New Motor Build

This engine project started late last fall, Mike P lives near me and bought a 2000 or so Vintage Spyder. It had a pretty old and tired Berg 2213(86 stroke by 90.5), and it seized.

Here is the car, we pulled the motor and trans(wouldn't stay in 2nd gear if you lifted off the gas). A complete new powertrain was on the menu. I didn't want the responsibility of the trans too, so that rebuild went somewhere else.

This was just before Christmas 2020.

Mike brought me the motor on January 2nd. I disassembled it, and ended up using the case, the rockers, the valve covers, alternator/fan, and tin. The tin was nice: powdercoated and with all flaps, doghouse cooler and deflector.

The rockers are Berg forged 1.45:1. All else inside was toasted. I sent the case to be cleaned, and was very disappointed. It came back with gasket material and rtv still in some spots. I took a large plastic tub and set about washing it with Simple Green and nylon and brass brushes. I flushed all passages with detergent, then clear water, then air. I put the case in the oven at 275F for 30 minutes to remove all moisture.

Then Mike and I arrived at a build plan, and parts were ordered.

Mahle 94mm Forged P&C, CB 82mm crank, CB dual mass flywheel, Sachs HD 200mm clutch, Scat 5.5" forged rods w/ARP bolts. This makes 2276cc

CB balanced the crank, pressure plate and flywheel. Getting the rotating parts from CB and balanced was a great decision.

CB CNC Super Pro heads with CNC ported intakes: 45 x 37.5 valves

Scat Lube-a-lobe tool steel lifters, Webcam 86b(my favorite), chromoly pushrods.

CB dry sump pump, Saldana tank, hoses, fittings, etc.

JayCee No-Leak pushrod tubes and billet sump plate(highly recommended!).

It took a few weeks to get the rotating components. It took a few months to get the heads, as they are made to order. Combustion chambers were flycut smaller to 58cc. Static CR is 9.6:1.

The cylinders are very hard to find these days. I got them from Moore parts, last set they had. You can get cheap AA all day long, but Brazilian Mahle not so much. Instead of having the case machined(it was already 90.5/92 size), I opted to machine the cylinder bases. If you take off 0.020", they slip right in. VW racers have been doing this for twenty years with success. The strength isn't needed in this area of the cylinder and the case is stronger this way. My other friend Mike machined them for me in his Clausing lathe.

Beautiful work! He also machined a CB full-flow pump cover so it would work with their dry sump pump. I plugged the internal passage back to the case on the pump(drilled and tapped 1/4" aluminum plug), and also drilled and tapped and plugged the main oil gallery in the case. These steps are often not done which can lead to low/decreasing oil pressure problems. I attempted to Hoover mod the case, but it doesn't have enough metal to drill through, I would have ruined it. The lifters I used don't need the Hoover mods, nor do the Berg rockers, so this one got no Hoover.

Here's the crank and rods:

Made in China, but I removed all the plugs, cleaned the passages, and red Loctited them in. Assembly lube on the bearings and ARP grease on the rod bolts. Checked all 4 rods for bearing clearance with Plasti-gauge.

Assembly was easier than I've experienced before, after test-fitting and check for clearances.

CB's heads and manifolds are absolutely gorgeous once they arrived. I won't bore you with deck height, rocker geometry, etc.

Long block here, end play set as well at 0.004".

I made a custom rig with a Harbor Freight cutoff saw to exactly cut 8 pushrods. After doing the geometry for the rockers and pushrods, I had to REALLY cut, bend, and fit the cylinder tins. The CB heads and manifolds are simply huge where the tin fits. I cut about 3/8" off the are where the manifold goes up and around the spark plug holes. The spark plug holes are repositioned as well, so you have to make sure you've got enough room for a socket. I used a thin wall 18mm deep, the plug socket simply wouldn't fit: too thick.

Here's the motor, ready to install. You can see the machined area on the pump cover to clear the pulley. The CB stuff is really well made. They only had blue in stock when I ordered. I hate blue or red anodize. You get what you need sometimes. That is a Berg breather tower bolted to the alternator stand. And CB carb linkage, and a German 009 on points.

This was around June 15th. A lot of this 6 month time frame was simply waiting for parts to arrive. The camshaft took at least 3 months. I had the heads before the cam, which came directly from Web-Cam.

