URGENTLY NEEDED VW type 1 main bearing split shells

[Richard Mole]

The JPX 75/A crankshaft uses the same shells as the Beetle engine centre main bearing.
The old part number is VW 070 105 531.
These have 9.5mm wide bearing surfaces either side of a 3mm wide oil channel (rather than just a continuous 22mm wide bearing surface).

If anyone has new old 'old stock' under the bench they would sell me I would be extremely grateful.
In fact the JPX case has an extra internal web supporting a second bearing of the same type.
So I need a total of 4 half shells - but hey if you happen to have just a pair that you would sell me I'd be a happy buyer!

None of the usual VW Beetle engine suppliers have what I need and JPX ceased trading decades ago.
G-TREK is getting out of practice at the back of the hangar.

01509 853902 any time

[Leesr]

Richard,
Have you tried Cool Air? http://www.coolairvw.co.uk

For example:

Big end bearing:
https://www.coolairvw.co.uk/Item/Shop_b ... g_Set.html

[Richard Mole]

Rob,
VW 070 195 531 is a steel backed shell (verify with magnet & density calculation) and the ‘internal’ oil groove described in my post. I have been unable to find an after-market shell with both these features.

Coolair & VWHeritage, as a couple of examples, sell Silverline 111198461 at about £40 for the complete set of Beetle bearings. If you look at the websites and ebay adverts you will find photos showing an ‘internal’ oil groove – but I had to insist in a phone call the other day that VWHeritage opened the box and told me what they found; not an ‘internal’ groove but an ‘external’ groove (VW used both patterns over the years so far as I can tell from various sources). I remonstrated over a misleading sales pitch as you might imagine. But Silverline shells are at least steel backed.

Then there are Kolbenschmidt 87 978 600 which DO have an ‘internal’ oil groove. However, they are much lighter than the VW shell and are not attracted to a magnet so I concluded that they were aluminium rather than steel backed.

This is why I am trying to source new old stock VW 070 195 531 but so far without any luck

[TRAZZELL]

Hi Richard,

I don't know whether Revmaster could help you. Unfortunately, I did not hang onto the old shells that came with my engine but I recall central grooves.

Tony

[Richard Mole]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the idea which I have started to follow up.
Contact magazine July 2012 https://issuu.com/panzera/docs/issue_104.5 featured Revmaster engines. President Joe Horvarth was also a founding partner of EMPI possibly the largest VW after-market suppliers of parts and engines for beach buggies, drag racers, swamp boats and the rest. The current EMPI catalogue, available as a (large) PDF download http://vwcatalog.empius.com/ includes the Silverline bearings 11198461, correctly photographed this time, with the oil groove on the reverse side. Contact magazine stated that over 3,000 Revmaster engines have been delivered to date which may possibly strengthen the candidacy of Silverline bearings as VW 070 105531 substitutes.

[TRAZZELL]

I would email or phone Joe up and ask his advice. I've had several dealing with Revmaster and they've been very helpful with various technical queries about my engine.

Tony

[Richard Mole]

Good news.

An air-cooled 50 hp 1,600cc was an early engine option for the VW type 25 bus (often called T3) from 1979 to 1982. It must have been a sluggish vehicle when loaded despite – gasp – hydraulic tappets! But it WAS fitted with the elusive steel-backed bearing shells with the oil groove on the inside.

Obtainable here https://www.volkswagen-classic-parts.de ... e1181.html

I am now able to go ahead with my JPX engine rebuild with confidence, replacing the original split shell bearings by new OEM.

One pundit remarked on a web forum some time ago that the split shells with an internal oil groove were used in early 36hp, 40 hp and 1,500cc engines. I gather there was then a change-over to the external grooved type but don’t please take that as anything more than an informed guess. There were many different sub-variants of the engines and it was all so long ago now that I wonder who really knows ?

Again, the URL above strongly suggests that these bearings were also used in the VW 181 an open topped vehicle that was sold in the normal way but also supplied to the German army and NATO forces.

Anyway, if you do happen to have a converted VW engine in your aircraft that you know has the internally grooved type split shell, and has standard diameter main journals, then it would seem sensible to get OEM spares while they are still available, especially as they are only 18 euros a pair plus postage