so if its the rod bearing, should I feel some sort of gap, even a tiny bit?

If I can rotate the motor by hand without experiencing any contact
or feel any lash in the piston arms
Do I proceed to split the case?

Should I just clean and adjust the lifters,
put the motor back in and fire it up
and see if it was just lifter issues?

Ps: I'd love something different in my westy, does the rabbit motor match to the tranny or are there adapters?

________________________________
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>
To: B.J.R. <beer_eighty@YAHOO.COM>; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Monday, June 1, 2009 10:39:01 PM
Subject: Re:      '82-2.0 teardown. help me find the knocking please

well, you can remove the rod nuts, bolts , and caps once you remove pistons.
That'll get you looking at the rod bearings, if they're badly worn or shot - but if the crank is out of spec ..........you'll need to split the cases.
Beyond that though, like for main bearings,  ..........you'll be splitting the cases anyway.

how about a nice inline four Rabbit gasoline engine for an engine conversion ?
better fuel mileage, a real heater, and a cast iron block , and a long-lasting head too.

----- Original Message ----- From: "B.J.R." <beer_eighty@YAHOO.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 1:02 PM
Subject: '82-2.0 teardown. help me find the knocking please

> A ticking progressed to a knocking my final trip of last summer.sounds like front end of the left side case.
>
> It seems worse this year gettin her out n drivin her around, more like a small hammer on the case. sort of
>
> Engine is out, muffler is off and shielding is removed
>
> the left side head is coming off, i dont see cracks around the valves, they all seem to be seated ok
>
> im guessing its a bad main bearing
>
> What should i be looking for?
> Am i going to have to crack the case to find the contact area if it is a bad bearing??