New 1.8L lives

[Mark]

Project Westy 1.8L "powerhouse" is alive, or was alive from 1553 to 1613 hrs. Yee-haw!

The problem was simple enough, timing was off. After a few CW & CCW adjustments of the distributor, it coughed to life.
After a quick adjustment to ~31 deg advance, the engine ticked away smoothly, considering the carbs are only pre-adjusted and not finely dialed in yet.
I ran it between 2000-2500 RPM (sometimes a bit more, but never less) for twenty minutes.
There were no backfires or misses, and smooth in response to change in RPM. The exhaust note is nice, with no exhaust leaks detected.
The mild cam and sound of the carbs pulling air is a very sweet sound indeed. I'm looking forward to getting everything ricky-tick dialed in and taking it for a good spin.

Now a few small oil issues to sort out. The first is weeping from the oil pressure relief plug. It was dry above this, and I could notice it dripping a drop of oil every 5 sec or so during break-in. I don't have a oil pressure gauge, so I'm not able to tell the exact pressure. It's certainly enough that the oil pressure light is off.
Another lesser leak, (maybe 1-2 drops) from right valve cover.
If that's the worst, I'll consider myself lucky, fix them and carry on.

So, when I come down from this high (not from the fumes, the shop doors were both open wide with plenty of fresh air blowing through.
CHT never climbed over ~330 F during the 20 minutes, of course no load was involved. From what I can tell, that's well within spec.

I want to say a big THANK-YOU to everyone here. Whether you've helped me through your posts directly or your previous posts on a variety of issues helped pave the way to getting our new engine up & running.
What a great way to roar into the new year!

Yes, I still have to run the CHT wiring & gauge to the cabin.

Straight-weight 30 & Oatmeal Stout. Nice combo!
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www.zwerks.ca

[dweller]

Looks good Mark! Congratulations.

Did you keep it stock, or modify anything?

How about posting a pic of the engine, if you have one before install.

good luck w/ the break-in.
dp
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77 Westie 2.0L FI ... slowly restoring bit by bit...

[Mark]

Hey dp,

It's stock 1.8L displacement, but w/ a mild cam and weber 40 IDFs.
Here's a shot of the engine shortly before I installed it. There's a bit missing or not connected yet in this shot.

With the engine & trans mated, it was straight forward using an ATV jack for the engine and small jack under the tranny, just raising each a bit at a time until everything lined up.
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www.zwerks.ca

[frank79]

Nice looking work Mark. You have a nice work area too...
Congratulations.

Frank
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"Big Fat Momma" - she's slow but she's mine.
1979 2.0L Campmobile

[73kombi]

Dude, that engine, shop, bus, hell even you, are waayyyyy too clean!

Did you shower up for the photo shoot?

peace

p.s. Yeah, I'm envious.

[germansupplyscott]

to prevent leakage i use loctite 518 on the relief plug. and you have to make it very tight. if you don't have the proper tool use a cold chisel to get it tight. there is a lot of pressure right there and those plugs want to leak. the engine looks great!
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SL

[Quadratrückseite]

Nice clean looking bus, engine compartment & engine!
Congrats! You've come a long way from that orange rustbucket you started with - it's inspiring to read. Nice to see another one come back from the dead - and I love that color!
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1978 Country Homes Camper conversion

www.gusthevwbus.com

www.eatingpeaches.com

[thewalrus]

[Mark]

Thanks. You know, we've gotten lots of positive comments about this colour.
Way back when planning the restoration, we were going to do this up in early Dove Blue, but then decided upon Neptune Blue as a more "period-correct" shade.
There was a problem getting either colours matched by the jobber, so I ended up choosing this from a sample booklet.
It's a Nason/Dupont single-stage acrylic. If anyone wants the tint ratios just send a PM.
Now that the engine lives, I spent my last day off addressing goofy wiring issues, generally just tidying up the wiring w/ tie-wraps.
The door switches now work with the cabin light, and dash vent fans work, (a nice big puff of crap/dust blew in my face after I turned the switch!)
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www.zwerks.ca