Big Sky Euro

awesome

Yup she sits there awaiting an engine!
Hey, quick question about the oil pump.
Actually i'm going to go take a couple of pictures to better describe what i'm asking! BRB

Ok, here we go Brandon.

1st off, I recall you saying I should order a new oil pump and that it should be from a MKI. Question is this....
The old one that came out of my MKI engine is splined at that top of the shaft. I was looking up a new one and was just wondering your input on any brand being better than another? Here are a couple I looked at....

MJM Autohaus

German Autoparts

Also had a question about the oil pump gear. I pulled the old one out of the 16v block and placed it and the old oil pump to check for the piston rod hitting it. Pic below of said parts...


I'm not sure what it's called but the part on the right(plug for the old distributor hole) just appeared to be set in there without anything between it and the gear itself? It was like this when I pulled it from the old block. Almost seems like there should be something between the 2 otherwise the gear is just spinning against the plug?
Also when I switched the intermediate shaft the sproket from the original ABA is considerably bigger than the 16v one? Is that alright?


Thanks!

Here is a better pic of the cylinder wall after I wiped it out a little.


That damn windage tray that was giving me a fit removing the oil pan...


Here is the marks made by hitting the new(old) intermediate shaft gear. Gotta get this gound down next.


And final pic tonight, my baby just waiting for some luvin!

J, I have some input, and please excuse my ignorance because I don't know your experience with a motors/rebuilding (I am no expert by any means), although I do know you are a 4x4 guy and super smart.

IIRC the rule of thumb is that if the cylinder ridge can be felt with your fingernail it needs to be removed (or smoothed out at least). From your pics, that block looks worthy of a deglaze, which would bring back the cross hatching and reduce that ridge.

Since you are having your block tanked, have the shop deglaze the cylinders and check the tolerances on the cylinders, crank and rods. If everything checks out then you know what parts (bearing sizes etc.) you need (or need to recon or replace) and you have a fresh block that will have full compression after your refresh/rebuild.

For comparison to your pics, here's what my 360 looked liked after a tank, new freeze plugs, cam bearings, paint and a deglaze:

After the tear down, the cylinder walls were almost mirrored, and someone obviously never ever changed the oil, and just added some when it got low. This was a stock bore, with just new rings. I needed the crank turned, so I ran .020 oversized crank bearings and the rods all checked out to be in spec and did not need to be recon'd.



Here's a better angle:



If you can swing it in your budget, I would really suggest getting a deglaze at the minimum, and new rings. But I understand sometimes it's not a priority or in the budget to have all that machine work done.

And my memory fails me (I need to go back and re-read your thread)...how many miles were on the motor? How much are you planning to put into the machine shop and the rebuild? You are planning to put a snail on this too right?

Also, it's a small world...this poor little bunny was run hard - one of my old bosses (Rick Kern) was a PO of this particular rabbit and I know he was not known for taking care of his vehicles, and I believe he bought it from someone else who couldn't fix something with the motor. Then he gave it to his kid to race around the Zoo.

All I can say is that I'm glad you have it now!

ok sorry i forgot some steps, when it comes to oil pump brand, they are all aftermarket unless you get it from the dealer like i did, i dont see an issue going with GAP! never had or heard an issue with them. Keep the smaller pulley on the IM shaft, out of the 16v and into the ABA dont change anything with them, and also you will need to swap the 16v's toothed crank gear onto the aba, the 16V timing belt is much wider to handle twice the valvetrain. The oil pump gear plug, thats all that is there. youll have noticed the 16V one being too small to fit the hole, youll have to call TT tuning, they sell a 25 dollar adaptor ring normally designed to adapt a distributor. and thats all to put it together. As you see the scratches on the bolt.rod, youll see how little has to be removed. its really not much. looking good, glad to see some updates from your neck of the woods! you cant beat a hone and ring job, it does look good enough to roll with IMO

Mike,
Thanks for the input.
Since I have the motor out and tore down i'm not going to be cutting corners. I'd rather spend a little extra money now that alot later.
I am going to have the shop look over it all and i'll get done what needs to get done.
I am hoping I don't need new pistons or rods but was planning on new rings anyways.
As far as the history of the Rabbit, I know it very well. I know it's been through alot of owners and alot of abuse which is why I was happy to get it and start from the ground up. This is why I didn't bother fixing the wiring and getting it running again as it was. My intention from the second I knew I'd be getting this car was a complete rebuild from the ground up. Just so ya know too, this motor i'm working on right now Mike is not the motor that came out of the Rabbit, it was a running motor motor with just over 100k on it I pulled from a neighbors wrecked MKIII Golf. I know the guy and he always takes care of his vehicles. He also owns a Audi A4.
I know the 16v head I pulled out of the Rabbit was built and will be having it checked out as well to make sure everything is kosher there.
I had originally wanted to do a SC but financially have decided to go turbo for now.
I haven't had alot of experience rebuilding a motor so I am definataly appreciated all the input and ideas from you guys. I am extremely mechanically inclined however and am not afraid of tearing shit down and rebuilding
Thanks guys!

Thanks for the additional info Brandon, gonna order the oil pump and oil pump gear plug today!
Hoping to get the block and head over to a engine shop by this weekend.
I'll keep updates coming here until YNP!

Oh awesome, it makes me feel better to know that the motor is a transplant. And you know the history of the car too - very cool. Well the block shouldn't need much, if anything really but I say since you have it out have them run the bottle brush. But, the shop should know what you need (or don't . Good luck with it all and please keep posting updates.