1.9 Carb Conversion - Oil And Water Problems!

[0ption2 0]

Hi guys,

 

I have just finished fitting my Dellorto 40s to my 8v 1.9 for the third time! The first time I discovered the carb manifold was warped and that water from the holes in the block was leaking in, causing loads of white smoke from the exhaust. 

 

The second time I acquired a new manifold and plugged the water holes with silicone prior to fitting, but is still managed to find a route through resulting in more white smoke and bemused neighbours. 

 

Tonight I got the set up sorted but I still have the same problem. I'm sure there's no water from the block getting through but I'm still getting loads of white smoke. The oil in the sump is now just a creamy emulsion and the water in the header tank is frothy and smells of oil. 

 

My question is, is this a result of so much water being dragged through the engine or should I've looking at the cylinder head gasket? Or perhaps something else I've missed converting to carbs? Any help greatly appreciated before I rip the whole lot apart again! 

[0ption2 0]

Bit of an update.

I took the inlet manifold and carbs off again and there is no longer water leaking from the holes in the block, so the home made grub screws I fashioned and tapped in appear to be working. I fitted a brand new gasket and tightened it all up nicely.

Acquired a compression tester and all cylinders are within 15%, reading between 12.5 bar and just shy of 14 bar when cold. I couldn’t do it warm as the engine wouldn’t idle and I didn't want to pull any more water through if it was the head gasket.

I drained the oil over a few days with the car at different angles just to be sure I got as much as possible out of the sump. I now have a big bucket of "chocolate milkshake"!

I drained all the coolant out of the system and there is no indication of oil in there at all. I refilled the system with fresh coolant.

I then managed to fire it all up. There was the normal white smoke on start up which I think was condensation in the system but as it warmed up this got loads better to the point where it was idling and normal exhaust gases were coming out of the pipe.

Higher revs lead to more smoke but this may well just be residual water in the oil under the cam shaft cover. I was checking the coolant levels and oil colour while this was going on.

Initially there seemed to be more water getting into the oil as it was creamy again, but this got progressively better as the engine warmed up so I'm hoping this is residual water from before.

Other than the usual little top ups required after changing the coolant it doesn't seem to be loosing any and there is not oil on the surface in the header tank.

I had to shut it all down soon after as I'm pretty sure the neighbors wouldn't appreciate un-tuned 40s on a 1.9 8v at 11pm!

I'm going for a more thorough investigation tonight and hopefully get some basic tuning done, but fingers crossed so far so good......