To Do List for Bumblebee that needs to be bulletproof, What would you do? Options

[mepstein]

The bad - trans leaks pretty bad. Not sure what happened. I'm also struggling to get it in first gear. It will come back out soon to check.

Thanks for the update, I remember this thread. I will be interested in how you solve the first gear issue as I have problems with first gear also. Hoping that a Tangerine linkage kit and a RennShift will solve my problem.

How many miles are on the trans? We’ve overhauled at least 20 transmissions this year and every one had worn out parts. This was from a 914 trans I opened up today. Owner reported no significant issues.

[TonyA]

The bad - trans leaks pretty bad. Not sure what happened. I'm also struggling to get it in first gear. It will come back out soon to check.

Thanks for the update, I remember this thread. I will be interested in how you solve the first gear issue as I have problems with first gear also. Hoping that a Tangerine linkage kit and a RennShift will solve my problem.

How many miles are on the trans? We’ve overhauled at least 20 transmissions this year and every one had worn out parts. This was from a 914 trans I opened up today. Owner reported no significant issues.

But he sure does have some clean oil.

[mepstein]

The bad - trans leaks pretty bad. Not sure what happened. I'm also struggling to get it in first gear. It will come back out soon to check.

Thanks for the update, I remember this thread. I will be interested in how you solve the first gear issue as I have problems with first gear also. Hoping that a Tangerine linkage kit and a RennShift will solve my problem.

How many miles are on the trans? We’ve overhauled at least 20 transmissions this year and every one had worn out parts. This was from a 914 trans I opened up today. Owner reported no significant issues.

But he sure does have some clean oil.

lol!
Someone once told me the shifting is only as good as the weakest link. Definitely start at bushings, moving parts and low hanging fruit but there's no way to make it great if the trans is worn/worn out.

[iankarr]

Congrats on the first drive! Sounds like your BB is well on the way to being sorted!

[jhynesrockmtn]

The bad - trans leaks pretty bad. Not sure what happened. I'm also struggling to get it in first gear. It will come back out soon to check.

Thanks for the update, I remember this thread. I will be interested in how you solve the first gear issue as I have problems with first gear also. Hoping that a Tangerine linkage kit and a RennShift will solve my problem.

How many miles are on the trans? We’ve overhauled at least 20 transmissions this year and every one had worn out parts. This was from a 914 trans I opened up today. Owner reported no significant issues.

But he sure does have some clean oil.

lol!
Someone once told me the shifting is only as good as the weakest link. Definitely start at bushings, moving parts and low hanging fruit but there's no way to make it great if the trans is worn/worn out.

I'm not sure how many miles on the trans, but if it was rebuilt when the guy who restored the car said it was, I'd guess 10k. It has fresh gear oil. I don't remember it leaking like this or having a 1st gear issue when I first got the car, so I'm not discounting simpler things like a bad install in the input shaft seal. I've got two other 901s sitting in my shop so we'll look at this one closely and make sure the easy stuff is checked off the list. If something is really wrong internally we'll open the other two up and see if we have a good one. I don't know the history on my spares.

I'm also not confident when a PO said, this or that was "rebuilt". Who knows how good the work was, etc. Overall I'm ok with this car given what I paid, but the quality of the "restoration" in several areas was lacking.

[mepstein]

I haven’t read through the whole thread but since you mentioned bulletproof and ready to drive a lot of miles, I was thinking a serious look at the internals might be warranted. Some of the rebuilt engines and trans, even from other shops, have been so pitiful that I don’t trust anything unless we open it up and put eyes on the parts.

[914sgofast2]

You mentioned the the engine tends to "hunt" at idle. That is a pretty sure sign that the AAR (Auxiliary Air Regulator) has gotten gummed up or its heating coil burned out. Take the AAR apart and clean it/repair the heating coil, or just buy a rebuilt one from Auto Atlanta. Since you are replacing all the gaskets and seals while the engine is out, this will insure that you have addressed all potential vacuum leaks that will cause an uneven idle.

[DRPHIL914]

I haven’t read through the whole thread but since you mentioned bulletproof and ready to drive a lot of miles, I was thinking a serious look at the internals might be warranted. Some of the rebuilt engines and trans, even from other shops, have been so pitiful that I don’t trust anything unless we open it up and put eyes on the parts.

You mentioned the the engine tends to "hunt" at idle. That is a pretty sure sign that the AAR (Auxiliary Air Regulator) has gotten gummed up or its heating coil burned out. Take the AAR apart and clean it/repair the heating coil, or just buy a rebuilt one from Auto Atlanta. Since you are replacing all the gaskets and seals while the engine is out, this will insure that you have addressed all potential vacuum leaks that will cause an uneven idle.

Yes, AAR, or other source of a air leak/vac leak and/or you are running a bit lean which can be a cause of hunting as well.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I haven’t read through the whole thread but since you mentioned bulletproof and ready to drive a lot of miles, I was thinking a serious look at the internals might be warranted. Some of the rebuilt engines and trans, even from other shops, have been so pitiful that I don’t trust anything unless we open it up and put eyes on the parts.

You mentioned the the engine tends to "hunt" at idle. That is a pretty sure sign that the AAR (Auxiliary Air Regulator) has gotten gummed up or its heating coil burned out. Take the AAR apart and clean it/repair the heating coil, or just buy a rebuilt one from Auto Atlanta. Since you are replacing all the gaskets and seals while the engine is out, this will insure that you have addressed all potential vacuum leaks that will cause an uneven idle.

Yes, AAR, or other source of a air leak/vac leak and/or you are running a bit lean which can be a cause of hunting as well.

The engine has been out and is back in. All fuel and vacuum lines replaced. The hunt and hesitation, or miss under acceleration is gone. What I did notice is the idle is consistently high. I've read that can be an issue with the 123ignition distributors. I'll look at that and smoke test the engine over the winter to see if I might have a vacuum leak.