ShopTalk Forums | Aircooled VW Tech & Restoration Help

bigal Posted - 30 May 2004 22:37
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Just a little note from the G&S Camp ( Graffeo & Smith ) if you think the new Aluminum Cases are all the rage, STAY THE F&^K AWAY FROM THEM. As most of you know we never made it to 3rd round last night ( Thanks Greg ) our brand new this year all the rage 23 passes on the case and it broke ( as in split all the way around the case ) NO broken rods No broken crank None of the normal things to look for. All I can say to you my VW brothers is stay away from the new cases for right now. G&S will return. Like I said before " WE WILL NEVER STOP LEARNING FOR YOU " PS donations for the new motor will gladly be accepted! HA HA

Al Smith ( Pilot )


Thought the VW family needs to know what is happening with some of the new products. Perhaps this is why Shawn Geers has one for sale on The Samba?? Just wondering!

One of the many reasons that this is the only case I would use in my engine!
(Click on above links)

Any pics of the split case?

i assume this was a N/A motor? how high compression are you running& to what RPMs? curious as I am also using this case,only have 7 passes on it so far in a turbo motor with 20/24lbs boost,do you think it was a casting floor or possibly detonation that caused it to split?cheers richie,uk

[email protected]

Contact Rickey Graffeo for details as he is the sponsor and mechanic for the car. The car is N/A and runs some serious numbers when it is working right.

I've heard rumors of this happening last year just after the vegas race....since then MY aluminum case is still collecting dust on the shelf

What in the hell have I been saying the whole time???

One day someone will listen!

Never again- Once was enough for me!

some guys have had good luck, and thats exactly what it is- LUCK.

sounds like Par for the Course to me.

John
Aircooled.Net Inc.

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i'd like to let yall know that this case is very thin. the casting is very horrible. the thickest place i could find on the case was .086 i just could not believe that it was so thin. i spoke to shawn geers and he said that he has sample pieces where cases were shipped and they were broken in the same place. he also told me that the vw paradise guys had problems with these cases too. and jack at jaycee had problems too. i heard all of these problems was happening after i had this engine built and running. so if i was yall i wouldn't buy one untill the problem was solved.

Thanks,
Rickey graffeo

Thats why we have a TF1!!!!!
Just ran it for 300 desert race miles in Yerington NV, no leaks( well a little at a PR seal on #4) 2332, dual 44's,
Works fine.

so is this with just one brand of the aluminum cases or all of them in general? becasue doesnt more than one company make them??
derek

Why mess up a good thing. There are stock mag cases making over 450hp, and surviving. Just do what someone I know does.... keep it all std/std, and get it prepped correctly. Marty Staggs went 8.52 @ 158 with a stock case.

that sux, sorry to hear that you guys .

This year at Phoenix, Jack Sachettee had told me they broke three case in like 6 months, the latest one on the dyno just 2 days before the race I saw him at (the dark circles under the eyes confirmed the story...) I think he said it was the Auto Lina cases they were using

It seems like a guy has to be a mechanical inspector, machinist, metalurgist, be experienced in meachanical failure anaysis and dabble in voodoo to work with the aftermarket parts available to us these days. There are so many ways to kill perfectly good engine parts, a guy shouldn't have to roll the dice on the quality/integrity of the new part. That explains why alot of the top race teams build alot of their own key engine parts in-house, or at least to their tight specifications.

Anyone know where I can buy some Germanic fairy dust to sprinkle on my next engine?

Oh, BUT they do well in a Rockwell test! Thats what I read!

Like that matters at all! The only parts of the case that see direct wear are the lifter bores and the distributor drive pinion bore.

It *sounds* like a good idea... Porsche got away from sandcast aluminum cases before alot of us were even born... They had the same problems.

I know so many people that have had those cases self destuct is crazy. And I mean half the motor laying on the ground destruction!! Yeah I thought they were stupid because they weighed a ton, yeah the machinework an quality sucked from day one, and yeah everyone ran out and bought one anyway! But I never would have imagined that they would crumble to pieces so easily. Makes me wonder about the Autolina heads !! :-0
100 bucks says after all the articles and anouncements in the magazines about how these new cases were better than sliced bread, you won`t see one freakin word about how shitty these things turned out to be!!.
That way the manufactures can off their remaning stock before word gets out.