KEP on keeping on

Still no seal, but my man Justin says its in his hands, so its just a matter of a few days before its getting put onto Hapy's new engine. Justin offered to help install it. The rubber edge has a tendency to miss an edge, leaving a gap, so I welcomed his expertise. The rear seal is one of those items that is replaced once, maybe twice in an engine's life before it is entirely rebuilt, so I figured this isn't something I need to do on my own. I recognize Justin's time is valuable, so I thought I would test-fit the engine and transaxle. I figured that having the parts together once, and then pulled apart for the seal would make re-assembly later on (when he was here) much faster.

So, how works KEP adapter? I've had the adapter plate for almost a year. I didn't realize it had been that long until I went through the instructions and email threads. Whoa. I found, while digging through the paperwork and emails that I didn't really have a good idea of how to put the whole thing together. The instructions are accurate, but not at all detailed, so I had to contact the company about simple things like "which way does it go on?". After giving it a try, it turned out to be pretty straightforward. I detail the "how" below in case someone else needs a pictoral of the plate install.


Step 1 - decide your angle
The KEP adapter fits in 3 possible positions: upright , 15* (degree) and 50*. I didn't realize they had an upright option when I ordered it. The TDi engine sits at a 15* angle in the Jetta, Beetle and Golf, so I had initially planned to go with that. The 50* angle is necessary for a vanagon install (because their rear deck is so much lower). This could be a choice for a bus too, but some custom fabrication is needed to deal with the turbo. Personally, I'd rather have the engine look like it does in the Bentley manual for the TDi so when I have to do maintenance, I know where everything is.


Step 2 - find the "dowel" holes
Once you know your angle, take the adapter with the "KEP" lettering facing away from you. Place the adapter onto the bellhousing, fitting the lip of the plate inside the bellhousing. Rotate the plate into your desired angle from upright rotating counter-clockwise to 15* or more to 50*. Align the small holes with the mounting holes on the transaxle. I did this by croutching down and looking through the holes until I could see light. Mark all 4 holes with tape. I found that once the plate came off the bellhousing, it wasn't easy to be 100% sure which ones were the "right" ones. You can see the blue tape in the picture below.


Step 3 - put in the "dowels"
Pull off the plate and set it on your bench. In my case, I used the garage floor because my bench is covered in tools. Anyway, take the 4 "dowels" that came with the plate. They are the shiny silver bolt-looking things with threads at both ends. There are 3 that are the same length and one that is longer. Take the longer one (shorter threads away from you) and thread it into the upper left-hand dowel hole that you marked. This will become one of the bolts the starter hangs on. Then, thread the other 3 in the same way: shorter threads into the plate, longer threads sticking out. The picture to the left, here, shows which hole the longer one goes in. Depending on your orientation (upright, 15* or 50*, you will use the hole above, the same hole or the one below respectively.


Step 4 - hang it on the engine
Once the dowels are in, place the plate onto the engine. With the dowels, there's only one way to put it on: KEP facing out. If you kept the 2 upper transmission bolts (like I did), you'll have enough bolts to put the plate on a 002. I can't speak for the 091 bellhousing, but I was able to use the original bolts for the 2 upper holes that are on either side of the KEP lettering. You can make out one of them at the top of the picture on the right. There are 3 other holes in the plate that align with holes in the engine block. The 2 holes on the left do not require a nut and thread right in with 2 of the bolts provided. I used a longer one in the upper left hole, and a shorter one in the lower left hole. The one on the right requires a nut. I finger tightened everything, knowing I was going to have to separate the whole thing later.

Next, you put on the flywheel, the clutch and pressure plate, and mate the engine and transaxle. I'll cover that next time. As you can see from the 2 last pictures, there's no seal on right now. Not how you want to store your engine for very long. Fortunately, my engine is in an insect-free, warmed garage, and it will only be like this for a few more days. More next time--