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I don't see where it has been asked but...was the cam changed? If so was it flat or dished? If a dished cam was used with a flat gear oil pump, wouldn't there be problems?

On the road to really rebuilding the engine
Got everything apart
Main bearing saddle looks like ....!
this week on its way to line bore

went to a machine shop kinda renowned here in my countr and city (Caracas, Venezuela)
very cheap and very good work
As soon as the man in charge takes a look at the main bearing saddle (the big main nearest to the flywheel) he inmediatelly says "that case is junk" "throw it away coz it's useless" tragedy!
(the price of a new case here, with the official not-black-market dollar rate reaches $2300 EASILY, used is half that price, and in suspicious or good conditions -russian roulette there-)
His argument was that the thrust play of the bearing had beat up the saddle so bad that it reaches the pin hole a little bit.
Mi case is 0.50mm (that's 2 boring jobs round here)
Below you have the pics.
My question, was he really right? my case is now a huge door stop? or can I find someone to line bore my case just as it is?
the other bearing saddles look charming.

Did you mearsure them to find out if there is not enough material left for the third line bore, no room for a thrust cut or center gap. I have seen a few cases where #4 got rewelded and the machined. At $2300 for a new case I suspect there is more than one shop who are saving worn out cases.

Well, if you had any more work done on the thrust surface as it is, then yes, the bearing pin would no longer have any support.
For $2300 I would get it surfaced, figure out some way to shim the case/bearing to keep the bearing from shuffling, and drill the case and bearing on the other side for the dowel pin.

I don't understand that kind of price for a case.

Maybe it might be easier to get a case from the someone in the united States. Thesamba.com

Years have passed... and engines too

After that ordeal, I managed to buy a AS41 mexican
Everything was well until i cracked a crankshaft on sept 2014 and blew the case with a rod....
Bought an Autolinea case GREAT! now, i blew the case again with a rod (curses)

Now, the prospet of buying a new is long term project, very long.
I need the car running.
My idea of short and long term solution is to:
1) JBweld the first case (AS41) for a temp fix.
2) Repair (welding) the Autolinea case.

Am I in a good track? Or my idea is wack?
Thanks for all your replies back then, made me more savvy about vw engines, but one can never get too savvy.

how come you are throwing rods like that? I'd look into that first

Given what cases cost a counterweighted crank and full balance job is cheap insurance.
Will greatly extend the case life (unless you are just running out of oil)

Thanks for the quick replies, guys.
Yes, I'm checking into the "why is it still blowing rod" thing
I'm starting to think that I might not have torqued it right (32ft/lbs)
Or that I did not secured the nuts ????
What could be a safe torque value or a way to get those nut submarine tight?
BTW I have a OEM rod that doesn't have the slots to pin the nuts secure.
Is that legit? Is it ok to have a rod like that? And if so, I asume that the torque value is higher.

Just because a rod gained its freedom does not mean it was a rod that caused the failure.

The odds of the rod itself failing (not due to other causes, like poor oil flow, etc) are tiny on a near stock engine.

Were the nuts missing?
Was the rod bearing and crank discolored/munched?

Have pictures? We love pictures....
...Nice, detailed close up pictures of carnage are favorites, may allow some failure analysis.

No pics till tomorrow that I start the tear down.
What else could've caused it?

Case mains beaten out, causing low oil pressure to the rods, rod bearing fail>failed rod>hole in case is typical..
A bigger than stock oil pump does not prevent//fix this, and it will cause other issues.

A counterweighted crank and good balance job greatly reduces the "case beaten out" part, allowing even an otherwise stock motor a much longer life.

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff4 ... 071239.jpg

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff4 ... 071234.jpg

http://s1235.photobucket.com/user/Jb17M ... 6.jpg.html

http://s1235.photobucket.com/user/Jb17M ... 1.jpg.html

Awful pics but kinda informative
Don't weep

Ouch. What does the crank look like?

I hope the lifter bores are still OK, if that is the aluminum case it may be worth repairing.
Mag can be welded too but far more welders are able to deal with aluminum, and less risky.