Jake got me the short block back this week and it's running again. I assembled the top end, shroud, etc. This time I have a forged flywheel with Kennedy stage 1 pressure plate and gold disk. It's lightened to 12 lbs.
Before I had a lightened stock cast bus flywheel. That's the puppy that broke doing a high rev launch. The rear of the flywheel o-ring groove welded to the crank, the crank was bent, and the case main bore was toasted. Jake did me right with the repair and did it quickly. He even dialed in the timing to get the engine to fireup over the phone at 3 am on the top of a 20 ft ladder.
The reinstall went well as I was able to fix a few things that weren't quite right the first time. Also, I added a hyfire VI-AL and set the rev limit to 6250 as the engine stops putting out power at about 6300 rpm. I got a little toasty adjusting the timing as the rubber boot on the coil wire slipped down and exposed the terminal a bit. When I grabbed the distributor - ZAP. It's all fun and games replacing your engine until you get hy-fired.
The gauges are installed and looking sweet. There is a problem with the LED used for the alternator idiot light. When wired throught the LED, the alternator doesn't turn on. I'm using a stock incandescent bulb for now and will try wiring them in parrallel today. Maybe the LED needs an extra resistor in line for the regulator to fire up the field. Any insight on what the the internally regulated Bosch 75 amp alternator needs to excite the field?
My SPA dual gauge for CHT is not working right either. When the ignition is on it reads right. When the engine runs, it reads erratic or nothing. I've done some preliminary trouble shooting and it seems to be related to the probes I got for KS Avionics. Bill Simpkinson at KS Avionics is a great guy and knows thermocouples very well. We'll get it figured out.
It's rolling on a set of space savers I got from eldavid while the Fuchs get restored at Weidmans Wheels in Oravile, Ca. Harvey and Sue are really nice people too. He's been doing Fuchs forever and is one of the best. His wife, Sue, paints the center caps. I drove up there with my three kids to drop off the wheels and tires thinking I would open the door to the van, roll the wheels to the front door and bolt with the kids screaming, etc. But instead, Sue invited the screaming kids inside to color, play with toys, etc until her grandkids showed up. I was free to take the shop tour with Harvey and learn about Fuchs. He's into 356's and wants to put a T4 in one. I sent him Jake Raby's way. The new wheels are going to be awesome.
The car looks crazy with the space savers and low pro tires. I'm not sure I can get it out of the driveway without scraping the header. I had to shim the front wheels as a pair of the wheels from eldavid don't bolt up tight. WTF? The bosses around the holes aren't as tall as the other pair so the lug nuts bottom out before the rim is seated on the hub.
I've got the carbon fiber bug. Looking forward to an air dam, running boards, gravel guards, roof spoiler, and headlight rings from CarbonJoe. I'm going with the dark blue kevlar/carbon fiber weave. Joe's another person who makes this hobby a lot of fun.
Anyway, that's my blog of the month. Back on full throttle,
Bill