Biting the bullet and going to buy a new engine. After years of building the buggy I've never managed to get the engine to work. I've never seen it running, it leaks oil everywhere, compression is only ok and there's a bit of end float.
So taking the fact I have a big birthday coming up to splash some cash on a new engine. Thinking something like this - https://www.theengineshop.info/acatalog/Big-Bore-Thurrock-Engine-1776cc-Plus-211100034_1776__.html
Anyone have any experience with these ? good or bad ?
What sort of carburettor would go best with this ? don't want to spend a fortune so was thinking of 32/36 Weber, but I know very little about this so was hoping for some advice.
If I do go for a bigger carb than the standard Solex, would the standard fuel pump be up to the job or would I need to upgrade to an electrical pump ? Do different carbs require pressure regulators ?
Trying to get all my ducks lined up before ordering
Farmer Rob is your man. Built mine. Send him a pm ;-)up
This may be an appropriate thread for this posting. It goes to show that no matter having decades of experience stripping down\rebuilding suspension, gearbox, engine etc there is always something that you don`t know and can learn. (The hard way of course ;D) I have always stated that the best, simple thing you can do to any vehicle and not just your buggy should you want to over-winter it is to run it on the road regularly and I don`t meant just a couple of times.
Here is how I was caught out and the end result may prove to be far worse than what I am hoping for at best. I paid top money to have my engine rebuilt by a long time renowned aircooled engine guru. Say this just to make the point that I should have an engine that was as good as it could be considering it was built in 1975.
This was rebuilt about 3 years ago. Got it back and did everything right... No rotation of crankshaft until distributor was installed ensuring dog had engaged. Filled with oil and rotated by hand weekly whilst waiting to go in buggy. Light misting of oil to cylinders and spark plugs fitted in place. About 9 months go by before it gets put into buggy. Fitted, firing order, static timing checked\corrected. cranked without feed to coil and plugs out until sure had oil pressure. Then run up. Was thrilled to hear it running and after carb cleaning it came off choke and idled as smooth as I could have wished. Zero exhaust smoke even when started from cold and full winter choke setting Time goes by, a lot of it, but religously started it every couple of days and for a while now started daily to get buggy in and out of garage.
Now then.... I had thought I had been running engine sufficiently long each time to warm it through. We get to the other day and where I learn yet another lesson and maybe more very soon. However sticking to the point of this post.... Regular running during off road periods.
Started the engine up several days ago. Didn`t start instantly as it had always done. Was a little lumpy and after a minute or so there was a light knocking noise that lasted a few seconds, stopped, re-appeared at which point I shut it off. Checked spark plugs. Checked coil, distrubutor etc and thank goodness decided to remove the rocker covers the next morning. Knew I had an issue the moment I got down to undo rocker cover clip. Stunk of petrol down there. Pulled out dipstick and the oil, classic stuff, that had remained a clear green since putting it in was miltary green and runny. Level indication higher than it should be. Heart sunk. Off came the rocker cover and the oil all runny. BUT.... cylinder number 1... pushrod not under rocker arm. Was to side and rocker arm free to mover on arm. :'( :'( Sump drain opened and drained out oil\petrol mix. A lot of petrol in the sump. I am assuming I have no piston ring problem as no smoke from the cannon. Pulled out the pushrod and it wasn`t bent in the way I have seen before. Held rod up to light with straight edge along it`s length and it bows slightly. A 1mm gap at middle of bow. Cannot re-install this rod just in case it becomes a problem. Waiting for a replacement from Farmer Rob. How the rod was able to come adrift is a question. The rocker arm adjuster nut and screw are still tightly locked. Have not moved. There is no play in the rocker to shaft area. There is no obvious damage except for a little impact on the push rod. So it`s certain the knocking was this rod being displaced. What of the petrol in the oil though? Talking to Rob it`s hopefully probable that this occured as a result of the high ethanol petrol eating through the fuel pump diaphragm allowing petrol down into the crankcase.
Going to take a gamble.... New pump on order. Rocker pushrod from Rob. Pushrod will go back in after checking cylinder head nut torque. Rocker shaft re-torque. All Rocker gaps checked\reset. Flush with new oil cranking engine without firing. Drain and fresh oil and start up.
Right... Coming to the origiinal point... ;D ;D... The No 1 exhaust valve spring is fairly rusty. (These were brand new), The inlet valve has rust but not very much. They and the other springs are dry. The nearside set are all misty\oily as per normal. (This may be a separate issue that I don`t want to think further of yet). The inside of both rockers were oily but there was water pooling both covers. Was oil in both so hopefully I have oil feed to both sides). This is my point..... if your buggy is going to be off road over winter or otherwise run the engine up regularly but run it for a while to ensure engine is thoroughly warmed through. This will minimise condensation and emulsification of oil.
