Safari Turbo/Megasquirt Fuel Injection Project

[turbobaja]

OUCH! looks like you'll be diving into some engine work sooner than expected .

Measure twice, buy once . With a little help from the forum, you'll have that thing blueprinted and running better than ever before!

You can do it!

[Clonebug]

Update,

I couldn't stand it any longer so I went out and opened up the AE engine case I had on the stand.





It came apart with just a little persuading and I thought it looked pretty good.

The cam looks good but the lifters seem to have a little pitting.



The only main bearing I can see is the center and it has some wear on it but nothing serious to my untrained eyes.



Sorry if the pics suck but my garage has really crappy lighting....

The crank journal looks really nice too.



There is a little bit of wear on the oil pump cover but I deleted the pic since it was soooo crappy. It has just a slight ridge but might be good insurance to replace it since they are cheap.

All in all I think the case looks like a keeper and the thrust bearing seems really tight in the case yet.

I might need to have a Pro look at it to see what I need.


Clonebug

[MarioVelotta]

Give Nate at Provolks a call. He is in Anacortes. You meet him at my placr for the megasquirt GTG.

[turboedbug]

Run your finger across the bearing saddles if there is a lip......time for a line bore. The bearing dowel pin bores can sometimes be ovaled out if the rear main thrust went out of spec. Or it might be time for a subaru engine....lol

[Clonebug]

Give Nate at Provolks a call. He is in Anacortes. You meet him at my placr for the megasquirt GTG.

It just so happens I forwarded a Craigslist ad that had a 914 engine and trans for sale to him the other day.

I will have to get hold of him again.

Run your finger across the bearing saddles if there is a lip......time for a line bore. The bearing dowel pin bores can sometimes be ovaled out if the rear main thrust went out of spec.

Rear Main thrust seems to be really tight.

I can't feel any ridges but I might not be savy enough to see them either.

The lifters don't look to be in very good shape since I can see a bit of pitting in some of them.

Other than that it looks pretty good to me.

Clonebug

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Run your finger across the bearing saddles if there is a lip......time for a line bore. The bearing dowel pin bores can sometimes be ovaled out if the rear main thrust went out of spec.

The lifters don't look to be in very good shape since I can see a bit of pitting in some of them.

Other than that it looks pretty good to me.

Clonebug

Replace the cam and lifters for sure (pitting is a no-no and it may have damaged the surface of the cam lobes if the pitting was on the lifters while it was running). If there are any slightest questions about something replace it as your end-stinks/gut feelings are often more correct than your rationalizations for not doing it are!

Lee

[Clonebug]

Update,

I took my AE engine case over to Nate at Provolks today and he checked it for cracks and wear.

Turns out the mains are still standard size and the thrust is in great shape. I won't have to Alignbore it.

I now have to decide how much money I want to throw at it.

I did a little adding up of parts and I am already to the *****OH SH*T*** level!!!
This is just for mostly stock parts!!!

I need to decide whether to send this crank in to get polished and then run it,

Send it to get welded and counter weighted which means a size under, or

Just buy a (New) Counter weighted crank from $195.95 up to $300.00 plus.

I will need rods and rod bearings, main bearings, cam and lifters, oil pump and a bunch of other stuff that goes with rebuilding an engine.

I have thought of reusing my barrels and pistons but I can get a set of 87 mm AA P/C for $119.00 plus shipping. I would think for my (light) use they would be good for a bit of extra power yet I can still jet with my Bocar 34.

The problem with improving above stock is I am getting the snow ball effect. I am trying to keep the costs down to make it justifiable to the better half so it has to be a reasonable cost. Otherwise I will be relegated to dropping in the old 1500 singleport spare that I have hiding under the shelves. I don't think I can get the turbo hooked up to that......

I am going to check what it cost for polishing the crank first. If too high I might as well dump money into a new crank.
I was hoping to just get some main bearings, rods and bearings, cam, lifters and double thrust bearings and then reuse my top end if it is in good shape. There is no blow by that I could see when it was running so it should be pretty decent.

Yeah yeah......I know I am being a cheap skate......

Any ideas??

Clonebug

[Dan Dryden]

Hey Clonebug,

I've enjoyed reading your thread upto here.
The main thing which has interested me is your use of the stock parts and the fact everything has been done on an affordable budget.
I see what you are saying about the snowball effect as it is difficult to know when to stop with the uprated parts.
The main thing which is going to control your decision is your budget.
To keep costs down I would get the crank welded and counterweighted, replace all the bearings and re-use your top end components.
IMO a well balanced bottom end is key.

Good luck!

I look forward to reading about your progress.

[turboedbug]

do a stout bottom end......u could always do the top end later with out cracking open the case

[Coyote]

do a stout bottom end......u could always do the top end later with out cracking open the case

x2 for what turboedbug said.

