes .005 smaller. I tried putting pins in but were too tight on purpose and froze them and with a little tap popped right in. And 217-219 did the trick. So what I ascertain, you can torque all engines to 254. If running a stock cast crankshaft I wouldn't torque to any 300-400 ft-lbs. Just thought I'd give you a heads-up for future reference 😉
@@benkrom2737 really good info! I put a 4340 crankshaft in the 1800 I recently built because it really wasn’t much more cost than the 4140, even though It’s probably overkill for a daily streeter. 😂
@@bomberobus I believe that 4340 let's you tighten gland nut to whatever you want 250-400 ft-lbs. I just know with 8 dowel crankshaft you can getaway with only 217 😆
Looks like a beautiful day!
Twas
Very helpful!!! Thank u for sharing
Glad to help. Helpful is the mission!
Dude i pulled that flywheel off 4 times to get the leak finally sorted out.
I can relate. I don’t even do it anymore unless the leak gets outrageous. I know you dub daily, and your Bug is looking good!
@@bomberobus that and the canyons out here make for some calm days. 😎
Very helpful! My bug is doing the same thing.
Glad to help.
Mine is doing the same 😢
mine seems to have a rear main seal leak and a pushrod tube leak so this is gonna be painful to do an engine pull and reinstallation
my marking spots aren't as bad as yours was mine are tiny
Yep I would t have even done it if the leaks weren’t so bad.
Thank you. It is like I was standing there getting personal coaching. I am going to buy a new gland nut before I start on mine (taking your advice), but there seems to be so many that I can not tell the "good one" from the cheap ones. Who do I purchase my gland nut from to be sure I get a quality one? Will it come with the wave washer or is that an additional purchase? Thanks!
I usually check out CB Performance first for most things. They have a chromoly “racing” gland nut. It’s only 5 or 6 dollars more than a stick gland nut, but it comes with the washer as well. Check them out and type gland nut in their search box. It’s probably overkill for a stock engine/flywheel but still works great. Good luck and I hope you don’t find any gremlins while you’re in there LOL.
@@bomberobus Thanks! I will do just that.