Hi, pix and engine interals question

[Homebrewer1]

First off, Hi. I am the 3rd owner of this car in our family. 10 years ago, I helped my grandfather tear this car down and restore it completely, then to my surprise...he gave it to my wife and I as our wedding present 3 years ago. I am no stranger to classic cars....but this one is not my typical project. I'm typically a hp gearhead...but I am hooked by the VW.



This particular car is an original convertible, has the automatic-shift stick, and has 75,2xx original miles on it. My grandfather's brother put a '40 Ford hood on this car about 25 years ago...and it has remained on there ever sense. Different, but looks good.

Anyway, I have a particular engine question for you vw gearheads. When changing the oil this spring, this piece came out in the oil drain.






It is hard rubber (or just soft rubber that has been subjected to heat for 75K miles...) and looks to be about 3/8" to 1/2" in diameter if it had the rest of itself. From my experience in tearing down chevys and dodges...this looks like a typical o-ring gasket that goes around the valve stem. What would this o-ring be doing in a VW engine? I don't have any smoking issues, it runs tops...but this does have me concerned a little. I was planning on yarding the motor next winter and doing the rebuild myself on it....but I am trying to gauge if I will have to be doing this rebuild sooner if something is coming apart in there. Any advice you can offer will be appreciated.

HB1

[Dirtghost]

Check you oil breather cap. See if you are missing any cork gasket . Next place to look in vavle cover gasket material. these are the only 3 places something of this size could break off and get into your oil of this type of material.

[db]

First and foremost welcome to your Bug looks very clean, you should be proud to have this. I own a 73' (been under a blanket for sometime), I suspect this did come off a valve.

Here is every gasket you will find on your engine http://www.germansupply.com/home/cus...cat=297&page=1 you can see there are O-rings...I wouldn't be super worried about it as long as you are not planning super long hauls. If the engine sat for awhile or if they haven't been replaced they probably are dry-rotting.

Best of luck with any mods or enhancements.

[Homebrewer1]

Originally Posted by db

First and foremost welcome to your Bug looks very clean, you should be proud to have this. I own a 73' (been under a blanket for sometime), I suspect this did come off a valve.

Here is every gasket you will find on your engine http://www.germansupply.com/home/cus...cat=297&page=1 you can see there are O-rings...I wouldn't be super worried about it as long as you are not planning super long hauls. If the engine sat for awhile or if they haven't been replaced they probably are dry-rotting.

Best of luck with any mods or enhancements.

Thanks for your insight. The car did sit for about 5 years of it's life...but that was right before the restoration happened. It's been driven about 15K since then. We don't drive it all that much...only in the summer and even then it seems to be a weekender and an occasional commute to work and back. ...but with the amount of crappy weather we're seeing here this spring... we've only had it out on the road a hand full of times this year.

I know the germans were known for their engineering...but WTF is up with the oil filtering system? ain't much too it eh?

As far as any enhancements....just going to keep it stock. I have other toys for that.
HB1

[stevethefolkie]

Originally Posted by Homebrewer1

I know the germans were known for their engineering...but WTF is up with the oil filtering system? ain't much too it eh?

- it's not a bad design - it's just dated. The capacity is a bit low (2.5QTS if memory serves) but if well maintained they're just fine. The fact that there WAS a filter on a small car designed in the 1930's is testamony to the thoughtful design and engineering applied to the VW!

Adding an external spin on filter isn't a bad idea - kits used to be easy to find and cheap to buy - also increased the capacity of the lube system (by the capacity of the fittings, tubes, adapters and the filter itself) -

Nice bug, by the way, I always kinda liked the 40 Ford front end kits - never enough to bother trying to find one but hey - looks good on a 'vert (they used to make an "opera coupe" kit that'd make your sedan look sort of like a 40 ford coupe ... required extensive surgery to install).

I wouldn't worry about the missing bit of gasket until one of your pushrod tubes starts leaking - then pull the engine - pull the heads - install fresh seals and tubes and put it back in the car!

Steve