My Friend Locked Up The Engine On His K-Swapped Bug...

[00:00:03]There it is. What's up, guys? Today, we are working on something some of you guys have spotted in the background of some of the recent videos, and that is this little Volkswagen bug right here.

[00:00:12]Now, this is not my bug. It belongs to a friend of mine, and he actually decided to case swap this thing. So, it's pretty cool. He got it over here, and we were getting it buttoned up and finished up for the first start. And the engine is currently all the way apart on this thing. And uh this is Cameron right here. You want to explain what happened to the bug?

[00:00:30]>> What's up, guys? Yeah. So, what happened was I thought that a um MAP sensor should go in a specific spot and I drilled that spot out and I got shavings inside the engine.

[00:00:41]>> The vacuum wasn't enough.

[00:00:44]>> Not enough on the vacuum. The old heart didn't do good enough job. So, uh we got shavings.

[00:00:49]>> Yeah. So, we got the whole engine torn apart here. I'm going to be helping him get this thing back together today. So, he drilled out this intake for this MAP sensor. Not all the metal shavings got cleaned. When we went to turn it over for the first time and check if we had crank signal, it actually wasn't the first time. It actually cranked really good up until that MAP sensor got put on, but we went to crank it to check for crank signal for the first time after getting everything powered up and the motor locked up. And we're like, what the heck? We literally just had this thing cranking fine the other day.

[00:01:20]Nothing was wrong. And it has a Kennedy adapter kit on it. So that goes from the K series engine to the Volkswagen transmission. So it still has the stock style Volkswagen transmission in there.

[00:01:33]We thought maybe something came loose like with the clutch or something in there was binding it up cuz that's what made the most sense. So we ended up pulling the engine back out. Everything was good there. We thought, well, has to be something in the engine cuz we took the flywheel and everything off. We took the pan off to see if like somehow something was wrong with the bottom end because this motor was a junkyard engine, completely unknown. And uh we thought maybe something came loose in the bottom end. Wasn't that. And sure enough, once we pulled the head off, everything freed up. And it turns out a little piece of aluminum got stuck under the valve and that was causing the piston to hit the valve because the valve was hanging open. So today we're gonna go through all the valves on this thing, relap them in, just make sure it's all good to go, get it back together with a new head gasket, and get it back in the bug, >> and hopefully get her up and running.

[00:02:22]>> Yeah, that's the goal. We want to see this thing start up. Uh, it's going to make about like three times the power with the turbo.

[00:02:30]>> Yeah. What the air cooled motor make?

[00:02:32]>> Technically, it made like 105 to the flywheel.

[00:02:35]>> To the flywheel. That's not to fly. Not to the wheel.

[00:02:37]>> Yeah. So, you're originally going to build an air cooled setup for it. Try to make like mid200s, but the price to do that compared to go to a K series.

[00:02:45]>> It's like a it's a substantial difference. Anybody in the Volkswagen world knows if you want to make big power, it costs a lot of money. I even worked for a shop and I couldn't afford it. So, this is I would say a third of the price and getting some and then potentially even way more if I >> could afford a better transmission. You know, like a a fee for like >> uh Mindial or something like that. This should definitely do the job for you.

[00:03:08]This is just a K20 A3, so it's not the most uh stout K20 you can go, but he's just looking for like mid-200s with a little turbo on there. Couple pounds of boost should be plenty.

[00:03:19]>> I want to make a couple people upset walk away from them with a little plug, dude. That's just the best thing.

[00:03:25]>> Yeah. And it's going to be super light.

[00:03:26]>> And what'd you pay for the engine?

[00:03:28]>> I paid $200 for this engine, so I can't be complaining at all. I mean, the head gasket was $100.

[00:03:35]>> Yeah. So, little whoopsie here that we got to fix. But let's go ahead and uh show them the head.

[00:03:39]>> So, this is the head right here off of the K series. And the same cylinder that was drilled out on that intake manifold for the MAP sensor is the cylinder that has this intake valve hung open. And if I turn the light on, look at all this light coming out from around the valve.

