Well shit, if it will work in a John Deere

It's a bus. Hone it, clean the pistons and rings and run it. Remember you still have to dial in the CIS. If you end up with a rich condition again an smoke a second set of cylinders you will really be pissed. If you think your going to have a leak down problem you could always assemble the heads and check it.

I dont think I will have a prob. I can easily change them later, and you are right about doing the CIS. It made good power with the rich condition. No leak issue. Lets run em until they blow! I love how cheap and plentiful these engines are.

Starting to reassemble the engine. I used my blasting cabinet to clean the barrels and coated them with silver BBQ paint They look like fake nickies.

I also removed the rings and cleaned up the pistons. Then I roughed up the barrels with my flex-hone.

One side done.
Click to view attachment

I am seriously thinking of going with roller rockers on this engine...while I am in there

Roller rockers should be standard GM stuff. A Stock engine with pedestrian cam lifts doesn't over lift the rocker to the point of scrubbing the valve stem excessively. But it could add some benifit with less stress. It's proven that a roller tip affords less drag.

BTW: what lift and duation cam are you running? Some cams are not CIS friendly. Too much lift and duration will cause a reverse pulse on the air door. You may want to cross check specs with maybe a CIS 2.0 Rabbit or small displacement Porsche 6 running CIS. Or maybe you already thought about this.

I chose a mild cam as this is a bus and not a race car. I need to look up the specs as I can not remember.

I think you want a fast ramp to give the air door a nice bump without too much pulse back into the intake. Ya, mild cam with long duration and little overlap. That's my take on the function of F.I. But what do I know. Now ask me about welding...

Nice project Doc. I have always been fond of the Vair and CIS.

Things are coming to gether....and my account is draining. I broke down and got the roller rockers. I figure, anything to take care of these heads.

I also got a new, aftermarket fuel pump for $44 Now I just need to find a good pressure accumulator and some fittings and the fuel system is ready to be tried out. I will of course assemble everything on the trolley and run it there first to get bugs sorted out. I hope this is done in time for Hershey. It should be fun taking the mountain passes with the even more monstrous engine.

For the roller rockers, I need to set geometry. I have a set ordered to do this and then it will be a matter of getting the new rods.

The CIS should be pretty straight forward once the long block is assembled.

No supercharge for now.....but maybe next year!

Found where a guy already tried to use CIS in a bus on a corvair engine. He did it wrong, though
http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,139315,176553

Doc, Find a shop that specializes in Volvo's. I'm not sure which model year but I used a pump and accumulator off the Volvo Turbo. If you find a Volvo guy they will know which one you need. Mine was used and works fine. They were both mounted to the same metal plate on rubber isolator mounts.

The roller rockers arrived on Fri. They are pretty

I have been researching spark plugs and found that the ones to use are not generally available Not only that, but the Autolite 425 ones that I did use are generally regarded as crap. I have e feeling that the plugs contributed to the carbon buildup as much as the fuel.

If you consider it ran pretty well when it was not tuned, it should be amazing when it is sorted out.

I plan on CCing the heads next so I can see what my CR will be/what shims I need. I also have the pushrod geometry kit to play with once the heads are on.

Some more engine talk:

I think I may have set up the previous configuration for failure. I was interested in keeping temps down and allowing the engine to run on low octane. So, after looking into VW setups I set the CR to 7.3:1. I have now found that the CR for the stock 140 is 9.25:1.

My current CC profile of the 140 head is looking like 56-60. I need to do some verifying.

Current deck height is listed as .138 and I was using a .04 gasket. If I have the barrels dropped so that the pistons are flush with the barrel tops, and use a .027 gasket I can get 9:1. That will be a nice bump with the rest of the mods.

Now I need to wait to have the barrels done....patience....

Chevrolets like compression. My 928 engine stock is 10:1 with CIS. You will be happier soon.

Geez, I am hitting snags left and right with this engine.

In Harrisburg, there is a shop that did the original specialty work for me called Feazers. Out here in the West of PA, I am not finding anyone who is willing to work on corvair/VW stuff. Many say, "uh, I really dont want to get into something like that."

