Engine Rebuild Kits: Why Don't We Include Instructions?

Building a water-boxer engine is a matter of close attention to detail and following the VW specifications to a T. That is what we do here, and it's why our engines have such a strong success rate. So... why don't we offer special instructions for our engine kits? Because there is simply not much difference between building a bone-stock water-boxer engine and one with a GoWesty engine kit.

The only things our GoWesty 2200, 2300, and 2450 engine kits change (as compared to the original) are:

• Bore
• Stroke
• Camshaft

Change from 94mm OD piston/ID cylinder to 96mm OD piston/ID cylinder:
All GoWesty engine kits include this change. This requires hand-grinding to the engine block to provide clearance for the bottom of the piston at bottom dead center. The exact amount that needs to be removed—and exactly where—varies from engine block to engine block, because there are cast pieces that are not identical in this area. More clearance is required for larger displacements due to the larger engine stroke, which results in the piston traveling farther down the cylinder.

This change also requires a special solid copper head gasket between the top of the cylinder and cylinder head, which is included in the piston/cylinder set. However, this change is simply a parts change and does not affect the assembly procedure (order of assembly, head nut torque, etc.) in any way.

Crankshaft stroke change:
All of our engine kits (except the 2200 kit when installed into a 2100cc engine with engine block code MV or DJ) require some hand-grinding to the engine block to provide clearance for the increase in crankshaft stroke. Here again, the exact amount that needs to be removed—and exactly where—varies from engine block to engine block, because these are cast pieces that are not all identical.

Camshaft change:
Our camshafts have a different profile, but install no differently than the original camshaft.

That's it. There is nothing more to know than what you already know when building a water-boxer—which, we should stress, is not easy and, indeed, not much different than building one with a GoWesty engine kit.