Hello-
        I am at a juncture at my top end rebuild for a syncro (an unexpected
rebuild of course). I am trying to figure out if I should drop the engine
to finish it or leave the engine in and just put it all back together with
the new pcs and heads I have. So my questions are this:

1) I believe I need to replace the oil seal under the crank pulley. Can this
        be done without VW 3167 (the special syncro seal seater, I might have
        that number wrong though)? Can I tap the two piece seal in place as
        described in Muir or will I be throwing $100 down the drain? I saw
        some people ask this question in the archives, but never found a
        response... If I don't have this tool, will I need to take the engine
        to someone who does to get it seated properly? Or split the case
        and reassmble with the new seal in place (long shot that I don't
        really think I would pursue)... Does anyone know what the difference
        between the syncro seal and the regular 2.1 engine seal is, and
        why there is a difference? Can I replace the syncro one with the
        regular one (Leonard at avp said I would need a new pulley a well)?

2) How much energy does a balanced set of rods save over an unbalanced set?
        Will I feel a difference in hp (I kind of doubt this) or see an
        increase in fuel effiency (this is really what I am after)? Someone
        mentioned dynamic balancing which I assume also takes crank weight
        and the angular momentum of the rods into account somehow - will
        this make a big difference?

3) If I pull the rods to get the balanced, do I have to do anything special
        to the nuts when I put them back on the crankshaft? Someone wrote
        me something about "staking" them, but I don't really know what that
        means, or how to do it, just that it involves a chisel and is meant
        to prevent the nuts from loosening... Would something like blue
        loctite be a suitable alternative?

4) Finally, when putting the engine back in the car, just how difficult is
        it to get everything aligned if the engine is on a jack? How about
        suspended from a hoist?

I'll try and summarize any private responses I get into an email for the
archives as well...

dave