LEAKOIL Forum

Agreed, great choice with the CB crankshaft - they are forged. I was using DPR crankshafts exclusively until Kirk brought me a CB for his 1600cc DP, I was impressed. I've used a 69mm in a 1776cc, 74mm in a 2054cc and an 82mm in a 2180cc and have been happy with all. My preference is still DPR, but CB is a good alternative.

The crankshafts themselves are "drop-in", as Bill stated you will not have main bearing saddle clearance problems like the old cast Scat cranks.

The issue is with the rods. I have built or done the machine work on five 74mm stroke engines in the last 1-2 years with those AA Performance connecting rods and they all needed clearancing for the big end and rod bolts. And It's not just the AA rods, pretty much all "stroker" rods will need this work. The only ones I have ever used that dropped in with no clearancing on a 74mm crank were Scat I-beams with 5/16 rod bolts. I believe they went to 3/8 bolts in the mid 2000's and that killed the drop-in situation.

This is TRL's 1904cc case:



Here you can see the notches for the rod bolts, they need done on the top and bottom of each cylinder opening:



Reliefs on the roof of the case for the big end of the rods:



You can also see in the center of the photo some of the material removed from the top area of the cam bearing support, this needs done in the front and back of the case (just the front edge).

Mock-up the crank and drop it in the case, you could get lucky. Every case is a little different. If you drop it in and it clears - great - but I like to see at least .040" clearance all around. It might look OK with less than .040", but what if you lose a rod bearing? How much clearance do you have then? It can be the difference between having the crank reground, rod checked out and a fresh set of bearings or having to replace the case and everything else $$$.

I acquired a new AS41 case that had been sitting in a damp location for a number of years, it had considerable corrosion on all surfaces, most concerning are the bearing saddles and mating surfaces. I tried several caustic cleaners with no luck and went to soda blasting. This was the trick! It removed all traces of corrosion leaving a nice smooth surface without pitting or removal/alteration of the mag surface.

I use regular grocery store baking soda, it's about $5-6 for a bag of 12-13.5LB at Costco/BJ'sdiscount store. Eastwood/Tip Tools has it but it's 10 times the price. I've been doing carbs like this for years using small grocery boxes of soda ($.50) and they look great. Once done blasting, wash well with hot water and then blow dry with an air gun and you're done.

Here's pics before, the saddles are corroded, rough to the touch and lifters will not go into the lifter bores:

Soda blasting was the trick- it took (2) 12 lb bags ($10). I used a simple siphon tube setup. It's a dry process, do it outside and WEAR A GOOD MASK. I also wear eye protection, of course. If anyone is around, be prepared for cocaine intervention jokes. I suppose you could set up a recycler cabinet or something if you wanted to soda blast things nonstop all day.


Here's pics after: There's no pitting but still some staining. The saddles are smooth to the touch and should be fine holding the bearings. Lifters slide in nicely and are free in the bores.

I use a sandblast gun like this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Air-Sand-blaste ... SwwPhWkvSY

RIS wrote: This is TRL's 1904cc case:

Wow, that's a lot of grinding for a 74mm crank. I guess my luck is better, I started mocking up my engine and it appears I will need no grinding at all. First I set the crank and cam in place with bearings but no rods, assembled the case and torqued it dry to make sure the shafts spin freely. My case (and heads) are not cut yet for the 90.5s so I mocked up a couple of 85.5s to keep the rods in the right spot. I see plenty more than .040" at all locations around the rods and counterweights.

The only interference I have is the cam gear bolts to the CB filter/pump, which just touches.


Some minor clearancing of the bolts or the backside of the pump will be easy.

As soon as I'm done mocking up the parts will go out for machining and balancing, I just wanted to make sure everything looked right initially. Once these go out I'll get back on installing the 1600 in the Ghia and (hopefully) selling it.

Oh, yea, and as if I didn't already have enough to do- my 1904 showed up. Because I have a lot of irons in the fire I had Tom assemble the long block. So, what's the big deal- trim it out and install it, right? No biggie.

Well, the camera card was full so I guess it’s time for another update. I decided to trim the 1904 and install it in Bus 1 first, otherwise it would not make it in Bus 1 this year if I put Bus 2 first.

Trimming out the engine is pretty boring, I’ll concentrate on what’s interesting. I use CB MaxiPump 2s that are full flow filter pumps, I’ve been using these for 35 years now with excellent results.

