HELP!! My Speedster is jinxed and needs a new engine

Dear Speedster fanatics. I am posting my first missive since joining in 2006. Thus I have to be one of the shyest lurkers in the Owners group. But now I have reached a point where I need some serious advice so here goes.

Background: I purchased a tricked out Beck Speedster in 2006. I can only say that nearly every single system save the transaxle needed to be replaced

Hey Sam, have you noticed my 1911cc Type 4 for sale? Check it out in the want ads. Might be just what the doctor ordered?

Buy Rich's tricked out type IV listed in the classifieds.

It's really not tricked out. Just a nice build of a trusty upright conversion of a Type 4. And, like the add says, make me an offer. The add is listed as "Head's Up on 1911 Type 4"...just to make it easy on you. Just imagine this in your engine bay!

4500 is pretty high for cruising down the highway. What kind of gearing do you have on your trannie?

So I can respond properly, what are you asking Tom? 4500rpms when and where did you see this comment? Or are you asking Sam? Oh, i see it was a question to Sam. Never mind.

Here's some video of it last in action back in November:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3g6fcUTCW0&feature=g-upl&context=G2155e34AUAAAAAAAIAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAzZ8hFTisg&feature=g-upl&context=G2050b56AUAAAAAAAHAA

Slightly over 3000 miles on the engine all put on this past summer and fall. First got in running in early July.

Here's the first start up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JePiHb05DnU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeDqJEhKl_Y&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Nothing to hide here, just moving up in the hp world with a new engine into my Beck. This 1911 probably has about 100hp, never been dynoed.

BTW, you could ask Carey Hines about my engine. He had it out for a few spins back in October when I was down there for unrelated issues. He could give you an opinion off line for an honest answer, I'm sure. Type 4's are a good replacement for the Type 1 if you're not aware...see Type 4 Secrets Revealed...do a google on that.

If you decide not to go with Rich's Type 4, give Art Thraen a call: ACE (Air-Cooled Enterprises), 801-943-1234. He's one of the few grown-ups in the VW world.

Damn, Doc. I remember you and your car at Asheville--also your associate. I knew that engine wasn't long for this world---you could tell just from the billows of smoke. You are a ballsey guy to light out for FL after Asheville with that engine. I am so sorry about your trouble and how your Speedster journey has been dashed. I do admire your pluck to get the damned car straightened out. I had about the same engine as you and did 3 round trips to Carlisle from Arkansas so there is no reason you can't get back in the game with something reliable.

The shiney, chrome tricked out engines and the builders with the glitzy ads scare the hell out of me from all I have learned.

Stan says if you don't go with Rich's Type IV to call Art Thaen and you would never go wrong with that advice. (Or any other advice from Stan for that matter!)

C. B. Performance builds a certain Type I that is the standard engine in IM cars and these are fantastic cars. Maybe call C.B. Performance and talk about that engine they supply to IM. It IS a Type I though---remember that.

I have a Type IV and feel it's my engine for life. It's done the Carlisle trip twice plus a little 4,000 round trip to Morro Bay, CA. My trust in the engine is total and I regard it as about as reliable as an anvil!

BUT. As long as you are looking at replacing your power plant why not consider a Subaru engine? These are still a boxer engine but water cooled. IM just finisghed Marty G's fabulois new Speedster and installed a Subary. See it on Marty's build thread. David Stroud has just installed one in his Speedster and I think he's totally sold on it. Personally I think the Subaru is the coming thing and a giant leap ahead of a Type I and has many advantages over a Type IV even.

Jake Raby will install a great Subaru for you---call him, see what his schedule is,then ship your car to Atlanta. When it's finished fly to Atlanta and drive that bad boy to join us at Carlisle. Send a private email to David Stroud and pick his brain too.

Not that I am anyone to tell someone what to do but this is exactly what I'd do were I in your position. I am sad about what has happened to you ---not TOO surprised though. Shame on your "builder" who offered a warranty --and now he doesn't know you..

Best of luck whatever you decide.

HEY JACK! At least you could say that Rich is a good guy!

Hmm, Sam, sorry to hear this. Your second engine is definitely not a Beck issue, but I wonder who built the firs one. Rich's 199 T4 is a good way to go. How fast were you moving at 4500 RPM? That should have put you close to 90 mph.

See how easy Lane makes it, Jack? Where do I send that check, Lane?

I'll let you know, Rich. Obviously I need it for typing lessons.

