As most anyone that follows the net knows, Tweety became seriously ill on the way home from Mt Vernon. I finally opened her engine to detect the reason for her illness. As I had previously stated, the cam was not turning and I had suspected a break. I was wrong. The full story: During the engine buildup, I installed a new cam. It required that I remove the rivets in the old cam gear and attach that gear to the new cam, using the supplied bolts. I had clearance problems with the oil pump. I had to shave some of the head of the bolts to gain clearance. I installed and torque the bolts. I did not use lock tight. My engine manual did not address the installation of an aftermarket cam in the engine. Over the course of the year, the bolts loosened and setup the problem that followed. The bolts could not come completely out due to the oil pump. They did begin to hit the pump and after loosening, the bolt holes elongated and it appears that the cam gear teeth started to wear thin. At the time that the engine quit, most teeth were thin and razor sharp. The point of failure occurred when a series of about 10 of the thinned gear teeth finally sheared and the cam stopped turning. The rest is history. The crank shaft mounted cam gear is galled, the crank needs polishing, I need a new oil pump, serialized aluminum parts are in every orifice in the engine, and the cam is useless. >From here it looks like a total rebuild. The problem with the head burning >through is still a problem. I have been talking with Fat Performance, they >race turbo VW's. They have a process that is designed to provide a better >seal for the cylinder heads to prevent leaks of the type that I had. I will >be shipping my heads to them.
Orma Southfield, MI KR-2 N110LR 1984 See Tweety at http://www.kr-2.aviation-mechanics.com See other KR spces at www.kr-2.aviation-mechanics.com/krinfo.htm