New engine.... Don`t rotate engine without the distributor in place. If you do you run the chance of locking the crankshaft completely. I have seen this happen. Make sure your engine is timed statically correctly to relevent piston. Check plug leads are correctly connected to the relevent cylinder. Crank the engine over with oil in it to be sure pressure develops and red light goes out. Make sure carb is set up properly and double check rocker gaps no later than 500 miles on. If you have any money to spare after this I could use some ;-)up ;-)up
X2, I'd get Farmer Rob to rebuild your engine.
My favourite buggy engine ever was:
1776cc
Standard valves for good torque
Engle w110 cam, chrom moly rods, single stronger valve springs, bolt together rocker shafts
8 doweled 200mm flywheel lightened, balanced bottom end
Twin Weber 34 ict's or twin Kadron Solex 40 carbs.
Ask Robs advice though.
X3 for Farmer Rob
Had a couple off him now - All bloody good ;-)up ;-)up ;-)up
The ManxDavid spec' is the engine Rob built for me. Running twin Kadrons with a Beezledub exhaust. Spot on ;-)up
Thanks for the advice guys, I've been in touch with Farmer Rob
Quote from: pepsi81 on May 18, 2020, 06:06:49 PM
The ManxDavid spec' is the engine Rob built for me. Running twin Kadrons with a Beezledub exhaust. Spot on ;-)up
Same spec engine with 1641 b&p's works really well too if you're an a budget as it saves £££ on machine work. ;-)up
To throw in a curved ball, why not also consider a T25 /T4 2.0 lump ?
I had one of those from Farmer Rob - loads of power and grunt from a standard spec and unstressed engine - dead easy conversion ;)
Quote from: Dave DND on May 19, 2020, 09:58:00 AM
To throw in a curved ball, why not also consider a T25 /T4 2.0 lump ?
I had one of those from Farmer Rob - loads of power and grunt from a standard spec and unstressed engine - dead easy conversion ;)
That reminds me, I must look up an old friend that I lost contact with 20+ years ago. He bought a job lot of army surplus Type 4 engines from a scrap yard. We fitted a couple into campers after we converted them from 24 volts and magnetos. They had about 70 hours each on them after powering anti aircraft guns.
Quote from: Manxdavid on May 19, 2020, 10:08:16 AM
Quote from: Dave DND on May 19, 2020, 09:58:00 AM
To throw in a curved ball, why not also consider a T25 /T4 2.0 lump ?
I had one of those from Farmer Rob - loads of power and grunt from a standard spec and unstressed engine - dead easy conversion ;)
That reminds me, I must look up an old friend that I lost contact with 20+ years ago. He bought a job lot of army surplus Type 4 engines from a scrap yard. We fitted a couple into campers after we converted them from 24 volts and magnetos. They had about 70 hours each on them after powering anti aircraft guns.
I have a feeling that MickyB on here mentioned or used an ex-millitary one from an anti aircraft gun or something similar many moons ago too
They were only 1.7 litre but as I say almost new. It's a shame you can't get a good looking off the shelf buggy exhaust for a T4.
Quote from: Manxdavid on May 19, 2020, 10:59:35 AM
They were only 1.7 litre but as I say almost new. It's a shame you can't get a good looking off the shelf buggy exhaust for a T4.
To be fair though, most on here are having exhausts made, so getting a T25 one made instead is not really any different
Custom made have always been beyond my budget I'm afraid, home made or second hand has always been more my thing ;D
Micky B's engine was a 1800 industrial engine, I think most of the industrial one's were 1800, which is good because they have the big valve heads on them and you can put 96mm big bore B+P's straight in, no machining. Add a warmer camshaft and you have a nice quite powerful engine ;-)up ;-)up
Rob
build one to your needs and pocket, as a lot of the eBay and shop built ones are the crap like Cast cranks, flywheels, and some no-name heads, I worked in a vw garage and it was 1k back in 04? to build a bigger than stock engine less parts etc, And we had a 1776cc from the Engine shop!! to show customers, how bad an off the shelf engines can look like inside :-[ ,, In one week I put 3 heritage off the shelf engines in a bug, the pulleys were machined bad and would cut into the case the 3rd one I put the pulley on a lathe and it was like 2!! degrees out but to look at, It locked o.k,, Good parts and a guy? that is a call away Is worth the extra money..