Nothing really interesting to report here, I use studs rather than the Allen bolts supplied and I use OEG oil pump sealing nuts. I install it dry, I’ll prime it later by adding oil to the output and turning the engine backwards a couple of turns, this makes for a cleaner install. Gaskets get a coat of Spray High Tack.

The pulley tin needs a small clearance cut in it to clear the pump, no biggie.

Make sure you use a filter that has a bypass valve, Napa 1374 does. If not it will crush the inside of the filter and cost you an engine. This happened to a friend of mine while we were on vacation 30+ years ago on the beach in NC with a 1600 sandrail. Long story, but Fram paid retail P&L for a long block.


On to the shroud/oil cooler stuff. First, clean up the gen and put new brushes in. I don’t know if you all have a K-D 2282 screw holder, but this thing is the best $10 you’ll ever spend if you don’t have one. It has a neat little twisty thing in the middle of the screwdriver that locks the screw onto it for points and gen brush screws. A must have.


Start looking at the T4 cooler, which has 7 rows of fins vs 5 rows of fins, a 40% increase in size. This setup made a huge difference in my 2180, bringing oil temps from 260ish to a normal 220/230 range at 80mph.

It’s also ¾”-1” wider, which means you have to modify the shroud. Gene Berg makes a kit to adapt the shroud, and I used it on the 2180, but it costs $100 and I didn’t feel it was worth that. I have fab skills, if your fab is not good maybe the $100 would be well spent. Anyway, you’re probably going to install a used cooler and you may not have a full history of where it’s been. If it was on a T4 that spun a rod bearing you will now destroy your motor with gunk. Put 4oz or more of brake clean or lacquer thinner in the, recap it, slosh it around really good, and strain the solvent through a coffee filter. If there are ANY chunkies in it, smash it with a hammer and get another one. With all the T4 stuff Chuck has, he probably has a whole big box of coolers.

Once it passes inspection, mount it up. It’s a simple bolt on with 2 longer studs or bolts.

Start looking at the shroud, you’ll need to cut it open to be able to install/mock up the shroud.

You’ll need a donor shroud and outlet duct to cut up. Here I’ve cut what I need from the donor shroud.

Here I’m cutting open the good shroud.

Mock up/test fit the shroud extension.

Burn it.

There’s a little spot in the bottom that needed a triangle to fill in.


Now that the top and bottom are welded, there’s a big f’ing hole that needs to go away.


Put a piece of tape over the hole and cut it with a razor knife.


Put this piece of tape on your .032” sheet stock.

Cut and test fit, damn that works good!

Burn it.

Little wide, no biggie, flap disc takes that right off.

Burn it.


Looks pretty fugging ugly right now.


A few minutes with the hard disc and flap wheel and it becomes a work of art.

Start looking at the outlet duct, it’s ¾” too narrow, but we have the technology.

Cut it open.

Cut the donor piece to overlay and mock it up.]

Tack it.

Burn it.

Cut the angle to blend properly.

Burn it, grind, it, blast it. I did the inside real nice too, but I didn’t shoot pics.
Fits like a glove



Don’t forget to extend the Hoover Bit to compliment the wider cooler.


I put a couple strips of ½” and ¾” Home Depot weather strip on the cooler to seal it to the shroud and dampen vibrations.

Done. Notice the extra Phillips screw to hold the right side, there’s a “step” there and a piece of HD weatherstrip to seal it.

I also welded a tab on the bottom for a Phillips screw to retain it.

Chuck’s taking up bandwidth trying to be funny, now it’s my turn. I took a NOS German Beetle muffler, opened the crimps, and now I’m cutting the baffles out. Stop laughing.

Here’s what I removed.

Once I disposed of the baffles I’m clamping the muffler halves back together so I can glow them and re-crimp them. Stop laughing.

Done.

I don’t know what this tool is called but it sure worked nice for this job. Stop laughing.


Right side capped off. I said, stop laughing, I can hear you. I’ve done this about 4 times now and you can feel the 2-3HP it makes. I’ll fab up some kind of hillbilly baffled tailpipe once it’s in the bus to quiet it down, but it's only slightly louder than stock. Stop laughing. Why do I do this? Maybe it's because I picked these up at the Hershey swap meet for $5 EACH, NOS. (That's $15 for two new Danish heater boxes and a German muffler) Maybe it's because I'm cheap. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. I don't really know.

Tech tip- three pieces of shroud come together here and it’s a bitch to get the screw through them all. Put a bolt in from the bottom (through the weld nut in the lowest shroud piece) and use a nut on top. 10 times easier to line up that way.