Then I dropped a custom-machined cylinder. Cracked the base. Ordered one replacement from aircooled.net. That arrived cracked/damaged. Got a free replacement. Whew, that one is OK. Took it to Mike the Machinist. Bottom line: added an entire month due to a slip of the grip on my 57 year-old hands. I ate that expense, of course.

Mike P FINALLY got his trans done. The guy(in PA I think) used a brand new Rhino case, which is perfect for a Spyder. The strength ribs are on top, where a mid-engine car needs them. The Rhino case was designed for VW buses with reduction boxes at the wheels, so the torque goes toward the TOP of the case since the ring gear is flipped just like in a Spyder.

He(and his friend Dave: DPP logo designer) brought the car up in the middle of July. He decided that he wanted a cable shifter. The car had the Fibersteel shifter, which requires LIFTING the passenger seat with spacers to clear the shift rod. 2.5" inches! Whoever sits on that side better be short, the car has a plexi full-width screen!

So parts were ordered and a week later I had Greg Leach's cable shifter. I had to custom fit the shifter and make it work with the Spyder replica e-brake. I also had to cut off the VW nosecone mount and locate, drill, and weld anti-crush tubes into the chassis crossbar. I also fabricated a removable cross brace to enable simple engine/trans installation.

You have to trim the reverse fork with a cutoff wheel, straight line operation versus arc for the "hockey stick". I also had to retrofit the throwout bearing and cross shaft to early style due to the non-removable ring on the Sachs pressure plate.(Hint, buy the removable style)

That PBS shift lever is my old one, I'm waiting for a new round lever to finish off the look. It fits tidily in the center, and looks good too.

I'm really enjoying all the welding I've been doing.

Here's the project completed, ready to fire.

That's a 96 plate cooler, oil and electric fan thermostats are underneath the cooler.

The fittings are all AN12, so I got some adapters to AN8. Here's the oil tank on the right firewall.

I used metal fuel line, a tee in the middle and one feed to each carburetor.

If you search Danny Piperato on YouTube, you'll find a couple short running videos.

After breaking in the cam and lifters, then letting it idle for a couple minutes to get back to a reasonable idle speed, I dumped the oil. Yup, less than a half hour of running on 8 quarts of VR1 and a brand new Wix 1515. I wanted to get all the break-in and assembly lube OUT when it was hot. Along with any metal(you just know you're going to get some from all the new bearings).

I found out exactly what is what with the CB pump. It works, especially IF you plug the pump, have external full flow, and plug the case. A tiny bit of Permatex aviation sealant around the oil pickup tube-to-pump junction is a good idea as well.

45 psi on startup at 2000 rpm. Once hot, that dropped to a bit above 35 psi at 2000. At hot idle, it was 8 psi at 900-950.

Draining the oil, there was between 1/2 and 3/4 quart left in the sump. A few seconds and it stopped running. Just like when you do an oil change on a 911. There is just a little in the bottom of the case. This should put to bed the questions a few of us had about David Stroud's setup in his IM. The engine oil cap can be welded shut, and the dipstick REMOVED, it is superfluous. The only dipstick needed is in the TANK, where the oil IS.

Obviously there was a quart in the filter and over six in the tank. But not bad considering the cost of the pump and especially the SIZE of it. It can fit and work where the Bugpack and Autocraft are too large. A good example would be a Beck Spyder, where the torsion tube is in the way. The Autocraft fits in my Vintage with no problem, but I have an extra few inches of room.

Nice!!!!

Good information on the CB dry-sump pump, Danny. They've always scared me with the little bitty gears. I'd be very interested in the impression of the owner after he's broken in and has a few miles on the engine, and to hear what kind of running OP he's got once everything wears a bit.

The packaging is so nice - to not have to go to all the hysterics of the smaller crank pulley and trying to figure out how to bring up the cooling fan speed with that smaller pulley.

Well done.

WOW !  This should be a "How it's Made" article !....................Well Done !!.........Bruce

That's been a lot of work, but you've made it look like someone (YOU!) really cared about the end result.  Well done, Danny!

Now, you'll have to get your DPP logo tattooed somewhere.  Just don't be like that guy way back at Carlisle with a Triumph Spitfire tattooed on his butt.....  

