The site's been kind of slow lately so I'll post some pics of what I'm doing. I had Tom Simpson build a 2180 over 10 years ago for my Ghia with a new case and all new parts inside, pretty stout for what it got for carburation. It has a W110 cam and CB 044 big valve heads. It probably only makes 80-90hp with a single Zenith 32NDIX but could easily top 150HP with a hotter cam and twin carbs. I'm pretty conservative on engine stuff and IMO a W110 is a great cam for a light sedan like the Ghia but not really suited for a big heavy bus. Yea, I know guys who run that (or hotter) cam in a bus, but that's not me. I like low end torque right off the line so both of my busses have the Eagle 2280 in them which I really like. When I went to sell the Ghia nobody wanted to pay up for the 2180 so it wouldn't sell, I put a fresh stock engine in it and it sold immediately. I thoroughly oiled the 2180 and it's been on the shelf for a few years.
Time to dig it out and put it back into service, I did a leakdown test before teardown and it was very tight.
Here's a shot of the CB 044 head compared to a stock one.
And a shot of the 92mm A&A next to a stock 85.5mm piston.
To change the cam you obviously have to split the case. Many would do a full teardown but I'll cheat and only pull the right side off since it has low miles on it.
I checked the mains and rods and they look like new but they're Kolbenschmidt bearings. Unfortunately they're not easy to find so it got Silverline cam bearings which show some wear. I'm not sure if this is from low quality bearings or the journal surface on the cam was not perfect but it's not a big deal. I'll replace them and polish the new cam journals with 1000-2000 grit to a mirror surface.
The cam has to be machined for clearance on a stroker engine because the con rods pass right near the cam, I had a buddy cut it on a lathe for clearance between the lobes. I see it's still a little close near the center so I'll have him shorten up the center journal about .030".
The case surface and oil pump are soft aluminum and I didn't want to score them with a gasket scraper. I used some Permatex gasket remover but thought paint stripper seemed very similar. It seems they are identical, with paint stripper MUCH cheaper by the gallon.
Note it does a perfect job cleaning the old shellac style sealer, I think it was Indian Head. Not a bit remains. I used it to remove the carbon from the head above as well as carbon from the top of the piston above, it did a great job.
Here's a shot of the W110, a stock cam, and the 2280. The 2280 is what we called a "cheater" cam back in the day, that means it has roughly the same duration as a stocker but a LOT more lift. It gives you a lot more flow (read HP) without the drawbacks of longer duration (lumpy idle, sluggish bottom end). I'm really surprised with what the 2280 did to the relatively stock 1600 in Bus 2. You can see the beef removed between the lobes for clearance. Anybody want to buy a low mileage W110 and lifters?
The 2180 will go in Bus 1, the 1904 will go from 1 to 2, and the 1600/CW/2280 will go from 2 to the shelf.
More to come.