Stripped the oil pressure switch threads. Big time fuckup. Time-Sert installed… Hope I got all the aluminum shards out of that oil galley.
Category Archives: Banana Garage
Silly!
Short block got torn apart again. A head stud wasn’t seated deep enough and interfered with the #3,4 rocker assembly. Pulled the head and fixed it, but decided to replace the cylinders and pistons. A set of 85.5 Mahles are on there way. I do believe this means that nothing but the flywheel will remain from the short block that was in the car when I bought it. What a deal.
In the meantime, here’s a preview of the dope paint I’m spraying on the tins:
Short block finally finished
What a roller coaster. Here is what it took to get here:
- bought “turnkey” car
- week later, so much oil leaking I pull engine. Looks like pushrod tube seals and oil cooler seals
- after much cleaning of the case, heads, etc, realize the case deck is uneven
- bring case to machinist, it’s already on its last line bore, was a 40hp case bored for 85.5 jugs. Line bore is fucked, case beyond repair
- new case, crank, cam
- find mushroomed valve seats, cracks in head. Time for new heads
- shit, while I’m at it, might as well upgrade to doghouse cooling… Get oil cooler, fan housing, fan. Oh yeah, why stop here…
- get case bored for full flow oil filtering (fuck yeah)
- crank is stiff after assembly. Shit, case needs line bore
- better get an oil pressure gauge now that I have a new oil pump, full flow. Will want to keep an eye on pressure and adjust viscosity
God. What a money pit of a motor that came in this “turnkey” car. All that remains from that which drove it here is the flywheel, pistons, and jugs. And I think half of one rocker assembly. Now I’m just waiting on all the missing OG tins to paint (hammered silver). Sooooo close to starting it up….
Well of course…
…the previous owner lied through his teeth and did a great job of covering up some pretty serious oil leaks. Luckily pulling the engine from a Beetle is easy peasy. First time doing it and it took me about an hour, probably half that next time. And now that it’s out: Paint the tins, def. 1600 DP kit? More? Ahhhhhhhhh must exercise restraint.
Brat Style Seat
Bratty seat for my birthday from Uncle Sam. Ordered from Brat Style in Japan. Hired a translator off craigslist for $15 to call them and place the order. Quick shipping, good product. Looks phenomenal. Next up: building an electronics box. Also, I need to get rid of those Harley shocks, too, waaayyyy too stiff for my scrawny ass.






















