DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Well, it went to the painters on Saturday. Had to endure the usual comments about it taking a little while to get to actually needing paint!.

Sunday was a bit special, started on the engine. At last for heavens sake!
Removal of the engine shroud was really exciting, it revealed where the bloody mouse had been sleeping, little git! Photos to follow, does anyone have an idea how to get mouse crap out of cylinder fins

It has a collapsed tensioner on the left side, so replacement required, happy to stay with the standard. Any available? Other than that, only managed to break 1 exhaust stud.

Well done Simon can't wait to see the photo's mate did you go for 2pac
paint .

Simon Rudge wrote: does anyone have an idea how to get mouse crap out of cylinder fins

Soak in hot water followed by compressed air?

Just cos you're on the engine don't stop taking pictures - got to love an engine rebuild

Hi All,

Time for a bit of an update.

Went to see the shell a little while ago, it has taken a while, but I am soooooooo pleased with what Colin the paint has done. Not showing any pics at the moment, he has got to the primer stage with it, having spent ages just teasing little ripples out of panels, getting fits as good as he can and such like. He is starting work on the final prep for colour etc and I will see it back before Xmas! Still to be Conda Green.

The engine is coming on well now. All the alloy parts have been vapour blasted by my good friend at Mountune Racing. Looking gorgeous. All the mag parts, except the crankcase have been vapour blasted, then re-chromated. At first they were jet black, looked a bit odd. With exposure to air, this mellows to the more familiar grey colour.

1 box of plating done, great finish, just scored a bit of an own goal. In a bit of a rush, I did not check some of the parts too closely, namely the engine lid and bonnet locks. Simply dismantled them, degreased and sent to platers. Note to you all, the cap under the screwhead on the locks is made of mazak or similar, which is disolved by the plating chemicals.......... Thanks to Mike at PRS Services for lending me a catch so I could turn up 2 new ones. Lesson learned.

Has anyone else used Action Plating in Basildon and ended up with a wrong front suspension top mount? I have 2 odd ones now, would like to get back to a pair. Seems they may have got mixed up at the platers, they had 3 different boxes of early car parts there when I took mine in! Happy to sort out swopping if possible!

The engine internals were generally very good. The crank was checked and measured up bang in the middle of the tolerance band for standard. Had it polished for the sake of it really! The only knackered bit was the valve guides. Huge wear, new ones fitted, seats to be recut next week. All the parts for the engine build arrived the other day, big thanks to Bert at Berlyn for good advice and great service, a pleasure doing business with you.

When I look at it all, it must have been running like a dog when it came out, the hope now is that all the attention has been worth it.

To finish with a question, what is the correct sealant to use on crankcases? My choice for moderns is Honda Bond. seriously expensive, but it works. Just not sure about it for this engine.

Regards

Someone in the know will post but AFAIK it's a loctite (can't remember which one - 571?) that's used by the guys who do it for a living.

Hi the loctite has its issues. As soon as you place the 2 halves together it starts to cure which leaves you very little time to tighten all of the through bolts and the crank case bolts. A VW gearbox sealer is quite popular it's gray in colour and quite expensive. I forget what it's called but will find out.

My recommendation would be to listen to John

The sealer you need is: VW part No AMV 199 200 03

It cost me £43 for a tube earlier this year and that was after going white with shock then pleading with the parts man for a discount

sladey wrote: (can't remember which one - 571?) that's used by the guys who do it for a living.

Loctite 574

Thanks all,

Got a mate who works at he local VW place, I'll start by seeing if he has a tube in his tool box, or then to the bearing shop for a bottle of Loctite!

Regards

hi All

Time for an update, things have been moving along fast!

Had a call from the powdercoaters, telling me the bits are ready. charged off saturday morning and got it all back.

I had the rear arms, front arms and crosmember plastic coated for durability, all the rest is standard powder coat.

The plastic looks like this



Very pleased with that, not unwrapped the rest yet, so what do you think?


More seriously, I also had a call from Colin the paint, wanted me to go and see him.

The pictures really do not do it justice, colour render is poor under the spray booth lighting, but I am so happy with it. I have sorted out the trailer for next saturday....



Inspired by all this, managed to get most of the day over the workshop, cracking on with the engine. Got the rods on the crank, oil pump, crank, intermediate shaft etc. all in and got the cases back together. Used Loctite 574 in the end.

Continued with the cleaning and prep of ovther bits, heads and cam carriers now look like new.





The chromating has settled nicely, the cam towers are back to the familiar grey.



Then to end it all, so baby feels properly at home, got out the paint and gave the floor a bit of TLC.... how sad can you get




Just to help, the repainted bit is lighter.

A gret day and I cannot wait to get the body back.

Cheers

Looks great !

Having the repainted bare shell & a pile of new/refurbished parts to put back on - all in a nice, clean garage is the ideal way to start the winter.

Looks fantastic. It's great when you see all your hard work coming together.
Kind regards

Great stage to get to Simon

Fantastic job, looking forward to seeing more

Darren

Went and got the body today, blown away by the finish!

Pictures to follow.......

Happy Christmas!

Cheers