So last night I spent about 5 hours in the garage resulting in....
nothing.

In fact, I think that I managed to cock the dowel pin on the rear main bearing while I was getting the case back together. its a bitch getting everything lined up by your self.

Anyhow, I did not get everything torqued down before I tested the crank to make sure it spun freely (and, obviously, it did not.) Hopefully I did not screw up the bearing. The Engine is re-split, but it was 2am and I did not have it in me to keep going.

I'm about to head out of town for the evening, but when I get home tomorrow I'll take a look and see if I need a new bearing. for now, though, its time to go visit friends, and pollute his mountain range with some lead.

Zach

So, more little chunks or progress.

Front calipers have been FTRed.
Turbo tie rods are installed.
Steering rack (and tie rods) and A arms are back in the car.
re-installed the mater cylinder (had to take it out again to do the steering rack - D'OH! )
Finished my brake hardline install, excepting the lines that run to the rear calipers (they still have to be rebuilt).
New bearings were ordered from Jake to replace the ones that I noobied up .

The front rotors are off. I thought I was going to have to replace them, but I might be able to have them turned one more time, so I am going to look into that first. I'm going to order new wheel bearings tomorrow at work.

I need to take apart the rear calipers and rotors. I bought a Mcpherson spring compressor to remove the stock springs and put on my 140#s when they come in this week. I have a feeling that I am going to have to bolt a jig to the floor to get the castleated nuts off.

I have a couple tasks that I am ignoring that need to get done before I can get much farther. To be honest, I'm a little intimidated by one, and the other is just uncomfortable. Dash wiring is the first, and attaching the clutch and throttle cables to the pedal cluster is the second.

I need to re-locate the bits to connect my front sway bar again. The main bar is still in, but the linkages to the A Arms are somewhere in the garage. *grumble*

Zach

Nice work Zach! Can't wait to see the completed car and/or engine.

When a front bearing went on my 71, I called my local NAPA parts store and they had them! A few bucks more but I was able to pick them up that afternoon and had them on that night.

What castellated nuts are you referring? If they're the ones on the drive shaft, I had that same issue when I bought my 5-lug suspension. I ended up mounting a tire on the assembly and had my buddy sit on the wheel while I jumped on the breaker bar. It worked!

Good luck with your engine.

Zach, I just spent way too much time reading your post from the beginning at work. Congrats! Can't wait to see it!

Zach... I found that the wheel bearings were available from my FLAPS. Just went down and picked them up.

I'll check my FLAPS thursday, since tuesday and wednesday nights are for mah grad school'n.

Zach

I skipped class tonight.

So, looks like I had a DAPO brake job done at some point in time. 1 front rotor is worn, one looks like it has never been tuned. The two on the rear look like they have never been turned. Either there was something way funky going with dragging brake pads, or at some point the PO bought 3 new rotors and left on the old worn fourth one.

I guess I pretty much have to buy 2 new fronties now. Can't have rotors with unequal wear.

I put the front struts on, and can't find the locking pins. Grumble. It is in a tin around here somewhere. Oh yeah, and I chipped some paint on my fender when the strut slipped out of my hand. I'd love to get the car out of my garage before my paint job is totally ruined.

I got the rear calipers off an am getting ready to rebuild them. I could NOT get the castelated nuts off the rear wheels. I have a feeling that I am going to have to mount them back on the car, put the wheels back on, and put the car on the ground to remove them. Maybe Thursday.

Zach

Dude, I have broken 2 1/2" breaker bars trying to get those castellated nuts off. I recommend getting a nut splitter and replacing the nuts. It will be easier while the parts are off the car. I will be off this weekend and will be seeing you on Sat anyway. Maybe I can come over early....then I can work on my own damn car on Sun. Ya wanna work late on Sat as well? I may have access to two good used rotors if you are interested...you have seen the stash.

Sat would be awesome.
But I don't think I'm supposed to know I'll be seeing you Saturday evening. Yeah, I know whats going on, but I'm not supposed to know whats going on, so I have to play dumb. As far as I know, its just dinner with Ross and Laura.



Working after the party would be great, if you have the time to spare.


I nearly pulled a nut splitter out, but was worried about hurting the bolt. I have a feeling that is how I am going to need to take those bitches off though.