[00:03:55]It is hanging it open. You can see there's something right there holding it up. And the K series are an interference engine, which means if you lost the timing chain for whatever reason, the valves will contact the piston and beat some stuff up. So, it's a pretty tight tolerance in there. And just that little sliver of material holding that intake valve open would not let the piston fully come up to top dead center and come back around. It was literally locking it up, which is pretty wild. And there's a couple other valves that have a little bit of light showing cuz they also got some debris in there. But that is the main one right there. And since we have the head off, we're just going to go ahead and run through all these valves real quick. Just went and got some uh valve grinding compound right here. We're just going to pop all the keepers off. Put a little valve grinding compound on the seat of the valves.

[00:04:38]We're just going to hook up a drill with a piece of vacuum hose on the stem of the valve. And we're just going to give each one a good 30 seconds to a minute.

[00:04:47]Just make sure they're nice and seated.

[00:04:50]And then we can go back together with the head and go back together with the K series engine with a new head gasket.

[00:04:55]then we could put the whole thing back together and the bug should be just about ready to start. So, we'll go ahead and run through this and uh get her fixed up. So, we're just going to go ahead take a rag, shove it up under here, and grab ourselves a socket and a hammer and hope these keepers don't go into another universe. Give her a nice little smack.

[00:05:19]Just like that.

[00:05:22]And then we can take these guys, put them in our cup.

[00:05:26]I'll probably just do two at a time. So, we'll just hit both these intakes and both of the exhaust and run through all of them. Boom. One hit on that guy. Oh, one hitter, dude.

[00:05:37]>> Yep. Should go back together pretty fast since it's just stock springs and they are pretty uh soft compared to aftermarket stuff. And we got the spring compressor right here. Then once we get the springs and retainers off, we don't even need to pull the valves all the way out. But we're just going to pop them out, make sure they're all cleaned off, and we're just going to hit them with some valve lapping material. Then we'll just go ahead get some of our valve lapping compound on there. This is probably unnecessary. We could probably just go through all these, make sure they're cleaned off, but we're in here now, so we might as well just kind of receat them a little bit. Then we're just going to take a little piece of vacuum line right here. Stick that on the stem of the valve.

[00:06:19]So it's on there nice and tight. And then we're just going to take our drill, tighten that on there.

[00:06:26]Just like that.

[00:06:30]Now we can just give it some light pressure.

[00:06:35]Just lap it back into place. We'll just give it a light tug and let it lap itself back into place here. Go back and forth a little bit.

[00:06:45]Like I said, we'll just give each one good 30 seconds to a minute.

[00:06:50]And then once we're done with that, we can use our valve spring compressor tool right here. We'll compress it, get the keepers back in, and this thing will be good to go back on [music] the bottom end.

[00:07:12][music] We just got the valve pulled out that had all [music] that light coming out from around it. And you can see all those pieces of aluminum on the seat, especially this one right up there that was holding it open. It didn't take much, but that guy was definitely holding that valve open. Just enough for the piston to barely touch the valve, which is crazy. I would not expect that with how small the pieces were, but we'll get them [music] all cleaned up. Be good to go.

[00:08:00][music] >> [music] [music] >> All right, so we got the head all put back together. Went ahead and hit all of the valves, both the intake and exhaust just to make sure there's no other debris in there. But we are looking good. It's all back together. Got the bottom of this guy cleaned off. We got the top of the block cleaned off here.

[00:08:26]And it's pretty wild that, like I said, that the tolerance is that tight. We got the pistons all the way up kind of top dead center right here. Here they got these kind of crazy looking little combustion bowl right here that I have not seen before, but I guess the K20 A3s have that. I just chat GPT what it's for, and I guess it's to lower the compression a bit and to help shape the combustion and flame inside of the chamber there. Otherwise, we should be good to go back together. We have a brand new Kmetic head gasket right here.

[00:08:52]I told Cameron to grab this one because the Kmetics come in different thicknesses and we went just a little thicker than OEM just to be sure. So, this one's a 40 thou head gasket. And these are basically the same price as an OEM one anyways. So, we'll go ahead get the new head gasket on there, and we'll go back together with just the factory head studs. And, uh, everything else is OEM. I don't think this engine has actually ever been opened up at all. It still has the little reference point right here for machining the deck.

