VW motor help...

[dawger]

Hello All, Need a little input from the wisdom of the forum.

I recently helped my brother in law restore his 1957 oval window Volkswagen bug. He bought a 1776 cc crate motor package- clutch to pulley to replace the original 1600 cc that was in it. After installing it and doing a couple days of test runs around the block he headed for home. On his way the motor locked up and spun him sideways on the road less than 10 miles total on it. We took it out and sent the complete package back to the builder. He commented we had the clutch to tight and caused the motor to lock up due to excessive pressure on the rear main oil seal and bearing, which in turn didn't allow for proper clearance for oiling. Is this possible or did something else happen? Seemed to shift fine, must be a fine line between too tight and too loose. Guess I have a hard time understanding that a tight clutch could cause a motor to lock up. We followed the VW manual for adjusting the clutch at the pedal for about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of free play. Granted I'm not familiar with the VW motor /clutch set up, but find it difficult that a clutch adjusted too tight would cause such a mess. His comment was not to go by the book and adjust the free-play at the side of the transaxle under the car to get the proper adjustment. Just don't want to go through this again when it returns.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks
DAWGER-