Howdy,

Spent a few hours in the garage the last few days.
I made a wiring harness for my engine test gauge panel and tied up some loose ends with the motor. Pretty much ready to add the last bits, check for oil pressure, and see if she cranks!

If you notice anything obvious missing, reach out. But I believe its all there.

Had to get the Bosch blue coil.




Painted (VHT 'Cast Iron") and installed the heat exchangers... Harder than you might think to mount by yourself.





I added some single barrel Weber copies I got them for great price. These came off a 2 litre.
I partially expect them to be too small and am prepared to find a set of dual barrel 40's if it will hinder the performance notably. Time will tell.





Picked up this muffler locally, while I wait on a stainless muffler to be built. This will allow me to tune the motor and such now - go for looks later.





This being me.....

There has been a long running inside joke among my friends that I am bad at oil changes... something always happens. Its mostly a joke, but still.

Only right that the first time I ever put oil in this motor the #^!$ing drain plug was out. I am 1000% certain I already put it in. But sure enough...
Glad I bent over "just to see if there was any leaks" ... cant even be mad.... a few towels and cat litter. Try again tomorrow.





I can make it 13 pages on a build thread with fabrication, engine work, upholstery and perseverance, but cannot pour oil down a hole.



Besides the moist garage floor, this is where we stand.





Tomorrow, I will crank the motor and try to get oil pressure (of course after I go purchase more VR1).
If so, fully attach the carbs (I am aware they are backwards in this pic). Throw on my new starter and see if I cannot get this bad mother to turn over.



Cheers,
Jared

Got lots of little (and big) parts bolted up last night.
Wild to see how large the whole unit is.

Here it is next to the test stand:





Very nervous to crank it over.... *wipes sweat from brow*

First order of business is to see if I can get any oil pressure.
Purchased a bunch of heavy duty ground cables and hooked everything up.

Configuration here is:

-No plugs
-No dizzy
-Oil filter loose (hopefully to see some pressure squirt out)
-Screw driver in hand to jump the starter connections.

Here is a video after the second crank.

914 CRANK

(If that doesn't work, here is youtube)


Dang! in 3 or 4 rotations I got oil squirting from the filter, closed that up.
Cranked again and we have pressure building up to 3 bars.... Also nice to see that all the gauges work.

I think this is very good news! I'm elate that the motor even turns under its own power.

Tonight, if there is time, I will fix up some kind of gravity feed gas tank (and filter) and see if I cannot get it fired up for the first time and break this cam in.

*(unsure if I should attempt to get running with the dual carbs or slap on the single weber, just for the break in.
Both came from running 2.0's so they should both be in the ballpark of tuning... at least the parking lot of the ball park)

ah!

Awesome, nice work! Seeing all of your progress makes me think I need to just take some time off of work and spend a few days wrenching. As of now, mostly confined to Sunday afternoons because of kids and such.

Nice job! Can't see the vids - youtube says private

Those look awesome! Nice work on the entire project.

I wonder if that Jasco paint remover does any harm to the factoring anodizing? For my own reasons... Is it this stuff?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Jasco-16-oz-Pre...PR502/308276936

On both points. Honestly I'm excited to see young people like you appreciating our automotive history to this degree. There is nothing wrong with anything happening here. Your making me read all of this thread!

Jared, Compliments on an outstanding build! Your car has come such a long way. I wish you miles and miles of enjoyment. Your thread is a great inspiration.

You mentioned the Blue coil and that caught my attention from something I read in another build thread at some past point in time. (Long time lurker.) Maybe it's a question really for the brain trust.

What is the thinking on mounting the coil to the tin in that location? I had read that it is prone to vibration and cracking.

Questioning this myself after reading your post today, I went and looked at the engine I pulled from my own project which shows the tin cracking in that location.

Click to view attachment

Hopefully an experienced builder can chime in with what's recommended.

Again, nice job!

