It seemed like the job took an eternity and my poor old aching legs fell asleep while I was doing it. So guage on, take a walk and then guage the next. took about 2 hours. But all bearings guaged out at .0015. I was happy with how consistant they were.

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So after cleaning all of the bearings and journals it was time to finish assembling the crankshaft. I used Lucas Oil assembly lube on all the bearings since I won't be getting the engine done all at once. I am hoping this will prevent the lubricant from running out over the course of the build, like I have experienced with regular engine oil.

The lube seems to coat the surfaces and stay in place quite well. Here is the crank after assembly.

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Then installed the crank in the engine half...

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The cam bearings were next...

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Then after lubing up the cam bearings I rolled the cam into place and checked the alignment. After that it was time for honey do's so I wrapped it up for the day. Hope to have the case sealed up in the next few days....I love shiney new parts.

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In keeping with trying to accomplish something each day, I was going to install the windage tray, but can't remember where I stashed the new seals, so will order new ones. Instead I put in the distributor and dist. drive. As you can see it was vacuum packed, I love my wifes seal a meal.....shhhhhh.

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I indexed the #1 rod to top dead center so the ditributor timing would line up, then lubricated the drive gear, again with assembly lube, and put the distributor in, it went in quite easily and lined up on the first try.....(could it have been too easy)?

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Unfortunately since I am working again, my work time is short, so back in the bag the engine goes for the night. New windage tray seals and cam plug are ordered. So guess I will call it a night.

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Well, finally had some time to get back to the 914 today. Taking on this new job has really cut back on car time. Today I was able to go pick up the engine tin and parts that went to powder coating a few weeks ago. My engine oil baffle seals and cam plug came in as well.

For some reason the cat has taken a liking to the newly powder coated parts and feels the need to protect them.

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Finally had a couple of hours to work on the car today. Since I got the last of the engine parts I needed to assemble the short block I decided that it would be a fun project for the day. To start with I decided, after seeking input from y'all, to go with the Loctite 574 to seal the case. It was a toss up between that and the aviation gasket sealer, but I have another engine build coming so on that one I will use the Aviation sealer and compare the results. I also took the advise of Jake Raby on using the permatex thread sealer on the through bolts.

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Using the new seals I got, I installed the oil baffle tray into the case half. It is amazing how snug that fit is when you use new seals. Then it was time to break open the thread sealer and install the case through bolts.

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Then I applied thread sealer to the underside of the bolt head, slid on the first washer and applied a layer of sealer to that as well.

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Then I installed th case through bolts and added the anti-rattle clips to hold them in place. I also lubed up the cam lobes with the lube provided by WebCam.

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And now to prep the other case half. First I installed the center main bearing and all of the cam bearings. Then the oil pick up. Then lubed all of the bearings with assembly lube....alass, time to mate the two halves to make a short block.

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It was not an effortless task, but finally the two halves are together and the oil pump installed as well. After adding thread sealer to the other side of the case through bolts , they were all torqued down. And the crank and cam turned freely....wheew.

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However, stupid me in all of my excitement forgot to insure that all the harware was present and accounted for.....As I began to put all of the perimiter nuts and bolts in, I discovered I could not find the upper case perimiter bolts, epic fail.

However, with a quick temporary solution, I ran out and took the 4 bolts out of my recently purchased 1.7 motor, so I could at least get everything sealed up and torqued to spec. all the way around the case....Will change them to new hardware when I discover where I put them "away" so I wouldn't lose them...

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But at lease it is back together. It was a pretty exciting step for me, since this is my first air cooled engine build. I have been waiting for nearly 10 years to finally put this engine together....stoked to say the least.

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Uh.. you have a problem.

The windage tray bolts to the oil pump pickup. You forgot to bolt them together.

Clay, I am a bit confused, Is that the bolt that goes through the oil pick up into the windage tray? If so I did get it in, if not, can you show me which photo to refer back to so I can figure out what I missed? Does this mean I have to tear it appart again? Thanks for any help you can provide. Like I said, this is my first build, I surely don't want to blow it to kingdom come....

Clay, please tell me this is the bolt you are referring to, so I don't have to be sad and disappointed.

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Howard, in case you have not already planned to, I suggest mocking up the fit of the cylinders and pistons, including any cylinder gaskets, and measuring the deck height, both for absolute depths and consistency for all four.

Thanks for the advice Bob. I will do exactly that. Also, do you have any advice on how I can check the valve clearance from the pistons? I have oversize valves in the heads and want to be sure I don't plant one through the top of a piston.....

The windage tray and pickup are normally installed as a unit. If the bolt is left out, then the oil pump pickup can cavitate and cause a loss of oil pressure. It appears you put the bolt in after the case was assembled.

If you did that, then you are OK.

Clay

Thanks Clay,

now I can breath a sigh of relief...lol. Thanks for following my build and helping to keep me on the straight and narrow. I need all the help I can get...

It looks like a non stock camshaft. Are you going to cut custom pushrods?