[00:09:21]Everything looks good. Plenty of meat on it. So, just crazy how tight those tolerances were. that just hanging that valve open. Locked it up. Should be good to [music] go back together.

[00:09:36][music] All right. So, we got the head torqued down. If you're curious, [music] uh, I just went to 78 ft-lb in three steps torquing these stock studs down.

[00:09:52]Technically, since they're an OEM bolt, the proper way from the factory to do it is like torque them to 29 ft-lbs and then two 90° turns. Um, but just going to about 80 uh pounds is all we're going to need, especially since it's not making too much power. So, everything's good to go there. And this is the moment of truth because last time we had it at this point with the head on, it did not turn over even with the cams out because with the valves all the way up, it would still lock up. And uh now it should turn all the way over. And if it does, we're looking good. So >> should >> it should be good. [laughter] If not, then I got some bad news for you cuz >> Yeah, dude.

[00:10:30]>> We're looking good so far.

[00:10:32]>> It's that thicker head gasket for sure.

[00:10:34]>> Oh, yeah. We're solid now. All the way around.

[00:10:37]>> All right, let's put her in.

[00:10:38]>> It's going to work now. So crazy that that metal stuffed it. That's wild. That >> is kind of crazy. All right, we'll keep going back together with it.

[00:10:50]>> [music] [music] >> Hey, [music] hey, hey.

[00:11:12][music] Heat. Heat. N.

[00:11:16][music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> All right, the engine is [music] all back together. You want to go ahead and turn that thing over. Make sure it's still spinning free. Just give it a couple rotations. Oh, nice and smooth.

[00:11:58]>> Not locked up anymore.

[00:12:00]>> Doesn't just stop. No.

[00:12:02]>> Yeah, that's a good sign.

[00:12:03]>> Yeah. So, we're good to go back into the car. We'll go ahead get the uh what we got to do. Get the adapter plate back on the trans in there. Get the clutch and flywheel on. We got the alignment tool.

[00:12:13]Stab it back in and get it put back together.

[00:12:16][music] [music] Heat. Heat.

[00:12:36][music] Heat.

[00:12:57][music] Heat.

[00:13:11]>> [music] [music] >> All right, we [music] got the K series back into the bug here. You can see it sticks out just a bit, but not too bad.

[00:13:30]Nothing a wing or something couldn't cover up. Um, it does still just use the factory Volkswagen starter. You can see that guy tucked back over there on the transmission side. So, he has a plate covering up where the factory case starter used to go. We still got to get the alternator belt on there. It still needs the charge pipes finished up, an exhaust, but right now it's at a point where we can try to test fire. And this is right where we were at when it locked up.

[00:13:54]>> It's exactly where we were.

[00:13:55]>> So, we got the harness on there. We got the injectors plugged in. We just primed the fuel system and she made fuel pressure. Everything is good to go there. I got the Honda plugged in right here. We are all powered up, ready to go. And he's using the same harness that we have on the T-Mu Civic. So, I had to swap the pins out, that number seven and number 20 pin for the uh coil power and that fan control pin. So, if you guys watch the Team Acidic video, I explained that. So, just had to flip those around.

[00:14:26]But same harness as that guy. This has a factory This is a OEM tank right up here.

[00:14:32]>> Yeah, it's OEM plus. It's a two 12 gallon tank versus the 10 gallon that it came with. So, it's a slightly larger tank. And then obviously there's a radiator out there now.

[00:14:41]>> Okay. Yeah. So, we got the fuel cell up here. You got a aftermarket radiator they got mounted up here. I just had to weld them a couple bungs on that guy for the feed and return. And we got some gas in it right now. Like we said, she primed up and ran through all the parameters on the Honda sensors are working. And I'm pretty confident this thing should fire up. So, >> better late than never, right?

[00:15:05]>> If you're ready to go for it, >> I'm going to have to turn it off and then back on. Okay.

