So Thanksgiving rolls around and we're all tearing into the bird. My Father-in-Law asks about the Bus and hears that I'm switching to Subaru power.
For an Old School Volk like my Pa-in-law (who rebuilt Type1 engines over weekends in college to make his ends meet) this is just daft. Of course, he was rebuilding them in 1970 when factory parts were plentiful, and he was doing this work in San Bernadino, California. Not exactly expensive parts, or expensive machine services. He would get the car on a Friday, pull the engine and disassemble, take the heads in to be worked by the local machine shop. He would then rebuild the whole bottom end, new bearings, P&Cs and so on. Then he'd get the heads back late Saturday, put the whole thing back together, and have it back in the car Sunday, test drive, and return it to the owner for a fist-full of bread.
Well, that's the way the story has been told to me. When I described the travails of just SOURCING parts for a Type4 rebuild, he shook his head in bafflement. When I mentioned the L-Jet EFI he spat. He had been plagued with L-Jet in a Fiat Spider he had owned out of college, which had its EFI system replaced twice, once by the dealership, and once by him. "POS" was his estimation.
So to hear that I was going from an Aircooled VW product with outrageously expensive parts of marginal quality and a plain awful EFI system (his perspective) to completely replacing the entire power-plant with a Subaru....madness!
But the more I talked, and the more I was able to show worked examples, and the more I explained that this was not 'new ground' but just execution of 'prior art' the more he warmed to it. He had seen me pull the engine from the donor 97 Impreza and it didn't scare me at all. Even the EFI (which leaves him feeling baffled and incompetent to this day) didn't scare me. So he offers to chip in, for Christmas, the cost of the radiators.
Thanks, T. I appreciate the vote of confidence. I did not buy the most overbuilt all-aluminum tank system I could find. I just bought a pair of standard Mk1 525mm radiators, because I don't think it's nice to bleed my in-laws.
When they arrived...holy crow, they're light-weight. Blow away in the breeze, light. And very, very fragile. Not something to be torqued or shoved on while fitting, unless I wanted to immediately have them spring leaks when pressurized.
So I broke out the electric meat carver. (That usually gets people worried.) I brought home some hard cell foam from work, and cut a dimensionally accurate 3D mockup of the radiator. I stiffened it against torquing by adding hard foam core to the top and bottom with spray glue. (Don't sneer. Super77 will hold a race-car together in a pinch if you know how to apply it and let it flash off a little first.) Now I can see how stuff lines up (or doesn't) and what I have to correct to make the parts fit. (Or whether I can just leave it alone.)
Hint: I do NOT expect to get to leave ANYTHING alone. Without a good airflow and gasketing system, I expect these radiators are going to fit like socks on a rooster: Too tight here, too loose there.
That's why I'm using the consumable mock-up method with the hard foam radiator mockup. A quote from Steinbeck explains it perfectly:
“For many little errors like this, we have concluded that all collecting trips to fairly unknown regions should be made twice; once to make mistakes and once to correct them.” - John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Furthering the Art
I've been following the work of several pioneers in the field of conversion, and picking up tidbits from each of them. The earliest work on conversions out of Australia and New Zealand put the radiator underneath, which is still a popular method.
My dilemma is that I saw what I can only call the 'next generation' of conversions with dual radiators mounted in the engine compartment. All nicely modulated and hidden and contained. The major problem with these jobs is that they seemed vastly more likely to overheat than even the under-belly style were, not really any better at keeping the engine cool, and frankly, a pain to work on because everything was stacked together like it had been put through a car crusher, reducing everything to just a cube of equipment in the compartment, glowing hot.
Of course, these early jobs said absolutely nothing about their build theory, did not show progress shots, and offered no strong data upon which to form an opinion about the viability of the design. All anecdote. And maybe one picture of the finished hackage. And then complaints about how it overheated.
In 2012 & 2013, there was a step up in interest, both because of the drying up of usable and affordable engine parts, but also because a long time Type4 hop-up mechanic stated that he wasn't doing any more development on the aircooled engine. He's all about Subaru and Porsche now.
Others didn't wait: installations came out of Central California and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Now, there's mine in progress as well. All of these are better documented than the early attempts, but neither were done with the intention of being reproducible. Mine is.