Fabulous work, Danny. Mike P is a lucky guy to have you put this kind of expertise and skill into his car.

Throw in your experience with ECUs, fuel injection and electronic ignition and you are a rare commodity in the air cooled world.

Congratulations on your retirement plan!

Very Nice!

@DannyP

DANG! Very nice project there, my brutha! Everything looks great.

Thank you to all of you. No tattoos, ever Gordon!

I popped the valve covers to check the adjustment, as I heard some clicking/clacking at idle just before shutdown. Nothing crazy, chromoly pushrods and new lifters/cam. I figure after twenty minutes, there should be a little brake-in wear, and noise.

What do I find? The number one intake valve adjuster broken, laying in the head with the locknut still on it. Berg rockers are good parts, but these are twenty years old. New adjusters will be ordered tomorrow...

Wow really nice install Danny you make me want to go back to air cooled ...

@DannyP posted:

the number one intake valve adjuster broken, laying in the head with the locknut still on it.

Wow, that's a surprise. It's good that you thought to check it out sooner than later.

That's just my procedural mind at work. Run it, dump the oil, check things, especially with a new cam and lifters.

There's a LOT of money tied up in this motor, and it's not mine. This makes me even more careful.

Danny that looks like an awesome motor. How much power do think it puts down?

It should easily be over 180hp, but that's just projected. I seriously doubt it will ever see a dyno. I'm sure it will get flogged by the owner a bit. Gotta install a rev-limited rotor in that distributor...

I think it might reach close to 200hp if we could find a Spyder exhaust with 1 5/8" primaries. At this time, it has 1 1/2" primaries, but that is what we have to work with.

The valve adjuster cup screws are listed at Gene Berg and Scat. 5/16-24 thread, very specialized, not 8mm EMPI. Both stores are in California, so I can't find out about availability until noon. Everything is in California LOL!

I have ordered stuff from Drew's Off-Road(Dune Buggy Warehouse) in Ohio and Appletree in Michigan, along with Bug City in CT. None of them have this particular part though. I get stuff faster when the store is closer. The only suppliers I can complain about are CB(but understandable SHOP TIME to make and balance stuff) and Webcam(slow service).

I called Berg today, and they never answered the phone. I sent them an email, no response yet. Yes, I called when they were supposedly open.

Ended up finding the screws at SCAT, all ordered up. Back in business in 5 business days, they use UPS Ground. Hopefully, next Monday I'll get this thing back running, then do some tuning.

Gene Berg stuff is great, but you have to deal with the casual/indifferent Gene Berg business model. The entire thing always seems like calling somebody while they are in the middle of a family fight. CB can be frustrating, but CB at least answers the phone, and you can talk to an actual human being.

The problem is that there isn't a one-stop shop for all things VW aircooled. Aircooled.net tried to be that place, but then John Connolly got tired of the whole thing and started spending less and less time actually answering the phone. At this point, I think he spends about 12 minutes a day on the business.

The truth is that the Type 1 VW represents a tiny fraction of a fraction of the automotive industry. They are curiosities, left for old guys to barter, swap, and fidget. That's why piecing together an engine takes the better part of a year, and why I never got into T4.

Getting parts of any kind is tough. Getting good parts is not like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's more like looking for a particular needle in a stack of identical needles. My hat is off to you @DannyP for keeping the flame burning and the standard held high.

"The truth is that the Type 1 VW represents a tiny fraction of a fraction of the automotive industry. They are curiosities, left for old guys to barter, swap, and fidget. That's why piecing together an engine takes the better part of a year, and why I never got into T4.

Getting parts of any kind is tough. Getting good parts is not like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's more like looking for a particular needle in a stack of identical needles."

Exactly why I went Subaru this time.  As Stan said, kudos to Danny for keeping the flame alive.

It's true. A LOT of my time is spent looking things up and calling vendors about availability.

"One particular needle" yup, every bit of that.

I'm starting to become a SCAT fanboy. They have come through for me a few times when I really need a special item. Machined cylinder spacers, not cheap EMPI crap. Now these valve adjusters. Thanks SCAT.

