Intro from Montana: '73 2.0L rustoration thread Options

[bbrock]

Well, it seems an eastward trip is in my future.

Good work, friend.

Yes sir! I have just a little more to do and then you are up at bat. I already have the lambda sensor and need weld the bung into the Bursch. I'll also get the timing set and carbs balanced and tuned as best i can before you make the trip. I also get my second vaccination next Monday so things are lining up. I'm heading to the the garage now to get started on the to-do list.

[Jamie]

Well, it seems an eastward trip is in my future.

Good work, friend.

Yes sir! I have just a little more to do and then you are up at bat. I already have the lambda sensor and need weld the bung into the Bursch. I'll also get the timing set and carbs balanced and tuned as best i can before you make the trip. I also get my second vaccination next Monday so things are lining up. I'm heading to the the garage now to get started on the to-do list.

This has been a monumental project considering your obvious OCD condition, and you are to be commended for bringing us along for the ride. There has been much beneficial information shared, and you are a mentor and inspiration to many here. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[raynekat]

When I saw the 1st start up video.....I laughed when I saw the "white" flag get unfurled.
Hahahaha
Well done there Brent-meister.

[raynekat]

Double post....stupid computer.

[bbrock]

I readied the white flag of surrender again tonight. Last night I drained the oil and changed the filter. I was really surprised how thick and slimy the oil was from the assembly lube in it. It was probably because I filled the oil pump with thick assembly lube to help with building oil pressure before first start. I had planned to throw a fistful of bolts and metal scraps into the oil pan and take a picture as a joke, but decided I didn't want to mess with that slimy stuff.

Tonight I refilled the crankcase. I ordered 20w50 break-in oil from some guy on Amazon, but what I received was some kind of motorcycle racing oil. He was nice enough about exchanging the oil but dumb as a stump. After 3 weeks of messing around trying to get an exchanged, this arrived. Fuch it. It's ZDDP enriched break-in oil and the break-in is going to happen during cool weather so this will do.



With oil in the car, time to see it I could get some of the crap out of its get along. A vintage car should be tuned with a vintage kit. I've had these bits since buying my first car (a 914 of course) in the early 80s.



It was a bit of a trick juggling between revving an engine that runs like shit while reading the tach on the meter, and point the timing light down the hole, but I think I managed to get it darn close and the engine did smooth out noticeably when I was finished - but still ran like crap.

Next I balanced the carbs with a snail. Why didn't I take a pic? They were wildlife out of synch because I tried to crank one of the carbs up before cam break-in. I think I'll wind up pulling the fuel pressure gauge off because it is in the way of adjusting the right carb. I shouldn't really need it now anyway. Once the carbs were balanced, they smoothed out a lot. I think tried adjusting the idle mixture screws by ear by screwing on in until the cylinder starts to miss. Backing it out until it stops missing, then out another 1/2 turn. My ear sucks and I don't know what I'm doing, so not sure how well I did on that. Anyway, the engine now idles with a little bit of hunting between about 500-800 rpm. Still more work to do, but at least it isn't spitting fire.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mUr-KB7SUc


A couple problems. The leaking pushrod tube has become a bit of a gusher so I'll work on that over the weekend and check the valve clearances too. Also, the instrument panel tach is bouncing wildly at idle. It might have been as simple as being fouled by having the other tach meter hooked up at the same time, or could be the multifire pertronix playing heck with it, or....?

Baby steps.

[Superhawk996]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

Love that you're making progress! Don't get discouraged by the usual trial and tribualations like leaking pushrod tubes.

[tygaboy]

Brent - the word of the day/week/month is "sticktoitism"! But you already know about that, so we're not worried. I can say that I've been working through what seems a never ending list of issues encountered since I first fired the engine and I've added more now that I'm driving it around. Find, fix, on to the next.
I suppose it's what's to be expected when you take a car all the way apart - and change a few things.

But you sure seem to be making good (read "quick") progress working through the tuning portion. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

And remember, I have my money on your first drive happening before you hit 100 pages so... 97 down, less than 3 to go!

