Hello...and oh bother.

[HarryMann]

I pulled the other side off and it is perfect..

What, the heads and pistons have not been nibbled at all?

[VWCamperfan]

Quite possible. Two seperate carbs, two seperate mixtures.

[HarryMann]

Yes, realised that, but hard to imagine what is was running like.. I suppose 'lumpy' wouldn't do it justice!

[saabdub]

Yep..the other side was almost perfect...one very very small area had a few dimples but nothing more. I will get a picture later when the head is cleaned.
Discovered the rear engine mount that sits on top of the engine support bracket has a crack in it...gave it a wobble and it sheared
I have a feeling the guy who had this van before didn't have a clue!
You would be surprised how smooth this was running..very smokey but it still shifted and it wasn't too lumpy..i know it's hard to believe but if it wasn't smoking i would't have known there was a problem and this isn't my first flat 4.

[HarryMann]

For rats to nibble those pistons and chambers like that, it was either detonating or running very hot inside at higher power levels, and as we know, in a circa 2 ton draggy van, that engine has to be at high power when hill-climbing or cruising on the motorway, more so when half of it isn't running as it should.
Can you drop the valves out some time so we can see the seats?

A testament to its strength, I've seen a head with valve seats loose (very) that drove back from Germany

A 2.2 version of the CU with electronic ignition and other improvements would have been quite a beast!