Freshened 1500 Engine !

[VWNate1]

O-Kay then ;

Malcom took my wheezing , smoking , oil dripping Metropolitan's 1500 C.C. engine apart and found the DPO's ' rebuild ' consisted of only a turned crankshaft & new bearing shells (.030"/.030") , some new piston rings installed on totally worn out pistons (floppy ring lands) and maybe touched up the valves a bit .

The big ends of the connecting rods were *so* loose , the new bearing shells rocked loosely in them ! I
guess now I know why it always took so long for the oil pressure light to go out and why it'd blink or stay on after a hard run in warm weather

He sent the rods out for re-sizing and installed new 5 ring pistons , rod bearing shells and some other ancilliary parts , I'd allready replaced the cylinder head , timing chain and sprockets, tensioner and a raft of other little things , it's now running very well indeed and as I pile on the miles , it runs smoother and more powerfully too .

Friday I began running it on the freeway in short bursts , up the ramp , run up to 55 MPH then take the next off ramp and motor on on surface streets .

Yesterday as I was ascending a hill on the Pasadna Feeway I ran it breifly up to 75 MPH and still had throttle left

The exhaust head pipe was installed slightly off so it'd touch the unibody on right turns at speed and buzz the shit out of the car , blur the mirrors etc. ~ this gave me quite a start at first then I ealized it was a simple thing and to-day I got it up on a hoist and found the problem & fixed it easily .

I'm stoked as I leave for Phoenix in it pretty quick .

[Steve Simmons]

That's high praise coming from a guy who pushes his Metropolitan as hard as you do. Look out Malcolm, my BGT's engine is smoking worse than Nate's ever did! We may have to talk...

[VWNate1]

You're right , I like to work that tiny LBC pretty hard but as with most BMC products , it's well designed and *very* sturdy

I'm also quite the nit picker and whiner , Malcom was extremely nice about all my various wants and ways of doing the job ~ he even let me to the initial startup and 60 second breakin , he looked very nervous but it runs like a top and doesn't smoke one bit . ask him about Nate's 60 second breakin of new &rebuilt engines , it really works .

I'm now cruising it on the freeways @ 55 ~ 60 mph , not a trouble with it .

This was Money well spent , Malcom is like me ,an old timey Journeyman Mechanic who understands how to do things correctly .

Trust the man , he won't do you wrong .

I'm just sad I can no longer do simple things like valve jobs etc. as these are the bread & butter jobs that supported me since I was a child and began my Mechanical career .