Zach

I actually bought that big ass 1/2" impact from H.F. that someone posted about a month or two ago. It did remove an axle nut off of the car after a little heat and some PB Blaster. And not much of either of those. Surprised me...

Found the link: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...Itemnumber=2623

Not sure what you are referring to, but I was mistaken. I am going to BRIAN and Erin's house, not Zach and Erin's house on Sat. I just say "OK" when I am told where I am going. At least I will be local. Maybe we can work something out for Sun since I will be around the house on Sat and can work on my own stuff then.

So, my plans tonight (friday) were to get the engine case back together and get my rear brakes rebuilt. Instead, I'm drunk on some nice single malt, and watching movies with my wife.

These things happen sime times. Tonight is good. :-)
Tomoorw, back to wrk.

Zach

I have been VERY remiss in updating this thread. I have a few other threads lingering around the garage that hint to progress, but some ghas been made.

1) The engine has been run! Breifly. I had a rocker start to back off. When I fixed that I decided that I should rebuild the carbs. I am still waiting on the carb rebuild kits to come in. With the headers and the turbo muffler, the 2056 sounds REALLY mean.

2) I just got the axle nut bit for my impact gun to remove the rear axle nuts. I need to get the control arms on the car in order to take those nuts ff. then get the rear brake disks turned and reinstalled.

3) The front end of the car is done! Sort of. I need to get alignment done, and hook up the brakes, but the front suspension is back on.

4) I still need to sand out a few runs in my paint and re-buff.

5) I got the eastwood gastank sealant kit int he mail last week, during the monsoon. I need to seal the tank, and get it back in the car.

6) I need to rehook the electric bits back up, and see what works and what blows fuses. I am not looking forward to that part.

Once these bits are done, the car will be driveable! I am on the final leg now. I can feel it.

Zach

My carb rebiuld kits came in.

I took one carb apart, and it was REALLY clean inside. I probably did not need the rebuild. But now that the gaskets are messed up, I need to rebuild it any way, and if I do one, I might as well do both.

I also went through my scrap bin and fabbed a tool to intsall the shifter bushing through the firewall. I had tried to install it for hour with various combos of hammers, screw drivers, and doweling. it took me 1/2 hour to make the tool, and 5 minutes to do the install. I wish I thought of these things sooner, it went really smooth.

I need to install the new rubber seals I have in the engine bay. I keep putting that job off as it does not look fun.

I re-did the push rod o-rings on the 1/2 head, and reinstalled without cutting any of them. I need to check the o-rings on the 3/4 head, as I have a drip coming from one of them.

I seem to have fixed the leak from around the oil pump. Not a single drip for a week, so that is pretty good.

But I did find that I have a slight drip from the ?taco plate? I think thats what it is called. I'll re-seal that during the first oil change.

Once I get the 1/2 side tin back on, and the carbs back on, I can finish running in the motor. I think that is going to go pretty smooth now. I might have it done this weekend, depending. A lot is on tap though, and I can't leave Erin with the baby for too long.

I got 1200* heat cloth sleeving around the speedo cable, and that needs to be installed. I also fabbed up a easy tie point that got bolted into one of the diff bolts. This is to keep the speedo cable off the headers.

Closer every day (at least ones Ifeel I can get free to work).
Zach

For installing the firewall bushing, did you try soaking it in boiling water for a few minutes before installing it?

The engine bay rubbers are actually not hard to install. Use a putty knife and wiggle the bead into the channel rather than trying to slide it in from one end to the other. It took me less than 1hr when I did all of mine.

Umm... No?

I melt in water. Too dangerous. Once the tool got made, it pressed in really easy.

Zach

Next you can install the rear end by pulling it through the front ventilation

I rebuilt the fist carb, and got the second taken apart. The fist one was pretty clean, all told. The second had lots of fuel varnish in it, so it is a good thing that I am cleaning it out. This task should be done today!

Zach

R

I don't believe in fingers. I have to make due with fists. Don't poke fun at my alternative lifestyle.

does your fist run better after the rebuild? You adjusted the thumb linkage correctly right?