I just started looking for my own damn vertical mill

What I am trying to do:

Previous iteration of the engine had the deck at .138 with .04 head gasket and 48cc (IIRC on this number). The CR was about 7.3:1 and was pathetic. So, I am looking to cut the top of the cylinders by .135, and fly cut the step in the chamber flush with the quench area. Then, I will have a deck height of .003, gasket of .04 and will be shooting for 60cc chambers (currently 54) by unshrouding the valves. This should give me 9:1 CR. I will polish and smooth the chambers as well.

All I need a shop to do is the fly-cutting and barrel shortening I do have a lead on a place about 15mi from me, in the boonies, but they are not answering their phone and I have limited time off to play with this stuff. I wanted to drop it off at a machinest today and be rid of the parts for a while, but that just aint in the cards.

The first shop I went to didnt even have a vertical mill

I know it's not that close but what about KRE? http://kawellracing.com/

Hey Doc, Try to fine out who does motorcycle work around you. They will be your local source for custom cylinder heights and fly cutting heads.

So here is how the progression of things went today:

Went to PMO, a machine shop that did a flywheel for a friend of mine. They could not do the work because they had no vertical mill. Randall, the guy there, referred me to Warren. Warren is a corvair guy with connections.

Warren referred me to Bob Bongiorni. Bob is probably one of the coolest humans, EVER! He owns a machine shop in the middle of now where, has CNC, mills, you name it, all in a large building. He has two fuselages on one side of the shop. They are KR-2s and are to be powered by.......corvair engines! He and I talked for 2 hours. He is into everything from engines, to experimental aircraft, to fringe scientific doo-dads like hydrodynamic heaters, hydrogen fuel cells, some sort of fuel thermal reaction unit. A real tinkerer. I like him

So, he looks at my stuff and says, no prob.

Well, I am getting that about to be screwed feeling again

I surrendered my $1500 heads and my $1000 cylinders over to this guy out in the boonies that had a loyal following. This was in April It is not 3 months later and he still has not gotten them done. If this was the only issue, I would not be whining, but it is not.

Shortly after I gave him the parts, he turned his phone off. He is planning on moving to SC eventually and is trying to finish things up before a huge move of his huge shop.

I could drop buy and visit with him randomly so I was not worried and figured I would give him more time (I was not in a hurry). Well, now I have been to his place 3 times in the last 2 weeks and he has not been around. This is how he does business as I had another old-timer stop buy to see if he was in while I was writing a not for him.

This is where I get more concerned. I wrote a nice letter asking him to call me so I can schedule a time for pickup of my stuff. Scotty B has a friend that can do it, and faster. I plan to go to Scotty's shop this weekend so I am trying to get my stuff to bring it instead of shipping it. I said so on the note, taped it to his door on Tues.

Today, the not is gone and I have received no call. I left another note pleading that he call me as I need my parts by tomorrow. I have little faith that such will happen.

I am starting to think about my recourse. When should I involve low enforcement? I actually like this guy, but he needs to get his shit together.

Why do I trust people?

so, whats his name and address of the shop?


that does suck

THat sucks. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

I just got home with the parts! His partner called and said he was out of town. I told him I would be there in 30min. He actually got to my heads

Phew, that was too uncomfortable.

<golf clap>

"Ah yes, the old Rimco ploy." Inspector Clouseau

Had I been following this thread, I would have repeated my recommendation for Engine Machine Service in Los Angeles. I know they're across the country from you, but they're also as close as the big brown truck. It happens that they're kinda the go-to guys for Corvair machine work and they used to do a lot of it. Now they're the world headquarters for Fiat 8V motors, but they'll get all of those done one of these days and move on to other interesting stuff.

Glad you got the problem solved! The Cap'n

I started unshrouding the valves in my heads and will CC them once I polish them up a bit.

I found a shop to finish up my barrels so I can start assembling this dang thing

Had a good day working on stuff. I got one head basically done. I managed to get them flycut so that there is no step for the sealing surface. This helped bump up the CR closer to what I was looking for. I then removed material from around the valves (unshrouding). This will allow the heads to breath better: bigger valves, bigger ports, and unshrouding

I also changed over to stainless valves since I could get the easier than the stockers and they are not expensive.

I polished the chambers up a bit, but I can see that shining them is not gonna happen as it is way too much work and not really necessary for my application.

I CCed the head and all chambers are at 50cc which is perfect. I have calculated what needs to be removed from the cylinders and can now tell the shop next week to get things moving further along

Before:
Click to view attachment

All I have is a cell phone, the wife took the camera to England with her.

