DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Just received my engine yoke from BeetleJac and need some technical advice on fitting it to my 2.7L 1974 engine.

The Wayne Dempsey book says that it should be fitted on the oil cooler half of the engine - I've forgotten the reason now but apparently its important it goes on this half before strip down.

On my engine it seems to foul on the oil cooler and doesn't sit flush with the case as per this photo.



OK so what am I doing wrong - or have I missed the point somewhere?
I could space it off the case but I thought it was important the flange fit snugly to the case.

As always any help much appreciated.

Andrew

Nothing wrong, mine did that too!
Beetle made the stands really for VW 4 pot engines. I took a grinder to mine to give the clearances where needed.
Don't be tempted to add local packers under the engine studs, you will bend the studs as the engine weight increases during the build.

OK -I hadn't appreciated they weren't a direct fit.

If it was a few mm out I would have filed the excess off - but it seems to be 5-10mm of excess flange in places around the oil cooler ( at first guess ).
I am guessing I would need to reduce the width of the flange a significant amount in places - will this not weaken the yoke too much?

Do you know roughly how much you had to remove from yours?

Apologies for all the questions - just want to get it right ( and safe ).
Thanks
Andrew

Pop the cooler off first?

I've told you wrong!

I did not grind my 'beetle' yoke for the cooler, just checked mine. I ground it to get it to fit (a little) without the cooler as my race 3.2 does not have a cooler on the block.
My road car 3.2 went on the adjustable 'fits-all' yoke that came with the stand.
Couldn't get the flywheel on using that!

Grinding is your only option unless you 'flip' the halves part way through. Nick at Redtek does the same (ie grind) so good enough for him and all that...





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Apologies for the delay - but thanks for the advice guys.
Looks like I will have to get my grinder out and modify when I get back onto this.

I'm currently distracted on a few other jobs including refurbishing my suspension.

Andrew,

Had the same problem - in the end I made a piece to insert in the gap shaped with a bevel like the original Porsche tool. This then maintains the rigidity and has worked well since. It has to be about 12mm thick to work.

I contacted Beetlejac and suggested he either market it as just a 912/VW stand or modify the manufacture to solve the problem. He said he'd consider it, but hadn't had any other complaints.

You can as has been suggested just not fit the cooler, but it has to go on at some time and dismounting the complete engine to do it at the end is not ideal.




Mick

Thanks for the input Mick.

I did wonder about a spacer plate but I don't think I have the means to make one myself.
Is you spacer loose or do you need to weld it to the yoke?

If anyone knows of an offering I would be interested.
Maybe someone with some engineering contacts could get some made?

As for removing the oil cooler first, which was suggested earlier, kind of defeats the object of the engine stand in my view.
I have already stripped some of the engine already but once I put it on the stand at the final rebuild stage I would want to be able to complete the engine on the stand and not have to take it off for a further stage of build.

I didn't weld it to the yoke, just fitted them together. I don't see why having them separate would put any extra stress on the studs.

Make a paper template/drawing and have a wander into any local small engineering workshops and see what they say. I found an offcut in one of their waste bins that just needed a few minutes with an angle grinder and a drill.



I agree you want to build the whole engine inc. the cooler.

Mick

This was why on my 3.2 stock 911 engine I used the original Clarke yoke, but you cannot use this for a crank-case up re-build as the case is only supported on the 2 studs.

My other 3.2 has no oil cooler there anymore so the yoke fitted (with a few kisses of the angle grinder)

Beetle could offer this semicircle spacer detailed above.
Surprised nobody else has not had the problem, 3 of us here have!

Here is the race 3.2 without the cooler, built-up using the Beetle yoke from scratch. Yoke sits flat with no cooler. Sorry, turn your head 90 degrees...

Ive not tried mine on the engine yet, seems pretty sh*t to me if they are not a direct fit. If spacers or adapters are needed we should be told.

myatt1972 wrote:Ive not tried mine on the engine yet, seems pretty sh*t to me if they are not a direct fit. If spacers or adapters are needed we should be told.

This is roughly what I said to Beetlejac about installing it on my 356 motor, I had failed to grasp that it mounts on one side only, but was surprised by the 'after sales tech support service' response:

"Have you realised you've made an arse of it yet?Youve put the yoke on the engine the wrong way.
VW and Porsche have made over 50 million aircooled engines and you had the only one the yoke didnt fit,if l was you l would get someone else to build the engine if you cant even bolt it up to the yoke."

Attacked it with grinder, drill, tap etc and it is now holding my engine well, though i don't have warm feelings when i see it........W

Winston, that response from the seller is appalling ... personaly I don't think we should support the sales of someone with that attitude

for interest, Mike Bainbridge was producing a yoke that does fit ..... He is also going to provide a DDK one available to ddk members in exchange for a donation to the DDK charity. As it is not a comercial venture it is taking a little bit longer than he expected, I beleive he is still waiting for some parts of teh stand to come back from the fabricators

Doesn't matter that much really and in a way he is right! W