Porsche 914 VW Type 4 2056 Engine Build Part 3 and FAIL [Project Bumblebee ep 09] 

It's a game of thousandths...

Don't worry. I can't help myself.

Wow...that's a steal. Best of luck with it!

Glad you enjoyed it!

Always!

Thanks Fred. Fingers crossed...

Thanks Dave! You're a huge asset to this community and I'm flattered that you're watching my videos. To my admittedly DIY wrench, it seems that the crank is binding in the thrust bearing. When I pulled the cases apart, you can see that the thrust bearing got stuck to the top half of the case...and it took a fair bit of force to separate. I'm confident that the thrust bearing seated properly on the lower half...and it would be the least likely to move, no? When I looked inside the bearing, I could see some marks that indicated binding. I polished that thrust bearing a bit, tried to re-tourque and it got better, but still not right. I figured before I went further, best to have everything measured properly. I've spoken with a few engine builders and they said that Q/C is poor these days and they frequently have to go through several boxes of bearings to find a good set. Hoping it's just that....

I feel right at home already

@@IanKarr 914 - There is no substitute

Thanks, Randall. All part of the fun. I call things like this "tuition"...the price you pay to learn ;). One thing I learned is to test-fit the case at full torque before putting the sealant on. Sucked to clean that all up!

Thanks Rob. While it’s certainly possible the #3 unseated, the binding seemed to be in the thrust bearing. It wedged into the upper case and required a lot of force to free it. And there were marks inside the bearing where it looked like the crank had rubbed against it firmly. I’m hoping it’s the bearing and/or my error. That’s an easy fix. We’ll see after the machinist measures the bores and bearings this week..

Glad it went smoother for you. I'm thinking (hoping) this is more an issue of bearing quality control. At least that's what the machinist thinks. We'll see this week ;)

@@IanKarr Good luck. Only doing one and everything goes smoothly one doesn't really learn much. I hope it's something easy.

Frances! How are you? Tang is one of those things that probably never should've been invented. I'm sure your dad told you it was an "astronaut drink"...which is what made it cool back in the day. Really enjoying your channel and the fun you're having meeting people in this community. All the best!

I put a summary of what the machinist is thinking as a response to one of the earlier comments. We'll see next week...

We're all itching to find out! Like in many of the comments, it's better to find out now testing what you can as you go along than on startup!

Thanks, Chris. The case was align-bored and decked (covered in part 1), with the correct size bearings installed. We’re thinking this is a bearing quality control issue, but should know more this week.

@@IanKarr I haven't built one in over 20 years, but if it had to be align bored there may have been case material lost in the center main bearing area. If so the center cam bearing can pinch the camshaft. I don't recommend turning the crankshaft after properly installing and mating with the cam gear until you assemble the halves because you might pull a bearing off its dowel and then pinch that bearing. Did I see an oil slinger? I can't remember. I also like to set the crankshaft end play before assembling the case halves, just torque the crankshaft to the flywheel and rear main bearing, check the clearance with no shims, select the necessary shims, add them, re-check the clearance with feeler gauges. After assembling the case halves, reinstall the selected shims and flywheel then double check with a dial indicator. Inspecting the bearings should show a polishing effect if they are tighter than they should be. You had a lot of machine work done, some is metric some is U. S standard, sometimes the 2 don't quite mix.

Thanks, Huxley! The issues seem to have been sorted out. A new video coming very soon.

Thanks, Stuart. Lots more to come. Please subscribe if you haven't already. I'll be installing the lifters when I can finish the engine. Just waiting for parts...

Ha. I hear ya. Yep. My cam was zero lash. Now if only I can get the bearings / bore sorted out...

Thanks for the tip. Definitely an important lesson to learn. Cleaning up the sealant wasn't fun ;)

@@IanKarr I know about the sealant. ☹ Been there.

Here's a link... www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WTSRZKH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

ha! I know, right?

Just one side.

Thanks, Michal. Len Hoffman did the cleaning for me when he decked the case. Not sure exactly what he used, but I suspect dipping. Jake Raby has been creative works of art with vapor honing...definitely something to look into. Please subscribe if you haven't already!

It's not just for astronauts, ya know ;)

I see you speak German as well ;)

Ok, I watched your first video. You had an align-bore done. I'm wondering if you used the wrong size bearings. That shouldn't be hard to remedy.

Thanks for the feedback! Yes, align bore done...and proper bearings bought. (+.020 case, -.010 crank). The machinist (and a few other 914 gurus) are thinking that bearings are suffering a quality control problem these days and I tend to agree. It seems that only the thrust bearing is tight. And if you look closely, you'll see that the crank came out with the left side when I pulled the case apart (and needed a lot of force to separate the crank from the case.) I tried polishing the bearing a bit and it helped, but is still binding. Like I said in the video, I don't have precise enough tools to quantify the problem...so off to the machine shop! I should know more this week.

@@IanKarr plastigauge should get you in the ballpark or tell you what's out of tolerance

Part 4 should be ready next week! Finally got it all sorted out. At least I think I did.

It sounds like the line boring process wasn`t done properly.

Correct. The align bore needed to be cleaned up so the crank could spin freely. More on this to come...

The spigots were decked to be square and there was an align bore

Coming soon. I just now got things sorted out. Hopefully ;)