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4 minute(s) of a 26 minute read
10-24-2014
Feeling pretty good today.
When I got this beast back on the road in May (June?) I never got the carbs dialed in right - idle was WAY too fast, and I've never taken the time to correct it, fearing the voodoo in the SU's (I've got HS6s). I just needed some time behind the wheel before I did anything that could potentially put it out of commission for awhile.
Over the past few days, I've managed to reverse the throttle linkage to it's correct position (damn you, crappy carb shop!), re-centered the jet on the rear carb (piston not fully seating) and went through the whole tuning procedure using an excellent 1971 Chilton manual and sw-em.com. Managed to get a fairly smooth idle somewhere around 800rpm(ish) and a seemingly correct mixture. I have a borrowed unisynch, but didn't end up using it... the old "ear tube" method worked fine.
Waiting for a few parts from VP and then back on the road for another week or two until I put the old girl down for the winter!
4-5-2015
Howdy folks. Getting the beast back on the road later this week. Starting to troll the fprum again and getting excited!
When she went down for her nap last fall, she was leaking oil from a number of places, including the rear main and oil pan. So, I'm pulling the motor this year. I've got a knowledgeable friend willing to help me with a basic tear-down and minor rebuild (all new gaskets, rings, etc.). I won't know what I find until I open it up, but I'm hoping it won't need anything extensive.
I'm planning to send the head out, so I've got to start shopping around. What should I look for in a shop? What questions should I be asking when I call around? I got burned when I sent my SU's out locally, so I'm painfully aware that not all shops are created equal or set up for this type of work. I'm in the Twin Cities (MN, USA) area if anyone has any recommendations.
4-28-2015
Success! Now for the hard part...
5-5-2015
So the B18 is now happily in 1,000 pieces strewn across my buddy's garage. Here's the lowdown:
- Camshaft is done for. My buddy estimates several hundred thou on this motor, although somebody has been in here before. How easy is it to swap in a "hotter" cam without changing too many other valvetrain parts?
- Pistons look great. No problem.
- Good that I did this... All the rings were garbage. The rings on number one FELL APART as soon as the piston was out of the cylinder.
- Timing gear was perfect... until I put a prybar behind it. Whups.
- Crankshaft journal look mostly good - a few strange scratches. If I've got the block in a shop, I'll have them cleaned up.
- Cylinder head is great. Just needs a refresh and hardened valve seats. My buddy is going to do some mild port work for me.
- There was a mystery lock washer floating around in the oil pan. Goodie.
- Lifters were roached, too.
- Unsurprisingly, the coolant passages in the block are pretty scummed up. Anybody have a block "boiled" before?
Bobby, I think I'm taking my buddy's recommendation and going with Crankshaft Supply in MPLS for the head and rotating assembly work. I have yet to get any numbers from them yet, though.
Woohoo!
