Cheap Junk 1971 Build

[oprn]

Engine in and running. Oil leak from the bell housing, no big surprise as the flywheel did have a wear pattern from the old seal. Found an exchange flywheel and reset the crank end play new seal and put it all back in.

No dice! Still leaks oil at the same place and the same amount! Cam plug? Hard to tell, clean oil so hard to spot the origin. So for now it marks it's territory where ever it stops. Just like any good German Shepard!

Other than that running very nice, hardly know it has a cam in it! So much bottom end on this engine and pulls well up higher too Not sure how high - maybe 4500? Tach quit. Not pushing the rpms yet with this fresh engine.

[Piledriver]

It's very easy to cut the outer orings on pushrod tube install, and not only from pinching them.

The bores in the head are "as machined" and almost always have sharp edges/points waiting to shred an oring.

I like to polish up the entry and bores with fine Scotchbrite and wd40 on a split dowel in a drill.
Obviously easier to clean up // works better if the heads aren't already assembled/installed.

A couple of other "classic" spots to leak are a (missing) bolt for the thermostat pulley and not-quite-sealed screw in plugs.
I always us permatex or locktite anerobic pipe thread sealant on those so you can get a good seal without overtightening them.

Never use teflon tape on an engine.

[saggs]

Hi Clatter, I haven't searched the whole thread but was wondering what you're using for a dizzy on this engine and are you able to get a decent vac signal off the carbs? Are they webers? I'm using an 050 on my 1911 but am not real happy with it. Nice work by the way and great documentation, I'm not that patient.

[oprn]

Piledriver, I found the oil leak. It's the oil gallery plug right where the bushing for the fuel pump rod is. Really difficult to get a tap to make good threads there and tough to get a plug to go in far enough to seal as they all bottom out on the rod bushing. It would be great if you experienced guys would tell us what you did to overcome this issue. For now I tried a 2 part epoxy type sealant on the threads. Stopped it for a while but now it is leaking a little again.

[oprn]

Hi Clatter, I haven't searched the whole thread but was wondering what you're using for a dizzy on this engine and are you able to get a decent vac signal off the carbs? Are they webers? I'm using an 050 on my 1911 but am not real happy with it. Nice work by the way and great documentation, I'm not that patient.

I would have to go back and look too but I don't recall Clatter mentioning distributor of carb choices and I believe the engine is under his bench waiting for a home.

As I replied to your inquiry on another forum I have a Pertronics III in mine and am pretty happy with is so far. And yes my Webers produce lots of vacuum for this distributor.

[Piledriver]

Piledriver, I found the oil leak. It's the oil gallery plug right where the bushing for the fuel pump rod is. Really difficult to get a tap to make good threads there and tough to get a plug to go in far enough to seal as they all bottom out on the rod bushing. It would be great if you experienced guys would tell us what you did to overcome this issue. For now I tried a 2 part epoxy type sealant on the threads. Stopped it for a while but now it is leaking a little again.

The fix for that is to not mess with that one Used to be in the stickies.
I bet its still in Jakes archived forum.

Now, best bet is to shorten the heck out of a plug and install it with the permatex high strenth pipe sealant,
The epoxy has no give, the permatex can flex some.
I also suggest shortening an aluminum or brass vs. stainless or std steel pipe plug for minimum expansion difference with temp.

That passage was originally plugged by the oil pump pushrod guide, which IIRC was splash oiled
If you drilled all through that, you also risk having an internal pressure leak back to the sump.
(probably not a real issue unless you have hot oil pressure issues)
You end up needing a smaller, deep plug, and one for the back of the case.
Another possible option is amke up a plug with an oring or tapered seal for the passage that could be secured by the outer plug.
Another idea: think flathead screw for the inner.
The pushrod hole only sees oil splash/case blowby pressure etc if you can seal the lifter gallery hole, which does have pressure.
(the t4 pushrod oil passages runs over the top of the lifter bores so they all have full pressure, all the time)

[oprn]

Thanks for the reply Piledriver but I am a bit confused by your answer and am not sure we are talking about the same oil gallery plug. The sealer I used in spite of being a two part product does in fact stay flexible. It is designed for R44 helicopter gearbox case halves. The whole issue here I believe is the inability to get a deep enough thread to get a seal with a tapered style pipe plug. I am considering pulling the bushing out as I am not able to use the stock fuel pump due to it interfering with the type 1 rear transmission mount. Any tapping and drilling at this point is risking getting filings into the oil galleries and I really do not want to do a full tear down.

IMG_0486.JPG

[Piledriver]

that pushrod guide plugs the high pressure passage on the other side.
You can drill about half way through it, but try a shortened tap and plug.

Try what I suggested, the anerobic sealant was made to seal pipe threads and is rated for 10,000 psi once cured.
It's also available anywhere.

[oprn]

Ya we have that stuff in the shop at work. Marketed by Swagelok and I hate it! Might do the trick here though. I can see right past the top of the push rod tube down the oil gallery so this one is not sealing anything. I did shorten a tap to thread it but I did not shorten the plug. That could be the problem right there.

Next time I have the engine out... meanwhile I will just toss a rag under it and watch the oil level close.


Thanks!

[Ceckert64]

Great thread! I will use some of the tips and tricks on my 411 engine build for my bus! Pulled it from the junkyard in the style of this build, it only had a quart of water in the crank case

[Bruce.m]

Bumping this for anyone recently joining

[oprn]

An update is overdue. Some time has gone by now so some lessons have been learned. The Pertronics III system I bought and installed failed after about 8 months. It locked up at 16* BTDC and would not change. I took the distributor part and quite frankly was a bit horrified at the lack of quality in parts, machining and finish! Nowhere near what I am used to seeing in the stock VW Bosh distributors. Plastic parts, rough ragged edges on the advance moving parts ect. It was the advance mechanisms that locked up and caused the problem.

Since then I have purchased a used Mega Jolt crank trigger system and will never look back! I keep thinking about EFI but the Italian 40mm IDFs run so well that I cannot imagine there could be enough increased benefit to justify the cost. We have driven this Buggy all over Western Canada now and absolutely love the torque this type 4 engine has. No holding up traffic in the mountain passes now! I was hoping for a bit better fuel economy, we are running between 28 and 30 mpg but I think gearing, the larger piston size (flame travel) and the poor aerodynamics are against us. I am in the process now of changing to a 3.88 IRS transaxle and taller tires. We will see this summer...

[Tony Z]

why not just keep the current transaxle and step up to taller tires and see how it does? Then change the ratios later if you still want or need it

[Ol'fogasaurus]

blue buggy 101.JPG

This is an independent rear suspension buggy with paddles on it not a swing axle rear suspension. With a swing axle buggy the tires swing in an arc as the suspension bumps while the IRS does arc some but goes more straight up and down.

I ended up making a 3" body lift to get tire clearance and more so to put strength in the pan. I've posted two buggy builds, one this one and the other has a way different body requiring more work.

Remember, the glass body isn't that great in load support and load transfer but fun to drive. If you get a bit more loading on it, then the body lift (and not the commercial ones as they are not as strong as a properly built one, is more of a "must".

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I forgot to say that I did re-set the preload on the rear torsion bars. Stock (early bug) is something like 19 degrees so I was given advice (I ride in the sand) to go up some preload, so I did (30 degrees which was way too much. I then reset the preload down to 26 degrees which it is still the setting I am using.

Getting the right preload is somewhat easy after you have don't it a couple of times. Even for street only, and the bug body gone some additional preload is usually needed.

Lee