1916 Top end rebuild - what should I look out for?

[Dean...]

Thank you for your advice!

The carbs have been cleaned, but they are at the mechanics to get done properly by someone other then me lol

The same mechanic is going to let me borrow his tool to retorque the flywheel, so I'm covered there

I was going to give the engine a good flush on the inside, but I'm really running out of time, and the car has had a couple oil changes since the water incident, so I think I'll have to give that a miss.

I'll be able to pick the heads up in about 21 hours so hopefully the engine will be done and in the car in the next 48 hours!

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[Dean...]

I picked up the heads today. The mechanic again talked about how they were in really good condition before he did any work to them, so that again was comforting. This is a VW Mechanic who is he regarded in my area, so it was good hearing him say that! He said the valves were good, and that they didn't look like they had had much action. He repaired number 1 spark plug hole too and checked the others.

So I'm home now beginning to put things back together. Right now though I'm playing around with the tinware, patching holes and giving them a quick coat of paint. Which reminds me... I know there are many people who say that Chrome tinware is not the way to go, but I've been thinking about it and I think it actually makes sense. You don't want the heat from underneath the engine to come through to the top, and chrome is reflective so it would stop some heat from getting through, whereas most people, including me, paint the tinware black, which will actually help soak the heat from underneath to the top area, which is where we don't want it. Any thoughts?

Anyways, here is a pic of what I'm working on right now

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[Dean...]

This can't be good : https://youtu.be/nC3aFe8-KN4

I managed to stop it from moving a bit, but it still does move. The oil pressure gauge has always shown low pressure, but I always thought it was the gauge because I haven't had any other symptoms. Now I think it's been sucking in air all along. I am able to blow through the pipe and can hear the air coming from somewhere, but I don't think that really means anything. It isn't easy to blow.

Right now I'm thinking that I'm going to have to split the case, just to fix this up ️

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[Dean...]

Can anyone point me in the right direction for instructions to apply the case just enough to fix this issue? I would like to try and make sure that no bearings etc fall out.

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[Ol'fogasaurus]

If I remember correctly at hot idle the oil pressure should be around 10#s and going up about 10#s per 1000 rpms to a top of 60#s. The red light comes on/flickers at ~7#s (depending on various things).

As far as hearing an air leak or the tube "wandering" I don't think I have ever heard that discussed before but, as I remember (its been well over 10 years since I had to pull a VW engine apart), the pickup tube is supported by a tab going to one of the drain cover bolts which could have loosened up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xfAxH_ysP0).

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ajaxhist=0

Stripped bolt in the above URL

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ajaxhist=0

I hope this helps.

[Dean...]

Thanks Lee

Oil pressure has never been to spec, but the oil pressure light has never come on when it shouldn't, Anna there have never been any worrying noises, so I blamed the gauge.

The case has been split. It's my first time doing this and I was really worried I'd have bearing dropping everywhere, etc, but once I spotted the nut I forgot lol it was all good. Even the lifters played nice and fell in order!

I checked the clearances of the pump, and the lash between the gears is more than double what is allowed, so I'm currently driving to pick up a new pump.

Slowly getting there

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[Dean...]

Things were going good for a while. I got home with the new pump and started building the case again. I put it all together, and just as I get to the torque for the first nut, I hear a crack! The stud is pulling out of the case. It's the first one you have to torque, the one right next to the cam.

Tomorrow I'll drill the hole and tap it. Then hopefully I'll be back on my way.

By the way, anyone seen the gears I have on the cam? Weird looking

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[66brm]

Cam gear is an old school racers trick

[Dean...]

In what way?

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[heli-easy]

On a stock gear the centrifugal force pushes the oil out the side along the gear teeth. The two grooves allow the oil to get trapped and follow the gear till it hits the other gear again. I could be wrong, but that thats my best guess.


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[66brm]

Who built the engine originally? Do a Google image search for gene berg cam gears...

[Dean...]

The second pic I find!

The engine was build by Richard Holzl

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[66brm]

I guessed Richard had some input as soon as I saw the vforce sticker and berg mod on the gear, it's possible the crank is also an early welded berg unit

[Dean...]

The crank is a Pobjoy crank.

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[Dean...]

I was really progressing, and then I realised I forgot the pieces of tin that sit under the cylinders just above the pushrod tubes.

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