After:

Are there going to be any problems with the holes for the head studs open into the ... not combustion chamber 'cause the cylinders will seal against the head ... where the circumference of the opening for the cylinder intersects the hole for the head stud (best I can describe it w/decaf). But then again, the hole for the stud will also be sealed at the case and by the washer and nut at the head end.

http://littlerock.craigslist.org/cto/2501895129.html

No. I already ran heads like this, with the holes you mention, and it is a proven design. The cylinders seal against the surface, not the sides.

Has "the porsche engine" means 2.0 I am guessing.

If it was some other time in my life, maybe. Looks like a bunch of body work.

Thought you might want that automatic transmission.

Nope, I use the corvair one. Cheap, easy, stout.

It has air too.

FINALLY! I just got back from the machine shop and have my freshly cut barrels. This step took so long due to the first machinist disappearing. I got a call this AM and the second machinist, a good guy named Gregg, told be that the last barrel cracked when they were cutting it.....he said not to worry. This was this AM. This afternoon he had sourced one from a local ACVW place, and modified it perfectly to match. Good dude. Now the others look bad

Gonna need some pics! I need motivation to work on my '74 Bus project. Haven't touched it since before the accident....

Too many projects, too little time. I worked on the Guzzi today.

Probably tomorrow the jugs will be refitted. Then, I need to open up the second head. Then....Then.....Then....

AW, yeah.

Looks good!

Back on the road soon I wager.

I had some time to think about the bus today. I am seriously annoyed with the wiring, and the last time I had it out it completely died. I am interested in just putting in a new harness and universal fuse panel. One option that I have found is at this place:
http://www.keepitcleanwiring.com/products/wire-harness-kits/

They dont have a specific set for the bus and the only problem I can see is that the engine stuff will have to be lengthened to match the placement of it in the back. PRO15 is supposed to be the kit I need. Who knows.

I also will be installing a plug to the engine so that the whole engine wiring can be run through one plug to the frame. This will clean the compartment and allow for quick install and removal.

If I could only afford a Raychem IR gun I would be set

Anyone else know of universal fuse panel vendors? I could just do the fuse panel and not all of the wires.

The only problem with a universal kit is most German cars use isolated left and right side lighting. Most universal kits do not. They are wired like an American car. If you can buy just the fuse panel and fix you harness, you will be better off.

The tube under the bus that the wiring runs in is rusted through on the bottom and a chaffing hazard for my wires. I am thinking of replacing with galvanized conduit, but this would require cutting the harness. I did find fuse panel only solutions, and may just rewire it myself. The wiring for the universal kit would not be too hard to adapt, but at $300 I think I can do as well with a more perfectly fit kit.

I need to get the wiring done before the big freeze. Then I can put the engine in.

You still got that set of wheels and tires we talked about at Scott's shop?

Ya. Please come and get them

Update?

I need motivation!

Hey, it is nice to see another bus owner on here. I have a 1970 tintop Westy that I've been restoring. The problem with that project is that I bought my first 914 back in September and the bus has not been touched since. I have a 2110cc stroker to build and want to pick up a late model 6 rib transaxle to take advantage of the additional power for hwy driving. These old busses make great parts haulers and weekend escape vehicles.

The latest that I did was to start hogging out the other head. When that is done, smoothed, CCed, then I will assemble the engine and begin the fab on the CIS system. Also, my compressor is putting out water so I need to drain it and install a water trap before I proceed.

The Moto Guzzi engine needed some love as I was running out of places to put parts and decided that "together" was a better place than most.

Soon, very soon

Painless wiring offers universal kits, 8, 12, 18 circuits. Available through summit racing.

Got busy working on the second bus head tonight. I hate doing this head work, but it is worth it in the end. I just keep going into the garage and sanding/polishing the chambers....as soon as they are done I can get it together. I hope I didnt goof up the seats by hitting them with the grinder

DAMNIT! In my haste to finish this last head to get the engine to the assembly stag, I slipped with the grinder and boogered at least 2 seats. This is gonna such. I know they need reground, then the springs will have to be adjusted. Or, they will have to be replaced (ouch). Maybe I should get my own cutters for this? Maybe I should get my head examined?