[bbrock]

Thanks guys, but it's too late. I've decided to scrap the whole project. Once I saw oil dripping on the ground, I knew the car was destined for the crusher. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Seriously though, I hope my last post didn't sound like discouragement. I'm absolutely thrilled the only two issues so far are a bouncing tach and what should be a relatively easy to fix oil leak. The tach issue is particularly interesting because I've read enough bad reviews of the Pertronix III and also a plethora of how Pertronix in general can mess with tachs or help to smooth them out. Conflicting information for sure. At any rate, the Pertronix immediately rises as a suspect in my mind on any ignition related issue, but so far, no evidence it is not working as it should.

I'll likely be posting more short vids of the engine running. I would very much appreciate comments good or bad about what people are hearing. This is pretty much new territory for me and you smart guys will probably hear things that I don't. Luckily, @dr.tim will be coming out at some point to work his magic and have the engine running like butter. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[dr.tim]

Thanks guys, but it's too late. I've decided to scrap the whole project. Once I saw oil dripping on the ground, I knew the car was destined for the crusher. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

In service to the dead, I will solemnly tote my trailer to collect the car-cass and deliver it to the recycler to limit your suffering. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad2.gif)

Yes, I would do that for you, friend.

Luckily, @dr.tim will be coming out at some point to work his magic and have the engine running like butter. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

I may wear a wizard's hat, but with Webers it's more of an art.. the type that can be described by:

Good judgement comes from experience;
Experience comes from bad judgement.

Fortunately for you, but unfortunately for me, I have a fair bit of experience.

Got anything going tomorrow?

[KELTY360]

[quote name='dr.tim' date='Apr 23 2021, 08:57 AM' post='2910329']
[quote name='bbrock' post='2910084' date='Apr 22 2021, 08:09 AM']
Thanks guys, but it's too late. I've decided to scrap the whole project. Once I saw oil dripping on the ground, I knew the car was destined for the crusher. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)
[/quote]

In service to the dead, I will solemnly tote my trailer to collect the car-cass and deliver it to the recycler to limit your suffering. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad2.gif)

Yes, I would do that for you, friend.



What a guy! Shared pain is what 914World is all about.

[bbrock]

Thanks guys, but it's too late. I've decided to scrap the whole project. Once I saw oil dripping on the ground, I knew the car was destined for the crusher. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

In service to the dead, I will solemnly tote my trailer to collect the car-cass and deliver it to the recycler to limit your suffering. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad2.gif)

Yes, I would do that for you, friend.

Luckily, @dr.tim will be coming out at some point to work his magic and have the engine running like butter. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

I may wear a wizard's hat, but with Webers it's more of an art.. the type that can be described by:

Good judgement comes from experience;
Experience comes from bad judgement.

Fortunately for you, but unfortunately for me, I have a fair bit of experience.

Got anything going tomorrow?

@dr.tim Thank you for the sacrifice. I hope you will give her a good burial.

I will be here working on it tomorrow but need at least one more weekend before we are ready to tune. I need to fix that oil leak before I run the engine any more and still need to weld the sensor bung in the Bursch muffler and mount it so we can monitor AFR. Juggling this with spring chores so trying to keep my weekend to-do lists for the car on the sort side.

[dr.tim]

roger.

[930cabman]

@BB: I just went through much of your thread, when did you make the decision to go wit twin carbs and ditch the FI?

thanks, and great story and build thread btw

[bbrock]

@BB: I just went through much of your thread, when did you make the decision to go wit twin carbs and ditch the FI?

thanks, and great story and build thread btw

That decision was made 30 years ago. I think I wrote about this on your carb thread but basically what happened was that I tore down the engine for rebuild due to unreliable FI and oil leaks in 1986. It was pre-Internet and living where few mechanics had ever touched one of these weird "furin" cars, all my info came from VW-Porsche Magazine and they loved "upgrading" 914s by yanking the FI and replacing with Webers.

