Had an interesting conversation with an old friend. I described how my spark plugs looked (tan center electrode, black ring around the base of the threaded portion, and a clean ground electrode). His suggestion was to drive the car, put some miles on it, and see if that black ring lightens up. He suspects that I'm still getting some oil past the rings, which might be messing with performance above about 4500 revs. I'm going to take his advice, because up to about 4200 rpm the car runs perfect. I'm also going to replace the rev-limiting rotor with a non-limiter type!

I sure am glad that I didn't make it a parts car!

 

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=43341
Post #15 seems pretty "grounded", but there is a lot of info buried in there.
I do think that driving the car is a safe practice at this time. Making mods as a form of diagnosis can be counter productive. Unless i missed a post in this thread, we're still on the valve seals/guides/seats and rings that came with the car and has been sitting for a while up till now. Driving may help revive these items.
I'm staying glued to this thread for a number of reasons; mainly it's fun. Also, I've been hovering around a VW bus with type-4 motor and a bit enthusiastic about seeing one of these thing run. Type 4 is a good motor in my limited exposure.

 

Whale, posts #48-51, this thread, sort out the engine deal. It's history is unknown, but it must have been bought by a PO as a rebuilt exchange (I'm guessing). At one time my engine had carbs, and was in a Euro Transporter. By number it's a 1.8 liter with 68 hp (feels like more but the car is very light). It runs (now) dead smooth with it's completely gone through L-Jet FI, has no piston slap (since I soaked the cylinders with PB Blaster), and pulls nicely to past 4K rpm. The car had not been driven for eight + years, but I'm thinking much longer.

It's also possible that the car was the loser in a love triangle, the amount of rust that I found in the fuel system could have only gotten there by adding a foreign substance (maybe water) to the gas tank. It seems as though someone actually tried to hurt a PO by hurting the car.

I was stunned by the amount of rust that I found inside the valve covers; probably a half inch thick in places. That could have been caused by condensation, because I have a hunch that the car had many attempted starts, but it never really ran once the motor was replaced. It's all very strange, I'll never know the whole story but to have been a fly on the wall for this car's life sure would have been an interesting story to witness.

And after all I've been through, it seems that I have a car with a sweet little motor, a good transmission, and a smooth clutch. Gotta do an oil change soon, very soon!

 

If you have good electrode color, I wouldn't worry about the oil on the threads. I would also tend to agree with your friend - drive it for a while and see what happens. If it runs good, just drive it. Weak rings won't hurt anything parts wise.

 

Matt; just for you. One rattle-can paint job for the front lid. It looks pretty crummy, but I guess it's OK at 10+ feet...better than primer!

BTW; I stopped two, very slow, leaks the car had. The return line tube under the gas tank sweated ever so slowly, but enough to drip a drop or two onto the floor over 2-3 days. I used Permatex gas tank epoxy in place of non-existent seals, and I now have a "permanent" return tube in the tank - but no gas leak. Leak #2 was the sump strainer/cover. I changed the oil, put new gaskets on the strainer, and it is now dry as well. No other leaks and the car is running well, including instant start-up, and smooth idle!

 

Peter,
So happy to see you able to finally enjoy the car. Your hard work has certainly paid off.

 

Well, now it's time to do some fun stuff! I started by removing the two rear shocks. One Koni, one Boge. One really long spring, one really short spring (installed with what seem to be carb velocity stacks and spacers). Maybe it was raced on an oval and I've stumbled on to something really trick. Maybe Penske was a former owner.

Anyway, the last picture is what I put on the car this morning (Bilstein HD + 140# springs), and a few other pictures for your enjoyment:

 

Going to handle like it is on rails now! Any plans for sway bars?

 

When the gas tank was out I installed a Weltmeister bulkhead reinforcement kit, so I think I'll put in a 19mm front bar with the bolt-on U-tab kit. But first I have to install front Bilstein HDs, those are next on the list.

 

Those were some nice springs. The long one looked like a double! Maybe you can make a pogo stick out of it?

 

LOL! Like a few other items on this car - never seen anything like it!

That said, it's only about 90F here today so I took the car out and drove it about ten miles this morning. Almost all of the hot engine cool-down smoke is gone, no oil leaks, but the car ran just a tiny bit rough at full temp, so I'll have to take a look at the plugs later. All in all, not bad.

 

Nice to see it coming along Pete! (Before you ask, yes, I am THAT Brad LOL.)

 

Brad? Brad from AA? If yes, what happened? I just e-mailed you (AA) an order that was returned as undeliverable.

Please let us know what's going on and what you're doing!

 

I have not been working at AA for just over a month now. You can send that e-mail to Leo@autoatlanta.com and he should be able to take care of you.

As for me, I have moved to a new company, and a new state even. I now work at as the Porsche Brand Manager at a different shop. I am happy with the move, and you will be hearing more from me in the near future. We have previously not done any Porsche business, so I am currently doing back end work and making sure the stuff is available on the website before we roll out a marketing plan. Of course I will ensure that the plan includes Rennlist.com!

If you, or anyone else here, needs to get in contact with me, you can send me an e-mail to my personal account at Bradley.C.Brownell (at) Gmail (dot) com

 

Wow. Big move, and congratulations. I guess it didn't get cold enough for you in winter in Atlanta, huh?

Anyway, I'm in contact with Leo, and I hope things work out for you!