Sam: Give me a call or send an email so you can fill me in on more details. Losing 2 engines so quickly is just not normal.

First I really appreciate the many kind replies and suggestions that the forum sent only minutes to hours after my first message. Of course I am a big fan of Lane

Thanks Jack:-) Same old address for your check too?

Rich is a good guy.

Seriously Sam--I don't think you could go wrong with Rich's Type IV and thought I was positive towards Type 4s.

Do your research.

No check required, Rich. I did praise the Type IV pretty much, I thought. I certainly love my particular one.

Just razzing you, Jack. We know you love your (Raby) Type 4.

Sam. How is it that these "JCS" guys don't need to honor their warranty?

I think the question, Troy, is: What warranty? In bold type across the bottom of their web page it states...There is no warranty
on High Performance Engines. A High Performance Engine Parts Only
Warranty Is Available For An Additional $179.00.

Seems somewhat contradictory to me. A whole is the sum of its parts, right?

Sam, I am also curious if the failure mode was similar in the first engine. I am wondering if we can identify some common thread that might allow us to prevent it a third time.

Warranty?

When a piece of paper has the mechanical aptitude to repair the engine it will be effective.

Real engines are backed up by a man's word and a warranty disclaimer is signed; this is proposed and agreed to UP FRONT. I have sold over 1,200 engines and have had ONE issue. After 4-5 years that ONE owner came back and apologized for his behavior that lead to me not taking care of his issue.

If someone asks for, or expects a warranty its a huge red flag and I send them to a competitor who will tell them what they want to hear, take their money and treat them just like the original poster. It happens routinely.

Sorry to hear this story, one day people will realize that warrantees are virtually worthless. Maybe someone will read this and not make the same mistake.

It looks like you had two types of failures. Failure #1 the #3 rod bearing failure is comon on new motors that are set up too tight or run at too high of RPMs like I think might have been what happened in your case. It is possible to build an engine that will run higher rpms like what you said you were running (4,500), however the builder has to know what your intended driving is going to be like. I'm Jake will tell you the same type of thing for the over 1200 engines he has put out there. The reason the first one siezed, was mostlikely due to over heating. Optimum fan speed is acheaved at around 3000-3300 rpms. As you run the rmps higher the cooling system will not keep up.

As for failure #2. Loosing a valve at that rpm is not comon if the ROCKER Arm geometry is set up correctly. This was most likely a normal assembler who has not been taught how to set this up correctly.

Your best bet is not a type 4 engine if you want to run that type of rpms. Type 4 engines are known for having valve guide failures. If top speed is on the top of your list, maybe going with a larger displacement engine and a taller final drive. This will bring down the rpm's and help keep the engine cooler.

Anyhow that is my two cents. If you need a good type one engine let me know I know of a few guys besides myself the have been building for of 20 years and know what they are doing.

4500 rpm is about 90-95 mph, yes?

Sounds to me like the entire combination was misconfigured... All that RPM= Friction... Friction over works the oil thats trying to lubricate the engine; then the oil loses viscosity from thermal break down and its all down hill from there.

What can fail, will fail. Some may say I am too much to the point, but if the whole world operated like I do we'd all know where we stand with each other :-)

"and made it to 95 mph on my GPS" Sam states above. Not a good thing for 200 miles on the odometer.

Sounds like the gearing was way too low.. One of my drivetrain packages generally turns 105 MPH at 4,100 RPM.. They must have used a 4.37 ring and pinion in that tranny with about a 23" tall tire.

Hey Jake, while on that subject. What should I run with your engine. I'm perplexed.

Whatever Oscar was gonna run (stock 914 gearing).... The engine is set up for a Porsche 901 transaxle, the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate are absolutely incompatible with ANY VW tranny. Swapping them compromises the dynamic balancing.

... and so it begins...

Rich, Lets not hijack this thread... Sounds like the Doc has enough problems to overcome with his engineless Speedy.

Oh, I forgot where I was. Probably a good idea. Maybe we should meet in private.

But then of course the Doctor and I have been conversing in private too.
I really don't think he'd mind a little free education here and there.

