This Week in Wheeler's Workshop

[Nick W]

I would love to hear that.  Have you gone for a 2 into one or a dual pipe exhaust set up?

It's off the shelf, 2 into 1 for a Rover. Ian had to lengthen the crosspiece slightly.


There's not much room under an MGB, and he's planning on a Panhard rod which further reduces the space over the axle. Plus, single systems are cheaper and quieter which is important on road cars!

[456lbft]

I would love to hear that.  Have you gone for a 2 into one or a dual pipe exhaust set up?

It's off the shelf, 2 into 1 for a Rover. Ian had to lengthen the crosspiece slightly.


There's not much room under an MGB, and he's planning on a Panhard rod which further reduces the space over the axle. Plus, single systems are cheaper and quieter which is important on road cars!

2 into 1 much better for sound quality, and I'm sure you're not short of power now!

[Nick W]

Today, I've done something ghastly: worked on a VW


Back in March, my neighbour asked why his camper wasn't starting. Some faffing about in the dark suggested that the starter was knackered, and it turned out that whoever fitted it last had managed to bugger up the shaped top bolt, so removing it took ages.


He managed to get  a new one in the week, so we(I) fitted it. And that's why Borstal reverberated to the flatulent sound of a 1700 flat four with an air leak.


It's been a while since I've done anything to one of these heaps, and I had forgotten how utterly shit they are. There isn't enough beer to persuade me to actually drive the thing......

[dave the builder]

worth a far amount those Nazi wagons 
maybe they will pay you in boiled sausages 
i'm not a fan of vans ,even modern ones ,let alone an 80 year old design

[Nick W]

worth a far amount those Nazi wagons 
maybe they will pay you in boiled sausages
i'm not a fan of vans ,even modern ones ,let alone an 80 year old design

James is a New Zealander, so lamb would be more likely


It's a few beers job.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Today, I've done something ghastly: worked on a VW


Back in March, my neighbour asked why his camper wasn't starting. Some faffing about in the dark suggested that the starter was knackered, and it turned out that whoever fitted it last had managed to bugger up the shaped top bolt, so removing it took ages.


He managed to get  a new one in the week, so we(I) fitted it. And that's why Borstal reverberated to the flatulent sound of a 1700 flat four with an air leak.


It's been a while since I've done anything to one of these heaps, and I had forgotten how utterly shit they are. There isn't enough beer to persuade me to actually drive the thing......

Horrific things, the type 1 flat 4 is a joke of a power unit, crap in every way

[Nick W]

Horrific things, the type 1 flat 4 is a joke of a power unit, crap in every way

The only place flat engines make any sense is aeroplanes. And even then, they sound like a proper engine with the plug leads on wrong. Although modern engine technology has reduced their advantages down to just one: their low height.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Every type 1 I have worked on has the same faults:

Crap crank case design which moves around the mains (magnesium alloy) so they are shot at sub 50K and cant be-rebuilt successfully.
Oil feed is non existent to one bank of cylinder heads - fixed at the type 4..........can be drilled through if you can weld the above crap alloy casing.
No oil filter as standard
Crap cooling, they are really an oil cooled unit with an oil/air heat exchanger that does most of the work - the cast fins do only a low percentage of the real cooling
Rubbish oil pressure, so not enough flow to cool and lube them well.
Terrible ignition system
All aftermarket parts are inherently crap

The only fix is to bin it and fit a type 4! 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

You forgot to mention that they put the valves too close together in the heads so they crack between the valve seats.
Quite a few people seem to love them, but I will never understand why. 

[Nick W]

Every type 1 I have worked on has the same faults:

Crap crank case design which moves around the mains (magnesium alloy) so they are shot at sub 50K and cant be-rebuilt successfully.
Oil feed is non existent to one bank of cylinder heads - fixed at the type 4..........can be drilled through if you can weld the above crap alloy casing.
No oil filter as standard
Crap cooling, they are really an oil cooled unit with an oil/air heat exchanger that does most of the work - the cast fins do only a low percentage of the real cooling
Rubbish oil pressure, so not enough flow to cool and lube them well.
Terrible ignition system
All aftermarket parts are inherently crap

The only fix is to bin it and fit a type 4! 

Those are hardly unusual problems for an engine designed in the thirties! Compare it to the sidevalve Ford or  Morris engines which are its real competitors. The VW engine's real problem is that it should have been replaced a good thirty years earlier, like its contemporaries.

[Nick W]

On the bench today:





and for those who didn't spot the reason why it's not bolted to an engine:





the intake valves on #1&2 cylinders are bent where the pulley slipped on the front mechanism(it's a k-series VVC head)


What I haven't shown is the other head I was supplied that has 8 bent valves due to a broken timing belt.


So the plan is to strip both heads, and use the second one(which was free) to provide the valves and a complete undamaged VVC mechanism:





With that little lot out of the way, it's straightforward head work:







while the head is apart, I'll do a little tidying up in the valve throats, cut the valve heads back by 30degrees, blend the steps in the chambers, clean the cam followers and use the best 16, remove the flash from the water jacket holes, match the inlet manifold to the ports(it already has a good aftermarket exhaust manifold) and replace the stem seals.


Then the fun starts - refitting the inlet cam(s) and the VVC mech.


Perhaps the new apprentice will help; Yves seemed fascinated by the work so far:

[Keith ABS]

 Would this be out of your Metro Nick?

[Nick W]

Would this be out of your Metro Nick?

Different one that's even sneakier: tidy five door, 14" steel wheels, quiet exhaust, stock ride height, leather interior, all the factory toys. He bought it as finished, but we've had to rewire it, fit the cooling system, interior, make an exhaust, uprate the brakes, and undo all sorts of shitty work. Pretty much what you expect from banger racers: if it starts, it's finished. And this happened a week after getting it on the road.

[dave the builder]

No £50 machine shop head skim 
do you flat off heads yourself on a plate ?
or is it a ye olde fibre n fire ring headgasket ?

[Nick W]

No £50 machine shop head skim 
do you flat off heads yourself on a plate ?
or is it a ye olde fibre n fire ring headgasket ?

Nothing wrong with the head surface, so we're leaving it well alone. There's not much available deck height on these or any other modern aluminium head. This one has clearly been rebuilt fairly recently, as it has an overheating telltale sticker on it. I suspect that was when the cam pulley was badly fitted and damaged. The locating roll pin and hole are mangled, the adjusting hub seems really loose and there's rusty dust in the centre bolt hole. All of that is why none of the inlet cam mechanism is going back in.


I don't have a big enough mill to skim heads myself, so would have it done professionally. It needs to be geometrically correct which makes doing it by hand a highly skilled job - skills I don't have and don't have the time or need to develop. Although I wish I'd asked Grandad to demonstrate them.


Recent redesigned gaskets combined with accurate shimming of the liner heights, reduce HG failure to other causes. Besides, a VVC in a R100 is not working hard!