I know that a counterweight crank is better, but if you are in a tight budget, why not reuse the stock one ? non counterweighted crank is mainly a problem if your engine spend a lot of time over 5000 rpm, but for short bursts, there's no problem.
stock crankshaft, balanced
stock flywheel, not lightened and balanced
a very good and very strong gland nut, for a strong clamping foirce
New I beam rods, well balanced with good ARP rod bolts
new bearings
new camshaft with new lifters.
new oil pump.
new barrel/pistons kit (balanced)
that's a good start, no?

[Onceler]

It'd be interesting if someone had a homebrew method for polishing a crank and possibly balancing one? Not sure. But I'd give it a try, once anyway.

[Clonebug]

Which crank would be better?

A stock german welded and counterweighted but ground one size under, or a new forged C/W crank from someone like vwparts.net or scat or CB Performance???
The difference between a Demello or DPR rebuilt and welded crank plus shipping is not much difference than a new one, especially after you add shipping for the core and return shipping.
It is the same with rebuilt rods...which would be better?

I don't plan on revving any higher than 5500 rpm and since it won't be raced do I need all the fancy balanced stuff???

I am more tempted to just go brand new.... I would think the tolerances (should) be tighter....

If I can get by just polishing my existing crank locally and then getting new bearings and rods I would like to go that route.

Now for cams...how much gain for a custom grind???

If I go with any cam besides stock then I have to get better springs, rocker shafts and all the other stuff. It adds up to a large chunk of change just for that.

Yep... there is the cheap skate again....

Clonebug

[Coyote]

As I said before, if the stock crank show in your picture is fine, then use it. without adding counterweights. just balance it with a stock, non lightened flywheel. Use a Berg gland nut, or one that can handle a strong clamping force and that can be enough with 4 dowels.

In all cases you need to balance everything, because it's unbalanced parts that kill crankcase, bearings,...

You can buy unitech rods or scat I beam rods, already balanced end to end and fitted with ARP bolts.(from 150 to 160 $)
Balancing the pistons is also an easy task you can do yourself.

That's the level one. the cheapest.

The level two is to buy a counterweight crank. the best is the DPR, IMO.

The camshaft is another problem, because it's the last thing you have to choose. It depends a lof things, but any "cheater camshaft" can be a greater improvment over a stock one.
Have you ratio rockers?

[Clonebug]

As I said before, if the stock crank show in your picture is fine, then use it. without adding counterweights. just balance it with a stock, non lightened flywheel. Use a Berg gland nut, or one that can handle a strong clamping force and that can be enough with 4 dowels.

In all cases you need to balance everything, because it's unbalanced parts that kill crankcase, bearings,...

You can buy unitech rods or scat I beam rods, already balanced end to end and fitted with ARP bolts.(from 150 to 160 $)
Balancing the pistons is also an easy task you can do yourself.

That's the level one. the cheapest.

The level two is to buy a counterweight crank. the best is the DPR, IMO.

The camshaft is another problem, because it's the last thing you have to choose. It depends a lof things, but any "cheater camshaft" can be a greater improvement over a stock one.
Have you ratio rockers?

I do not have ratio rockers and I hope to keep away from them due to the extra costs involved to add them.

I am looking into the unitech rods from vwparts.net and if the $159.00 ones are needed due to turbo then I will spend the extra money for them, otherwise I would purchase the $89.00 set if there is not much gain to be had.

I can get my stock crank polished at the local machine shop for $46.00 so if it is in good enough shape that is what I am starting with.

http://www.vwparts.net/111198461.html

These are the bearing choices I am looking at for the mains. Is it worth the extra $20.00 for the Clemex HD set or would the Silverline set be good enough??

As for the cam there is a cam rebuilder 125 miles south of me that has a very good reputation. I was thinking of sending my cam and lifters there for regrinding and then purchasing a set of double thrust bearings.


If this build was being done in the early summer I would have a little more disposable income but right now I can't swing too much due to having to pull out of savings.

Clonebug

[Coyote]

I don't know nothing about the Clemex bearings, so I would say the Silverline are good enough (I had them on my 2276)
About the unitech rods,the ones with 3/8 ARP bolts are better. it's a good investissment.

For the camshaft, I am not sure it's cheaper to have the cam and lifters rebuild.

For example : on ebay I bought no name "lube a lobe" lifters for 29.95$, I run them in my 2054cc turbo (web 218 camshaft) since 2008, and they are still in top notch condition, after many miles on the road and more than one hundred passes on the track. Lucky guy ? may be.
So, still for exemple : with a small camshaft like a Eagle 2234 at 78.95$ , You will have a little more duration (234@050) , and more lift (.408 with 1.1 rockers).
I think the bill is not too much expensive (110$). How much for rebuild the cam and lifters?