Olympic Blue / Silver metallic 1972 US Import 1.7L

[Mr Pharmacist]

Wow - that is a mess

Would it not be easier (and cheaper) just to source a new engine? Is yours the original matching numbers engine? If not, just get a new one stuck in there and save yourself lots of money!!

[LMR]

Stuart

A "new" engine could be a whole world of pain. I can get one that is running, but could have low compression / drop a valve etc. Matching numbers sort of appeals, but isn't compulsory. What I am hoping my thread will show is with a moderate amount of effort and a sensible amount of cash that a very acceptable, reliable and sprightly engine can be built.

I have over the years competed in motorsport. I am not intending to compete in the 914, but motorsport taught me preparation is very important, hence the approach I am taking with my engine.

[911hillclimber]

+1 from me for this approach, prep is everything, the challenge is even better.

If it is the original engine, just use the case and replace what is unsalvageable?

[Mr Pharmacist]

Stuart

A "new" engine could be a whole world of pain. I can get one that is running, but could have low compression / drop a valve etc. Matching numbers sort of appeals, but isn't compulsory. What I am hoping my thread will show is with a moderate amount of effort and a sensible amount of cash that a very acceptable, reliable and sprightly engine can be built.

I have over the years competed in motorsport. I am not intending to compete in the 914, but motorsport taught me preparation is very important, hence the approach I am taking with my engine.

That's makes sense - you could end up with other issues from a replacement engine.

So are you going for a stock rebuild or are you going to tweak it a bit?

[LMR]

Engine rebuild will include tweaks. I will definitely take the capacity up to 1900. I will also be retaining fuel injection, but the control of this will most likely not be via the existing D Jetronic. I don't know if my system is working, and I know that I can get it tested, but having looked at the amount of pipework associated with the existing equipment (all of which on mine is crumbling), and having discussed with Chief the fun he is having with his vacuum pipework, I feel an upgrade to a modern ECU will give reliability and a neater installation.

I want to open the engine cover and people recognise the engine but also see something is slightly different, without it being obvious as to what the difference is. I may even mount the new ECU inside the old Bosch control unit (if anyone has a spare lying around on a shelf, please let me know)

Right, back to stripping the engine............

[LMR]

So, a busy weekend stripping an engine. Saturday was spent getting to a position where I could see what I was working on. Stripping an engine is difficult enough at the best of times, but this one was filthy, so I decided to spend some time cleaning it.

Before



After



Once clean I carried on with splitting the case. I went to a classic car show this morning which gave me the enthusiasm to dig in today. The strip down was pretty simple - one has to work methodically, but after a bit I time, I had this





To the untrained eye, it appears I just have a pile of bits. I am not suggesting I have a trained eye, but me and others in the workshop today all agreed that the condition of the bottom end is remarkably good. All the bearing surfaces show evidence of use but no scoring or damage. Next step will be to get the crank measured and any machining work required.

My thoughts now are to get the parts together for the engine rebuild, but drop onto progressing the body repairs. I would like to keep the momentum up with the engine, but I don't want to have a complete engine ready to install, but nowhere to put it.

The others I share the workshop with gave me this earlier



It is a slice from the barrel I had to cut to get the piston out, deburred, cleaned up and lacquered. I was quite touched, and will be using this as the keyring for the car when I start using it!

[shandyhaggis]

Engine rebuild will include tweaks. I will definitely take the capacity up to 1900. I will also be retaining fuel injection, but the control of this will most likely not be via the existing D Jetronic. I don't know if my system is working, and I know that I can get it tested, but having looked at the amount of pipework associated with the existing equipment (all of which on mine is crumbling), and having discussed with Chief the fun he is having with his vacuum pipework, I feel an upgrade to a modern ECU will give reliability and a neater installation.

I want to open the engine cover and people recognise the engine but also see something is slightly different, without it being obvious as to what the difference is. I may even mount the new ECU inside the old Bosch control unit (if anyone has a spare lying around on a shelf, please let me know)

Right, back to stripping the engine............

Gosh I thought my engine was bad when I stripped it. My rebuild was beyond my experience so I gave it to Angus who kindly made it well again. Its not back in the car yet itll be a while till it is but Im interested in your thoughts on modern EFI. I dont have any EFI fitted to my car yet as it came with carbs and fitting an original efi isn't gong to work as weve fitted slightly different cam and KB pistons. Generally talking to the chaps on 914 world Mario Velotta from The dub shop seems to be the go to person for type 4 FI. Ive found a chap in Birmingham who runs an auto electrical business who has used Marios stuff on his reworked beetle engine (with turbo) that hes quite happy with. Ive not made any progress just wondered if you had any experience or plans for your efi?

