Sunday afternoon started out well enough, I put my exhaust system back under
the car, mounted the wheels and set her on the ground for the first time
since February. The idea was to take it around the block to settle the new
suspension bushings, sweep the garage floor, and then string align the car.
I started the engine, which lit right off thanks to a priming lever on the
fuel pump. Vroom vroom whack-whack-whack-shut it off. No tools in fan,
start again and same thing. Oil pressure is good, knock seems to be at half
crank speed, with no miss. Off comes the valve cover, all appears fine.
Plugs out, push car back and forth in top gear, light resistance and noise
when 1 & 6 TDC. Since I had the carbs off (to fit the proper late style
intake) I figure a nut or screw somehow found its way into a port. Two
beers, some clothesline, and a lot of swearing later, the head is off. No
foreign objects in chambers, but a LOT of carbon, especially in #1. Thicker
than head gasket by .005 or so, (my block, CC61098E, seems to be near zero
deck, -.003 at most). This carbon may have been the cause of the racket but
why did the buildup suddenly become critical? Perhaps a piece came loose
and it was just enough. Well, I wasn't sure that was the cause, so off with
the pan. There was a thick layer of sludge in the bottom of the pan, enough
to make a 200,000 mile slant six look clean. Bearings are pristine, as I
would expect from a 20,000 mile engine. Why so much sludge I wonder? DPO
never change the oil? Lack of regular driving by PO? Carbs were set stupid
rich when I bought car, pure soot perhaps? Quaker State? This is a low
mile (not calendar time) engine. Maybe the PO should have run Aero Shell.
Anyhow, now on to my quandary. I started pulling out the lifters to clean
them. All 12 are pitted and dished on the bottoms...uh-oh. No question
that they are not going back in. Do I condemn the (early) cam as well?
There is almost no visible wear on the lobes, it would surely be a good core
for a re-grind. That brings me to my next question, what do I do for a
replacement cam. I have considered a performance re-grind like the S-2 or
GP2, mostly because the price is right, but I am a bit gun shy about running
a re-grind. Will one of these hold up? Are they re-hardened? I also plan
to substantially increase my compression as long as the head is off, and
because I am considering a longer duration cam. At 3.535" the head seems as
thick as, or even thicker than my skull. I will shoot for about 9.0:1
compression, 9.5:1 max. Anybody know of a reasonable source for shorter
pushrods? Comp Cams and Crane used to make a DIY pushrod kit. Anybody try
one of these? Are they still around? I have the technology to accurately
face tubing to length so shortening a press together tubular rod shouldn't
be a problem.
I solicit any and all advice list members have to offer, but bear in mind I
am on a somewhat limited budget. I am not looking to turn a bazillion RPMs
but would like to be able to keep up with my wife's Jetta. I also don't
believe the engine has been fitted with cam bearings so I would like to keep
valve seat pressures reasonable. BTW, since I had an early cam, late head,
early intake and straight-pipe exhaust, any guesses what horsepower I was
getting? Felt like about 90 after an aggressive distributor re-curve. We
can improve on this I hope.
Nate Steiner
CF140U
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