Piston and Cylinder Source

[Jon Miller]

Hi Guys,
I just split the case, and cut the crankshaft of my VW.  I need to get pistons and cylinders and was wondering where others have sourced theirs?  Hopefully a place that will sell a half set as I don't really want a pair of VW brand paperweights..........

Thanks!
Jon

[pappyadkins]

Way back when, I've bought from Jbugs... As far as I've ever seen, always in a set of 4... Maybe someone on here will go in halves with ya... (if not you can hang on to them for the next build or after you've wore the first pair out from all the fun you'll have - lol

[Kamcoman77]

Scott Casler at Hummel Engineering will probably sell you a pair. I bought my balanced rotating assembly from Scott because I could not find anyone in Atlanta that could balance a cut in half VW crank. Came with forged SCAT crank, counterbalance, rods, rod bearings, pistons & cylinders.

[Jon Miller]

Thanks Kam,

Glad I was sitting down when I took a look at Scott's price list!  $1150 for a pair of cylinders was quite a bit more than I expected for VW parts, or maybe these are airplane parts?  That might explain it.......

[Dan_]

Those would be USA made billet machined NiKasil coated cylinders.  With pistons most likely.  Not cast iron sleeves with aluminum fins casted on.  Significantly lighter and more gooder...

https://lnengineering.com/products/porsche-and-vw-aircooled-cylinders-and-pistons.html

[Kamcoman77]

The $1150 price is not for regular cast iron VW cylinders. You would probably have to ask Scott for price and availability. The steep price is for special aluminum cylinders that have the bore coated with Nikasil to provide a running surface for the piston rings. They are lightweight and have larger cooling fins. Photo shows special cylinders. Scott sells a lot of items not shown in his price list.

[Jon Miller]

While those are Super Cool, and/or Quite Fancy, not to mention WAY MORE Gooder, I'm building a Legal Eagle for a reason, not the least of which is to avoid a costly divorce.

I think that Iron liners in Aluminum cylinders are quite up to the task, and possibly Gooder from a classic, true to the original intent perspective.

If I ever collect on my wife of 33 years life insurance policy, rest assured that there will be fancy cylinders, fuel injection, and a number of other Gooder parts on my future RV-8........(as always, I crack me up)

Hopefully Scott has some perfectly serviceable less gooder parts not listed on his price sheet!

[Jon Miller]

Oops! Forgot to ask about that thing that looks like a soup can where the distributor goes.  What ignition am I looking at on your motor?

Thanks!

[Kamcoman77]

That's a regular VW/Bosch 009 points distributor. The 4-lobe cam inside has two of the lobes ground off so the distributor only fires twice on a revolution. The points fire the coil directly (green wire), no need for a rotor or regular cap. Engine runs great.