2.0 Engine work

[topdog]

OK, brief history before questions: '74 914 2.0 in a truck salvage yard had to have it! Engine HAD dual carbs suffered a fire (prior to my ownership). With help of Jake's video and Tom's book, tore down engine. Piston One was seized in rust and needed to be hammered out.

What cleaner do any of you recomend for the engine case (inside and out)? Inside there is quite a bit of sludge, outside not that bad but would like to get it as clean as possible.

The cam gear had a little over an inch of its teeth tore off, any ideas why this may have occurred or if this is common?

Head work, is this something an amatuer can handle and what I am looking at is: There doesn't seem to be any cracks but the valve area for the cylinder one area (as mentinoned above) suffers from a lot of rust. It needs to be cleaned/polished with the others (pretty black). Have any of you done this work and if so any tips? Same with valve replacements?

Please, any and all comments welcomed and will have plenty more questions in the future,

Steven

'74 914 2.0

[Germain]

Get the heads port and pollished at a machine shop. Around here it would cost about $40/head. not only look better, but will bring you added performance as well. Replaceing the valves is simple in my opinion, no problem for someone mechanically inclined.

As for the cam, I don't understand the question/statement. In inch torn off doesnt' make any sense to me right now...

Clean the engine with carb cleaner (works very very well). Make sure to put a thin coat of oil on the engine if it is going to sit for a while. Also paint the outside if you want to with Por-15 Engine paint. I think it's the best stuff on the market.

[norustscott]

On the heads...for go the porting and polishing...Unless they are done and flow tested I would be suspect to any gain. Spend the money on new seats where needed, valve guides and a three angle valve job. Valves can be reused, however, check the valve stems for mushrooming damage and the keeper grooves for wear from valve float. Check each valve springs for fatigue. Replace rusty exhaust studs now...not when one breaks of during engine exhaust install.

The case was not painted at the factory...If there was a benefit to painting then your engine wold have paint on it. However, I have heard that a light coat of flat black paint can assist in heat transfer. Paint the cylinder fins with the flat black and leave it at that.

The cam gear is a bit of a mystery. Check the crank gear for damage too...

Other thoughts guys?

[DDS]

Better check the crank, case and bottom end. Whatever happened wasn't very nice.

[larrym]

figure $2K to do a correct rebuild; new p&c's, new cam & liftrs, crank work at machine shop, case align bore, $250 each to have the heads done right by the guys who know how; etc etc, etc; buckets of money is a plus: i've done 6 of these and am just finishing the LAST one ever

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

"The last one ever", Larry? That must mean it's worth 5x as much as the rest, huh?

(Good to see you back around here!)

I'd think twice about any case that actually needs align-boring. The Type IV cases are bulletproof when compared to the Type I (magnesium) cases. Type Is get align-bored every rebuild pretty much, but bearings for a Type IV that has had the job done are tough to find and tend to be $$$. I have been advised by more than one source, "If it needs align-boring, throw the case away."

Yes, I did go ahead and have my case align-bored. It needed it because of majorly excessive crankshaft longitudinal play. If I had it to do over again, I would have thrown the case away.

--DD

[MASSIVE TYPE IV]

The TIV case is really tough, but is getting old and tired.. we are finding more and more cases that need align bore. About 75% of cases we find now need align bore, or they have collapsed main saddles, something that is non repariable.