The 1911 I rebuilt fired up as though it had been running yesterday. Like a dummy I sat in the car and ran it for 10 minutes at 3000 rpm to break in the cam, before I remembered the check for leaks.... Panic stations because there was a one foot diameter pool of oil under it!
It turned out that one of the valve covers was only sealing the gasket on one end. Warped or out of shape somehow. That seems to be the only leak thank god.
I should have been working the throttle from the back.

I have spare valve covers, but they need to be cleaned up a bit.

Got it insured and the plates on today, so a bit of tuning and I'll finally be able to drive a 914!

Congrats!! I think we have all done that before. Fire it up and forget to look underneath. It happened on my V8 car actually. The filter base wasnt tight and it was pouring out like a faucet.

914 don't leak, they mark their spot...

When I first primed my 2270 (when it was in the Bug) I had all sorts of oil lines and whatnot. I pulled everything apart and tried to pour oil into it just to prime that much faster. I thought I was all done, hopped in the car and started cranking. Couldn't get oil pressure. WTF?

Pretty soon I look back and I dumped almost a quart of oil on the garage floor. I forgot to put the external oil filter back on. Good thing I have that Hi-Po 30mm pump so it moves that much more oil...

I had to build a dam out of kitty litter to contain the spill. What a mess.



Later,
Tom