So I bought a pair of brand new Italian (pronounced eye-TAL-yun ) 40IDFs that were fairly inexpensive at the time and a mild carb cam and rebuilt the short block before 30 years of shifting between not having enough money or not enough time to complete the restoration. Thirty years later, I had this short block with a carb cam entombed inside and a pair of NOS Webers. Rather than split the case to replace the cam back to stock and add another 6 months to the resto project to refurbish the DJet, I decided to just stay on course with the Webers.

There is a strong chance this engine will return to FI (either stock DJet or a more modern system), but for now, I'll just enjoy driving it for awhile and see how the carbs treat me.

Personally, I think you made the smart choice deciding to go with the DJet.

[930cabman]

@BB: I just went through much of your thread, when did you make the decision to go wit twin carbs and ditch the FI?

thanks, and great story and build thread btw

That decision was made 30 years ago. I think I wrote about this on your carb thread but basically what happened was that I tore down the engine for rebuild due to unreliable FI and oil leaks in 1986. It was pre-Internet and living where few mechanics had ever touched one of these weird "furin" cars, all my info came from VW-Porsche Magazine and they loved "upgrading" 914s by yanking the FI and replacing with Webers.

So I bought a pair of brand new Italian (pronounced eye-TAL-yun ) 40IDFs that were fairly inexpensive at the time and a mild carb cam and rebuilt the short block before 30 years of shifting between not having enough money or not enough time to complete the restoration. Thirty years later, I had this short block with a carb cam entombed inside and a pair of NOS Webers. Rather than split the case to replace the cam back to stock and add another 6 months to the resto project to refurbish the DJet, I decided to just stay on course with the Webers.

There is a strong chance this engine will return to FI (either stock DJet or a more modern system), but for now, I'll just enjoy driving it for awhile and see how the carbs treat me.

Personally, I think you made the smart choice deciding to go with the DJet.

Thanks, but I am having second thoughts. We have boxes and boxes of stuff from three different cars and am having a hard time determining what is D jet and what is L jet. It seems as the L jet is preferred due to the air metering. On the fence, it seems awful easy to have Pierce send a 40 IDF kit and go.

[bbrock]

@BB: I just went through much of your thread, when did you make the decision to go wit twin carbs and ditch the FI?

thanks, and great story and build thread btw

That decision was made 30 years ago. I think I wrote about this on your carb thread but basically what happened was that I tore down the engine for rebuild due to unreliable FI and oil leaks in 1986. It was pre-Internet and living where few mechanics had ever touched one of these weird "furin" cars, all my info came from VW-Porsche Magazine and they loved "upgrading" 914s by yanking the FI and replacing with Webers.

So I bought a pair of brand new Italian (pronounced eye-TAL-yun ) 40IDFs that were fairly inexpensive at the time and a mild carb cam and rebuilt the short block before 30 years of shifting between not having enough money or not enough time to complete the restoration. Thirty years later, I had this short block with a carb cam entombed inside and a pair of NOS Webers. Rather than split the case to replace the cam back to stock and add another 6 months to the resto project to refurbish the DJet, I decided to just stay on course with the Webers.

There is a strong chance this engine will return to FI (either stock DJet or a more modern system), but for now, I'll just enjoy driving it for awhile and see how the carbs treat me.

Personally, I think you made the smart choice deciding to go with the DJet.

Thanks, but I am having second thoughts. We have boxes and boxes of stuff from three different cars and am having a hard time determining what is D jet and what is L jet. It seems as the L jet is preferred due to the air metering. On the fence, it seems awful easy to have Pierce send a 40 IDF kit and go.

I can definitely sympathize with that.

[Lucky9146]

Loved your start up videos!

It's been a long haul. Always good to look back and see how far you have come. Lots of challenges but you overcame them all. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Geeez you just might finish this thing and then what will you do with yourself? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Looking forward to the driving video. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/white914.jpg)

[930cabman]

Loved your start up videos!

