Help! Unknowingly bought a Grenade Engine Xtreme

[kermitthefrog]

Have been rebuilding a 1970 VW chassis with a kit car body on it. The car came with a 1600 single port that was completely froze, no amount of transmission fluid or Marvel freed it, even heated with a torch and it didn't come. Finally decided to give up on a rebuild and looked for turnkey engines online (engine tin and other parts were so far gone they weren't worth saving.) I was young, stupid, and most importantly broke. I bought a re-man GEX 1600 DP bc it was the cheapest option, even without getting my core charge back.

That was almost 3 years ago now. Life got in the way of the build, the engine has ran 4 times total since i bought it. Now, I'm finishing it and hoping to drive the car. I've unfortunately learned of the many warnings and horror stories about GEX in the last year, well out of my warranty period. With less than 40 miles on the engine, i have yet to have a problem but I am seriously concerned that I someday MAY/WILL.

Alongside praying to the air cooled gods that I managed to luck out and get the one engine that they built properly, is there anything preemptive that i should do to hopefully prevent sudden death, and what symptoms/problems should i keep an eye out for. Anyone with more experience and willing to offer advice, I am all ears.

Some background info, idk if this will help or not:
VW case, not any aftermarket case. Has usual slow leaks on valve covers and on one oil sump bolt.
Currently running 10W-30 Castrol GTX full synthetic with zinc, normal air temp during my driving season is about 65-85 degrees in NY where I am.
Pict-34 single carb. Engine is bone stock except air filter and exhaust.
Running J-Tubes with a single Empi quiet muffler. I am getting plugs for the hot air holes in the fan shroud.
Engine does not have the lower shrouding that would go above heater boxes. It does have the air diverters that go on the underside, between the jugs. Does not have thermostat or flaps on fan shroud.
Car is equipped with an oil pressure gauge, tach, and amp meter

[Glenn]

Fyi, GEX is out of business.

Where in NY?
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

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עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

[DesertSasquatchXploration]

Lets have some faith that the engine is ok.

Make sure you have a full understanding on how to adjust valves.

10-30 is great that's the only weight you need for the life of the engine. Synthetic adds nothing to the table but that topic has been beat to death here.

Valve covers gaskets are glued in place with contact cement NOT SILICONE don't let others tell you otherwise. If done right they don't leak.

You need a warm intake air supply to run correctly. The stock 34pict can drop 40degs thru the carb if its 80 outside the engine is getting 40 deg almost frozen air it will run like crap 60deg air before the carb its popping, stalling etc not a fun time. The heat risers need to be working correctly that's really important. need to be clear.

Your oil Sump leak needs to be addressed chances are they used a beat to hell used sump plate make sure you have a good flat one and the right copper washers thread sealant helps a ton.

[oprn]

The first and foremost advice I would give to anyone running a kit car... make 100% sure that there is a separation of spent cooling air from the fresh air for the cooling fan. What I mean is that you MUST have a completely sealed engine compartment to prevent air from recirculating that has been heated by the engine and exhaust system. Most full bodied kit cars that I have seen neglect this important concept. The result is a cooked engine no matter who built it!
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[johnnyvw164]

a picture of the engine compartment would probably help point out any issues that should be addressed

[nsracing]

A broken clock is right twice a day.

It could be a jewel motor there. Just take some compression and see where it is. Don't despair too early. Petesakes.

[Dusty1]

[kermitthefrog]

[Dan_Lockwood]

I'm just learning along with you here...

But, so far, the only sump plate nuts I've seen in any type are the "acorn" style where they are a sealed nut on one end. It looks like you have the copper washers on the studs now, but oil can and will migrate down the threads and through the nut. With the nuts you have, you may not be able to stop the oil from seeping down the studs. Just upgrade one nut at a time to the VW style acorn type nuts and you'll probably solve your seeping issue.

Dan

[nsracing]

Engine looks promising. And where is the rear tin in the engine bay? Find that and install or you will cook that motor.

[oprn]

[ORANGECRUSHer]

In my opinion that is a good sump plate. When you change the oil get everything good and clean and use a nice gasket (some are just paper which is silly). Then assemble everything as clean as you can. Then just use the big drain and don't mess with the plate. I have that plate on my engine too. If you happen to have a oil filter pump or decide to run a remote oil filter, then you can possibly never mess with the plate again which is my plan.
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Brian H.
I may not know everything,but I will try to help if I can
OrangeCrushER Berrien Warrior 2.4L Quad4
LAZY MARY 1970 Baja 1835cc

[ORANGECRUSHer]

Last summer I bought a core longblock from an old VW mechanic for what I thought was a good price. Turns out it had hydraulic lifters and a GEX sticker on it. I'm not too worried as this is a parts engine and as long as the surfaces all look good whats the difference? Not sure what to think about the hydraulic lifter situation yet.

Did GEX make cases? Or did they just assemble engines that didn't have a good rep?
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Brian H.
I may not know everything,but I will try to help if I can
OrangeCrushER Berrien Warrior 2.4L Quad4
LAZY MARY 1970 Baja 1835cc

[b-man]

Wrapping the exhaust will only serve to drastically shorten the life of the exhaust. The pipes will cook themselves and start flaking and disintegrate in short order.

Get the engine compartment sealed up properly like the factory did, the exhaust system isn’t contributing to any overheating issue.
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1956 Dove Blue Panel
1966 Velvet Green Single Cab
1957 L41 Black Oval Window Beetle

[kermitthefrog]

[oprn]

Excellent!
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[FarmerBill]

You might want to get a thermostat and some sled tins too.

[Dusty1]

[oprn]

These were "Kit cars". You bought the basic body and finished building the car. Part of finishing it was what you did with the engine bay based on your engine of choice. Very few of the kit cars that I have seen were actually finished in this area.

Also I do believe that many of the kit car designers were fiberglass construction people not necessarily car people and did not understood things like the challenges of cooling a rear mounted engine. This is most evident in the MG TD, Bugatti, Mercedes replicas where there was just an engine "box" at the back that you put the engine in.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[babysnakes]