Fruitcake Type 4 engine rebuild - Finally started

I've started putting my engine back together following the camshaft problem I had whereby one of the lobes had completely flattened on the way back from Techenders last September. The root cause almost certainly being that I had replaced some of the hydraulic lifters over the years due to pump up failures. I'm ashamed to admit it but my bus has only done 3283 miles in the nearly seven years that I've owned it and the lifters spent long periods of time drained of oil.

This is my first time rebuilding a type 4 engine although I've rebuilt half a dozen or so BMC "A" series engines from Minis, Midgets, Metros and the like together with countless motorcycle engines and a couple of Ford V6's.

Prior to the camshaft failure the engine was running well with no other knocks, rattles, rumbles or undue smoke. The oil pressure light would take a few seconds to go out and sometimes flicker at idle but apart from that and the never ending lifter nightmare it was fine. Based on that and the ridiculously low mileage it covers I'm not going to do anything except change the camshaft and the oil pump, although the oil pickup pipe was loose when I split the casing due to a hardened and split seal which may be the culprit.

@77 Westy kindly sent me a Scat C25 camshaft, cam gear with bolts and a set of pushrods, I've just ordered a set of Scat lifters, oil pump, cam bearings, gaskets and seals. I've cleaned everything in my mix of Gunk, petrol and diesel and am ready to start putting it all back together.

 

I've refitted the crankshaft into the left hand case, very fiddly lining up the one piece main bearings onto the dowels, and temporarily put the camshaft into place and lined up the timing marks. I'm assuming this is the time to fit the distributor drive? Hopefully I've done it right by putting No1 conrod at TDC , the cam lobes for No1 look in the right position, I've then set the distributor to No1 and fitted it together with the drive.

Does this look right to the experts?

 

Good luck with it.

Dont forget to follow the correct cam break in procedure, once its all rebuilt.

Ill let someone else explain this as i dont kmow what im talking about!

 

Well it didn't take long for the first nightmare to rear its ugly head! It would appear that there should be a shim fitted to the distributor drive shaft but I don't have one. It must have been fitted otherwise the case would have been trashed by now I would have thought, but by the same token I find it impossible that I've lost it as I'm pretty disciplined when dismantling things. The only thing I can think of is that it either stuck to the casing or fell to the bottom and was then lost when I carried the casing outside to where I cleaned and washed it.

The big problem is that it doesn't seem to be available from any of the usual suspects, Stateside Tuning show them on their website but aren't answering the phone, I'll keep trying them if not I'll have to make something. Of all the bits to lose...................

Part Number 021 105 235

 

Paul take a look at Deefer66 type 4 engine rebuild thread. It’s very informative so you don’t miss anything. Have you checked the Cam thrust clearance? Also what was the issue with the original oil pump? If showing slight wear they are still a better bet than any after market ones which are a poor fit in the case.
I sourced a dissy shim from Jim @stateside I think it was. If not try Jim at The engine company, he will probably have them.
Here’s a link to Deefer66’s rebuild thread
https://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/type-4-cj-engine-rebuild-2ltr.59507/

 

I was going to say "Yay, great news", Paul, then I read your latest update.

Have you gone looking outside with a magnet?

 

Did another if youre really bored sometime...

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...5&share_fid=5720&share_type=t&link_source=app

Worth double checking the oil holes in the bearings line up with the case holes too.. tbink @MorkC68 had a set that missed....bit late,for you but if you marker pen the outside of the bearing shells on the case line before fitting on crank makes it easier to line up while holding a heavy crank

I thought Id lost that washer too .. magnet found it in the pit i call a garage.

And dont fit the drive without a disrtibutor to hold it in , it'll jump out and bind or worse knock teeth off

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Wow, that's very poor.

 

You are a genius, I dragged a magnet along with a length of string and guess what . I owe you a beer at T/E

 

Brilliant news, and probably a better quality part than new one

 

PS I once lost a starter motor bolt inside the bell housing on a Golf. I panicked and took the car to the local chap, bump started it, he turned back up at mine 10 minutes later and the job was done. I was incredulous, gave him some money and asked how he got the bolt out without splitting the engine, easy he said, a magnet taped onto the end of an old car aerial. I never felt so silly

 

happy days.. getting a lottery ticket later?

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Behave, he has been outside playing with magnets like a child !

 

No, no, no, he was playing with his digger in the mud

I not jealous, not at all, nope.

 

I can't measure the cam thrust clearance until the new bearings turn up later this week. The reason I'm changing the oil pump is that the engine always takes a while for the oil light to go out when first started and it flickers a fair bit at idle when warm, but like I said I'm beginning to think it may have been because the pickup pipe was loose. I can't seem to get the pump apart to have a look but there's a fair bit of backlash in the gears and it feels quite notchy. Thanks for the thread I've been going through it along with the one from @MorkC68

 

But to be fair Andrew, you do have one of the nicest Beetles I've ever seen