Fantastic job Danny! You are an inspiration!  Do you have any idea what caused the original motor to seize?  Just curious as I like to do the forensic research to help avoid future mistakes.... not that it always works for me...  lol

Killer work! I like Scat too; and they are still manufacturing here.

@Safety Jim Buffalo NY. posted:

Fantastic job Danny! You are an inspiration!  Do you have any idea what caused the original motor to seize?  Just curious as I like to do the forensic research to help avoid future mistakes.... not that it always works for me...  lol

Umm, 20 years and maybe low oil level. It was a well-flogged Berg motor. It was a 2213(90.5 x 86 stroke). It had LOW compression, about 1/4" of deck height. The rods were 356/912 journal(53mm) and the bearings were all pretty worn, especially the rods and rear main/thrust bearing.

Of course, it got a brand new oil cooler, and every plug in the case removed and cleaned. In hindsight(for next time) I'll just insist on a new pre-clearanced case and ALL-NEW internals.

Stan and I have discussed me building CB engine builder kits. It's not a bad idea. I did one of those in 2019.

@DannyP posted:

Stan and I have discussed me building CB engine builder kits. It's not a bad idea. I did one of those in 2019.

There's a strong business case to be made for careful assembly of the CB kits by a competent air-cooled mechanic.

@Lane Anderson posted:

"The truth is that the Type 1 VW represents a tiny fraction of a fraction of the automotive industry. They are curiosities, left for old guys to barter, swap, and fidget. That's why piecing together an engine takes the better part of a year, and why I never got into T4.

Getting parts of any kind is tough. Getting good parts is not like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's more like looking for a particular needle in a stack of identical needles."

Exactly why I went Subaru this time.  As Stan said, kudos to Danny for keeping the flame alive.

Quitter.

@Stan Galat posted:

Quitter.

Now that right there is FUNNY!

Update:

I got the Scat adjusters last Wednesday. They bolted right up, even though they are a little longer than the OE Berg parts. They do not hit the stock valve covers. Adjusted valves and engine started right up, one pump of gas.

It's running great, I'm expanding the rev range, not lugging it, but not really flogging it either. After a few rides over a couple days and tweaking, I started revving higher and giving more throttle. It has plenty of power and torque so far, and revs freely. It also sounds gorgeous, but the "Cherry Bomb" like mufflers are a tad loud.

Idle is at 14.7:1 when warm, cruise is mid 13s to mid 14s, and I'll get to WOT when I can.

The temps and pressures are perfect, and the valvetrain is quiet for chromoly pushrods. I am liking the Berg 1.45:1 rockers, Webcam 86b, Scat lube-a-lobe tool steel lifters and aforementioned pushrods.

I also did a 4 wheel alignment, as the trans is now perfectly centered in the chassis. So first fix the rear toe-in, then match the front camber: left side was zero and right side was 1.0 degree negative. Now both sides are 1.0 degree negative with 1/16" toe-in front and rear. Rear camber is 1.8 degrees negative.

There is one problem, at over half-throttle the clutch slips. And I know exactly why, too. I used an early clutch and pressure plate, as that is what the original engine/trans had when I got it for rebuild. This stuff was specified at the beginning of the build, back in February. rotating parts were ordered and balanced from CB: crank, flywheel, pressure plate.

Upon a good recommendation, I ordered the Sachs HD clutch, as it will hold 225 hp. It seems that Kennedy clutches aren't what they used to be: fitment and failure issues abound. I have been using the SachsHD for 3 years, and it has worked just fine, holding my 180 hp with ease, and also being kind to the left knee.

The trans got started WAY after the engine. It got a new Rhino case, and a new style clutch. This is incompatible with the Sachs, as the Sachs early clutch comes with a CRIMPED-ON ring which is not removable like Kennedy and others. They sell the same clutch for either, if you have a late throwout, no ring, early throwout, install the ring in the clutch center.

So I had my customer order an early clutch cross-shaft from Weddle designed to fit the Rhino case and allow an early throwout. There is a lot of BS out there about MANY things on VWs, but the early throwout bearings get a bad rep. I've drag-raced, autocrossed, and street-raced my Spyder. You all know me and you've seen me absolutely abuse that car. It has an early throwout/clutch, but I use the Weddle HD spring clips. They WORK. As does the Sachs clutch.

