Olympic Blue / Silver metallic 1972 US Import 1.7L

[LMR]

Evening all.

I think when I started posting that I would get off to a slow start given other projects going on. Well, I have been to Le Mans, Goodwood FOS, various gigs and other events. I know Darren manages such things and still gets time to see his car, but I need more sleep than him!!

Anyway, I have a couple of days spare this week before going on holiday so have been in the workshop. The plan is to have the engine out by Thursday evening, although this is being delayed as my 964 has an annoying oil leak which I have traced but waiting to get the pesky component sorted.

Anyway, I have spent a couple of hours today beginning the strip down. Nothing dramatic or exciting was found until I removed the sump plug. I was pretty amazed when instead of black gooey oil I found.......................water!

I did consider for a few seconds whether I had the only water cooled VW in existence, but realised that it was final confirmation of what was evident from elsewhere on the car - this car has been submerged in water at some point. I had always intended a full engine rebuild, so will look forward (!) to what I find during the strip down. What is bizarre is very few components were difficult to undo, so it couldn't have been underwater for long.

Updates soon - when I find my camera.

[Darren C]

Sleep is for wimps

Your car wasn't from New Orleans was it? I was a bit surprised a while back in the seat pictures, they do look (now in hindsight) like they came from the bottom of a pond.
Good luck with it.
Your water damage is the yin to my yang......desert sand!

[LMR]

Darren - there is sand as well!!

[Darren C]

In that case you have my sympathy

[Green Ernie]

Hello LMR, i live about 12 miles from you. I am restoring my 75 914 if you want to see a 914 stripped with engine, gearbox, glass and interior out. Just pm me if you want to come over anytime and have a look and talk 914s.

Regards

Matt

[LMR]

I was meant to be packing to go away on holiday tomorrow, but did find a bit of time or get to the workshop. And somehow this happened!



So, engine is out, I guess I will have to strip it down. Off on holiday for a few days, but will give updates on the strip down (which I expect to be a horror!)

[Darren C]

Great stuff, just keep the momentum going

I notice the 928 S4 isn't on your signature?

[LMR]

Darren

I have drawn the line at 3 Porsches! 5 of us share the workshop, and between 3 of us we have 7 Porsches. I am away from my computer and therefore my photos, but we also had a guest appearance of a 1973 911 targa the other evening - a deeply beautiful car, albeit frighteningly expensive!

[LMR]

Evening all

Quick update after being away on holiday. I have put plenty of time in at the workshop this weekend, but mainly on my other vehicles. I seem to have a run of oil leaks going on at the moment, which I think I have now dealt with.

Anyway, back to the 914. I have started to work through various sub assemblies which I am assessing the condition of and determining whether to reuse, refurbish or replace. The photos below shown a CV joint.

Just about to remove from the shaft



degreased / cleaned



Reassembled




In between cleaning, I have also separated the engine and gearbox, and worked through and removed the engine tin ware. Note to self - do not reassemble using cheese head screws - they are a pain to remove. 3 or 4 took some heat to shift, and one still needs drilling out. My plan was to get the engine onto a stand this weekend, but then remembered I hadn't order the adaptor.

Photo of work in progress



I did tidy up after this

[LMR]

After my last update I did order an engine yoke, which seemed to take a while to arrive. I have been busy with other stuff most of the weekend, but did get up to workshop late this afternoon, and lifted the engine from its resting position onto the engine stand.



A nice view of the yoke. The big metal plate is a starter motor mount. Theoretically I could start the engine on the stand.



When I drained the oil recently I commented that there was water in it. Popping a rocker cover showed more evidence of water



This could be a long strip down.....

Darren - there is sand as well!

[Darren C]

What a nightmare.

I'd strip it completely down. If there's a chandlers near you buy some phosphoric acid (used for scrubbing down yachts) you can get it in 5 litre containers and pour it into a large plastic storage tub (to make a bath) and drop all the steel parts in overnight. The aluminum parts can go in but for just a couple of hours. It will eat all the oxide (rust) both Ferrous and aluminium oxide. Then you can inspect all parts and see whats salvageable. You'll be surprised how many things you can save this way.

Good luck,

[LMR]

The strip down continues. For reasons which I put down to a 50/50 choice I chose to remove the head and pistons from 3 and 4. Apart from the oil water mix and some rusty bits, strip down was fairly undramatic. There are plenty of books and youtube videos so I haven't overdone the photo record.



Barrels were actually in pretty decent condition, and with new rings, the pistons could be reused. What was bugging me at this point was the crankshaft still wasn't turning. The cause of the seizing of the engine was pretty apparent once I removed the heads off cylinders 1 and 2. When the engine was still in the car, I had previously filled the barrels with diesel to see if they would un-seize. When I put the engine on the stand I had filled the cylinders with the latest "magic" formula doing the rounds, which is a 1:1 mix of acetone and ATF. Some tests have shown this is very good at penetrating tight nuts and bolts. I can report it is very good on tight bolts, but did not help the piston move.

Photo below shows the problem - rust in the cylinder bores



The green maker pen marks was me trying to identify if there was any movement when various methods of "persuasion" were attempted.

My plan for the engine does not revolve around reusing the existing barrels, so out came the angle grinder.......



Once all the bits were out, it is fairly obvious that there was some pretty decent corrosion within the barrel



More stripping tomorrow.

Darren - thanks for the tip on phosphoric acid. I have put a couple of bits in a bucket tonight as an experiment

[Darren C]

Dear God! I feel your pain....I had to have a lie down after viewing those pictures. Whats the gearbox like? Have you drained the oil to see if its got any water in there yet?

[jackstowers]

Welcome! Just get a battery and some petrol in it

Hmmm? May not have been that easy then!!!

[LMR]

Chaps

Thanks for the kind thoughts. The engine is pretty much as I was expecting - a rebuild was always part of the plan.

Darren - I ran out of time tonight, I will try and look at the gearbox tomorrow