I'll let you know after I get it running again. I am tuning the carb mix screws to the same values they were before I took them off (1.5 turns out). Next time I run the engine, I am going to do it with the linkage off. It was idling around 2000 RPM, so I will let it continue to do that to get the rings seated. Then I'll start adjusting the mix screws until I get the idle to around 800 or so. When I get idle set, then I'll start worrying about the linkage.

Zach

Both carbs are rebuilt. The engine is all back together. I ran the new speedo cable.

I was tempted to start it, but I had been outside for a while and felt I was at a good stopping point. Now I am posting progress and burping a baby.

Zach

I just finished running the motor on my test stand for 20 minutes at 3K rpm.

Ran like a friggen top.

But it is LOUD. Like "My ears are ringing, I should have worn earplugs" loud. I think that maybe I should replace the turbo muffler with something a little more tame.

I am up loading video to Flickr now. It has some problems that I need to fix. Pushrod tubes are STILL leaking. Taco plate is leaking. Oil pump is leaking a lot. So, I am going to have to do a partial tear down to fix those issues.

I think that the rings are mated in. The motor smoked for the first five minutes. Then it all went away, except where oil was dripping on the header pipes.

I'd like to get help on these damn pushrod tube seals, and when I replace the oil pump seal. I am clearly doing something wrong.

I'll post the vids when they finish processing on Flickr in an hour or so. Very excited.

Zach

Videos!

About 1 minute in.
Smokey first minutes.

About 7 minutes in.
Oil Drips - I need to fix that!

About 10 minutes in - and then it ran like this for the rest of the break in session of 20 minutes.
Running clear!

By the end of the break in, the only real smoke was from the oil burning off the #4 exhaust pipe from a frick'n leaking push rod tube.

Let me know what you think.

Zach

That thing's pissin oil... Other than that, sounds good.

Zach,
I can help you this weekend as I am staying local. I have a bunch of pushrod o-rings I think, if you cant score some by then ( you may not need to). We can get that leak fixed easy. The others may need new seals as the current ones may be buggered up. I will help you to put the oil pump seal in

Awesome!

I have a new oil pump gasket inbound from Pelican, but it may not be here till the 6th. If you have a new one of those around, it would be rad to get all this knocked out.

I *think* that I have more pushrod tube seals from the gasket set. As it turns out, I had fixed the leaky ones on the 1/2 head - it ran dry for the entire break in. But all 4 are leaking on the 3/4 head.

Zach

My fist girlfriend has always been there for me.

Calipers make it for the big weekend?

Nope.
Wish they had, would have been the motivation needed to get the rear suspension back on. You still need to give me an address to send my cores to. They are ready to go, just need to know where.

Zach

Nope, no oil pump seals. You can get it at your local air cooled VW shop, no?

If and when he is open. I'll call and find out if the Bug Wolrd dude will be there, or if the crotchety guys will deal with me.

Zach

Update, surprised that he didnt post all the work we got done yesterday. Rear suspension on, front suspension almost completely on (needs one bolt), front light assemblies, front wire harness routed and connected to the turn signals, some of the engine bay seals in (he had to weld a seal track back on after I molded it back into place), and the car was on the ground with wheels attached

Last few miles of the marathon now.

you know, babies....

typing one handed, kid in the other...

Pics l8r.

Zach

Yeah, we got a ton done yesterday. I have pics uploading into Flickr to host up in a moment.

Inlaws came over before Mike left. A soon as Mike went to go get his woman, I turned into a plumber, and spent the rest of the night (no really, till around 10pm - which is late for e these days) sweating in some new valves and copper pipe in the basement. The joys of home ownership. :-) But. now my valves don't leak, and I learned a new skill.

I did not post before now, as I had to repay Erin for watching the kid all day yesterday by watching him all day today. Payoff was that Erins mom came over and watched the kiddo, and I got to take my woman on an honest-to-god date. Good old dinner and a movie. Iron Man was awesome.

Are my pics uploaded yet? I am sure you are tired of hearing about my life as a family man...

Nope, 29% complete.

Anyhow.
MY CAR WAS 100% OFF JACKSTANDS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ALMOST 3 YEARS! Emphasis on "was." The ass end is back in the air, after I knocked the axle nuts off. Air torque wrench took them off in seconds. Mike did not think it would work.

Showed Him.