.

I spent the weekend at the shop. Parts arrived for the 1904 so it went back on the front burner. I dug through my junk and found an Empi 34PICT with tight throttle shafts so that became my victim. I rebuilt it and put a larger main jet (135 vs 127.5) in to fatten up the mix for the bigger engine.

I don’t know if you guys are using these WW silicone sump gaskets yet, but they’re the cat’s ass. Ditch those paper gaskets and get these, I’ve had great luck with them on several engines now.


I polarized the generator, this builds new magnetism in the armature so it will charge. Sometimes when gens set a long time they’ll lose their magnetism and forget to charge when started. When you have the belt off it also runs the gen as a motor which gives you about 95% odds that the gen is good when you put it on. In this pic the gen is spinning several hundred RPM but the picture freezes it.

Back to the muffler- cutting the baffles out does one minor negative thing- it causes the heat riser tube under the carb to not work. The heat riser depends on a pressure differential to operate- if the pressure is the same on both ends you will have virtually no flow and no carb heat. Single carbs really need carb heat, they run like $hit without it. Gutting the baffles screws this all up because if you look at the riser tubes, one ports to the muffler (which is baffled, causing backpressure) and the other goes straight out the tailipipe which is not baffled. This causes flow from the side pressurized by the baffles to the tube that bypasses the muffler and exits to atmospheric pressure. Anyway, there’s a fix. I figured this out several years back when I put a single carb and a header on my 2180 in the Ghia. I knew I needed carb heat with the center Zenith 32NDIX and I knew a header would give me zero carb heat even though the ports are present for the heat riser tube. I figured if I welded a little diverter flap in the exhaust port of the header it would cause some of the exhaust to flow through the riser tube, heating the carburetor. I did this on the 2180 and it worked great, getting several hundred degrees of heat under the carb. I talked about it on the Samba years ago and John from AirCooled.net sounded interested in trying this on the headers he sells. I don’t know if he ever did but probably not as it would only be for a single carb application. Anyway, I told him I didn’t have rights to it and probably was not the first guy who thought of it. Someone over the last 50 years had to do it before me.


So, here’s the flap. It diverts about 15-20% of the exhaust flow to the carb heat riser to warm the carb and promote vaporization of the fuel in the manifold.


I’m moving into the 21st century and trying some video stuff. Some things just don’t translate well with pictures and I figured if W5 can do it, so can I.

Here's finding TDC using the piston stop tool method. There is no other way that is reliable for finding TDC!
https://youtu.be/CE-nsDpKCPk

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=CE-nsDpKCPk



Here's setting static timing using a test light:
https://youtu.be/FbkugcWXlgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbkugcW ... e=youtu.be




Here's the initial fireup of the 1904:


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pf09B5oyB3A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

https://youtu.be/pf09B5oyB3A


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pf09B5oyB3A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Things I see in the “finished” videos:

1. I need to wear better clothes if I’m going to be a movie star.
2. I need to close the cabinet doors above my toolbox.
3. I need to understand that a smart phone sucks as a video camera.
4. I need to understand which way to hold “up” on the camera.
5. I need to understand that the microphone is one step above worthless if the engine is running, I was talking about the lack of baffles in the muffler and the need for a baffled tailpipe.
6. I need to figure out where the edges of the video are, because clearly I did not know where they were here.
7. The loose 18ga wire flapping around is for the OPS which is not there because the oil gauge is.
8. I need to improve the clamp on my engine stand so it doesn’t want to turn when I rev the engine.

Have fun!

Something is freaking out with the site, I don't know if it's the site or my PC. The "preview" button isn't working, it erases everything you wrote which is maddeningly infuriating, but the "submit" button works. The Youtube videos won't embed properly also. Anyone else having trouble?.....

Dual Port wrote: Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:55 pm
Things I see in the “finished” videos:


3. I need to understand that a smart phone sucks as a video camera.

I can always come over and take any pictures or video you need.

Dual Port wrote: Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:39 pm Something is freaking out with the site, I don't know if it's the site or my PC. The "preview" button isn't working, it erases everything you wrote which is maddeningly infuriating, but the "submit" button works. The Youtube videos won't embed properly also. Anyone else having trouble?.....

We noticed some other problems this morning. I believe Bill had Rich fix those. Not sure if it cleared up what you're describing. We may need to get Rich on it. Bill will know.

Note I added another video on static timing above.