I have read of incorrectly drilled (or even missing) oilways on the Autolinea cases. Never seen one, so don't know if it's true. Worth a good looking at (and thorough wash-out) before slapping it together.
I had to use a router bit in a hand drill to finish the oil pickup machining from outside after pulling the plug. This was after LP had his go. Squeaky bum time! LP's install. lol Oh dear. Jammed sort of into the hole it ended up like this, starving the poor thing of oil if it wasn't maintained well over the top mark. Of course I'd wrecked it before that all came to light.
The 2mm came from the 1.9mm down the barrel and 1.9mm step in the head, remove the step and I agree 0.5mm off the case would be enough. But I still wouldn't machine a brand new crankcase unless someone that knows how and what to measure demonstrates that it's wrong – and then I'd send it back to the supplier to sort. Cylinders are cheaper that crankcases and easier to machine.
The oil pick-up on my case was badly made and not straight. When I spoke to VWH they said they were nearly all like that and just required a bit of fettling with a socket extension. Eventually got it straight enough for the strainer to fit, but not impressed. I had considered swapping it for the one from the old engine but couldn't see how it came off.
That's great to know I'm on the right track now. The next thing I think is to find an experienced aircooled machine shop. Not so easy in Bristol. I may have to look further afield. The original plan was to build a completely stock but hopefully reliable, 1600dp using as much as I could reuse off the old engine. That includes a 34PICT3, SVDA distributor, and a quiet pack exhaust system. I've also been able to reuse the stock 3 rivet cam. If I decide on the additional expense of going 1776, and I'm not saying I am, am I going to have to upgrade any of those items? The obvious concern being this project turning into a money pit.
You'd be much better off going to 1776, IMHO. You can use what you've got at the moment (assuming the cam's in good shape). Finding a shop that knows what they're doing and won't trash your new case will be the biggest problem.
Yes the oil pickup is just rammed in, it's supposed to be tight. Mine seemed to have been machined from inside and outside but the holes were not aligned so the pickup hit a step before it was tight. After enlarging the outer bit to remove the step, the pickup jammed further in and sealed on the inner part that I didn't touch. That was the plan and it worked. The screw is belt and braces to an extent, I don't think it serves fixing purpose, but helps align it and would stop it falling right out if it did become loose. That would be rather a clatter before your engine jammed solid I think.
I had to cut the original one off the scrap engine case. It seemed to be a part worth salvaging but had been factory tack welded onto the pipe. A bit of cleaning up to remove the remnants of the cut pipe and I may use it in the new case.
I can't believe it's taken this long to get this far but I'm finally on the home stretch of my first 1776 build. Before I go too far I just wanted to check a couple of things. Final CR comes in at 8.4 with a deck height of 1.5 and 49.6 CC for the heads. Everything is stock. Stock cam, 34PICT3 carb... Is this too high? Considering the only thing that is non-standard are the barrels and pistons will my original length pushrods be OK. Valve gear has been installed but I've not checked the geometry yet. If I need to make up new pushrods how on earth do you determine the correct length?
Pushrods will be fine. CR is on the high side but should be fine as we're talking 0.1 or 0.2. Pretty sure mine is higher. If you want to lower it, unshrouding the intake valves will do it, but read up first. If you do take some material out of the heads, do not remove from opposite side to the spark plugs.
Hmm. That was my thought. Ideally, I could have done with a couple more CC. Maybe I'll just see how it runs for a while. I can search for a scrap head to get some practice porting and maybe come back to this next year. Good that I can continue with the original pushrods. Onward and upward...
