Bugzilla - Mid Engine Madness

[digitalsolo]

Crap, before this build I didn't know I wanted a widebody Beetle. Awesome work.

[Ghiaguy]

Then to my next event in 2.5 weeks....

Great build --- Love what you've done with it!!!! If you continue to bend those arms, just get some angle iron and weld that to the bottom of the tube " O>" (only with the angle on the bottom) I have built some rear swing arms for my toys and this cured bending/twisting them up....

Where's the event going to be at this weekend??????? I'll try to get mine done this week to give you some competition.... Need to get some R rated tires as mine are 240 compound SCCA legal ones and they suck when trying to hook up out there at those Fontana parking lots......

Mine --- https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...-big-boys-with

[Bugzilla]

Great build --- Love what you've done with it!!!! If you continue to bend those arms, just get some angle iron and weld that to the bottom of the tube " O>" (only with the angle on the bottom) I have built some rear swing arms for my toys and this cured bending/twisting them up....

Where's the event going to be at this weekend??????? I'll try to get mine done this week to give you some competition.... Need to get some R rated tires as mine are 240 compound SCCA legal ones and they suck when trying to hook up out there at those Fontana parking lots......

Mine --- https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...-big-boys-with

I have read your thread before. Beautiful car! When are you going to get rid of the VW power plant? Haha. I originally wanted to do a Ghia instead of the Bug but people want big $$$ for them. There is one down the street from my house just rotting away. I have been thinking of making the owner a low ball offer...

This weekends event is at the speedway right next to the drag strip. If you run r-compound tires like me, they will throw you in the Ultimate class. For next season, I am getting some 200 tread wear tires so I can run in the classic muscle class. It goes from like 7-10 people in the ultimate class to like 30 in classic muscle. Stop by if you are in the area. I will be there both days. Even if the Bug breaks and can't make it there on Sunday, I have my back up car that I will take. Not nearly as fun but at least I will get some track time.

[Ghiaguy]

I'm going to try to have it running -- I'm pulling all the EFI off of it and going back to draw thru,,,, so having to fab up a new intake.... I finished welding it up today and saw where in my haste I warped the carb plate, it was only 5/16" thick so there was that possibility -- so I dug through my crap and found a 1" carb spacer that I'll throw on there to make up for my stupidity.....

[Jetfixr320]

Bugzilla

What is the steering rack from or who makes it?

[Bugzilla]

Jetfixr320 - The rack is a billet aluminum unit made by Kartek Offroad. It is more of a universal rack then an application specific rack. The only thing I don't like about it is that the steering shaft is dead center. Its fine in my car but anyone with a front engine will have issues.

[Bugzilla]

Well my track filled weekend did not go as planned. The good news is that the new arms did there job. Bad news is that something happened to the motor. I am guessing it spun a bearing due to oil starvation in one of the longer turns. Yes it has a stock pan. I fired it up last night and it made no noises and had 60 psi for oil psi. Typically when it is cold, it has 80 psi so something is going on. On Saturday, it was clearly knocking. Now this could also be something in the head. Hoping that a rocker popped of and shot a lifter out at the same time. That would explain the noise and lower oil psi. From what I can tell, the oil looks fine. I will pop the valve cover off tonight and drain the oil to get a better idea of what is going on. Worst case, I have another short block in my garage already built and ready to go...

It was good meeting a bunch of you out there! I will get the 2 videos I have posted up.

[Bugzilla]

While the engine is out, might as well do some upgrades. I was thinking of still keeping it a 2.2L but as a big bore short stroke combo. The 2.4L blocks are much stronger, have better cooling abilities and oil squirters! So I think that is the route I will be going. Might as well do a 2.0L crank which is forged from the factory. Sounds like a good combo to me!

And now to the findings. Started with the oil filter.







At least the spark plugs looked pretty good.

[andrewb70]

So what's the theory to the mode of failure? Seems like an important thing to identify!

Andrew

[Ghiaguy]

I spent about a half hour trying to convince him that he needs to go dry sump on Sunday -- I think at a minimum will be a great pan with a super deep sump to keep some oil around the pickup..... You can just tell from the videos that that thing can pull some serious G's in the corners..... Great meeting you!!!

[Bugzilla]

Andrew - thinking it could have been oil starvation. But at the same time, there is so much stuff in the filter, I think it was something else. Maybe there were metal shavings in the engine that I didnt get out before assembly. Who knows... We will see what unfolds when I tear it down.

