It LIVES!

Sweet. Nice to see that even experienced VW engine guys are pleased when the engine starts.

Max,

Good to see you'll soon be fweeming around again. I'm replacing the gas tank in my ghia this week and I'll have a new top in a couple of weeks. All in time for VWs on the Green.

Engine looks very nice. Congrats on getting it going. :o) Bill Berckman

I'm axactly an experienced engine guy. This is actually my first complete engine. And I was very nervous at the prospect of starting it for the first time. I had images of parts left out, a million leaks, "finding" the screwdriver that went missing somewhere during final assembly... Oy!

Turns out my goofs were small and few. Forgot to hook up the crossbar for the cooling shutters, so had to stand there holding one open by hand. The left one seemed to stay open happily by itself. I need to arrange a different throttle that doesn't require me holding it open. And I need to pay more attention to the fuel supply on my test stand. About 15 minutes in ... I ran out of gas!

The only leaks were from the oil pressure fitting and the borrowed Oberg filter.

http://63.230.74.177/ghia/MVC-479F.JPGhttp://63.230.74.177/ghia/MVC-480F.JPG This is how the filter screen looked after the initial 15 minute run:

http://63.230.74.177/ghia/MVC-483F.JPG I'm told this is not all that bad. This all appears to be magnesium flakes. In a while I will go out and drain the oil, pull the sump and find out what the

Max

Make that "not" an experienced engine guy.

Good thing I type good.

Max

I wish I had done so well. Despite very careful assembly I have an oil leak from one of the silicone seals on the frontmost passenger side pushrod tube. Sigh.

But good on you, mate!

"Max Welton" wrote

Congrats, Max.

Is the screwdriver to stab it if it attacks? :-)

-- Scott

With my luck, I'll only put it's eye out.

Max

Tonight I dropped the sump-plate to have a look at the magnet. After the initial 15 run, this is how it looked.

http://63.230.74.177/ghia/MVC-485F.JPG After rinsing the oil away...

http://63.230.74.177/ghia/MVC-486F.JPG These are very fine fillings, feels like a fine paste.

Anyway, there was no change in the pre-run valve lash settings. So far so good.

Max

fantastic Max! Good job!

nothing like the feeling of doing it yourself.

Thanks, John. Yeah, great feeling! I also learned a ton in the process.

And starting with a fresh case all checked out by an expert takes out much of the drama. Not as many surprises that way.

Max