1968 2000 TC Restoration Project

While the engine was out, I installed new VW engine mounts as many other folks have done and documented in the forum. A couple of photos are attached. The only issue I had was that when I removed the engine, I kept the carbs and manifold attached. With the old mounts and the through bolts, the left hand mount is assembled such that the nut is on the top side of the mount. With the carbs in place, it is not possible to feed the bolt down through the engine mount bracket. With the VW mounts, the bolts must go down through the top of the engine mount brackets as the mounts are threaded and not through bolted. At least removing the carbs and manifold is easy to do.IMGP4578 - Copy.jpgIMGP4579 - Copy.jpgIMGP4582 - Copy.jpgIMGP4583 - Copy.jpgIMGP4584 - Copy.jpg
 
As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I was having overheating issues at normal ambient temperatures when test driving the car after the restoration work. I had the radiator re-cored as part of that project. The shop doing the re-core used a core with 2 rows of tubes. The core was significantly thinner than the top and bottom tanks on the rad. I took it back to the same shop and they installed a new core with 3 rows of tubes. The core is now the same thickness of the top and bottom tanks. I cannot remember how the thickness of the original core compared to the tanks. There should be lots of capacity now. A couple of photos of the re-cored rad attached.IMGP4588 - Copy.jpgIMGP4589 - Copy.jpg
 
I put the engine back in. I have become far more proficient at doing this than I would like. Each time I do the job I tell myself that I should buy a new better engine leveler. The one I have is difficult to crank and always results in several bashed knuckles. I then decide that, as this is the last time I will be doing this, to keep the old one.
The new engine mounts seem to have worked well. It took a bit more work to align the threads of the bolts as compared to the old "through bolt" mounts but still straight forward.IMGP4586 - Copy.jpgIMGP4587 - Copy.jpgIMGP4590 - Copy.jpgIMGP4591 - Copy.jpgIMGP4592 - Copy.jpgIMGP4593 - Copy.jpgIMGP4595 - Copy.jpg
 
I mentioned earlier that I decided to install a retro looking radio to replace the 1980 AM/FM cassette deck that was in the car as I began the restoration project. The new unit turned out to be prone to electrical noise from the ignition that seemed to scramble the digital tuner on the unit. No amount of filters or shielding seemed to solve the issue. I also was not overly impressed with the sound quality. I decided to update the Blaupunkt US Series Z radio that was originally fitted in the car by the dealer with modern electronics (USB, Bluetooth). This time, I chose a higher quality solution (and higher cost). The unit certainly looks correct for the vintage of the car. There have been no issues with interference so far and the sound quality is much better. Photo of the installed unit below. You can see where I tucked the USB port (with dust cover) in the cubby above the radio.IMGP4598 - Copy.jpg
 
One of the last jobs on my restoration on the car interior was the sun visors. The old ones were discoloured and splitting along the edges. I looked at the visor covers available on eBay but did not like the look. I could not find a place that could recreate the original look. I finally decided to go with the design you can see in the photo below. I am pleased with how they turned out.IMGP4600 - Copy.jpg
 
I am continuing to put miles on my car. I developed small leaks after a recent extended "high" speed drive. One leak was oil and one was coolant. Just small drips on the cement under the car. The oil leak I tracked to the oil cooler. My car has the vertical flow radiator with the integral oil cooler. During the re-core of the rad, the shop must have put some heat on the 180 degree fitting on the one end of the cooler piping and created a leak. The coolant leak was less obvious. The coolant was running down the front of the sump, so the logical culprit was the water pump but there was no obvious signs of coolant at the pump. I removed the radiator and took it back to the shop that had completed the re-core. They had the rad back to me in 2 hours. In the mean time, I removed the fan and pulley from the pump to look more carefully for leaks. Nothing found. There was some room to retorque the water pump bolts to account for compression of the gasket and compound so I did that and reassembled everything. Success! No leaks after the "high" speed drive today.oil cooler elbow fitting.jpgrad showing oil cooler.jpg
 
After reassembling everything and some more test trips, I still had a small coolant leak and it looked like the problem had to be the water pump. Once again I removed the radiator and water pump and checked things out. I was planning on just replacing the water pump gasket. An inspection of the gasket suggested that there had been a leak past the gasket. The block had also been painted with the water pump removed and the paint left on the sealing surfaces. The paint was now loose and peeling. As an afterthought, I thought I would run a tap through the holes in the block for the water pump bolts. There was a fair amount of crud that I cleaned out. I had replaced all of the bolts during the engine rebuild but had not cleaned out the holes in the block. I began to wonder about the depth of the holes and the possibility that the bolts had been bottoming out. There are 6 bolts on the pump. The original 5 shorter bolts were 1 7/8 inches long. I used 2 inch bolts, as 1/8 inch sizes are hard to find. That extra 1/8 inch was my problem. A couple of minutes on the grinder to remove the extra length and I could now properly tighten the bolts and compress the gasket. All was reassembled and after another 100 miles, no leak. It is always the smallest details that get you.
 
That's a very rare radiator configuration as well. I've got an external oil filter, which was more common.. so I'll be looking to fit that in the near future.
 
Wow what a nice project! Must be the nicest 2000TC on the planet by now!!! I like the fact that it is from 1968 ( I was born that year). A pity you live so far away! I would love to see this car in real life.
Keep up the good work!!
 
My 2000 TC is still running well. I have now over 600 miles since the restoration was completed. I would probably have put on more miles if it wasn't for the pandemic restrictions. My new issue is the fuel tank sender. The original had stopped functioning long before the restoration project began. It was completely varnished up and no amount of cleaning would get it functioning again. I purchased a reproduction sender from one of the main parts vendors in the UK to incorporate in the restoration project. The tank was cleaned and resealed as well.
The sender worked originally but proved to be somewhat inaccurate and rather non linear. I have seen other forum postings where people describe similar behaviour. It still provided some indication of the fuel level, although it under measured the amount of fuel in the tank as the tank level fell below half full. The recent change is that it reads 1/8 full and does not move regardless of the tank level. I checked the wiring and the voltage regulator and all is well. The resistance of the sender remains fixed regardless of the tank level. I have yet to remove the sender from the tank to look at the unit to see what the issue is. Removing the sender from the tank is not one of my favorite projects. It was much easier when the tank was removed, but that is even more painful. Before I start, I want to have a replacement unit ready to go. I just don't want to install exactly the same unit as the one that has failed. Definitely some research is required before I proceed.
 
Very nice work, looks great. My last TC was a Zircon blue....did MANY MANY miles in it, 70s-80s.
 
As I was going through the old parts from my project I looked again at the pistons wondering why there was so much scuffing and scoring on the one piston. Was there a fit problem resulting in slap, insufficient lubrication. It would be great to hear other peoples thoughts based on the photos attached. I would not want to see a repeat of the damage.old 10 to 1 piston set.JPGworst piston gouging.JPGworst piston reverse side.JPGworst piston side 1.JPG
 
Are all the rings complete, no bits of a land missing? I have seen pistons very badly eroded on the crown due to pre-ignition caused by using low octane fuel. This damage looks like some foriegn matter got into that cylinder, to me. Bits of spark plug - electrode, or insulator?
 
As there is no discolouration on the skirt I would not suspect a heat seize. Without any clues from the cylinder you may never know.
 
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