Sean

Run what ya brung. Those single barrels should be perfectly adequate for a cam break in.

Dang fellas lots of awesome responses! Love this community. All of ya'lls info and aid have gotten me this far.

(gotta get it out of my system before its all illegal in 2035 or whatever /sarcasm)



Thank you kindly @Gint ! Yes this is the stuff. It did not appear to damage the factory finish in any way. I was recommended that product... I think from the Samba. I am super pleased with it.



Sounds good! Tired of unbolting things

un-privitized it, thanks for the heads up. Was trying to avoid the youtube trolls commentary.




Thank you so much @seanpaulmc , really kind. This has been massively rewarding to me.

To me, the blue coil is just classic. It has always stood out in books since I was young, looking at 356, beetle, and buggy engine bays. All part of the whole picture/aesthetic to me. (those might be 6 volt, but still...)
Silly but there it is.

All I know about the location is that the coil came in that location on both of my motors and is congruent with what I see on here. Both motor's tins are crack free (surprising, coming from the state of the car, ha)

(Also now that I think about it. The 2 mounting holes are tapped from the factory , with a radius that matches the coil between.

I would look forward to some professional input, mine is from from it.... I am not against moving if it is recommended. But with the lack of cracking so far, It should last a few miles

Cheers

After reading through your entire thread (took a while!), I notice those duals are a relative unknown to you right? Possibly new, never run? Forgot what page that was on...

It might be easier during first start and break in to use the single carb setup. Initial balancing of dual carbs is a finesse operation that might be a PITA during break in.

Thanks for checking the thread out!

I posted a carb-specific question a while back and a member here offered me his duals for a nice price. They have 5000 miles on them and were removed from a web 86 cammed 2.0.

Should be similar.... But there are a lot of variables here.
Not against throwing the single on for break in. But I'll give it a shot tonight with what is already on there.

Took 14 pages to get here. But we've got the first start of the 1911.
Super happy - you can tell by my ear to ear smile in the following video.


I had some ridiculous spark issues this weeekend, for those of you who saw my other thread. I could not get a consistent spark. I changed dizzys from Vacuum advance to an 009 with pertronix, much better suited for carbs.

I started from square one, took everything wiring wise off the motor, layed it all out clearly and reinstalled everything. I immediately had great spark all around.
Maybe I had a poor ground.... who knows. Do it right or do it twice.


So.... I installed my single weber. attached a 3psi low pressure fuel pump and filter to a can of fresh gas, Jumped the starter and boom. Combustion.


VIDEO HERE: First start of the 1911 - Youtube Video


The motor runs about 30 seconds then cuts out. The single carb leaks a bit anyways, so I swapped back to the duals.
Unfortunately, this time around (rushing) I clipped the fuel pump to constant 12v.... it filled cylinder 3 with fuel... and no turny on the crank. (would a fuel pressure reg help with this?)

Pulled the dipstick... smells of gasoline.... SOOOOO drain the oil again, some gas was present.
I pulled:
Plugs
Valve Cover
Dipstick/Cap
Oil filter

Crank spins now.

I suppose I will let it air out for a day or two and try again. Fan is blowing on it now.
I got too excited I started losing focus and wasn't quantifying everything. Classic Jared. Hopefully no other issues arise from this. The gas was in there no more than 2 minutes until I pulled the carb (and fuel poured out)


Win some, lose some, but this was a HUGE win and really exciting. This is my first split case engine build. Hearing it run made my week (year?)
Thanks for the help getting me this far.

Jared

Alrighty,

Purged the motor of all fluid, evaporated for several hours.

Plugs were cleaned. Two plugs (#3 and #4) had gas on them and were a bit black. But not fouled.

I squirted a teaspoon of oil down each spark plug hole to lubricate the rings.
I’ll let it sit tonight and maybe tomorrow, we should be back in business.


Bonus: here is a GIF I made of the RPM gauge working, that's nice to see.




