misc thoughts

teenytrout · Post by **teenytrout** » Fri Jul 07, 2000 7:57 pm

well...i havent posted anything in while and am glad to see you guys still do this board (thanks tuna, any relation to "hot"?). Im at the threshold of putting together my dream t4 and you know that part about heating the cam gear in oil so it will slide onto the crank...well, mine didnt exactly slide on and took a hell of effort. And whats really interesting is that the counter crank that i bought from bernie bergmann (nice work from him too, but a little pricey) has a standard, standard, standard main bearing but the con rod bearings are .2 ...i hope to God that this is normal...is that normal for a refurbished crank (a 74 mm stroke)? Also, is there anything else I should be watching out for as I put the halfs back together? Any thoughts are appreciative...also, and dont freak or laugh...but i bought an external oil cooler, one of those 12 by 16 in jobs...i got it cheap without really worrying about where to put it...but now that im nearing the end of this saga...where do you think I should? A guy I work with told me that he put his on top of the rear axle under the carriage...any more thoughts on that one...oh come on...you guys are the cream of the crop with type 4's...the guru's, the elite...the type 4 special forces...i need the "goods"...

teenytrout · Post by **teenytrout** » Fri Jul 07, 2000 7:59 pm

ok...i forgot to tell you that i have a westy too...sorry

teenytrout

GDRBO · Post by **GDRBO** » Fri Jul 07, 2000 9:24 pm

The last type 1 (70) powered bus I did I shoved a cooler right up the drivers side air intake vent. It worked well, lots of air movement and no evidence of adverse cooling at the motor.

Post by **Tom Notch** » Sat Jul 08, 2000 4:25 am

Sounds like the Bernie stuff that I have been warned about. Here is a crank that has had a lot of welding done to it then ground to a new stroke. But it being under size leads Me to beleive that Bernie
1) didn't put enough weld on it to start with and it wouldn't clean up at standard.

2) Found a flaw in it that required grinding it smaller (instead of fixing it).

3) Ground it too small and let it slide.

All of these reasons are not acceptable in my book. I would have been on the phone to him and got a standard sized rod journal crank. It is common in the industry to make the rod journals "standard" when a crank is stroked. Why should you accept a crank that is almost wore out? Just my humble opinion. And another reason for me to stay away from Bergman parts.

Note; it is fairly common to see welded strokers with the mains at 1st undersize. After all most all welded cranks are used cores B4 welding. It is nice to get an all std. welded crank but that is becoming the exception not the rule. Unfortunately, no new cranks are being made by VW.
------------------
Tom Notch

[This message has been edited by Tom Notch (edited 07-10-2000).]

CptanPanic2 · Post by **CptanPanic2** » Sat Jul 08, 2000 8:22 am

Its a wonder bernie sells any type 4 stuff at all. I had a conversation with him on the phone a few months ago and he was saying how type 4 sucks, how they can't make any horses, and that no one buys any of his type 4 engines, and he was thinking of stop selling type 4 parts.

morpheus · Post by **morpheus** » Sat Jul 08, 2000 10:49 pm

Reading also the Cal Look Forum everyday,there are many people that would agree to the bad quality of workmanship on the type I cranks by Bergmann.But have read that the porsche fan conversion he sells is made in Europe and he (from my understanding)is the only American distributor for it.But his advertisements are sure snazzy!!!!!!!

[This message has been edited by morpheus (edited 07-09-2000).]

tuna · Post by **tuna** » Sun Jul 09, 2000 11:30 pm

During my stint in the VW industry, I was warned not to deal with Bernie Bergmann. The consensus was that he was notorious for cutting corners on quality. Many of my customers, who had purchased stuff directly from him, had difficulties getting responses from them.

As I learned more about the idiosyncracies of the Type 1, I saw that I wasn't pleased with his products. His "full circle" cranks are an excellent example of this marketing ploy.
The full circle crank is something that does nothing to the strength of the crank, increases weight, and actually ruins the idea behind a counterweighted crank. So, for my hard earned dollars, I will not purchase parts from him.

Any stroker crank, unless sold as a reground stroker, should have STD mains and STD rods. If you received it with that much undercut on the mains, I'd send it back. It's not a good long term investment.

Tuna

vw@micron.net · Post by **vw@micron.net** » Mon Jul 10, 2000 7:07 am

Bernie's new low profile fan shroud setup story has a few little perks in its history. He used to sell a junk hi setup which did nothing except sit on top of your engine and look funny with a 10 mile long fan belt. Then Oliver Knuf from Power Tuning Parts gave him a visit and setup BB as a distributor for Oliver's far better design. Bernie then changed the design for the worse making his own copy. He now sells something that looks "good" but doesn't flow air properly compared to the real Power Tuning Parts shroud. You should go directly to Oliver if you want a better price and support.
Steve Arndt

morpheus · Post by **morpheus** » Mon Jul 10, 2000 8:09 pm

thanks for the bergmann fan report.. thats a shame he discontinued Olivers fan shroud.I don't know how bergmann still is successful in the high performance aftermarket.Does he do wonders for "Sand" cars that are not showing up on street and strip?Hmmmm...

morpheus · Post by **morpheus** » Mon Jul 10, 2000 10:32 pm

well put Jake..mass production of precision proportions is mindblowing..