[00:15:09]>> Yeah. So, I told Cameron if it revs up, you know, to shut it down because I did set the idle screw. I kind of guessed cuz we only got two people right now.

[00:15:16]So, I might have to walk over here and kind of man the throttle. And we are missing the O-rings that go underneath the injectors right here because the ones that were on there, for some reason, they would not push into the manifold. So, we're running it without the O-rings just right now to test it.

[00:15:30]But this is going to be an air leak right here. So, it might be trying to suck in a little bit of air around those injectors. So, we just want to make sure it doesn't want to rev up hard on us or anything. But, we got oil in there. We should be good to go. I know it made uh it had RPM signal right before it locked up. So, I think we should be good. So, whenever you're ready, just go for it.

[00:15:49]See what happens here.

[00:15:53]>> Does it have RPM on there?

[00:15:54]>> No RPM signal.

[00:15:55]>> No RPM signal.

[00:15:56]>> No RPM.

[00:15:57]>> Well, I know we had RPM signal before. I saw it blip just a little bit. What else could we be missing? We got the And you put TDC on the intake side, right?

[00:16:09]>> Yes, that's >> Yeah, that should be right. Here, I'll stand back here with you. Go ahead and crank it again. I don't know. Oh, was this live? This uh go key on. This might have not been on. That's why.

[00:16:21]>> All right, now hit it.

[00:16:24]>> Yep, we got RPM.

[00:16:25]>> There we go. Yeah, I'm going to have to kill it and then turn it back on again, though. Cuz it has like a lock out like >> Yeah, whatever you got to do.

[00:16:33]>> Ready?

[00:16:33]>> All right. Yeah, go for it.

[00:16:36]Oh. Oh, it's trying to run.

[00:16:43]There it is, >> dude. Perfect idle, too.

[00:16:47]>> Perfect idle.

[00:16:53]He's alive.

[00:16:58]I don't know how it's idling so perfect right now.

[00:17:03]>> Looks like it's a little rich.

[00:17:07]>> Yeah, that's rich.

[00:17:10]Damn, dude.

[00:17:18]>> Nice.

[00:17:20]>> That's sick, dude.

[00:17:25]Hell yeah.

[00:17:28]All right, we'll go ahead and kill it.

[00:17:32]Yeah, she is super fat. So, I just plugged in uh Waggo's tune because Waggo has a similar setup in it. This does have a 1000cc injectors. He did upgrade those because the stock ones will start to run away if he wants to make a little bit of boost. So, he just went and got some th00and cc injectors. That's literally just Waggo's tune booted up.

[00:17:51]almost no changes. There's also no motor mounts other than what's holding the engine to the transmission, the four big studs. So, we might need to add some bracing there cuz it's just kind of resting back there.

[00:18:02]>> Sure, >> for the torque, the sideways torque.

[00:18:04]This one's going to have a lot more, I think. [snorts] >> Yeah. So, we're going to we're going to probably make some sort of bracing to help hold the motor secure since it's just kind of hanging off right there.

[00:18:11]But, dude, it sounded good.

[00:18:13]>> Um, you want to test the clutch?

[00:18:16]>> Sure. You want to see if it >> I uh >> you want to start it and try to see if it moves under its own power.

[00:18:21]>> Yeah.

[00:18:21]>> Just watch the laptop there.

[00:18:23]>> Yeah.

[00:18:24]>> If you're comfortable, >> you know, >> I mean, as long as it doesn't start to I have brakes, so >> here. Hold on one second.

[00:18:32]>> Yeah.

[00:18:34]>> We also here throw the jump box in there with you.

[00:18:38]>> Yeah. Shut the door. Your brakes work good, right? That e brake works. Okay.

[00:18:42]So, just put her in first gear and try to start it. Here.

[00:18:49]Let off the clutch. Slow.

[00:19:02]Let it up slow. All right. Be be careful with it.

[00:19:18]No, just kill it real quick.

[00:19:21]>> Well, also my shifter is loose.

[00:19:24]>> Oh, >> that should be first gear.

[00:19:26]>> Okay, leave it right there.

[00:19:27]>> Y >> take the clutch out.

