Finally getting into building a 2056 for my 914. Plan is to rebuild one of the two 2L engines I have with 96mm AA P/Cs. For induction, I have D-Jet from one of the 2L engines with a good MPS and set of Weber IDF40s. I would like to stay with FI but will consider using the Webers.

The engine will have ceramic coated SSHE along with a Bursch muffler.

The first engine I bought was advertised as a 2L core with FI. In reality the engine was "cored". There is a hole about 3/8 x 1/2 inch in the case. Looks like the engine was run even with the hole as there is a good amount of dirt+oil on the fins of cylinders 3&4. Also one of the spark plug threads is stripped on cylinder #4. The seller said he would give me a line bored case that he has but I've yet to see it. I bought the engine in Aug of last year so I'm losing hope of getting the case; This ranks up there with one of my worst purchases.

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Since the first engine's case was trashed and the seller hasn't come through with the promised replacement case, I purchased a 2nd engine from Brad Mayeur that had been running. This one came with the Webers and likely will be the basis of my engine.

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Yes

Being my first rebuild, I've been studying Jake's Type4 rebuild DVD. I'll have some questions as I go.

Here's the first one: How do I remove the oil pump cover? I've removed the 4 bolts but the cover won't budge. Did I miss something or are there more screws/bolts?

Next question: Are used 94mm P/C's worth anything? I'll have 2 sets when I'm done. The first set seems ok; no visible damage or scoring.

Loosen some of the case thru bolts near the front
Then you can pry on those tabs to either side of the pump.
A little at a time and you can work it out.



You can have the 94 Cyls bored out to 96 and will be as good as new (or better).
If all of the fins are intact, they are worth saving.

When you split the case the oil pump will fall out.

Yes, agree with both

Thirded having the 94s punched out rather then buying new 96 cylinders.

Steve Limbert from Aircooled Racing in Dillsburg PA can have that done, and its done right - using the correct jigs.

After that a set of KB flat top pistons from European Motor Works and you are good to go.

Zach

I agree with Zach, if original- bore and new pistons, rings and re-use.

A bit late on the P/C as I've already procured an AA set. So are the AA's not good? Should I sell them and punch out the existing cylinders?

Another question: Assuming new bearings for the crank and bushing for the connecting rods, how does one mate the new bearings to the crank and wrist pins to the connecting rods? Is this something Aircooled Racing would do?

Also, is it common to replace the cam once I split the case or can the existing cam be reused if in good condition?

AA's have been used by lots of people here to great effect.
But they need to be checked for roundness. They have QC issues, and a few have come from the factory out of round. So long as they are round, you should be in great shape with them.
Zach

New larger lower bearings are split bearings, you will see when you remove the old ones....so those are simple.

Upper small top end bearings will be installed by a machine shop and honed out to match the new wrist pins.

For the AA cylinders, bring them to th machine shop to check for being round, listen to the advice, it may end up better to machine out your old cylinders to match the new Pistons I'd the AA cylinders are too far out of spec.

You can always flip one over on the passenger floor for a decent looking coffee cup holder.

It is common to replace the camshaft so, Elgin and Webcamshafts are two vendors that sell them.

or for cams check out type4store for the Raby cams for more HP with Djet.

Got the case split. The oil pump came off easily once the case bolts were off and I started splitting the case.

The cam shows some wear on the top of the lobes so I guess is trash. Do the cam followers get replaced or can they be reused?

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Here's a piece of the case from the exterior hole that was wedged in by the cam.

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Here's all the debris that came out of the case. Most were from the hole in the case except the plastic plug and the screw. You can see the wear from the cam of the piece on the right.

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ALWAYS buy the cam & lifters from the same vendor, at the same time.
Do not reuse them unless they are staying with a cam that is to be reused.
You should even keep them with the same Intake & exhaust valves if possible.

You REALLY need to decide: FI or Carbs BEFORE shopping for a new cam.

that piece wedged under the cam looks like a valve seat. What do the heads look like? What are your head plans?