And another video from behind the temporary exhaust. Looking back on the vids this evening and hearing the damn thing running.... I am ecstatic!


Video from behind 1911

Cheers!

What a milestone Jared! I know that feeling

Just hope yours continue to hold all the fluid in - I am about to redo pushrod tubes.....

Congrats Jared.

Hey fellas,

Trying to tie up a few loose ends before I head out to New Mexico (work) until the end of the month.

I am putting the motor stuff aside until I get bigger carbs. I had a set of 34 weber copies. Not sure why I bought them knowing I would be building a bigger motor.... better suited for someone else. Probably will list my now collection of 4 carbs on the samba.


Anyways, with the spare time, not getting my hands too dirty with the 1911, I cleaned the garage. Got some small tasks in the interior done, and finished the touch up paint on the car.

Now the 914 is "all" "one" color At least I don't have massive primer spots - especially around the passenger rear fender, which I had to cut for the hell hole operation.



Painted... now my car has 11 shades of Irish green.





This way the people that I pass that pass me on the highway will at least know it’s supposed to be green.

I'd like to say a full block sand and respray will come this winter/spring. Just honestly the least of my worries. Driving it is more important.





Other than that, I got some GREAT rear calipers from a world member. I am so pleased. Watched a few youtube videos on rebuilding rear calipers. Honestly, jsut want a break from all the projects. It's OK to buy something already done.





weeeew!





Purty!

As you can see in the background, my motor is all wrapped up for safe keeping while I am gone... Might do a few small things here and there... But I should probably change the oil in my TDI.


Cheers!

Nice. They probably originated from PMB (guessing). Look around here and for later: http://www.pmbperformance.com/gravity-bleed.html

Hey fellers.... been a while!

740,00 things going on. (I'm buying my first house!) (with a 2 car detached garage!)
Keeping it low key until I have the keys in my hands. I'm sure you know how it goes.


Where to start....

Since the last (first?) time I ran the motor, I decided to not use the small carbs (dual 34 ICT), and upgrade to some big guys.
I met up with @nditiz1 and he set me up with a project pair of Dellorto 44's. Missing a few pieces, but I can totally work with that.

Here are the carbs after being stripped down. Top carb was soaked in GUNK for 2 days to clean it out, bottom carb is about to go in.



The pieces I needed arrived. Turns out all of them are NLA in the states. I found everything I needed from a guy on eBay in Italy. I can give the name if anyone needs it, he's got everything.



The remaining parts arrived from CB performance. I finished the carbs up, really not much was reused except some of the bolts and nuts.
Holy crap these are sweet.



Comparison to the pair I was going to use...




Installed. Seriously looks really bad ass with the filters. These are some big mothers!






SO...

New oil, Brad Penn Break in... New filter. Attach the linkage and see if she fires.

VIDEO RUNNING - CLICK ME

Boom. The first try it fires right up. That's awesome.


Issues that I need to sort:

1 Linkage might need realigned. It seems to be binding and not allowing me to go to crazy on the throttle. I feel like it's stopping about half way.

2 It almost sounds like it's running on 3 cylinders at a higher throttle. It bogs down. Spits and backfires a lot. Runs for about 2 minutes then decides to stop.

3 Amateur - I know, but I really don't know where to begin with tuning these. Bit more here than the Harley CV that I am used to.
I backed off the idle screws about 3 turns and made a few adjustments. I need to do a lot of reading on my Weber PDFs.

4 I probably have a vacuum leak. (nothing is connected) and I certainly need a carb sync tool. But we made it this far. What's a few more days.

HERE are the specs that I built these Dellortos to. I would not be surprised if I needed to change some things. Anything stand out?

1911cc
Vent: 34
Main: 130
Idle: 60
Air: 180
Emulsion. .2
Pump jet: 35


Thanks for reading guys!

Hello Jared, try to google dual carb tuning for the basic tuning/adjustments of the main idle screw and idle mixture screw.