Anyway, back to my debacle. Why does the clutch slip? I thought I was doing something cool and "bespoke". The later throwout uses a guide sleeve for the bearing, the early does not. I cut the guide sleeve off and installed the remaining flange, there are three threaded holes in the Rhino case for this. I should have just left it off, the holes don't go all the way through into the case. Anyway it prevented the clutch from completely engaging. It was like you were riding the clutch. Once removed, clutch works as it should.

Don't be like Danny, and try too hard to do something cool. Simple fix, but a stupid thing to do.

Trans is out of the car right now though(and headed back to trans builder, not me), I backed out of the garage to turn the car around. When I pulled it out of reverse, I couldn't go into first and the transmission was locked. As in the car was totally immobile no matter what was done with the shifter. I had to get my jack and car dollies out to get the car in the garage.

I checked the shift rails and 1-4 are fine, it's just that reverse is now non-existent. It's the trans builder's problem now.

Once the trans is squared away, this car should be headed back to the owner. With the pretty hot 2276cc, 1500 pound Spyder, and the close ratio mountain trans, this should be a ROCKET.

Great progress, Danny! It's going to be fun.

Thanks Mike. I'll add that I don't enjoy the whole swing axle mess when pulling the trans: the gear oil at the brake drum, more gear oil at the axle tubes and boots, and those huge circlips.

It really is a lot more work than an IRS trans. But it doesn't leak(so far) which is awesome. One piece boots are THE way. Split boots suck. Period. I only use one piece OE-style boots.

This car has 356 aluminum drums in the back. They are made so very nicely when compared to the VW drums. You can see the quality. And they are huge, completely filling the inside of the wheel. I don't anticipate this car experiencing any brake fade.

After I took the whole drivetrain apart, I brought the trans back to the builder on Tuesday. It's about two hours from my house, so not too bad. Nice fellow, been into the VW scene since 1985.

Initially, he said that he liked "to have reverse engage a little deeper than most" and it didn't really occur to me yet what happened. Anyway, I dropped the trans off, checked out his store(Valley VW in Drums PA) and then set off for home, hoping to pick it back up in a day or two. I picked up 3 more quarts of  Amsoil 75W90 synthetic. My phone rang a half-hour later, I was just trying to figure out where to eat lunch. He said it's all set come back if you aren't too far. So I did. I'm really impressed that it got fixed same-day and I only had to make one trip.

He said reverse over-extended and fell off the shift fork. There is a round pin that engages the fork, if it travels too far it simply falls off. If it stays within the proper throw distance, it stays on quite well. When reverse fell off, the gear simply jammed first and immobilized the car. The explanation was "the aftermarket cable shifter isn't machined properly, it is too deep and allowed the overthrow". Well, when home I measured the depth of the cable shifter and the factory nosecone. They are the same depth. Hmmmm? Sounds like a little butt-covering doublespeak to me. Remember one of the first things he said to me? When I first took the VW nosecone off and shifted using the three forks, reverse didn't feel right. Now I know why.

I know I could have taken the trans apart and fixed this, but it wasn't my job this time.

Wednesday I put the axles back on, installed the trans then put the motor back in. Thursday I hooked up all the hoses, exhaust, etc. up. Clutch inoperative, slave cylinder quit after 20 odd years. This car is like a set of dominos, every time I think I've got it, another falls down. Yesterday I went to Behrent's(online and local speed shop) and picked up a new 7/8" Wilwood slave. Bought a new SA2020 full-face helmet for me. NOW the clutch works thankfully.

Whatever, it is fixed now and installed back in the car. The car now shifts smoothly into and out of all gears and has a nice light clutch pedal that holds all of the power. I've got the idle circuits, airflow, and synch all dialed in. I just need to check out WOT on the main jets with my wideband AFR meter. We put the clamshell back on last night.

I think I'm almost done. I think.

Excellent!

Hey Danny, if you don't mind my asking, you said you reused the case. What type is it?  I ask because I was reading one of Gene's tech articles the other day and he said that AS41 cases were pretty much disposable, that after a few thousand heat cycles, it was often more expensive to get them line bored, etc than it was to buy a new case.