[00:19:29]>> Yep.

[00:19:31]>> It's not in any gear right now.

[00:19:34]>> We had it in gear a second ago.

[00:19:36]>> There it goes. It's a gear. I don't know which one.

[00:19:41]>> That might be might be reverse here.

[00:19:44]How's that?

[00:19:46]>> That's a Okay. So, now push the clutch in.

[00:19:50]>> All right. Let's just leave it in first.

[00:19:52]>> All right.

[00:19:52]>> And you're you're as long as you're quick with that E brake. Wants to run away, right?

[00:19:56]>> Yeah. And I got front brakes, too.

[00:20:00]>> Let up the clutch. Slow, dude. It's moving.

[00:20:07]>> Nice.

[00:20:10]Clutch is working.

[00:20:11]>> I have a uh K swapped bug officially.

[00:20:15]>> A running non-locked up engine K swap bug.

[00:20:17]>> Yeah.

[00:20:17]>> Got to tighten that shifter a little bit.

[00:20:19]>> Yeah. Look at this thing.

[00:20:20]>> Man, you guys thought I was bad.

[00:20:23]>> Got some loose bolts that need tightened up.

[00:20:25]>> Yeah.

[00:20:26]>> But dude, that's sick. Yeah. So, once we just get some charge pipes done on this thing, it's going to be a super simple setup. Probably not even intercooled.

[00:20:32]Just do a little charge pipe cuz we're only going to try to make a couple pounds of boost.

[00:20:36]>> Yeah. Nothing too crazy. It's already an extremely light car. So, >> yeah, it's uh it should be extremely light and uh you know, we don't need a ton of boost cuz we're making a significant amount more than the car was ever supposed to. So, >> yeah, you're just trying to reach the same horsepower goal that the built air cooled setup would do. And >> yeah, >> you're going to do it a lot easier with a K.

[00:20:59]>> Yeah, it's it's already there. I mean, literally, I saw a 2276 today that would have made this power and it was $15,000.

[00:21:08]>> Yeah. And this was $200.

[00:21:11]>> Yeah. So, it's pretty nuts. I'm pumped.

[00:21:13]It sounds so sick. I was >> It actually sounds good.

[00:21:16]>> Sounds kind of like a tractor, but in the best way.

[00:21:19]>> Hell yeah. Well, >> spooling up.

[00:21:21]>> Glad we were able to get her all fixed up. This thing's going to be pretty sweet.

[00:21:24]>> Well, guys, that's going to do it for this video. I did not plan on doing an episode on Cameron's bug here. I've been helping him with this thing just in the background. Kind of just a side project we had going on. And I was gonna make some videos of it once we got it started up and running and just kind of show that and add it to some content that I already had filmed and not actually dedicate an entire video to this thing.

[00:21:43]But after this engine locked up, I figured it'd be pretty interesting to tear it apart and see what happened. So, at that point, I decided to uh film the process because when it locked up, we had no clue what caused it. And it was crazy that just a tiny little piece of aluminum holding that valve open was enough for the piston to hit it, lock this thing up, and uh we had to literally tear the whole engine down.

[00:22:05]So, simple mistake, but be sure to clean out your intake manifolds, guys, if you drill them out or modify them for any reason. Learned our lesson there. And uh hope you guys enjoyed the video regardless. It's a really cool project.

[00:22:18]So, a lot of you guys were curious about the bug in the background. And uh yeah, I'm just helping him get this thing up and running. We have a couple things to get done on it. So, I'll probably show that stuff once it gets finalized since it's going to be at the shop until it's ready to run and drive and hit the road.

[00:22:31]He has the seats over here and stuff.

[00:22:32]So, just needs a couple things and she'll be ready to rip. So, hope you guys enjoyed. Brent and the guys are going to be here tomorrow and we're going to hit this week hard to get all of the cars ready for our event which is coming up July 25th this Saturday at uh Leadfoot City. So, really excited to have all the guys in town and uh we got a lot of work to do. So, we'll see you guys later. [music] Heat. Hey, Heat.

[00:23:00][music]