[Vwdiesel] replacing crankshaft

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

  I had a minor version of what you had happen to my Rabbit just before 
the planned rebuild.  Do a little telephone shopping and simply have the 
rod journals ground at a shop you can trust to keep the tolerances where 
they should be.   It's cheaper, you retain std. sized main bearings, rods 
are only .25mm under, no shipping and if the main bearings are still (as 
they often are) like new, you can reuse them!  Then you're looking at rod 
bearings and a rod grind with a polish on the mains.  
  A gasket set and a head gasket will put it back together leak free.  If 
it's out then you REALLY need to replace those intermediate shaft bearings 
while you can!  They tend to disintegrate after about 20 years.  Reringing is 

a smart move while you're this deep.  Just be sure you're honed well and 
CLEANED well with soap and water afterwards.  Mileage is probably up 
to where a light valve grind and very probably exhaust valves and of course 
valve stem seals would really be of bennefit, especially if you're doing 
nearly everything else!
     Loren

In a message dated 3/18/2006 2:50:26 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
koldrid at uvm.edu writes:

> What I did find was that the #1 connecting rod bearing was 
> toasted. The crankshaft has some decent size scoring there. The rest of 
> the main and connecting rod bearings look a little worn, but not 
> totally shredded like the 1st.
> I want to rebuild this engine, which otherwise is in excellent shape.
> Anyone have any opinions on what I should do?
> I'm leaning towards buying a new/reground crankshaft and new main and 
> connection rod bearings. This outift from Utah sells a crankshaft kit 
> for $259 http://www.rpmrons.com/volks,cranks.html
> New front and rear crank seals.
> I thought it would make sense to re-ring the pistons while I have them 
> out (the compression wast great before and there is no cylinder scoring 
> that I can see or feel).  The oil pump had a little play but seemed 
> fine overall. The pickup screen is clogged with debris though.
> Not sure what to do to intermediate shaft.
> Well, any advice you may have will be greatly appreciated. I hope I'm 
> on the right track here.
>