Aussieveedubbers

Getting leo\'s new donk running (a true and terrible tale)

splitbusaustralia · 2005-05-09T23:26:43+00:00

Last weekend I decided to get Leo’s type 4 engine starting, running and give it a tune. The plan being I would then bleed his (new) brake system and take him for a bit of a drive up and down the street. Estimated time was an ‘easy’ day to do the lot. I bought a new Bosch starter for him and charged up what should have been a good battery overnight on the Friday. Woke up Saturday and went and had coffee (large caramel latte – yum sugar and caffeine) and breakfast with the kidz at GJs in Pako….read papers in between helping kidz with Take5 magazine puzzles and daydreamed about an easy and quite satisfying afternoon getting Leo running and having a little drive (I’ve never actually driven him). Go home full of caffeine and sugar (as previously noted) ready to go. The battery charger’s indicator light was showing fully charged (as was I dues to caffeine and sugar as previously noted) - sweet! Filled new oil filter with oil and fitted. Pulled one of the lines to the remote oil cooler and filled that with oil too. No oil spills very pleased about saving the environment. Fitted the battery and disconnected the coil lead and the electric fuel pump as the plan was to crank a bit of oil around the engine first. Fitted a remote wire to starter so I could crank from the engine bay….already then! Put power on remote starter lead and… That ‘thunk’ sound you get when the starter pinion engages but doesn’t crank. Think the first relatively mild swear word for the day (mild and not vocalising yet so everything’s still cool). Pull the starter, which is a bitch of a job because of the top starter nut on the engine bay side is behind upright tin and a sexy weber carb (I remind myself that anything that looks really really sexy is always trouble in the long run!). Test starter on supposedly ‘good’ battery – no spin. Hmmm my new starter is a dud or what should be a ‘good’ battery is kaput. Test starter on the Ford’s known to be good battery. Starter spins. Ergo the supposedly ‘good’ battery is kaput. Think same relatively mild swear word again. Go and buy new battery. Install new battery. Refit starter (see note above on top bolt, but still OK on caffeine and sugar and haven’t barked knuckles or cut hands yet so its still good). Go to step 1. Engine cranks, red light off, little bumpy movement on oil pressure gauge. Sweet. Reconnect coil wire and power to electric fuel pump. Have statically timed engine and set carbs (idle mixture 2 turns out, air volume 2 turns in after engaging lever) so expecting things to burst into life with a healthy roar and the sexy sound of weber induction roar and the whine of straight cut cam gears (have I mentioned that I think anything that looks or sounds really really sexy is always trouble in the long run?). Crank and ……..nada. Nada nada nada. Vocalise relatively mild swear word. Caffeine and sugar wearing off slightly at this stage. Methodically test ignition circuit. Power to coil, power to points, points trigger test light, pull spark plug leads and test when cranking, nice spark. Conclude ignition side OK. Gotta be fuel. Jack leo up and pull fuel line at filter expecting it to be dry because of some fuel pump problem. Petrol pours over arm (I HATE getting petrol on my skin – I can smell it for days!) and environment. Vocalise first swear word that’s not so mild. Put fuel line back return to engine bay and review options. Can’t actually look down barrels of sexy webers because not enough room (but looking really really sexy) but know I set the float levels OK and fairly sure they have petrol given its being delivered OK. Have spark. Must have (not so mild swear word)’ed up the timing – gotta be 180 deg out. Switch plugs leads around to shift 180 degrees. Go to step 1. Crank. And……..ACTION! Well, sounds like 2 cylinders of action combined with a massive exhaust leak on the LHS. Not the smooth turbine like whine of a fully balanced engine…So much for the induction roar of a pair of sexy webers and the sweet whine of straight cut cam gears! My teeth chatter as I hold the throttles and the engine jumps around. Haven’t been bumped around this much since I was last in a splitbus running a 68/69 front beam lowered on adjusters! Cut ignition. Ponder. Begin to worry that if I got the ignition timing 180 out I may have also got all the valve timing out when I set up the engine. Don’t think so but (sigh) better check it. Put leo back on jack. Not a lot of room to do tappets on a type IV in a splitbus. Was thinking I wouldn’t have to worry about it for 500 miles……think about going back to GJs for another large caramel latte, decide that’s avoidance behaviour and press on. Pop rocker cover and left hand side. Check valves gaps, they’re OK, #4 inlet and outlet a bit tight for some reason, bark first knuckle undoing jam nut to reset. Pop cover on RHS and check. They’re OK. Clean rocker covers, fit new gaskets with sealer on rocker cover side (hate leaks) and refit. Take leo of jack. Return to engine bay.…

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beerdoc Insano Dub Head

838 posts · joined Jul 2004 · 12 May 2005, 7:36 pm

#355143

Great read Rob I thought there was a comotion over your way last weekend

Your could see down those sexy webers on barney

Cheers Doc

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