Took the rear disks off to get turned, and I am going to repack the bearings while I am in there. Disks go to the machine shop to get turned tomorrow. Then I put them back on, along with my new Eric Shea rear brakes.

Mike found some rust that I missed int he engine bay, so I ground it off and hit it with Eastwoods Rust Converter. Rattle can primed it this AM. Not pretty, but better then rusty.

I was not able to source the seals locally that I needed for the engine, so that was a non-starter. (hahaha - I kill me)

Mike got the engine bay seals in, except where I needed to re-weld the seal track in and fix the rust. Stupid A/C install. I wish I could beat the guy that installed it back int he way back.

Pics are loaded.





There, pics of where I left it last night. Holy cow, I forgot how low this bitch was.

The wheels will be black. The fronts still need brakes on, so it will have to go back up. But not as high, and not as long. Brakes are rebuilt, and sitting in the trunk, just need to plug them in. AND I GOT TO SEE THE CAR ROLL!

I told Mike to scram after he *tried* (and failed) to beat up my truck. It was tougher then him. The roll cage he wanted to cut off laughed at his puny efforts. Ate a new saw blade, and I can barely see the scratch that Mike put in it. No pic, it was dark. I'll cut it off with an air cutter.

For the Porsche, at least, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Especially if people come over to keep me focused on work. I'll give you food and beer. I'm off classes till the end of June.

Yeah, thats a hint. Blatant, huh.

Help me get this thing drivable by ECC in September!

Zach

Hey Zach, the car is looking great! Its come a long way since I last saw it on the rotisserie. Are you using the later bumpers front and back?

For the sake of getting it on the road, the big bumpers will be going on. I view this as a short term solution, though. I still want to make a fiberglass copy of the BBBs and mount them. right now, I only want to do what is needed to get this car drivable.

Due to PA rules, it takes a month to get antique tags. Since I bought the car out of state, the Notary has to look at the car. There for, if I want to take the car to the ECC, I need to have it drivable by the end of July.

At least drivable enough to make it 1 mile down the road so the notary can see that the vin tags match. *stupid PA rules - if I bought the car in PA, I would not need to do this...*

Zach

Zach, FYI, you dont repack teh rear bearings....in case you were planning to

What keeps the bearings lubed then? Don't they need grease?

I guess I'll just put the axle nuts on and call it a day. Well, I'll do that in a few days.

Zach

Sealed bearings.

After reading Purple's brake thread this AM, and feeling his frusteration reach at me through the monitor, I have decided to do my brakes next. My system is totally dry, hopefully I will not need a new MC or prop valve. They are the only parts of the system that have not been either bought new or rehabbed.

Ive put in new brake lines - they are run. I have new rubber lines (front and rear). new rear calipers (Eric Shea). Rear rotors are getting turned at the shop this afternoon. New front rotors. I rebuilt my front calipers. This weekend, I want to hook it all back up, and try to get it bled out. I suppose you all should expect questions. And I will be annoyed if I have to buy a new MC.

Every weekend, I get another step closer.

Zach

I bought my teener out of state, and for the PA antique registration process, told my tag agent I couldn't drive to her because there was no tag for the car. I gave her all the required items for the application, and a pencil rubbing of the VIN on the tub.
She was satisfied(as all my ladies are) and I had my tag and registration in about a week and a half. At our local agent,you never know what kind of mood they are in until you get there though.....

So I actually got a little work done today, but that was accompanied by a half step back...

First, the step back. I have taken the plate off the oil pump to reseal it, as it was leaking when I broke the engine in. Harkening back to Gint's thread about his leaky rebuild, I started doubting that I put the gasket behind the hub on the crank - and that was the real cause of my leak. I found the o ring in my gasket set, which solidified my doubts. So out comes the puller, and I sent my hub shooting across the garage when it popped off. I also bent the retaining bolt in the process.

And, of course, the o-ring was in place. I am guessing that I re-used the old one, so I replaced it with the new one. But, lacking a retaining bolt I had no way to bolt the hub back on. HD did not have them, so I ordered 5 from McMaster-Carr.

