Club 80-90 Forums

after months of scraping together money & parts today i have finished the ( and also my first!) rebuild of my 2ltr CU engine! tomorrow i am looking to put it back in place. having never done one before i cant tell you how worried i am that its going to be ok & work. will find out tomorrow i guess. if it does, then i'm drinking lots of beer....if it doesn't , then i'm drinking lots of beer

keep your fingers crossed, will let you all know.

you did remember to put the cam flubble on before the toothed pushrod gimble didn't you? good luck! have you no engine stand to fire it up on before fitting? not built an engine myself but I understand you want to fill the spin on oil filter brim full and maybe turn the engine over on the starter for a while before firing it up to get the oil well and truly established. just me 2d's worth

Best of luck......

If you can, get oil pressure without the king lead on. THEN fire it.

Well done and good luck, tis a brave thing you have done!

wern't as easy going back in as it came out, but did it ok...was turning over alright , although a little slow...
will try some fresh fuel and a fully charged battery

still not enough guts in the battery, even after a 24hr charge, will have to leave it longer!!
have noticed though, i've no fuel in the carbs. bearing in mind they were empty and the fuel lines were empty when the engine went back in, how long should it take for the pump to fill the fuel lines & supply both float chambers on a very slow & tired turn over? poured a little bit into the carb tops to see if i could get things going, but i was only awarded with a loud backfire
the wait is killing me..........

The rebuilt engine will be 'tight', so will need more battery to crank it over.
If the battery has been off the van for a while without being charged it may well be past its best. In the past I have set up a grvity feed to the carb just to get the engine running, and then connected it up to the fuel system later.
Best of luck !

I'm about to do the same thing
What about some Easistart spray alcohol stuff down the inlets just to get it firing - easier than rigging an alternative fuel feed.
I've just fitted an electrical pump so hopefully should not have the same prob...

I understand you want to fill the spin on oil filter brim full and maybe turn the engine over on the starter for a while before firing it up to get the oil well and truly established.

Do this with the plugs out, as then you will have more whoomph from the battery to start it later.. .
Plus you'll get a feel for how it motors over without compression, a good guide to general friction and any incipient problems.
It will also throw out any oil in the pots to avoid locking and detonation if you lubed the bores and rings 'generously'
It will also mill over longer and faster to suck petrol up..

Then put them in nice and carefully, spinover again until oil light goes out and put the coil HT lead back on
Start!
If still no petrol at carbs then splosh a capful down the venturi, should then fire up, and if it stops after a few seconds you know you're going to have to prime the system somehow (maybe try a 2nd capful!)..

Fast idle at 1500~2000 rpm, don't leave idling slowly until fully warm and have a smooth reliable idle set up.

If you haven't set the ignition timing up accurately at this point you may need further advice to get it firing up safely...

Good luck, should be an enjoyable experience

PS. A capful, is about 2 thimblefulls

thanks to you all,i have fuel now, it just took a little longer to get through than i thought.but sadly still not firing . it is turning over ok( albeit a little slower) but all i'm getting is the occasional 'phut phut' and the odd pop, is it the timing? i followed the manual and didnt encounter any problems, thought it was quite simple really ( obviously not! ) . what i wasn't too sure about was the tappet adjustment, when i loosened the adjustment screws until they were clear of the valves was i supposed to push the bottom of the rocker into the pushrod before i turned them back to make contact, as some of them had some play in them! could that be the problem aswell?

was i supposed to push the bottom of the rocker into the pushrod before i turned them back to make contact

well, if you're saying what I think you're saying, Yes, but can't really believe you are saying that

Sure all those leads are on the right plugs, or rather sure all the leads are in the right holes in the dizzy? Classic startup problem, that... getting the dizzy oriented incorrectly, often 90 degrees out, different to timing cylinder No. 1 correctly.

You have to elimnate the unknowns, if you're not sure on that one, you have to be.. then you can can start swinging the dizzy if it still won't start, working from a omewhat retarded setting

Did you tip a capful down the choke then to make sure?

though it does sound like timing, and if you have compression then chances are as far as starting is concerned, the tappets aren't what stopping it (unless you really meant the pushrod wasn't located)

yes i did say that ,and i think that what i meant came across all wrong!

the leads are all correct ( i numbered everything on removal ) i will go over the whole finding TDC/ timing thing again at the weekend when i've got some time and daylight and i'll let you know when i find the problem

OK then, just one more thing that soemtimes happens... not sure if it's possible on your engine but believe I read Mocki mentioning this a year or so ago to someone, so maybe..

1) You have all the leads coming out the cap in the same place as before and going to the same cylinders - right?

2) You have got No. 1 on compression and then found TDC and the timing mark? o-wise all will be 180 degrees out!

3) You have rotated then rotated the distributor to get the points just opening at that point?

... but is the rotor arm then also pointing to No. 1's contact inside the cap ( at that same setting, 1,2,3 above) ?

What can sometimes happen is the dizzie can be 90 degrees out, not always physically possible, and not always obvious.

If you did 1) and 2) OK, and the dizzie 'looks' to be pointing pretty well where it was before (the vac bellows is a guide, if it has one), then you are probably right.

If you can't make head nor tail of it, ask yourself if its popping back through exhaust or inlet. Former is retarded excessively, latter is advanced (a helluva lot) - move dizzie to correct in 10 degree chunks to sort out the popping cylinder, if it fires without popping then but the other cylinders aren't chiming in, chances are leads are crossed or up the swanny somehow.

All else fails, chuck a capful of fuel down the venturi, light blue touchpaper and stand well clear