Building an engine & a bike from random parts - 1979 - 1981

I guess I hinted it in other posts, so here it comes. I had a few good crucial parts left after my 1982 A4 rebuild. A big one was a very good cylinder block, which I purchased for (converting Canadian to US dollars) about $15. And it came with the water pump shafts intact! I also had a bunch of pistons, valves, gaskets, bits and pieces, and a cylinder head in a very good shape, which I purchased for $120. Complete with cam shafts etc. I also came across a full set of transmission gears, chains, from primary to the cardan output, for $40. Wow!
My idea was to complete another spare perfect top end. Tempted and I just couldn't resist, I set my eyes on building a complete engine from scratch. I mean, really from nothing and picking up parts from random sources along the way.

So.. I made the first big step: a mix of screws and bolts and a crank case for $99. So here I am, trying to put a good engine from scratch.

I have no time limits for this project, and I have been and will just wait for the cheapest but best deals on eBay and otherwise. This has to be at minimum cost and maximum pleasure and adventure. Like solving a puzzle, basically reverse engineering. There will be plenty of photos and conversation. I think this bunch of bolts is a good start. It will be a good complement to my other thread - resurrecting a 1982 A4 wreck. And while the engine is a start, my goals are to eventually assemble a complete bike, therefore I am starting it in bike projects section.

A bunch of crank case bolts off eBay. Some extras including a full set of beautiful cylinder head nuts! Very happy. Next sorting them out by thread and length.

This is my new engine, my new bike! Enjoy the view and tell me what's missing!

Bolts are 1982 model.

Engine case, here mid cleaning from being filthy, 1981.

Very quick mock up of the gears and lower crank case, for reference. Especially that I haven't seen any detailed close ups of these. There will be more detailed images later, this is just a 'quickie'.

The crank case is still going to be cleaned, and probably painted and heat treated with silver color this time as there is nothing attached to it so easy to heat treat. The journal bearings are removed - it's an empty shell.

1980 transmission with 18k miles.

From top to bottom:

1. SECONDARY SHAFT
   From left:
   • 1 oil pump gear drive
     
   • 2 water pump and cam timing sprockets
     
   • 3 second driven gear and the primary chain
     
   • 4 second drive sprocket and secondary chain. This is the only shaft in the gear box having journal bearings at each end (1 + 1)


2. SHAFT DRIVE - connecting on the right to the clutch assembly with a secondary chain. Sits in the crank case cut journals, has two bearings.
   From left:
   • 1 2nd gear
     
   • 2 top gear input
     
   • 3 3rd gear
     
   • 4 4th gear
     
   • 5 gear on the shaft connecting to the low gear output shaft (next)


3. INNER DRIVEN SHAFT
   From left:
   • 1 cam damper
     
   • 2 cam follower
     
   • 3 2nd gear driven shaft
     
   • 4 top gear output
     
   • 5 3rd gear driven shaft
     
   • 6 4th gear output
     
   • 7 lower gear driven shaft
     
   • 8 set of front bevel gears connecting to the output shaft (cardan)

thanks for the pics Stan. McBoney should look at these. There's really not much in there to have to "disassemble" to change out the primary and secondary chains. Really only 4 major components to deal with. How long to assemble those parts Stan?? Les than a minute right?

I've been editing this post probably 55 times, haha Trouble with the code, control bold etc. boxes disappear, no colors for different tags, no line breaks... ahhh! But I got it somewhat readable right now. Sometimes it's good to fall back on the old times hand on coding experience. Otherwise it would be a total mess.

I posted it specifically thinking of McBoney at the moment. You are right - except for the gear changing mechanism that will go underneath, it's just these four. It did take a bit longer to put it together though..... - about a minute and 15 seconds? hahaha :woohoo: I am hoping to inspire McBoney to take a shot at this.

I need to revisit the components names as I got my head swirling while editing the code and almost forgot what the heck was the subject of this post. Later, I will make a new photo with description right on the picture. Now I am going to post a couple more images before I delete them by accident!

Oil pump - simple removal and install.





Oil pump driving gear. From the middle - main chain, camshaft chain sprocket, water pump chain sprocket, and the yellow nylon oil pump gear.



Output to the cardan.