"Bastard" Engines

[Stanagon]

[crofty]

[VW Vet]

skyto,
Please measure the depth to the cyl. seat of the chamber on the head you mentioned and pm me or post here. Thanks.

[rlevans]

I need to look through the stuff for the original engine for my
May 59 panel. One thing I do remember is that the breather hole under the generator pedestal is a small round hole instead of the D-shaped one, wasn't that also a trademark of the Bastard 40 horse?

[skyto]

[VW Vet]

skyto,

It looks like your head is yet another facet in the bastard engine development. Does it have the tall rocker shaft supports and the long rocker bolts like the 3rd generation head in this post? Please post some pictures.

Ron

[skyto]

Yes, the rocker supports are identical to 40hp round boss heads with long studs. This is the same head as the 371A except for cylinder openings. Guess this made sense in mass production. I'll post pictures when I get my camera back.

[skyto]

Here they are:

[VW Vet]

Regarding the head pictured above, the 87mm openings definately make it for the bastard cylinders only. I would guess it is a post June '61 replacement for use on the post January '60 bastard engines. There is a slight hint in the Bentley Manual about this, but it does not address the disappearance of the unused vent chamber. We can add this to the developing story. Thanks, skyto.

ps: skyto, are you located in Finland? Could you find out if any of the bastard engine fiasco was applicable to Europe? It could be the heads you pictured were never available here in the US.

Ron

[skyto]

The bastard incident happened here in Europe too.

I bought these heads as 40hp parts, started polishing the chambers and exhaust ports before trying the cylinders on.. what a nasty surprise! I think these were available in the US, there was a thread about an identical pair (the picture is long gone).

[henry roberts]

is this a further variation of the 3rd generation of bastard head or a modification there of?

as the heads sit they are cut for the 90mm OD normal 40hp barrels but the motor they came off (may 64 beetle case) seems to have lead an interesting life...

the nicely cleaned heads in this thread realy make these look even worse

[VW Vet]

Henry Roberts,

The head you pictured looks like a 3rd generation bastard head, converted from long rocker studs to short rocker studs. If you can tell the cylinder openings have been cut from 87mm to 90mm, that would be the real indicator.

[tasb]

Early 40 horse engines also had the small round "breather" hole so it was not a bastard engine specific detail.

[VW Vet]

Tasb,

What small round breather hole are you refering to? The vented heads ended in January 1960, pre 40 horse.

Edit: If you are refering to the vent hole under the generator stand, I remember reading about the change to the larger hole. When I find the info I will post it.

[VW Vet]

Here is some bastard engine main bearing info:

Engine # 3 400 000 to 3 491 699 ( True Bastard Crankcase): Thrust at #2 and thin walled (OD 60mm) steel backed main bearings standard equipment.

Engine # 3 491 700 to 3 520 332 (2nd Generation Bastard Crankcase): Thrust at #1 and thin walled (OD 60mm) steel backed main bearings standard equipment.

From engine # 3 520 333 (3rd Generation Bastard Crankcase) and subsequent 40hp: Thrust at #1 and thick walled (OD 65mm) aluminum main bearings standard equipment.

Bearing #4 is OD 50mm on all the above engines. Steel backed or aluminum follows the other main bearings for the application.

The Arctic steel backed bearings did not become optional until they went to the OD 65mm aluminum mains as the standard. Previously, they all had the steel backed bearings.

Steel backed main bearings were less susceptible to spinning in the crankcase when started at extremely cold temperatures.

[Bruce]

I found these oddball main bearings at a swap meet last summer. Only recently did I discover them to be Bastard 40hp bearings. Since they are steel backed and 65mm OD, they must be the 3rd Generation Bastard Crankcase bearings VW Vet describes above. All my measurements suggest they will work in all 40hp and 1300, 1500, 1600 engines.

Can anyone explain why they are all split?

[VW Vet]

Bruce,

65mm and steel backed means they could have been made after the bastard fiasco. They were optional for arctic locations after they went to thick 65mm aluminum bearings as the standard.

I can't see the steel backing in your photos. Does the 0,75mm on the box refer to oversize?

The Bentley Manual shows split mains (including the #1 thrust) for some non-bastard applications. I will look to see when they were used and when they went to one piece.

[tasb]

I was referring to the breather hole under the generator stand...

[VW Vet]

tasb,

Yes, I thought so after I read it a couple of times.
Thanks. I haven't had a chance to research the date of change, yet.

[Bruce]