Way to go dude!

@JaredMcginness - Come back over when you get a chance I have a german sync tool you can barrow.

Essentially you should leave the linkage disconnected until the very end. You should be able to get it running and idle. Carbs are cold blooded so you may need to have the linkage setup initially to get them a little warm before disconnecting.

The sync tool is used to get both sides L/R to draw in the same amount of air. Each barrel has an air bypass adjustment which almost never needs adjusting unless each individual barrel is not in sync on the same carb. I can't remember if those were removed so you may need to actually set yours before forgetting about them. Sync L/R first, then sync them on the barrel then re-sync L/R. This cannot be done without the snail tool (unless you have a super ear to hear the amount of air draw into each side ).

Once you have a good idle and all 4 carb barrels are around the same pull then you can begin to set the air/fuel mixture. This is best used with an AFR, but you can do it with feel/hear and a timing gun with RPM readout. You start at 1 and adjust the mixture to the best running condition for that cylinder. I usually run through that cycle a few times 1-4 until I feel I have gotten the smoothest best idle out of each barrel. Sometimes this results in the idle being too high which then the idle speed screws on the side need readjusting which then results in the mixture screws needing to be readjusted. It is a vicious cycle but eventually you will have it dialed in. After all that you can re-hook to linkage and the idle should not change.

After this point you can check the linkage for "sync-ness" by giving a little throttle and checking both sides L/R for the same increase on the snail gauge. At 1500 RPM both should be the same, at 2000 they both should be the same,...etc. If one side is higher then the other then you know the butterfly on that side is opening fast than the other and it will created un-eveness and poor performance.

@IronHillRestorations - Perry Kiehl - wrote his carb sync steps on a post not too long ago on here (few months back). Webers and Dells sync procedure is pretty much the same. Also, all these things will get the engine running/revving correctly barring everything else is set correctly, timing, valves, etc.

The jetting setup can only be adjusted once the engine is installed. That is another lesson which I can help with once you are there.

Edit - be sure to plug any of those vac lines on the carbs when tuning

Sounds great Nick, thank you. I will reach out this weekend.

I looked into buying my own this afternoon (which I will do) but shipping is 5 days out. No Dual Carb Syncrometers on Amazon Prime. Ha’

From doing some more research, it sounds like I should be able to get these carbs idling and performing no problem, before any parts swapping is needed. Like said above, re-jetting will come later.
Maybe foolish, but my only concern is running the motor too many times before cam break in. It’s been ran probably 6-7 times now at 2 minute intervals, typically no lower that 2kish RPM. So I don’t believe I’m doing any harm.

I’d love to run it for 20 minutes straight. I just need to keep it running that long.

Cheers

Washed the car today for the second time in a year. Covered in garage dust, feels great to clean it.
I've painted the fenders and other body panels (that were primed) with touch up paint. I wet sanded most of it. It looks pretty bad.
The Irish Green touch up wasn't a great match in this batch. At least it's all green?

14 shades of green, but green.







To combat this, I am toying with the idea of vinyl wrapping the car something similar to Irish Green. For the time being, I think that would look great. I really cannot afford paint right now.
This would clean the look of the car up - and be a relatively simple wrap. I have seen some good results here. (cost would be $3-500)

I ordered a few samples. There's no direct color match options. But I found something really close to 911 Irish Green.... Looks bit more like Brewster Green. See here:





I ordered a few other samples just for $hits... (and to practice)





(since there is no vinyl comparible to Sepia Brown - my favorite Porsche color) The only two I really like are the two large 6x6" ones.

Gloss Dark Green and Papyrus Gloss, something between Light Ivory and Sand Beige. LOVE it.
The Papyrus would be a drastic change and totally left field... but kind of a poor choice, considering my door jambs and trunk would be green.


This is how the two colors look in the light:





And here is a good example of how truly horrible the depth of my paint is. 20 years in the sun.






