Reddit reviews How to Rebuild Your Volkswagen air-Cooled Engine (All models, 1961 and up)

The Muir book is a must have, and helps put a lot of technical stuff into fun-to-read jargon. I'd also suggest getting the Bentley Service Manual for your year vehicle and the Tom Wilson book if you're going to rebuild the engine yourself.

this one should work. But considering that it's well below your price limit, you might consider getting something else as well.

If the engine is in need of a rebuild, this might be helpful as well.

As far as tools go, I assume he has a full socket set but does he have a torque wrench, breaker bar, and jack stands? If he's worked on his car before he probably already has that stuff but if not, those will be necessary from day one of working on the van.

Get Tom Wilson's book. It deals with type 4 engines, it helps you inspect your engine bits to see how "rooted" they are. Then it will help you figure out how to fit it back together.
Also... www.thesamba.com is a huge online forum about everything vw Aircooled and more. Search it.
From there you will ba able to get a picture...
And... www.ratwell.com is invaluable to for info on baywindows... Good luck
https://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Volkswagen-air-Cooled-Engine-models/dp/0895862255

Amazon, bought these two: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566913101/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895862255/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you want reliability.. I'd respectfully spend the extra on an engine case that doesnt need line boring. Line bored engines tend to have a shorter life, it's hard to do right (most use a handheld tool) and it usually costs 200-400 to get it done, plus 150-200 for cylinder boring. A new aluminum case (They are a bit heavy compared to as41 mag...) is roughly 830 dollars shipped, and it would include boring for larger cylinders. (aa performance, use code AASAVE15 )

As for the build, it has gone VERY simple. I used gasgacinch everywhere, and aviation permatex on the jugs for the most part. I replaced a LOT of parts with aftermarket ones, including my heads (the old ones might be rebuild-able, but i found a pulled out spark-plug thread in one..) That said, This is my second re-assembly of this engine. I did a non sealant full assembly to check fits, bearings, clearances, etc.

There's lots of little gotchas with measuring this, that, and the other. Some parts are only available in inferior versions, etc. If you can find a complete vw engine for 200-300, you're saving a lot of money on things like the distributor drive pinion, tin, 1.1 forged rockers, cooling fan, oil relief valves, alternator, etc.

Whatever you do for the engine case, do look into 'full flow' modifications. These permit you to add an external spin on oil filter, which is a big improvement. I'm doing a filter pump.. which isn't amazing, but works. Also look into a sand seal to keep crud and moisture out of the oil, and have a proper crankcase ventilation setup (basically, vac hose to air filter, consider a catch can.) When you go to build the engine, measure everything, including stuff that 'should be' correct. Consider having the crank, crank pulley, flywheel, pistons, rods balanced, then the clutch pressure plate (yup..) balanced. That way, you can replace the pressure plate without hosing the balance on the engine. It's really not super required, but it will help make for a longer life engine. Make sure to get a forged crank, cast cranks are problematic in VW engines because they only have 3 real main bearings. If you're not stroking, it's REALLY hard to beat original forged German cranks, unless you want counterweighted (not needed unless you're revving to the moon...)

All of this is really building up to.. make sure you're basically running a cleanroom on final assembly. Wash even new parts, chase threads carefully, then wash again and bottle brush the oil passages. If your build table is dirty, lay down some paper to keep it clean, etc. Then learn to love the assembly lube. And have all the torques on hand. and torque patterns. You're probably going to be about 1.5-2k into the engine, to be totally honest, tack on another few hundred for your choice in carbs, and whatnot. You can do it all cheaper if you find an engine in fantastic condition that just needs some cleanup, and new P&Cs. Those really do not exist, to be honest, outside of finding an older person's projects when they pass...

ALso: Go get a book. Good overall and excellent for engine building. Saves you money.

As others have said, your location dictates price for machine work and who is competent in the area on doing it. Check thesamba for recommended shops in your area, or at least for a decent list of them.


You're looking for a technical and useful book. That would be the Wilson book, nothing else really comes close.