Headflow Masters Turnkey Engine

[SlowLane]

If that doesn't work, then I'll pull off a set of rocker arms and inspect the pushrods for clues...I've got another leaky pushrod tube to fix at some point anyway.

I'll modestly point out that once you have gone to the trouble of removing rockers and pushrods, you are only a pushrod tube removal away from visually identifying the type of lifter you have. Hydraulics have circlips holding in their guts which can be seen from looking down the lifter bore. Solid lifters have no need for circlips. Pushrods could be the wrong type for the lifter, so they're only secondary evidence.

If you still can't tell by peering down the lifter bore, then gently extricate one and examine it in your hand. Keep things spanky-clean. If you are extra paranoid, check all the lifters to make sure they are all of the same type, although mixing them up is the sort of blunder you would expect from a GEX engine, not on one from someone with as good a reputation as Headflow Masters

[the miz]

I'll modestly point out that once you have gone to the trouble of removing rockers and pushrods, you are only a pushrod tube removal away from visually identifying the type of lifter you have. Hydraulics have circlips holding in their guts which can be seen from looking down the lifter bore. Solid lifters have no need for circlips. Pushrods could be the wrong type for the lifter, so they're only secondary evidence.

If you still can't tell by peering down the lifter bore, then gently extricate one and examine it in your hand. Keep things spanky-clean. If you are extra paranoid, check all the lifters to make sure they are all of the same type, although mixing them up is the sort of blunder you would expect from a GEX engine, not on one from someone with as good a reputation as Headflow Masters

Thanks for the advice, SlowLane, this is quite helpful.

In the worst case scenario, if it still won't work properly after tomorrow's attempt, Adrian has responded to me and has offered to recall the engine, ostensibly to "make it right".

Hope springs eternal for springtime camping!

miz

[Jivermo]

I can't understand how Adrian can keep on "making it right", laying out hundreds of dollars from freight expenses, labor, and everthing else. He did it for me on my 2L engine, and for others. Adrian is, certainly, a man who stands behind his work. We need guys like him in our world, and the guy has to be able to make a living. I hope he can find a young person to bring in and train to do this type of work, and follow up on a checklist of the engines that leave his shop. I'd like to see him raise his prices, and devote more care to a smaller number of rebuilds. I get the idea that he just has way too much to do, but these errors just keep burying the guy deeper and deeper. Robbie, you see him fairly often, I guess...what do you think? How old a guy is he?

[dingo]

I agree. As a neutral observer, something just dont add up, with all the back-and-forths and Colin's laundry list of oddities. Im sure the intentions are all good, but something is amiss in the process.

[Amskeptic]

If you find that the "diesel clatter" is GONE after your valve adjustment, it means the clatter was most likely valves hitting pistons.

Valves hitting pistons? That's possible? Air-cooled flat-four V-dub engines are interference engines?

Yes, they very much are interference engines . . . that is why we have deck height specifications. Because we also have *gears* between the crankshaft and camshaft, you do not hear of/read about interference with our engines half so much as the overhead cam chain/belt guys who can botch an engine during a simple chain/belt change-out.
Colin

[dingo]

hey Jiver, how come you aint building your own engines ? You got real-estate, shelter, warm temps, bug spray and Colin on the red phone..no excuses

[Jivermo]

Engines are done; one from Adrian in the bus, and one short block from Rimco, with Adrian heads as a spare. I got my hands full with plenty else to do on this thing, and I ain't getting any younger. I want to drive this thing, not spend eternity working on it. Can't say it's all gone as planned, but then, what ever does?

[asiab3]

Miz,

Oh my. I am the worst. My visit to Adrian's today was an hour long, and we chatted for a bit, and I COMPLETELY spaced about asking him his hydraulic lifter tendencies on Type 4 engines. We discussed how he has modified Type 1 cases to accept Type 4 hydraulic lifters because he likes them so much, and we even dug through Type 1, Type 4, and Vanagon Waterboxer cases side-by-side to compare the lifter bores, locations, and merits. I am sorry for forgetting your questions. I'll be back on Monday, maybe sooner. (My good friend Brian is building a 2276 single-port Type 1 engine with a Vanagon crank with Adrian later this year, so that was the reason for our trip.) Monday's trip will be for my own, significantly slower Volkswagens. :)

We did have a twenty minute rant-session on the CB Performance Type 1 "performance" fuel injection kit. The injector wires intersect the fan shroud if you bother to plug them in. Nice. He was going to send it back; I told him to rotate the injectors 90* and then machine the mounting block down, and he's like "Yeah that should work. BUT WHEN YOU PAY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR A 'KIT,' YOU EXPECT SHIT TO FIT!" Then he proceeded to "toss" the instructions back in the box. A discussion on the "chiseling of the American consumer" followed…

Ian, I'd say he's in between 40 and 50. He takes a long lunch break to pick up his kids from school, (single dad,) and then stays at his shop until six, occasionally seven PM to make up for the time.

Robbie

[dingo]

Chiseling ?? as in Mt Rushmore ?

[Jivermo]

As in cheat or swindle.

[asiab3]

It was a topic Colin and I discussed last summer. Hence the quotes... ;)

[the miz]

...wow, again, this got interesting my absence!

Robbie: no worries on your visit to Adrian...I think this is going to sort itself out after all???

So, post-weekend update: adjusting the valves "as if they were solid lifters" made little difference. The exhaust seemed to be less "smokey" and the running sound a little less rough, but the engine still dies ~10 min in and couldn't be revived for more than a few minutes.

Although I have yet to hear from Adrian as to the specific details, the plan for this weekend is to remove the engine, crate it up and send it back to Vista for Adrian to "re-work" and solve the problem(s).

I am toying with the idea of visiting him once he has done the work to get a rundown on the engine, what he did and how to adjust/work on it, etc., myself.

I think sending the engine back is the best course of action at this point... I can keep guessing at what the problem is and then trying to solve it...with no results...or just send it back to Adrian to be fixed now...in hopes that it will be back in a few months.

miz

[Amskeptic]

the plan for this weekend is to remove the engine, crate it up and send it back to Vista for Adrian to "re-work" and solve the problem(s).
miz

I have been reminded to remind you to inventory all parts that you ship. Remind Adrian that you have inventoried all parts and expect them to return with your engine. Mark each one permanently. I used this pattern for example on my fuel pump parts:
using a center punch:
.
.. ...

[asiab3]

I have been reminded to remind you to inventory all parts that you ship.

I just got a pressure plate/flywheel back from the balancer, and I sent the ORIGINAL Kamax bolts with it. I left a shaky cashier with a scorned verbal warning of what would happen if they were lost. I got the plate/flywheel back with some small balance marks but a LARGE tag with handwritten text "DO NOT LOOSE BOLTS" [sic.]

I would highly recommend doing the same. Adrian's shop is not a model of organization.

Robbie

[Amskeptic]

LARGE tag with handwritten text "DO NOT LOOSE BOLTS" [sic.]
Robbie

. . . like that Texas gas station/greasy spoon sign scrawled out there at the shoulder:

"DIESEL-FRIED CHICKEN"