Alrighty, a little update.

I was flying through getting the old 1600tp up and running with dual kadrons, VintageSpeed exhaust and brand new tinware.

I got ready to boot her up and bang, the LHS carb caught on fire. I grabbed the closest thing (which I regret so badly right now) which was a tray of kitty litter to douse the fire. Rookie mistake, right?

As the air filters weren't on the carbs yet, the kitty litter went down the carb and into the manifold, therefore into the engine block itself. The engine now seizes (won't go any further either way I turn the engine) on the third cylinder. Too much kitty litter I guess.

What is the process to fix this?

Pull the spark plug out and take the carby off and put a hose on a vacuum and try and suck the crap out.

p.s. your insurance was for fire and theft...........this is a fire !!!

Ouch...really need to take off the head on that side to get the kitty litter out.....doh!

If the vac doesn't work

If there is any cat shit in there,
Perhaps you need a caty litter convertor?
M

Quote:

Originally posted by waltermitty If there is any cat shit in there, Perhaps you need a caty litter convertor? M

Quote:

Originally posted by Craig Torrens Pull the spark plug out and take the carby off and put a hose on a vacuum and try and suck the crap out. p.s. your insurance was for fire and theft...........this is a fire !!!

Quote:

Originally posted by waltermitty If there is any cat shit in there, Perhaps you need a caty litter convertor? M

Oh and Craig, there is no proof of fire which sucks, but lucky for me which is great!

I just need to figure out whether or not I strip the engine down completely and remove the head that has the shit in it.
My question is, what if it has gone down into the block itself? That's a split the case job which is something I'm not willing to do.

Probably be better off getting a new engine if that's the case, right?

What do people recommend to make it easy to get the engine in and out?

I need to make this as painless as possible and do it as thoroughly and professionally as possible.

I also need peoples help as soon as possible because I'm running out of options and it is either get her up and running with this engine or just send her to scrap and sell the ancillaries.

Seb,
Give me a call tomorrow and I will come over and help you sort this out. Don't go pulling your engine out just yet!
You could say 'there is more than one way to skin a cat', but enough with the puns.
Cheers Dave

Dave,
Will give you a call tomorrow!

Hopefully this means we can get her back under her own power.

That is great news Seb..

You can take the fan housing off and tinware with the engine still in the car
I just did it a few weeks ago...
You do need to take the engine lid and hinges off though...

I did see a fellow in the USA take both heads off with the engine in the car... I think He had to cut or drill a few holes.??

If You get a hose that will fit inside the spark plug hole , You tape this hose into the vacuum cleaner hose...
like wide duct tape or gaffer tape or even masking tape,,

I don't suppose kitty liitter would do any harm...??
not sure what its made from... maybe squirt some oil into the spark plug hole once You've got it out with the vacuum..
not a lot of room inside the cylinder...
so no wonder it stopped... lol

a flooding carby will stop an engine from turning over too..
I've had that one.... lol so it doesn't take much to stop them

I don't think the kitty litter would have gotten into the sump etc...
just the cylinder...

cheers

LEE

Ahaha it is all good, hope I can get her purring like a kitten too!

What an idiot though, still beating myself up over using kitty litter.
Should have just smothered it with towels or something.

At least I'll be buying a fire extinguisher tonight.
Geeze!

be careful. some of the stuff in fire extinguishers can be nasty too! (for cars)

sometimes a big blow on the top of the carb puts it out, otherwise starve it of air by putting a plate over the carb etc etc.

Only the finest of particulates from the kitty litter could pass through the piston rings into the block so don't stress. If you can vacuum the most of it out, then as soon as it fires up it will launch the remainder out the exhaust

this could have and probably has done serious damage. check the crank and rods aren't bent plus other components.

It would be the same sort of job as a top end reseal.

Engine out
Heads off
New gaskets and pushrod tube seals
Reassemble

Any idea how the carb caught fire? Was there a wire touching the carb or soemthing to spark it?

you just cant catch a break Sebastian hope you get it all sorted out mate and back on the road soon

Goes past really fast
MEEEOOWWWWWW

Beetles are very prone to smelling like petrol, oil and exhaust fumes. My kids do smell after being in the beetle for a few minutes

Engine starts again.

Adjusted idle speed of carbs, seems to run smoother and won't die while idling now.
Have to do a couple more things (valve sets and new spark plugs) and then I'll reverse her out of the driveway and take her for her maiden voyage.

Then off to a carb specialist to get them tuned to perfection. As much as I want to learn the ins and outs of carb tuning, I'd much prefer to have it done by a professional then myself

So how did you get the kitty litter out :P?

Air compressor and some love, and it came out. Slowly moving the cranskshaft around and around we got it out!

Such a good feeling to know she isn't seized like a mofo.