Have you ever wondered how much horsepower your VW engine REALLY has? Well, MoFoCo can now answer that question with the newest addition to our to our engine testing facility; a Stuska Dyno. For a small additional charge, you will now have the option of having your custom VW powerplant run on our dyno so you know exactly how many ponies are pushing that project car.
WHY SHOULD YOU BUY A MOFOCO ENGINE?
My name is Roy Henning and I am going to walk you through a few commonly asked questions about our engines and also give you a feel for who we are and how we work here. I will explain some of the processes we go through during individual part assembly, pre-engine assembly, final assembly and test & tune. I will also explain what I do here and how I assure that when you recieve your engine, that it is of the highest possible quality.
ARE MOFOCO ENGINES MASS PRODUCED?
First off, let me begin with these statements. We DO NOT mass produce Volkswagen engines! We DO NOT have an assembly line. We DO NOT have a warehouse of people producing different components for each engine. We are a company consisting of 21 employees doing a variety of jobs including clerical, service department, general import parts store, cylinder head machining and assembly, transmission rebuilding and testing and finally engine assembly and testing. We have two people who build engines, myself and one other person, and each engine is unique and built and tested entirely by one person. Each engine is then stamped with a date and employee number.
ARE NEW OR REBUILT PARTS USED IN MOFOCO ENGINES?
All engines not titled as "econo" or "rebuilt" use 100% NEW parts except for rebuilt connecting rods in 1914 and smaller engines, reconditioned crank gears and rebuilt rocker assemblies. Engines titled as "rebuilt" use reconditioned case, reground crankshaft, reground camshaft, reground lifters, rebuilt connecting rods, reconditioned rocker assemblies, good used push rods, and reconditioned crank gears. All other parts are BRAND NEW. Econo engines have the same description as a rebuilt except that they will be cosmetically imperfect.
WHAT MAKES MOFOCO ENGINES UNIQUE vs OTHER GUYS?
Here at Mofoco we have developed a few processes to insure that each and every engine built is to exact tolerances and also will give you the longest life possible. First, each engine case is torqued together and measured to insure that the crank shaft and camshaft will spin freely when assembled. In addition to this, we also "dry" assemble the engine with just a crankshaft and camshaft to further insure that each part spins correctly. If either part doesn't spin as it should, engine life will be drastically reduced. Next, an end mill is used to re-machine the oil relief holes and relief plunger sealing surface. The reason for the is that the sealing surface has a step from the factory which doesn't allow the plunger to seal; thus creating low oil pressure especially at idle. By doing this, we increase oil pressure 10-15lbs at idle thus increasing engine life. We also install original German oil pick up tubes in every new case which helps insure good oil pressure. Another unique feature to Mofoco rebuilt engines is that when we recondition a case that needs the thrust cut, we only "clean up" the thrust surface on the case. Next, we cut the bearing to fit the case instead of the other way around. This increases the life of the case if another rebuild is ever necessary. Mofoco is also an industry leader in using hydraulic lifters in Type 1 engines. What makes us different is that we manufacture our own Type 1 hydraulic lifters that are drop in, no case machining required. The advantage of this is always having the opportunity to change back to solid lifters without having to buy a new case. Since we also have a full Service Department at Mofoco, we own an exhaust gas analyzer. This is used on every complete engine. This insures that the correct adjustment has been achieved with the guessing. We also have an engine dedicated to testing 30PICT and 34PICT new and rebuilt carbs. The exhaust gas analyzer is also used to make sure that every carb is adjusted and idles correctly before shipping. These are just some of the features that we do standard on every engine that we build.
WHAT DO YOU DO AT MOFOCO, ROY, AND WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DO YOU HAVE?
I've always been the kind of person that liked to take things apart and fix them. I remember when I was 10 years old, I got an answering machine from a chruch auction for free because it was broken. I took it apart, found the tape was broken, used scotch tape to put it back together, reassembled it and it still works today. When I was 15, I built my first aircooled engine. It lasted exactly 15 minutes before a loud noise occured and it stopped running. I really thought that sheetmetal screw I dropped hit the floor, but somehow it ended up inside the engine wedged between the cam gear and the crank gear. It snapped the cam in half and that was it. Everyone makes mistakes when learning and I am no different. After working at Mofoco all through high school and summers during college I realized I wanted to build and design engines. Every one is different and each one provides a different challenge. No two engines go together the same. There are literally over 100 different things to check when assembling an engine and if just one of those things is isn't correct, it can lead to hours of frustration. As for my job description, I don't have one. Some of my duties include writing stock orders for parts, opening the mail, picking the parts to assemble into an engine, machining cases(new and remanufactured), assembling engines, testing engines, answering the phone, working on the website, answering e-mails, test driving rebuilt transmissions, rebuilding brake calipers, and doing market research to determine if our prices are too high, too low or just right. I learned everything about engines from late night lessons from my father, the owner and former driver of a Top Alcohol Funny Car. Ever watch drag racing? He started out driving, yes you guessed it, a VW Beetle down the 1/4 mile and eventually drove a funny car that went 0-221 miles an hour in 7 seconds!! Now, we don't claim to build race engines here but we do claim to build the best street engines, at an affordable price and in a reasonable time. You don't want to wait 8-12 months for your engine, do you? You would like to have enough money left over after purchasing your engine to be able to buy gas, right? We pride ourselves in being able to accomodate the person that just wants to get back and forth to work, to the at home mechanic that want to show those rice rockets what an aircooled motor can do. Many engine builders will tell you what you HAVE to put in your engine or "bad" things will happen. When building for the street, many stock parts are more than adequete. What I'm trying to say is that we will not sell you anything that you don't need. We also do not have people answering the phone who only know how to read out of a catalog. You can call and actually talk to the person who is building your engine.(me) One more thing, please don't be fooled by our "flashy" ads in Hot VWs, we are the farthest thing from corporate America. We all wear blue jeans and drive a variety of older cars and also a few Harley's. We work 50-70 hours per week to keep this place running, mostly because we love what we do. Our shop is also always open to take a tour if you are close enough. You can check out our machining facility, engine assembly area, service department and parts store.
WHAT CHECKS AND BALANCES ARE IN PLACE TO INSURE THAT EACH ENGINE
IS ASSEMBLED PROPERLY WITH EVERYTHING THE CUSTOMER ORDERED?
The first step is picking all the parts. I have three dedicated carts used to house each engine before assembly. As I pick each engine, I make out an invoice to make sure the parts come off invintory. I then double-check the parts against the sales invoice to make sure everything makes sense and matches. The next step is for the assembler to lay out all of the parts on his work bench and check again to make sure that everything that is supposed to be there, is. As the engine is being put together, a second person periodically stops by to check and see how everything is going. The primary objective here is for a second set of eyes to make sure everything looks right and feels right. After the engine is assembled, our test equipment is bolted on and the engine is test run. After a good 20-30 minutes of running, the valves are readjusted. The engine is then run again for another 30-45 minutes where 2-3 different people come out to listen and make sure everything sounds right, there are no leaks and the engine has good oil pressure at idle. The test equipment is then taken off and the engine gets pluged(so nothing falls in it) and taged with the customer name and invoice number. If the engine is going to be a turn-key, the rest of the parts are then assembled onto it and it is run again. This time, the timing is set first using a timing light(not by feel or sound), then the carb(s) are adjusted and checked using an exhaust gas analyzer and a syncro tool. This is to insure that the motor isn't running too rich or too lean. The valves are again adjusted and the engine runs for another 20-30 minutes to make sure there will be no problems upon installation. Finally, a visual inspection is done as a last check to make sure everything that was purchased by the customer is recieved by the customer.