It's been a long haul. Always good to look back and see how far you have come. Lots of challenges but you overcame them all. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Geeez you just might finish this thing and then what will you do with yourself? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Looking forward to the driving video. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/white914.jpg)

+1, and then what will you do with yourself? another project could be in the wings, but will you live long enough. Once again, great story and documentation

[930cabman]

I like this crowd (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) OT warning: Quick beaver diversion. Years ago when the beaver moved into the valley, the dam caused some minor road flooding during spring snow melt (which always happened but had become worse because of the dam). The then chairman of our road maintenance committee took it upon himself to whack a chunk out of the beaver dam with a backhoe in November just before winter freeze. That left the beaver lodge high and dry, which left the little buggers no choice but to burrow into the bank for shelter - in this case, the bank being under the road. Of course, the road collapsed. The next road meeting was all about what to do about "the beaver problem." Most were concerned for preserving the beaver, including the land owner where the pond was built. I stood up and explained why whacking the dam caused the worse problem of burrowing under the road, and offered up a device called the "Beaver Deceiver" as a solution that would let the beaver stay but also maintain the water level where we wanted it. I also rattled off some facts about how beaver are good for our wells and had built a very nice fire protection pond for free. Immediately people in the crowd started calling me "Beaver Man" to which I responded that I didn't think my wife would care for that nickname at all. Stone silence from the crowd. It's nice to be in a group that appreciates good beaver humor.

BTW, we never needed the Beaver Deceiver. By that time, the beavers were well on their way to building a chain of dams that slows down the snow melt and the road hasn't flooded in years because of them. As usual, beaver is the solution, not the problem.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program.

+1 again, from three years ago. Thanks for the laugh

[bbrock]

I had to make some repairs on our clothes dryer this morning so didn't get out to the garage until after lunch. Probably better that way because I'll admit it was a frustrating day. First order of business was fixing the oil leak which required dropping the heat exchanger, which meant pulling of the air guide and heater duct. A note for others: DO NOT install heater parts until you a sure your engine is running well and oil drip free.

Once all the crap was out of the way, pulling the leaking push rod tube was simple enough. The viton o-ring seals are from 914Rubber and I've had enough issues with several of their parts, I thought it wise to check dimensions against my copious stash of rubber seals that I'll never use, but for some reason won't throw away either. The viton seal checked out. Same OD when installed as the Ehlring seals.



The viton seals on both ends of the push rod looked in perfect condition (not pinched or nicked at all), but the tube end was a little dinged. I transferred the seals over to another push rod and reassembled. Then I checked valve clearances on #3 and #4. One valve had barely loosened up. I tightened it just a tiny bit. Then I swapped out the valve cover gasket for the 914Rubber thick version. What a pain in the ass. The thickness isn't a problem, but they made the gaskets just a tiny bit oversized so they bow about a quarter inch when fit in the cover. I can only guess they thought that would help compress the gasket when installed, or maybe compensate for any shrinkage from heat cycling. Whatever the reason, it makes them a pain in the ass to install because the fuching things try to pop our of the cover flanges. I managed to wrestle it on and snap down the bail.

Then to the other side to check clearances. Same deal as the other side. A couple valves had barely, barley, loosened. After readjusting I had the gasket to deal with only this time with the heat exhanger still on, it was a triple pain in the ass to wrestle that little bastard in. Finally, I got the bail snapped in place. Then I fired up the engine and inspected the push rod that was replaced. No leaks! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) A little oil was baking out of the exchanger from the leak from before, but the head stayed dry with no drips.

I let the engine warm up and the idle came up. It was idling about 1800 rpm so I disconnected the linkage and dialed the carbs down and rebalanced. Got it to about 1000 rpm but before I could dial down any farther, I started choking on smoke. I looked under the car at the push rod tube I'd repaired. Nope, no leak. Dry as a bone. Then I saw smoke billowing off the driver's side exchanger. Goddammit! That valve cover was spraying oil like crazy. Obviously it can be fixed but fuchs sake. You shouldn't have to drop the exchangers just to install a valve cover. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.



Oh, and as for not having anything to do when this is over. Don't worry, I have a whole list of crazy projects lined up. The next one is probably the craziest one yet. Not car related, but I might have to post anyway.