Germany 914 Update, Might be really bad news... Options

[stephenaki]

OK, so I got back last week Friday from my trip to the states and finally was able to call and talk to Christoph today. Well, the conversation did not go quite as planned.

Christoph sent me an email but it evidently didn't reach me, not sure why as his other emails have gotten to me in the past. Bottom line up front, he is not sure that it is worth the expense to fix the car and thinks I might be better off selling it then getting a new one. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif)

Soooo, I will link up with him tomorrow and find out the gory details then give everyone an update. I am not sure what to expect at this point as prior statements of this nature have turned out to be relatively minor issues.

I am hoping to get a complete list of what the issues are and will submit it to the forum for a second assessment once I meet with him. Wish me luck.

[stephenaki]

OK, did a 120 miles on my bike this morning; there was construction on the 27 heading out to Dotternhausen and I wound up having to take a rather long detour to get there! I have some serious monkey butt! Needless to say I did get to Christophs place about 20 minutes later than planned.

First off, I forgot to ask him the particulars of the one piston, I will call him in a few minutes to follow up so keep that in mind.

Bottom line, no, HE doesn't want to buy it. He does want to do a partial rebuild and work on the rest of the cylinders and both heads. His assessment is as follows.

Cylinders need work, hone, replace rings on pistons and clean them up.
Both heads have some small cracks and possible cracks in the valve seats.
He wants to pull both heads, weld, machine, redo the seats and replace the valve guides.
So this would mean new gaskets, rings, etc.

My thougts at this point, if the offending piston and cylinder can be repaired, is to fix the cylinder, get it running and sell it on the economy. Buy another one when I get back stateside.

The problem I face is I can't just replace the one cylinder assembly because the PO before the PO I bought it from bored out the cylinders and dropped in 2.0 liter jugs. If I decide to replace the assembly I will have to replace all 4. Once I get a hold of Christoph again I will find out the specifics of the one cylinder and piston. I was a little frazzled this morning due to the rather long detour and limited number of signs telling me which way to go so, I forgot to ask.

Any thoughts from the group? Newly suggested Motto not-withstanding...

[DEC]

Cylinders need work, hone, replace rings on pistons and clean them up.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif)

If the cylinders are honed you need a set of pistons in the next
oversize

[TeenerTim]

Cylinders need work, hone, replace rings on pistons and clean them up.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif)

If the cylinders are honed you need a set of pistons in the next
oversize

I don't believe you need an oversize piston nor could you get one that size. Honing only knocks the glaze off of the cylinder wall so the rings will seat properly. Honing doesn't remove enough material to require a larger piston. Boring is a different process and would require a new piston.

[stephenaki]

Cylinders need work, hone, replace rings on pistons and clean them up.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif)

If the cylinders are honed you need a set of pistons in the next
oversize

I don't believe you need an oversize piston nor could you get one that size. Honing only knocks the glaze off of the cylinder wall so the rings will seat properly. Honing doesn't remove enough material to require a larger piston. Boring is a different process and would require a new piston.

Concur, honed not bored. If the piston is still good then new rings and cleaning up of the pistons will work. If the piston is bad, I can replace the piston wtith the same size piston but still use the cylinder. At this point it is imperative that the correct ring size be used to ensure no damage to the newly honed cylinder.

Real question is the extent of the corrossion; if it is too bad then I will have to replace the entire assembly.

Someone enlighten me, I recall reading that the cylinder is aluminum however, it has a steel sleeve. Yes, no? How well do they stand up over time? Just trying to get an idea of how badly the corrosion will affect the cylinder.