I purchased (but have not yet picked up) 1985 120 GLS with a bad crankshaft. I will not have the car until May as it is in storage, but woukd like to gather parts needed to get it running again.

Apparently, it's been sitting like this for a few years.

 

My main goal is to get it running first as quickly as possible, so I don't have ambitions of a complete engine disassembly etc.

 

I assume to get this going, I will need the following at a minimum:

- crankshaft

- bearings

- seal kit

 

Anything else?

 

I picked up a crankshaft from someone who said he had it sitting in his garage and it was never used in a car. I bought it sight unseen. I don't  know much about them, but it appears that someone attempted to drill it and melted some material in the hole plus there are signs of thermal discoloration near the area. Is this a concern? 

I think I will still have it checked, but I was hoping to buy a brand new crankshaft and drop it in with new bearings. If I have to get this one machined, I might as well machine the one that's  in the car and get matching bearings.

I am attaching a picture of the area.

 

Thanks for any guidance.

 

 

You might get bearings, seals etc from here, also worthwhile dropping them an enquiry about obtaining a crankshaft for you.

 

https://www.skoda-parts.com/catalog/105-120-130/spare-parts/engine-2.html

 

@Eljay - Based on your photo, I think that some total cnu idiot has tried to "balance" that crank by using a drill to remove material from the journals. In the process they have caused localised heating around their drill holes, and may have spoilt the heat treatment. Also, if you look at the two journals nearest the camera, I think I can see corrosion sports (possible stress raisers).

 

I advise getting a second opinion from a good machine shop near you, but suspect their answer may be along the lines of "total {censored} (s)crap". :(

The journals will have holes drilled in them but the ones that are misshapen are not original. I would suggest you bin this crank. Skopart.de sell new cranks. I may have a 120 crank in the garage but it would nee a re-grind but it came out of a working engine. 

https://skopart.de/_files/200001068-2056a21501/Motorteile(H) - Engine parts(H).pdf

@petergarforth  We're on very much the same page; I was particularly looking at the drilling that has the swarf around the edge and the burn mark beside it.

Thanks everyone. I feared this would be the fate of this piece.  :(

50 euros wasted. Oh well.

 

I may just have the existing crank machined. The car is in Canada, so parts would all have to come from Europe. The car has 60k kms, so I think it's due for its first crank grinding. I doubt a shop in Canada would have matching bearings and I'm not sure if I should buy bearings for the first grinding and have a shop machine the crank accordingly.

Just to follow-up, I took the crankshaft to a machine shop.

The guy confirmed that the crank is new and still has the factory sealing grease on it and the bearing at the end is new.

He thinks that someone tried (and failed) to lighten the crank as it has more holes in the counterweights than usual, but he said, he would just grind any protruding spots around the messed up holes and and clean it and use it. He didn't have equipment to check the balance or to balance it. And I cannot find any shop around here that could balance it.

Another thing that sucks is that the shipping cost for the crank to Canada would be something like 170 euros. It weighs 12kgs, which is over the 10kg limit for the post office. :(

 

Should I just get a regrind of the existing crank that's in the car now?

Can I buy bearings for the first grinding while I'm here in Europe? Would they match if a shop grinds it to spec?

I am leaving for Canada next week and would want to bring some parts with me like bearings and seals and gaskets for the engine.

 

Thanks in advance.

I believe Skopart.de and places in CZ sell 1st grind bearing and if your machine places grinds to spec they will fit. As for the balance.....could be a nightmare if it is out....you'll get a lot of vibration and the engine will have a shorter life (how short depends on how far out it is)