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Wed Jan 06, 2010 4:32 pm

EvilWerks wrote: I feel like I am in the home stretch. :)
Lookin'good Mike. You'll get there.

Sat Jan 30, 2010 1:50 pm

Nice job Mike,
Just finished reading the topic from the start. A couple years back I updated my 2.0 to a 2.1 displacement, which was a 'little' power bump, but what you're doing is off the chain. Outstanding! :twisted:

Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:53 pm

Thanks man. I hope to have some more pics in the next few days. The last major hurtle is reinstalling the engine to finalize the engine tin. It has been about 19* and I have been busy so I have been unable to get to it.

In the mean time, I got the Hi-torque starter for it and it now cranks effortlessly, I fabbed up an extension for the header with a bung for my O2 sensor, I bought a grease gun hose so I can move my oil pressure sensor, I finished wiring up my gauge cluster and soldered in a 15pin connector (I saw someone else had done that here as well), I soldered the other end of the 15pin connector to the wires in the dash, I wired the turn signal lights up so that the individual indicators will match the signals in the gauge, I replaced the light and emergency flasher switches, I made a circuit board that uses the alt light to trigger a buzzer should my fan belt come off (very necessary, like on a TI....I think that is it.

I also sent a stock fuse panel to a friend of mine that makes upgraded ones for 914 Porsches and he is going to make me one that uses the standard blade fuses. I am not sure if there is a market here for them or not, but I hope to use mine as a selling tool for him.

After fabbing up the tin, I just need to organize the shifter cable and where I will put the shifter, and run some wires.

Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:52 pm

Alright, how about some progress pics? I finally got to working on the final fit of the drive train and fabrication of the engine tin. First thing I noticed was that with the carb and cleaner in the original position, the engine needed to be lowered about 1.5 inches. I lowered the whole carb assembly by removing some of the spacers between the runners and the heads. I also had to cut and reweld the bumper mount ends for the engine bar so that I could lower the engine. Making this lower is good because I can always shim the bar higher if I need to.

Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:56 pm

instead of lowering the engine due to air filter restraints would one of these help more??

looks like that motor hangs pretty low. i wouldn't lower it more just because of an air cleaner.

amazing build too btw.

Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:00 pm

I have ordered a shorter filter element (half the size of the one pictured which is way too big). To make the tin, I mocked up cardboard sections and then fabricated them in metal. The pics are of the rough ones that will be polished up when I pull the engine for the last finishing touches. The foam seal is actually stuff I bought in a bag of 3 sections at walmart for $3.

Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:02 pm

i'm sounding critical and don't mean to so please dont' take this the wrong way

those foam noodle things will melt.

a friend of mine used those on an upright conversion he did in a late bay, and they lasted 2 weeks

edit: it's not that i'm being critical, it's that i'm bored at work and this keeps popping up in my email...sorry :lol:

Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:10 pm

the foam noodles will work fine. Someone used them on my bus when the type 4 was in there and it looked to have been in there for awhile (dirty and old looking). They're mean to withstand a peak pipe temp of 160 degrees, there really isn't any reason they wouldn't hold up to engine compartment temps.

Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:21 pm

Not all noodles are the same. ;) I can test these with a heat source and an IR temp probe. If they melt, I will find a replacement. $3 was worth the cost for the mock up at the very least.

Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:27 pm

said friend used actual swimming noodles, so no, they may not all be the same. i think his main issue was where it got really close to the muffler, you may not have that problem since you're having a forward exit exhaust

Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:53 pm

i_am_cool_fred wrote: instead of lowering the engine due to air filter restraints would one of these help more??

looks like that motor hangs pretty low. i wouldn't lower it more just because of an air cleaner.

amazing build too btw.

Sure, and help lower my account by $300. I will eventually be doing an EFI setup so that $300 is better spent elsewhere. The air cleaner housing I have on there is a $13 14" Summit racing one that drops the filter 1". The filter I currently have on there is 3" or larger. I just ordered a 1.5" filter from NAPA and it will be here tomorrow. Any lower and the top cover will be sitting in the carb intake ;)

The engine does look low, but it really is not that bad at all. I should have taken a shot from the side of the back where it shows the engine only slightly below the body line. With the new filter element I should be able to elevate the engine almost back to where it was (1-1.5" Higher).

Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:54 pm

i_am_cool_fred wrote: said friend used actual swimming noodles, so no, they may not all be the same. i think his main issue was where it got really close to the muffler, you may not have that problem since you're having a forward exit exhaust

Swimming noodles?! :rotfl:

Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:04 pm

Oh ya, Fred, I am not taking you too critically :) I appreciate the input :idea:

Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:37 pm

Lookin good man! Thanks for posting up pics. I've been piecing parts together for my '71 Crew. With the economy being the way it is now...I am scaling back on the motor. I was planning on doing a 140 turbo with MS2, intercooler etc, but that will have to wait a bit. I have a good running 110 that I am going to freshen up for now.