Yeah I assumed as much. Thanks. I'm leaning towards FI either using the existing DJET or Mega/Micro-squirt. Not sure what the difference is between Mega/Micro. Do these use original intake runners/Throttle body/MPS?

I think that piece was from the hole in the case. There were several pieces like that in the case; that was the largest piece.

I'll have 5 heads to choose from; 2 from the holed engine; 2 from the 2nd engine; and one head I picked up separately. The one head was supposedly good but I found one of the exhaust studs was stripped out.

I'll probably take them to whatever machinist I go to and have them decide which heads look the best and probably reseat, revalve, respring, and rework the 2 best.

There are 2 shops recommended close to me. The one Zach mentioned and one in Easton, PA recommended by a 356 restorer.

Here's the king of T4 head work...

Len Hoffman

Got the holed engine apart down to the case. Started disassembly on the 2nd engine and found a few surprises.

Extra spark plug and a ready made mouse nest.

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Heads look good. No apparent cracks, no pulled exhaust studs.

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The one chamber looks like something got dropped in it as the ceiling is marked up. Valves and piston show no marks so this must have been done before the last rebuild.

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Last surprise of the day: 96mm pistons. This engine is already at 2056. This engine was running when pulled out of the car a while back.

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The gentleman I bought the cored case from came through with a nice clean 2L case which was checked for bore alignment.

Time for a little detour...

So now I have 2 good cases; internals from 2 engines; one with 96mm pistons; A set of weber dual carbs; a complete D-JET setup including an MPS which holds vacuum.

The detour is I will leave the P/C on the 2nd engine; clean it up; reassemble and see if/how it runs with the carbs. If this engine runs well, I'll dump it in my 914 and use the cleaned case and other internals to take my time and build a 2056 DJET engine.

Here's the current state of the 2nd engine. Degreased the case, cylinders and heads. Reinstalled the heads with new sealing rings. Reinstalled pushrods and pushrod tubes with new o-rings, and adjusted the valves.

Next up is to clean the bottom of the engine, put the oil temp sender from the first engine on this one, put it back together with the carbs and fire it up. If it runs ok I'll put it in the car and work on the other engine at my leisure.

Sounds like a good intermediary plan.

Anything to keep your car off the jack stands is good as they tend to get comfortable up there

Larger intake valves than 2.0L OEM heads?

Can't tell if they're different. I didn't measure them before reassembly.

Here's a question about the taco plate o-ring: Do I install dry, lube with oil, RTV, gasket sealant?

Unless you're SURE the exhaust valves are new, don't re-use them. The old sodium filled exhaust valves are a time bomb.
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This one fell apart as I was pulling them from my 2L heads.

I used a little Curil K2 on the o ring and also on the gasket surfaces....I'm still in building process so don't know the results of sealing yet. I think on my other engine, I used only oil on the o ring and some forgotten sealer(maybe K2) on the gasket. It didn't ever leak....

I put the engine back together and got it running this weekend.

Since I didn't know if there were serious issues with the engine (was told it was running at some time), I reinstalled the carbs without adjusting or rebuild, original rotor and cap (it has Pertronix), wires, plugs, timing was as it was when I got the engine.

I purchased a low pressure Mr. Gasket #42S pump and used a generic radiator overflow tank for a gas tank.

12V comes from my 914 using jumper cables. Engine started right up and idles well. Seems to rev pretty well. No oil leaks to speak of.

Questions:
How do I time a carb'ed 2056?

Cylinder #3 occasionally backfirst through the throttle body. What could be causing this?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOC3oVgZlCM

Use the TDC mark on the FW thru the access hole in the top of the trans.
With an adjustable timing light, set it to ~30 deg and set it at 3500 RPM.
Your actual timing will vary based on various things (altitude, CR, gas, etc)



First things to check: Any intake leaks? Check the jets for clogs (main, idle, & accel pump).
Clean out the carb bores in case any of the holes in the side of the barrels are clogged (the ones that get exposed as the throttle plate opens)