Thanks

Andrew

[LMR]

Andrew

I have ordered a few bits of kit from Mario. Do you know who the person in Birmingham is? I am very close to Birmingham.

I have run programmable ECUs in on competition engines in sprint and hillclimb cars for the past 10 years. It makes such a difference to drivability and idling compared to carbed engines. It will easily deal with your new cam and pistons. Engine will need dyno or rolling road time.

For me, I would always go the fuel injection route

[shandyhaggis]

Thanks

thats encouraging to know. The chap I met and spoke to is John Skeldon, hes in Minworth / Sutton:-

John Skeldon
www.autoelectricsolutions.co.uk
01213132354 (workshop)
07966184636 (mobile )

Let me know how you get on Im keen to get a solution also. I think John was going to talk to Mario about parts, order them, I was just going to let him add it all to the engine and Id plug it in when I got it home for a bit of fettling afterwards. Im still a long way from needing it sorted but if it made sense for John to do 2 at the same time I'd be happy to send the engine over.

thanks

Andrew

[LMR]

ECUs are made by several companies, each have their merits. John's site refers to the Megasquirt system, which seems popular as it is viewed as cheap, especially when bought in component form. I have used Motec and DTA over the years. Motec is exceptional but very expensive. I will be using either DTA or Emerald - the latter is made by by Dave Walker, who used to write about tuning in Car and Car Conversions magazine.

I have seen a lot of engines mapped by various methods over the years. Some ECUs self learn just be driving around. Others swear by on the road mapping. I err towards having an engine mapped on a dynometer or rolling road. The time on the dyne or rolling road is expensive, but it avoids a holed piston through detonation.

I will be doing some more thinking about this whilst I contemplate some bodywork over the next couple of weekends. I will drop John a note at some point.

[LMR]

Another busy weekend. Now I know what I am facing with the engine, I am taking time to research my options. Also, I am loathe to get the engine complete without somewhere to install it. So, this weekend I have turned my attention back to the car. I have stripped the rear suspension off, as shown in the photos below.







The other reason for getting on with the bodywork is I have the opportunity to borrow, rather than buy, a rotisserie in the next few weeks, which will made addressing the underside so much easier.

I have been looking at various ways to clean parts. This weekend I have plumbed a dishwasher into the workshop. Before and after shots below. For those of you who value the institution of marriage, I suggest you do not try this at home.....!!

[Darren C]

Good progress

I do like your trestle trolley, really neat and so much easier to move the shell around than fixed on axle stands!

Mind you; I cant see any issue with using a dishwasher to clean car parts, just remember to put it on a cycle empty before your dishes go in (especially if you've put gunk/degreaser in the detergent tray) oh and if it has a salt tray, empty that first or steel stuff will rust as it dries....hmmmm, might be speaking from experience there

[LMR]

Darren

I have never seen the issue with using household appliances for such tasks, but some people are so unreasonable.....!!

I have been looking at alternatives. Cold water parts washers are functional but really need to be heated. Adding a heater is precarious. I am not a fan of toxic chemical based washers, so on balance, dishwasher is was forward.

Getting salt free detergent is a tricky one though.

[LMR]

Today has been about getting the front suspension off. What appeared to be a straight forward task became a frustrating day. It started well enough with getting the very rusty brake disk off.



The problems started with the bolt which clamps the bottom ball joint snapped. That was quite annoying as I have been in the habit of spraying penetrating fluid at least a week before I strip stuff. So far, I have been really pleased as to how few bolts have broken, so I guess I should count my blessings......

Anyway, I decided to do a bit of in situ drilling as the access was pretty good and avoided the potential damage of putting the parts in a vice. This was a deeply boring task, going up 0.5 mm drill bits each time., but I now have a hole into which I can put an easy out tool. I have had limited success with such tools in the past, but I now have access to an oxy acetylene torch so will heat the remains of the bolt up before I try an extraction



After a bit more disassembly and grunting I dropped the bottom arm and shock absorber



And, track rod arm aside, a nice, empty wheel arch. I am hoping the other side fights me less......

[Darren C]

Good progress today

I'm really envious of your car not being undersealed, Those inner arches looks really, really good and I'd certainly keep it body colour if I were you.

Where are you planning on sourcing new front discs (given my experiences )
But I do know now that Roger Bray has just got some in stock. Too late for me but might help you out.

Keep the updates coming!