Here is a clip of my Chico aka CPR engine,2500 miles so far and runs great. Remember that aircooled engines need a good break in and ripping it with only 200 miles on it is asking for trouble from any engine,you have to have some "mechanical empathy" since no matter what you pay,nothing is indestructible,hell some people can break a crowbar in a sandbox.
Check out the sound of this motor,it cost me around $4600.00 and worth every penny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdwRa7H-1kA
http://www.steelbugin.com

I have refrained from posting on this thread because I was rather heated and wanted to calm down before commenting. Doc and I have had a good relationship over the years and he's one of my favorite clients, so I don't care to pour salt in a wound. I will say that I can certainly understand his frustration, but I strongly disagree with his assessment. Absolutely, Doc had the normal teething issues, and having to rely on an outside shop for every little adjustment would certainly be exhausting and expensive.
In addition, he DID have some unusual parts failures like a starter, alternator, flasher relay, to name a few... (all replaced under MY warranty but no less frustrating I'm sure) while other things were in attempt to improve on certain systems (e.g VDO gauges worked well but were too dim, LEDs didn't help, brighter incandescent bulbs didn't help, tried Chinese gauges which were bright enough but, as we all know, '06 era China gauges had their own laundry list of issues) and still others were a combination of a few inept shops not knowing what they were doing (e.g. band aid on an issue, like bumping idle on one bank to balance an idle jet issue???).
I am not washing my hands of responsibility here either, as there were certainly some things that we could have done better, and we corrected those things and learned from them. Regardless of the "who, what, why, when, where" I stood behind the product as I always do and have helped Doc out from day 1 clear through 7/11/11 at no cost to Doc from my end.
That's enough on that... to answer the direct questions;

Original tires were 24.75" tall, Sam (Rancho Sam) built the box, 3:88 R&P w/ pretty stock VW gearing, 3.80 1st, 2.06 2nd, 1.26 3rd, 0.89 4th

To clarify, there is no such thing as a "Beck" engine, they are built by outside shops of the customer's choosing. This engine was from CB Performance. HOWEVER, as I understand it, CB had a time that they were extremely backlogged and they farmed out several bottom ends to JCS Volks Machine to help "speed the process" on some of the smaller displacement motors, then Pat built the top end and dyno'd them.

That is my only experience with JCS and for that reason alone I urged Doc to stay away from them for the replacement motor. I am VERY sorry to hear about what has happened with that new motor, and the seemingly complete lack of after care he has experience as well.

Going down the road (no bad pun intended) I would highly recommend that Doc consider a more modern powerplant with EFI, especially for a car that sits outside in Miami for extended periods while Doc travels AND has to cope with more modern "add on" systems than VW ever intended.

Free education is like a free lunch. Someone is paying for it.

Dear All: I am moving forward with my studies on the Typ4 and again appreciate your comments and advice. Due to my apparently confusing verbiage there is a bit of misinformation out there in cyberspace. One point is that I never exceeded 70 mph with the new JPS 1915 on the trip down to Miami from Saint Augustine. I have run in approximately 35 outboard engines thru the past 22 years at the Sharklab. So I am intimately familiar with the process which is about the same as a Typ1 run in. I never exceeded 3,500 RPM, checked oil every 150 miles at fuel up and varied the RPMs continuously through the 220 mile trip.

Anyway, I want to comment briefly about Carey and Ken (I will write them separately): Exactly as they said, they are real favorites for me and I really appreciate all they have done for me. They were helpful and tremendously loyal as well as being available 24/7. I have no complaints about that. But I sincerely feel that my little Speedy was jinxed to the extent that other Beck owners do not experience. Most everyone I spoke to was perplexed with the amount and type of failures that she experienced. This can happen. Since these cars are hand made they are more prone to individual variation than a computerized assembly-line version. Never-the-less even the best of cars can be a lemon and that is why Florida has its lemon law; http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/a510d1364b15502a85256cc9005da68a

I truly feel that this is what happened with my Speedster even though Carey believes that it had the usual teething problems. No sense in rehashing the past or crying over spilled milk. I do not want to lose Carey and Kevin as friends and greatly enjoy knowing both of them. But my passion

Doc - Is your car still sitting here in St Augustine? I have taken my VS to a shop for some work...ie - carb adjustments, timing, electronic ignition, etc as it was running HORRIBLE. BUT, Thanks to Bill Demeter and Corey Drake, I found a 2 time national Speedster Racing Champ in Jacksonville who was willing to work on a replica. They have had the car a few days, and I just drove it Friday (still there as we are waiting on some parts), but saw about a 95% improvement. This guy knows the real 356's and has been wonderful to work with. If you car is still here and you ever decide to switch gears and take it to a different mechanic, I can give you his info. I can also help you look after your car if need be. I live basically 10 minutes from St Augustine.