Products in this Video:

Video Overview:

Sam picks up right where we left our short block and builds the top end of our unassembled 1600cc engine. While he was hoping to leave the mistakes from the prior video behind, it seems that one more, well two more things actually, got overlooked while building the top end. Before the push rod tubes were installed, the cylinder deflect tin should have been installed! So after removing the heads for a moment to fix that mistake and install the tin at both sides, the long block finally gets assembled all the way out to the valve covers. Follow along and watch the steps Sam takes, and the mistakes he makes while building this all new, EMPI Unassembled Long Block 1600cc engine.

EMPI's Stock 1600cc Engine Kit comes with everything you'll need to build your own Type 1, 2 or 3 VW long block. The engine kit includes a new aluminum Universal engine case, a 69mm 4140 Chromoly Crankshaft, forged stock connecting rods, a stock camshaft, dual port cylinder heads, chromoly pushrods, solid shaft 1.1:1 rockers with swivel ball adjusters, a 26mm Schadek Oil Pump, chromoly head studs, Mahle Rod Bearings, Silverline Main Bearings, Cam Bearings, a complete Elring Engine Gasket Kit (although ours was missing the sump plate cap nut sealing washers), 12 Volt Flywheel, valve covers and bales, and most all the hardware needed to assembly your new 1600cc VW long block engine.

A few extra pieces will be needed to complete the engine, such as flywheel shims (available in a kit here - https://www.jbugs.com/type-1-1300-160...) but you'll use only 3 pieces to set the crankshaft end play. We also used some additional rocker shaft shims to get our rocker assemblies set up correctly - https://www.jbugs.com/product/4058.html - Rocker Shaft Shims. Our engine gasket kit was missing the sump plate cap nut sealing washers, but that is not typical, that was Elring's mistake in packaging the gasket kit.

Video Transcript:

All right, yesterday kicked my butt—or rather, this engine kicked my butt. Let me just come out and say it: I am not a professional engine builder by any means. I’ve only built a couple of short blocks. Whether my head just wasn’t in the right space yesterday or not, between getting the connecting rods flip-flopped and having a problem with that saddle bearing dropping and misaligning the dowel pins on the main bearings, this thing just fought me the whole time.

Take that as a lesson: double-check everything and make sure it’s all as it should be. Make sure you’re in a good headspace, too, because once you start getting flustered, things go downhill fast. Either way, it’s assembled now. We’re at top dead center on number one, everything is spinning properly, and although it’s a little stiff with all the assembly lube, it’s working as it should. Timing gears are properly installed and everything on the short block is ready to go.

Next, I’m going to double-check the deck height and CC the heads so we can calculate compression and adjust if needed. Then we’ll move forward with final engine assembly. We’re going to start with cylinder number three, because these engine case halves have a slightly different step here and here. I’m not sure if that’s due to the aluminum case or different castings, but I’m going to mock up cylinders one and three with pistons to check deck height on both. After that, we’ll CC the heads and set our compression ratio.

Looking at the head studs, we have nine long studs, three medium studs, and four short studs. Each head uses eight studs. Four long studs go across the bottom on number three; because number three is deep-studded, it gets another long stud, while the opposite side gets a medium stud. On numbers one and two, the outer studs are medium, and the inner upper studs are short. That accounts for the nine, three, and four stud lengths in the kit.

With the crank at 90 degrees—meaning one and three are at top dead center—we’ll remove a piston and cylinder to check deck height. The top ring has a slight bevel and the middle ring is square, so we’ll reinstall them accordingly. The arrow on the piston points toward the flywheel, which matters during final assembly but not for this mock-up.

Measuring the gap, we’re coming in at roughly .080 inches of deck height. With that volume plus the combustion chamber volume, we won’t be running high compression. If anything, decking would be required to increase compression, not reduce it. After CC’ing the head, we end up around a 52 cc combustion chamber, which gives us about a 7.2:1 compression ratio on a 1585 cc engine. Not a high-compression build, but perfectly suitable for a stock-style setup.

Because the case halves are machined slightly differently side-to-side, I always check compression on number three. It runs the hottest due to oil cooler placement and engine design. Set compression there, and the rest should be close.

After confirming measurements, we clean everything thoroughly—cylinders, pistons, and rings—and reinstall the rings in the correct orientation. The oil ring stays clear of the flywheel side, rings are spaced appropriately, and everything gets lubricated before reassembly. From there, we reinstall pistons, apply sealant at the cylinder bases, and move forward.

Next come the pushrod tubes, ensuring seams face upward and everything is seated properly. Then the cylinder head goes on and gets torqued in stages—first to 7 ft-lbs, then to 18 ft-lbs following the correct sequence. Once one side is complete, the other side is assembled the same way.

I did make another rookie mistake and forgot to install the cylinder deflector tin before installing pushrods. That required backtracking. Learn from that—install the deflector tin first.

Moving on to the rocker assemblies, we checked side play, shimmed as needed, and aligned the adjusters to center contact on the valve stems. Chromoly pushrods were installed, which means valve lash is set to zero instead of .006. Everything was cleaned thoroughly before installation, lubricated, and torqued properly.

Once assembled, we rotated the engine and watched valve operation to confirm movement and proper timing. Adjustments were made where necessary, and we set valve lash carefully. Since this is a brand-new engine, there will be a break-in period. After the first run, we’ll change the oil and likely readjust valves as coatings wear in on contact surfaces like lifters and pushrods.

We then installed the flywheel seal and flywheel. The gland nut is in place, but we can’t fully torque it or set end play until the proper shims arrive—they’re on order. For now, everything is prepped and staged.

At this point, we’ve turned five boxes of parts into a fully assembled long block, with some leftover gaskets and hardware—which is normal with these kits. We did need a few additional parts, like rocker shims and flywheel shims, but overall this was everything required to build the engine.

Did we learn anything? I definitely did. I made mistakes—flipping the connecting rods twice, forgetting the deflector tin—but that’s part of the process. I’m not an expert engine builder; this is only the second complete long block I’ve assembled solo. I’ve done several top ends before, but full builds are still a learning experience for me.

Hopefully, this shows that building an engine like this can be done in your garage, even if you make mistakes along the way. That’s part of learning. In the next videos, we’ll finish building this into a complete running engine and fire it up on the stand.

Thanks for watching, and stay tuned.