Once you've done that you can use clay on top of the piston — you can cut a cross section into the clay where the valve has hit it to check clearance. THat's how I've done it.

Other things I'm thinking about looking at the build, are if you've cc'd the heads to check compression ratio. Also if you've checked deck height.

I haven't built an engine in a long while, but I'm gearing up to do one soon, so this is good to see/follow.

Very inspirational - and thanks for all the photos and Tips !

You can put some soft clay on top of the pistons, assemble everything, including heads and rocker assemblies, manually turn the motor through several cycles, and then take the heads off. Or do what I did and measure (guesstimate) valve clearance, and then use a bore scope stuck in the spark plug holes to see how close the valves get to the pistons.

STOP TALKING ABOUT ME!!!!

I am not soft..... and I won't fit on top of the piston!!!!!!

I do plan on doing custom cut pushrods.

So the clay thing works the same as I used to do on my SB Chevy. I thought about that, but was wondering if there was any other way. I will do this and see how it works out. Thanks.

You're killin me Clay......

The new hardware came in today from Bel Metric, so out with the temporary bolts (old) and in with the new...no more ugly stuff.....

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Have you ever tried?

Just think, If Clay could fit on top of our pistons, all of our clearance measuring issues would be solved....

Finally a day off, so I decided to work on the engine. Figured I would work on checking ring gaps, etc. I got a nice set of 96 mm cyliners, Kieth Black pistons and Hastings rings, all from European Motor Works.

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The pistons are 96 mm KB flat tops. What I noticed is there is no indicator on the piston as to which way they should be installed (e.g. no arrow). So I will have to call European this week to see if there is no offset, and if there isn't if that will be a problem.

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The first job was to measure all of the ring grove clearances....All came out within tollerance and the rings meaured with each piston were numbered to match that piston.

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Then I matched the pistons and rings to each cylinder, pushed the rings down about an inch into their bores and measured all of the ring end gaps. Again, everything was acceptable. So after I check with European regarding the offset issue, I will weigh and ballance the pistons, or if need be buy different ones.

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Then I made a full set of cylinder retainers so when the time comes I can measure my deck height.

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Finally had time to call European Motorworks today. They confirmed there is no wrist pin offset and they can be installed either way. Now just waiting on my gram scale so I can balance the pistons and pins.

Yesterday I received my gram scale, so now I can check the balance of my piston assemblies.

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I weighed each assembly 3 times and then averaged the weights of each one (if there was a weight difference). 2 weighed in at 498.5 Gm. and the other 2 at 498 Gm.

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Even though .5 Grams is an acceptable difference, I wanted them all to match, so I lightened the two heavy ones just a little at a time. After about an hour of work, I got all 4 to match at 498 Gm.

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Then I went on to measure the combustion chambers on my new heads to be sure I could be as accurate as possible when I calculate my intended compression ratio and deck height. First I had to make a seal for the combustion chamber. Using 1/8th plexiglass I was able to make a clear plate that fit very well in the chamber.

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Then put a very small bead of vaseline around the edge to seal it to the cylinder head and a plug to plug the spark plug hole. I measured the plug and it uses 5 cc's of space in the combustion chamber.

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Then started filling the chambers with blue dyed alcohol. Each chamber took 55 cc's of alcohol to fill, so with the 5 cc displacement of the plug, they measured out at 60 cc's.
based on that measurement and the 96 mm cylinders, I calculated a deck height of .046 inches for an 8.5:1 compression ratio, and a deck height of .023 for a 9:1 compression ratio. Since the Heads have larger valves in them, I will try the .023 to see if there is enough valve to piston clearance, if not I will see if the .046 will work.

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So today I checked deck height. Used a dial guage to insure that each piston was at its absolute top of travel then measured the deck height. Came up with .043 inches with no shims, so with an .010 shim to bring the clearance to .053 it would give me a projected Compression ratio of 8.4:1. If I go with no shims, I would have a CR of 8.6.......Any thoughts that someone is willing to share would be appreciated. Is an 8.5 CR reasonable or should I strive for higher or lower? This is a 2056 build with a higher lift cam.

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So glad the world is back up in our universe.....while we were all away, I did accomplish a few small things on the twin. First off, I had completely spaced out the battery tray being replaced in the engine compartment.....I was so impressed with all that extra space...lol

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So that was one order of business. And while the support is in, I have not finished installing the tray, as I wanto to paint the inside with POR15 before placing the tray on. But had to order the POR15, so am waiting for it to arrive.

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So I was back to playing with the engine. I am happy with the deck height and in the vicinity of the 8.5:1 CR that I was looking for, so it was time to ring up the pistons and install the first two.

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I had to go buy a new pair of ring installer pliers, since mine must still be in Colorado or got lost in the move, but what the heck a great excuse to buy new tools.

After installing the pistons in their respective cylinders and spiral locking the pins in (boy are those a pain to install) it was time to check the valve clearances, so in went the clay....

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