Jaguar 0.7 alpha build for 1972 VW Karmann Ghia

[Andreas]

I found the valve keepers first thing this morning.....in one of the clear plastic containers that I looked in about 5 times....it's on my work table. WTF. I'm an idiot.

Got the valves done. Have half of the pistons and heads installed. Yay!

[Andreas]

Jeff, thanks for the kind words. I'm glad someone is interested!

This pic is not really that good, but I finished the pistons/cylinders, heads, oil cooler, oil pump, and sump cover. I tried to get off the exhaust studs to replace them with some stainless steel ones I bought, but 3 of the 4 I tried to removed snapped off....even with a MAPP torch on the head. I tried to drill one out and it is like the bolt is welded in there. I need to get a metric tap, I think. The oil fill thingy is getting soaked in mineral spirits to clean it also. I guess I can put the rockers and valve covers on. Maybe I should work on the intake system too since it might be easier with it out of the car....?

[Fred]

That sucks. Were the threads damaged? If not, some low grade stainless nuts may have been a winner? Came across this page while searching for the below: http://www.airheadparts.com/vw-broken-stud-bolt-removal

The trouble is that on these things you really want to use the nuts with hex drive in the end, like this: https://www.cbperformance.com/ProductDe ... tCode=3677 described briefly here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_wrenching_nut

I wonder if helicoiling is the done thing for exhaust studs? You may need to by the time you're done.

"When 2 dissimilar metals are attached for a long period of time, corrosion is formed that acts like glue, and takes a good amount of heat to detach the two."

Heat on the head ice on the stud. Difficult to get both happening at the same time, but... :-)

Most of my engines use a steel stud and stainless nut. That's probably because stainless is much weaker and they have cast iron manifolds hanging from them, but still recognise the need to not sieze over time.

Sorry if I'm telling daddy how to suck eggs. Keep up the great progress! :-D

Fred.

[Andreas]

No problem, this is #1 reason I don't do more car work than I do.

Never seen those internal wrenching nuts...I'm not sure they are worth it, but I bet they work great.

I tried welding to the stud after my last post, but the weld keeps breaking off when I put the vise grips on it and really torque it. It's strong....but the stud is in even stronger. I tried welding a nut, but I end up melting the nut since the stud is not as close as the sides of the nut (I'm using TIG).

I have something called "Freeze off" that can work pretty well. It would work much better than ice.

As far as the stainless studs go....you can read til the cows come home about which metals are best for the studs and nuts. I know I did. The steel studs that are in there now are crap. Some of the nuts would not come off of the studs no matter what you did. I had to cut them off. The others have rusted threads. It has been so long that I forget if I was going to use copper, brass or steel nuts....but NOT stainless. I think I got copper ones with my engine hardware kit.

Helicoiling is another thing. lol It's expensive. I had a stripped spark plug hole that I repaired with a threaded insert. I got 5 of them for $7: http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/122/3318/=120g3sx Looks like they also have the 8mm ones in case I need them for the exhaust studs. I just bought a tap so if I drill them out well, theoretically I could just tap the hole. We will see!

[Fred]

Not stainless? That's what's on these Jap engines. Don't ask me which grade, only the OEM would know that, but it's NOT 316, and probably not even 304, probably something that doesn't gall and work harden, I imagine. They come off beautifully after 20+ years. When I put them back, I put a nordlock under each one to ensure they don't work loose, as they are pressed nuts and their grip on the stud is diminished after being removed.

Thread on nordlock and friends: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1813

Good call on the freeze spray. Not sure what I was thinking, possibly because I've never had a can of it :-)

Re TIG into a hole, I imagine that's all but impossible to do well. I have MIGed into a deep hole with appropriate settings for the long bit of wire sticking out, and it worked wonderfully. It wasn't onto a siezed stud fragment, though.

The main reason for the internal drive nuts is that if you want to put primary pipes on there that make sense for the cylinder volume and power goals, then you simply cannot use a normal nut. Otherwise you have to use small runners, which will hurt you power wise. It's just a function of where VW put the studs in the first place and how little power these things made stock (which made their choice acceptable). Depends on the goals, though. Torque wise, you're better off with a normal nut, 12 point, if serious. The internal ones are not capable of being torqued up as high due to the smaller diameter drive. Probably more than high enough, though.

Anyway, as you like it :-) Sorry for sticking my nose in excessively.

Fred.

[Andreas]

Fred, I was meaning not using SS nuts on SS studs. SS nuts on steel is fine. I'm not worried of them coming loose at this point, but will keep those in mind if I have to keep tightening the exhaust nuts. I can get many different lock nuts/washers on Mcmaster. I order by 5pm and get it 10am next day....and pay for regular shipping which is usually cheap. I don't know how they do it.

Unfortunately I sold my MIG unit. I would hardly use it....I could probably do stick with my TIG and it would work better....I've never done stick so I'd have to Youtube it.

I hear you on the studs limiting the size of the pipes. I thought I did calcs and the primarys are not that small (I could certainly be wrong). The problem is that the system doesn't get any bigger when two pipes converge....and the small carb...and....and...

No problem giving advice. I like to learn. I usually do my research, but I always miss something. I put some of the case studs in too far. Ooops. I know I made a couple other mistakes.

BTW, I've been using denatured alcohol (90% ethanol, 10% methanol). Ethanol is edible and methanol is in windshield wiper fluid (safe enough to spray everywhere apparently). I put it in a spray bottle and it works great in copious amounts to rinse the parts of dirt and oil before installing, along with compressed air. For tough stuff, I use the carb cleaner or mineral spirits.

Ok, so I installed the oil filler thingy (generator stand), pushrods, rockers, oil pressure sensor, and adjusted the valves. I'm soaking the valve covers. I have a few other little things to do. I also have to do all the tin (air ducting stuff), although I'm not sure if it goes on now or not. I need to install the flywheel/clutch/pressure plate, but can't while it is on the stand. I'm supposing I need to rig up a sling for the engine to go on the engine hoist/lift. I also have the intake and exhaust which I'm custom making because I'm a glutton for punishment.

[Andreas]

Removed 3 full studs pretty easily today. The 3 from yesterday that were snapped: one drilled out and tapped - ok! The other 2 have been welded and frozen repeatedly. I decided to drill them and be done with it. The bolts are now hardened. FML.

[Andreas]

This is where I ended up. I'm thinking I'm just going to buy the exhaust and intake to save me some time.... I'll have to think about it. It's not even my car!

[Andreas]

To make things easier for me right now I'm going to graft a throttle body where the carb used to sit. I made a simple 1/4" thick aluminum one that should do the trick. I need to deburr it.

I'm getting ready to drill 4 holes in the crank pulley to mount the trigger wheel to. I found center with the mill and with my new DROs it will be easy to get the holes drilled in the right location. I'll do the same for the trigger wheel and use stand offs between the two.

I'm still debating spending a ton of money on the injector intake manifold....

[Andreas]

Ok, so I'm looking for an answer on this for way too long. The coil I have (below): Can I use it directly from the Jaguar board or do I need to use the bosch ingniter that I have?

The second question is how to wire up the coil. I have four spark plug wire outputs to the spark plugs, I presume. There are 3 wires in....one is power (?), the other two are from the ignitor (?) and each one sparks two plugs? Thanks