I found a new Transvair kit on CL a while back. I'll be using a '65 4-speed instead of a PG for the trans (it's a 3.55 posi too!). The PG is easier to install, but I like the stick in the DC...Plus having no Park position irks me. I'll post up picks of my install when the weather warms up & I get back on it again. Can't wait to roll around in it with the Vair motor.

How come you decided to go with the 4BBL instead of the 4X1BBL stockers? My concern would be problems in cold weather (icing etc).

Keep up the good work!

-Brady

Thu Feb 04, 2010 9:21 am

Hey Brady,

Those that came before me with this conversion, most namely Mike Hill, mentioned that the 110 is a better fit than the 140 engine. As such, my engine is actually a mix of both. I built this engine so that it would produce torque as well as HP. The heads are actually modified smaller valve heads (second port was added a long time ago, that's how I bought them, low chance of a dropped seat, plenty of low end). With smaller valves, longer down tubes and larger displacement (I modified this engine using TI 2L p/c which bumped it from 2.7 to 3.1L) this engine should push the bus effortlessly.

The carb was a compromise. I hate 4 single barrel carbs due to tuning and maintenance. The 4bbl was a free core from a friend of mine, easy to rebuild, and I was able to purchase the Holley electrically adjustable jet kit for it. The icing problem is solved (supposedly, I have yet to run it long enough to see) via the warmed engine oil being run through the plenum of the carb adapter. All in all, the 4bbl was just easier and had more options for the larger displacement engine I had built.

I have a transvair engine bar that I will be selling due to it being for an early model bus. It only needs some tabs welded on for the engine.

Thu Feb 04, 2010 1:33 pm

Mike,
Sounds like you've got some nice options on those 110 heads. I've got a nice set of 140s that I will eventually be sending out to have hardened seats, angled exh tubes, Weber tri-ported manifolds etc done. My setup will eventually be port injected...possibly turboed. I've got a whole load of NOS Vair turbo parts (including brand new GM turbo cam) - although most of that will be eliminated since it is old technology. I'm not sure if it makes a whole lotta sense to have 300hp in a Crew...But it sure would surprise a lot of people! :D

Some say the 110 has more low end torque than a 140. Having driven both 110 & 140hp versions in a Corvair that weighs about the same as the Crew, the difference on the low end is negligable. Now...if you are running a PowerGlide - then yes, you will suffer a bit down low. With a 4-speed it won't be as noticable - especially with a 3.11 1st gear. The 110 & 140 are identical in overall dimensions, in case you were wondering.

I know it is a longshot, but you may find a cheap used Holley ProJection setup for that and at the very least you'd have a simple TBI setup. You could program the hiccups out of it rather than rely on 'analog' methods.

The stroker is pretty cool! That was something I considered, but I figured I'd keep the displacement stock & just add more power with boost. The problem with the turbo setup is to do it right, it gets a heck of a lot more complicated than just 2 or 4 individual carbs.

Waiting for the blinkin weather to break!!! Their calling for like 12+ inches of snow near Philly this weekend... :roll:

-Brady

Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:10 pm

Ya, I finished up the outside stuff today as York is due for 1-2ft and Palmyra is due for 1ft.

I have build mega squirt systems in the past, but I always ended up using something else. Before I became a doctor, I was an avionics technician so building things from the board up is no sweat to me as is working with components. However, I have limited time in that I need this thing running under its own power soon and doing a different injection system would set me back precious time and money I just dont have. I will be off the grid starting July for at least a year, maybe 3 when I start residency.

I did some good work today and solved a problem. Pics forth coming. :)

Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:06 pm

So today was pretty productive. I knew that the next few days would be boogered by snow so I worked to get to a point where the engine could come out. That just meant that I needed to get the rest of the tin done, which I did. I resolved the air filter issue, but I will elaborate on that separately, it deserves its own explanation. The tin will not be completely air tight in the rear due to the way the engine and all the shit back there is. It will be tight enough, though. I do not foresee any issues.

This was the situation/weather today:

A better shot of the adjusted engine height:

The tin:

Now, the air filter was too damn big so I found one that was only 1.5" tall.

BUT, it was too short. The top cover was hitting the carb top.

Sooooo, I went to the flaps and sourced a different assembly. Notice how much of the all thread is now sticking out :)

Now I just need to trim the all-thread excess :)

Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:08 pm

I'll have more comprehensive pics of the tin when I do the final tweaking to them and mount them on the engine.

Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:34 am

Keep up the good work!

I've got a background in robotics, but I opted to just buy the MS2 v3.57 with SMDs...no soldering :) For the extra loot, I was glad that I did. The problem with port injecting one of these, to do it right, you really have to do a lot of head work & add a weber tri-port manifold. The upside is that as soon as you mill the original 2 to 3 intake off, you gain like 25hp right off the bat.

Have you driven it around the yard yet? How is it?

-Brady