Any thoughts? Has anyone reading wrapped theirs?

Not a real fan of wraps generally. But, given you can do this for $300 to $500 that seems like a great plan. As for the color, the dark green of course. Good luck and happy wrapping.

I'm a fan. It's a great home project and if you mess up, you just pull the panel and start over. Modern material is very forgiving and much easier than in the past but you need to use the good stuff. Still shouldn't be much for our little cars. I will be doing my suby build with a wrap.

The wrap institute on youtube has a lot of great tips.

Thanks guys!

Mark, yeah among the samples I got were Avery, ORACAL and 3M. The modern 3m is nice because it has a peel off layer, so you don’t scratch/scuff while applying.

The oracal is nice as well, has a stretchy grid pattern on the back. Super tough and the heat gun removes any wrinkle in the material.


Man that papyrus is tempting... always peels off!

Alrighty guys.

Another (to me, massive update). After a silly bump it the road with fueling, I got the 1911 running.


Like running, running.


I got everything set up on the ground again and ran her for 20 minutes at 2500 RPMs. Cam break in is COMPLETE. WOO!
I am a dummy and it was just running the float bowls dry. I assumed my fuel pump (connected to starter tab) was on constant power after actuating the starter.



This video is the last minute of the cam break-in.


I gave it the balls a few times. Sounds okay for now with that Bursch muffler.

Aye, something I built from the ground up, ran at least 20 minutes. Makes my week! Maybe the largest milestone of this project, next to the floors.


Next steps:
-Change oil
-Dial in carbs + sync with snail tool.
-Set timing with my new digi timing gun.
-Recheck everything 400 times... then it can go in the car I guess.

I need to start compiling a list of all the folks that helped me get this far. Everyone gets a Dunkin Gift Card and a 6 pack

It so strange to see it sitting on the ground running like that. Congratulations.

Way to go! First drive coming soon.

Great work so far! Exiting to see it run...

Hey,


As I previously mentioned I am likely buying my first home... inspection went nicely, and the loan came out of underwriting. So things are looking pretty serious...
If all is well, I'd move on the second week of December.

No better goal than to drive the 914 to the new place by then! (It's only like a mile away, but driving it is more rewarding than towing, lets be honest.)


Got a couple hours in the garage today.
Syncd and tuned the Dellortos. I am damn close. Still spits and pops a bit at 2500rpms. Idles great at 980, and each barrel is reading 5.5 on the snail tool, so they are individually pulling the same air.

I set my timing light to 14* BTDC and hits at 1500.
12* hits at 1000ish RPM.
28* at ~3k. Does that sound about right? Currently running a pertronix, out on loan.




Here is the last video I will post of it, until I am hopefully driving it.


Idles nice and sounds decent. Man... feel good to hear it run.

Must be running a bit lean yet with the popping.


Other news, I got all the calipers installed.
I attached the rear trunk... which I have never had on the car. Unfortunately it has a massive dent. (the P.O. Towed the car backwards) and the trunk is out of shape and doesn't close.
I also had to weld in trunk hinges... they ripped out from that event.

See photo:





Truly ridiculous that I have to deal with something like this. But that's the nature of old cars and owners that don't care as much as we do.
I am sure we have all been there.

The list is short:
-Bleed brakes.
-Install flywheel/clutch.
-Fine tune carbs. (if I can figure that out)
-Install motor
-Clean gas tank.
-Drive 914

I think I can do all of that before December 11th, when I move.

Cheers.

your luck inlies with the irish green

That bent trunk lid sucks, but glad that you did do it!

Whether for good or bad... haha.


Quick update. Had the entire day free. Decided to make some use of it.

I needed a 17mm Allen (transmission fluid change) While there, I walked past the ATV/Motorcycle Jack...
$99 with a $15 off coupon. No brainer... Will make installing the motor much simpler, since I don't have the Tangerine plate.