Ghiaguy - It was good to meet you too! Bring the Ghia out to the next event. You have 5 months to finish up everything! If i can throw a motor in by then, the Ghia better be ready to race. It looks like it would handle real good but I want to see it in person.

[Bugzilla]

Alright, so I got the engine some what torn apart but the short block is still in the car. I called it quits after I saw what was under the head. Found some very odd issues. So I am going to say it spun a bearing for sure. This assumption is due to finding a piston with tag marks from the valves. I had very little piston to valve clearance so a spun bearing with a big gap would most likely cause a valve to touch. That was finding #1. #2 is the one that doesn't make sense. On each sleeve, right at the top where the gasket goes, you can see that my intake valves were literally rubbing the sleeve. I do not have over sized valves so this makes no sense. The only thing I can imagine is that whoever I got the head from, failed to mention to me that it was decked. And by decked I mean decked a lot. I did not CC the chambers so this is yet another guess.

Moving on... I am going to start fresh. This time around, 2.0L direct injected turbo Ecotec. Small turbo and big boost should equal a decent powerband with minimal turbo lag. It will be very easy to make the same power as before if not a lot more. This is also causing me to run a Racepak display since my current gauges only read a MEFI 4 signal. That is a big plus for me (kinda the whole reason I want to switch over engines).

So stay tuned, the new build will start shortly!

[wfo guy]

Will be waiting.

[Centerforce]

Wow that's a real bummer that its life was so short-lived. Either way, we're hoping to see the bug back on the road and better than before!

[Bugzilla]

Yes it had a very short life for sure. Still haven't figured out exactly why. But none the less, it happened and now its time to move on.

So the engine I had planned, 2.0 turbo, looks like its not going to happen. It would be about 7k to build and I have about $3500 of good parts I can sell off the old engine. Seeing that I am not made of money, this is not going to happen. So the new budget build is in plan. I got a 2.4L block in the garage ready to go. This will solve my valves hitting the sleeve issue. So 2.4L block with 2.2 internals to equal a 2.3L. Big bore short stroke. I am working with JE right now hoping to have them "help me out" with some custom pistons. I should only need 1 rod (hoping that is all the bearing that spun) so that wont be much. Then back on with my head and supercharger. So we will see how it goes with JE but the build should start whenever the pistons are done being made. Probably 3-4 weeks. At least I now have time to finish painting the Bug. Life goes on...

[Ghiaguy]

J&E are usually pretty quick making weird pistons -- I've used a few sets in mine

Be looking for a new pan that has some baffles in it or a really deep one

[Bugzilla]

I am working with Moroso on the pan. We are trying to get a 7-8 qt pan with baffles. I sent in the rough sketch of the pan design, so just waiting on the answer. Shouldn't be too much longer

[Bugzilla]

Alright guys, instead of handing out candy last night, I decided to take a further look in to my engine. I am pretty sure I found out what happened. It looks like the valves springs are going to be the cause of a blown motor. Who would have guessed... Since my engine is a DOHC, there is literally no room for valve springs. The valve springs I used are about .250" wider in diameter then a stock spring. I did not assemble my head so that is why I did not catch this. I left the entire assembly, porting and setup to the place that ported my head. I assumed everything was checked and clearanced as needed. Guess not. It looks like the springs were rubbing so bad that it actually, very slightly, bent the valves. This is the reason why the valves rubbed the tops of the cylinder sleeves as well. All the aluminum I found in the engine now makes sense. It came from the head because of the springs. Great. So now not only do I get to buy new springs, but I also get to get new valves and guides. There goes my cheap rebuild. So far the only parts I can salvage are the cams, bare head, 3 rods and all the little timing components.

Lesson learned. Double check everything even if it was done by a professional shop, especially when you are using custom parts.

[ryeguy2006a]

Awesome build! That really sucks about your engine, but you have a great attitude about it. Everything will work out. Please keep us posted.

[Bugzilla]

Ya I am trying to see the bigger picture. The engine will be bigger and better then it was before. Should make some more power too! So I can't complain too much. Just going to cost more then I was hoping.

I am just about done designing the new pistons with JE. They are going to be super nice! Then the 3-4 week wait before I get to see them... Just wait until I start the engine build! It will be filled with many beautiful pictures.