I've always heard that a lot of cases were too far gone to be reused, but that seems kind of extreme. Looking at a rebuild/replace some time in the future, I wonder what hope my AS21 case has. (The article mentioned the 21's held up better than the 41's, but still)

AS41 Brazil. It measured true and straight. The bores were round. The lifter bores had zero wear. The Berg folks assembled that motor, and even though it had an 86mm crank, it used 356 rods(smaller big end) so case grinding for clearance was minimal.

It also wasn't very stressed, it had about 1/4" of deck height, literally. Super low compression. Cylinder spacers were almost 3/8". I had to clearance for the 94mm pistons, they go down into the case and are obviously bigger than the former 90.5s.

I also plugged the main oil gallery and the pump itself so there can be no oil pressure loss from around the pump. This is a problem not many people address, but should. I bet a LOT of folks would save themselves from motor seizure if this was done in ALL full-flow engines.

After running it a bit more yesterday, the oil temp reached 180 after about 25 minutes of running. Ambient temp was 70 F. The oil system is working very nicely, the CB dry sump pump, Saldana tank, AN-8 lines, thermostat, cooler, remote Wix 1515 are all playing nice with the stock tin(all tin except sled tins in place) and cooler inside the doghouse shroud.

IMHO, Berg makes(or used to) some of the nicest parts around. However, people should really stop reading those "tech articles" as they are really showing their age. Those "tech articles" are really just ads for Gene's parts and "my way or the highway" philosophy. But don't think I don't respect all that he accomplished, because I do.

The motor runs 11.7 to 12.0 AFR at WOT above 3000rpm with 150 main jets. It also has 175 air correctors and goes really rich during transition. Today I'm going to throw in my stacks from my Spyder Webers: 140 mains and 200 air correctors. Same F11 emulsion tubes. Five minutes to change and I'll know exactly what this motor needs.

I'm guessing it's gonna want 145 mains, and 180 or 200 airs.

And that, folks, is why I bought a wideband. You can nail the jetting without guessing or attempting to read plugs.

On Thursday I was up in Danny’s neck of the woods and stopped in for a visit.  The motor he just built sounds really good! Danny’s work is excellent, and that car is better for having him work on it. If I get stuck on my Spyder project when it gets here, he is the man I’m calling for help. Thanks again Danny!

@LI-Rick posted:

On Thursday I was up in Danny’s neck of the woods and stopped in for a visit.  The motor he just built sounds really good! Danny’s work is excellent, and that car is better for having him work on it. If I get stuck on my Spyder project when it gets here, he is the man I’m calling for help. Thanks again Danny!

Yeah, I’m still kicking myself I never reached out when I lived in West Haverstraw. I bought my Spyder in 2014 and it had issues with the Jamar and I threw my back out the first three times I tried to work on it and it created a kind of mental block. It just sat for a couple of years until I dropped it off at Special Editions on my way home to Utah.

That’s two years of cruising Palisades Parkway, Bear Mtn./Harriman, 7 Lakes Drive I missed out on.  

@DannyP posted:

IMHO, Berg makes(or used to) some of the nicest parts around. However, people should really stop reading those "tech articles" as they are really showing their age. Those "tech articles" are really just ads for Gene's parts and "my way or the highway" philosophy. But don't think I don't respect all that he accomplished, because I do.

That’s kind of funny, Dan. It’s almost verbatim what the tech guy at CB said to me when I relayed my misgivings about the remote oil filter oil pump covers that you posted.

All in all, I think it’s my best option until I rebuild my motor and full-flow and Hoover mod it.

Good news about the case. When I first had Blackline work on my Spyder, I asked Justin about it and he said in his experience, about 2/10 were unsalvageable, so Gene’s article kind of surprised me.   (I just happened to be there the day he was telling a customer his case was NFG.)

@LI-Rick posted:

On Thursday I was up in Danny’s neck of the woods and stopped in for a visit.  The motor he just built sounds really good! Danny’s work is excellent, and that car is better for having him work on it. If I get stuck on my Spyder project when it gets here, he is the man I’m calling for help. Thanks again Danny!

You're very welcome, Rick. I should have given you a spare 1:18 scale Maisto 550 I have. That way you can paint it your color and see what it looks like. I did that to another one in white with red darts before I committed to the paint.