In the realm of good news, my rear brakes are fully attached to the car! It went smoothly, excepting 1 bolt - which took an hour and a half to finally get to catch and turn in. I'll need to adjust the rears tomorrow, and I guess attach the parking brakes. The Eric Shea rears, new hard and flex lines, and freshly turned rear calipers look really sharp. My home-rebuilt non-cad plated front calipers are going to look dingy.

I was getting ready to put the front brakes on when I started feeling sick to my stomach. This happens to me when I am working on my back on a creeper too long. I dunno why, but I decided to come inside for the evening.

I'll finish up my front brakes tomorrow.

Zach

It is so cool to watch your car come along! You have really come a long way.
Keep up the good work, when you have the time what with the kiddo and all!

You should have told me I would have mailed you one. I ordered 5 from McMC too. And of course only used one. The shipping (I was in a hurry) cost me more than the bolts.

Slowly, the car is coming together.

Brakes are adjusted, but still dry. I am going to buy a pressure bleeder to bleed them. I need to send Eric my rear cores.

The leaky pushrod tubes have all been resealed. The hub bolt has been replaced (and now I have 4 extra hub bolts.) I have yet to put the oil pump back together. I spent an hour cleaning up the pump backing plate, but I admit to being fearful of putting the o-ring on poorly again. It is such a PITA to get it to stay in the groove long enough to get the plate on.

I need to run a compression check on cyl 2. I am fearful that it is leaking some where. It may be just a poorly adjusted valve from when the rocker backed off. But turning the engine over by hand with the plugs in, I can hear a leak from somewhere. Until I am proven otherwise, I am going to assume it is just a valve adjustment issue for my own sanity.

The cabin seals are back in securely. This makes me happy. The doors are a little better adjusted, but could still be adjusted more. Allthe engine bay seals are installed.

As I see it, I have 3 major tasks, and several minor ones.

1) Electric stuff needs to get hooked up (and tested)
2) Brakes need to be bleed in
3) Engine needs to be sorted out and installed.

Minor projects at this point include
1) paint touch up (color sanding, and repainting some scratches that have occured during re-installation.)
2) interior niceties.
3) Wheel Alignment
4) sound proofing

Of the major tasks, #1 is the one that daunts me. I am bad with electrics. #3 is very annoying to me, as I have put a lot of time into the motor this winter, and I don't know whats wrong with it now (air leak, not oil.) #2 is easy, and I am not concerned about it.

My mother-in-law has been living with us this week. While that has its own limitations, it does allow me to spend about 1.5 hours a night after dinner in the garage - and I have been taking advantage of that. When she goes back home on Friday, I'll have to go back to scraping time together for the garage.

Tonight, i am goign to try and get the oil pump resealed, and adjust the #2 cylinder to see if the air leak goes away. Otherwise, I have to pull the tin off the 1/2 side and see what is what.

Zach

Pressure Bleeder came in Yesterday, but I had to go to a wedding, so I did not get to it.

But, I gotmy turn signals hooked up Friday evening.
This includes my Euro Parking light kit from Camp914. This was made eaiser since I shaved my front "pimple" parking lights, so I just used the hot and ground leads from there.

I also located the fog/driving light leads for when I am ready to to that upgrade. I've got the lights, just need to wire them in.

Today, I hope to dick around with my motor some more. Run it, look for leaks, and sync my carbs. I am going to be pissed if I have to go into round three trying to seal up that oil pump, but we will see.

As yet, nothing has changed that is picture worthy.

Zach

My car is REALLY fighting me.

I went out to the garage to pressurize the brake lines. This was goign to be a mile stone event, as it meant that the first, 100% working part of the car would be completed.

I poured my brake fluid into the tank. Did not hear any drips, so I thought all was well. To be safe, I took a look.

I did not see drips. I saw a PUDDLE. A rapidly expanding puddle. Brake fluid was not dripping out of the MC, it was POURING out.

So, instead of toasting my success on my first completed system on the 914, I went to the Jeep and installed one of my new lockout hubs. While the 914 has done nothing but make my life hard, the Jeep tempts me with easy jobs.

Oh well. Another $250 to Pelican for a new 19mm MC. May as well upgrade of I am replacing it.

GRUMBLE GRUMBLE!

Zach

*grumble*

Hang in there... "endeavor to persevere" ...it will all be worth it when it's done.