Here is the motor on the new jack:





I decided today was a good a day as any to install the motor, now that I have the new lift. I believe hope all the fine tuning at this point is a motor in job.


-I adjusted the valves.
-Installed the sealing rubber in the engine bay,
-removed the carbs.
-Installed the Clutch/plate.
-Changed transmission fluid.



While under the car, I noticed how nice new a lot of these things look. If it comes off you gotta treat it!

Hats off to the guys here that do nut and bolt restorations. This has been such an undertaking, hard to imagine how much more it could have been.





An hour later....
Yes I need rear struts, and yes I need to clean the bottom of the trans, now that I can access it.






Boom.
Still ugly. But this is the first time I've had the rust repaired car/Fuchs on the ground with the motor in. Ignore the rear bonnet,








I wish it was an inch or so lower in the rear. 15" Fuchs would solve that if I decide to nut-up and pay for them. But the 14", I think, are totally respectable.
Much better than the EMPI 8 spokes I had on there. Yuck.


And now for the money shot that I am delaying showing....









Doesn't get much more satisfying than that. After all this time. (I first pulled the motor, for rust repair, on Jan 30th of this year) Not bad for a quick an dirty turn around.


Let me see if I can dig up a photo of the motor last year...


These are the only photos I can find of the engine bay in 2019:|







Job well done.

Good job and congratulations Jared! I think the rear will still go down after moving the car or after initial test drive.

That has to feel good!

Gotta update here.

Motor in, as seen. I completed every-stinking-thing on my white board list, over the holiday.

Including, but not limited to:
-Brakes bled, several new brake lines.
-Wiring up a triple gauge panel (radio delete)
-Install gauge cluster
-Run new battery cables.
-Fuel lines, tank and fuel pump.
-Coat gas tank in POR15 kit
-Shift linkage + transmission fluid yattayatta

I accomplished a ton, and honestly got a bit burnt out.


Few days later I was ready to run. Fully expecting to run into more issues... I was correct;

After 3 days of chasing a no-crank gremlin (see my other thread) I found out my ignition switch was grounding out.
I installed this over a year ago and did not check my work.


If it was any more grounded than it would be named Ghandi...





Many lessons learned here, and the dialing in is not over. Always more to improve upon. In the process, i verified a lot of things, got very angry several times, and cleaned every ground on the vehicle.


Today I installed a new ignition switch. Tidied everything up, she immediately cranked and fired - for the first time in the chassis.


Technically, this is the first time I have ever turned a 914 key to a running motor.



Here is a video of the first start in the car. Look on my face says it all.



Calling that a day! Super happy!

Nice--way to go!

Congrats.

Well done Jared

Huge accomplishment and congratulations! You have done 3+ years worth of work in under a year. Amazing progress.

GREAT WORK!

Thanks everyone!

One step closer. Also, side note, it only ran for a moment because I didn't have the fuel pump plugged in. It does run longer than that

Well done! How I look forward to that day........

Great thread, Jared!

How did you like the HF ATV/Motorcycle Jack for the 914 drivetrain install?

Did you have the jack sideways as in your pic - or longitudinal?

I don't have the Tangerine plate either , but I do have an ATV, so I was also considering the HF ATV/Motorcycle Jack.

Thank you @MM1 ,

If you have an ATV - you should definitely get an ATV jack.
Yes, I had it 90* sideways for install. Driver's rear wheel off, DS Rear jacked a bit higher. I came in at an angle and straightened it out.

For clarity, during install the ATV jack handle was sticking out where the DSR wheel was. $10 Wood dolly under the transmission.

It made it 100% easier over whatever conglomeration of jacks, stands, and 2x4's that I used to pull the motor initially.

Only complaint is the front wheels have static casters, so you kind of have to slide the wheels sideways. (I had my feet on the wall pushing, haha!) Easy swap for different casters, though.


I hope this pic helps:

Thank you for the R&D report, Jared!