From Las Cruces came an installation from an Aerospace grad, which held a lot of weight with me until I discovered that, for the Late Bay, his solution requires cutting on the chassis that I was not expecting. This didn't make me happy, but I used the method because it was the only way that I could get where I wanted to go at the price point I was willing to pay. The rest of this entry is to document and notate the chassis mods 'JMSkater' made to his 1973 model, and which I will have to do, too.
Of course, these early jobs said absolutely nothing about their build theory, did not show progress shots, and offered no strong data upon which to form an opinion about the viability of the design. All anecdote. And maybe one picture of the finished hackage. And then complaints about how it overheated.
In 2012 & 2013, there was a step up in interest, both because of the drying up of usable and affordable engine parts, but also because a long time Type4 hop-up mechanic stated that he wasn't doing any more development on the aircooled engine. He's all about Subaru and Porsche now.
Others didn't wait: installations came out of Central California and Las Cruces, New Mexico. Now, there's mine in progress as well. All of these are better documented than the early attempts, but neither were done with the intention of being reproducible. Mine is.
From Las Cruces came an installation from an Aerospace grad, which held a lot of weight with me until I discovered that, for the Late Bay, his solution requires cutting on the chassis that I was not expecting. This didn't make me happy, but I used the method because it was the only way that I could get where I wanted to go at the price point I was willing to pay. The rest of this entry is to document and notate the chassis mods 'JMSkater' made to his 1973 model, and which I will have to do, too.
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| Fig. 13-A: 1972+ Engine compartment style. Subaru EJ series engine installed. Note the already trimmed stock air seal flange (just below the black cylindrical fuse holder) to permit the rotation of a stock VW Mk1 radiator into the small gap. The air flows down from the intake above (top left) pressurizing the entire left hand enclosure. Also note that the spare tire well which usually protrudes down into the space has already been removed. Stock firewall missing, so the fuel tank is visible. Note the metal plate with the two grommets in it just right of center in this picture. While it looks like there is plenty of room, this plate will have to come out. |
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| Fig. 13-B: Same left hand area visible as above. A piece of 14 gauge mild sheet metal rough cut and inserted into place. When the center of this piece is removed, will eventually act as a gasket to force all incoming air through the radiator and not let it take the 'path of least resistance.. |
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| Fig. 13-C: Gasket / Radiator mount in place, with holes drilled for mounting the radiator to stock points on the tank bodies. Bear in mind that this is merely roughed in work at this point. Note in the bottom right of this picture that the two grommets have disappeared. The plate has been removed. |
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| Fig. 13-D: Radiator propped up into the space it will occupy when fastened to the gasket. |
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| Fig. 13-E: Detail of the section where the wiring harness grommet plates were removed. To fit the stock, 525mm Mk1 radiator, both of these will have to come out. They are only spot-welded in and seam-sealed over. As such, they're easy to remove, and if kept in good shape, easy to reinstall by welding if you wish to reinstall the air cooled engine. Also, most of the wiring routing to the tail lights and engine electrical is going to have to move, anyway, so this is a ACTUALLY not a horrific loss. |
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Invisible Mods
A classic vehicle (or any work of industrial art, be it toaster, building, or a stick of furniture) which has been updated should not show it. This is against the 'keep it stock' crazies who would prefer to accept the limitations and maintenance headaches of keep all portions of the technology in the past. I wish them well. I don't intend to emulate them, but they're off having fun with their wheels, so why should it worry me?
When you provide material or functional updates to a vehicle that improve its power, reliability or maintenance cycle, they shouldn't stick out. Otherwise, you're either building a Frankenstien's monster, or a Hot Rod. Men who have hair transplants don't part their mop so you can see the scars. The same goes with breast augmentation: avoid showing the scars, because the scars say: "This isn't as all-natural as you think it is. It has become a pastiche of past glory and present functionality."
The VW has been a frequent target for augmentation. Perhaps that is a good thing, because it certainly means that they're often still on the road, and options exist for keeping them on the road when stock parts no longer exist for them. Still, there are technology improvements which are useful, desirable, increase safety or comfort and do not rub the viewer's nose in the fact that the vehicle has been augmented.
So here's a nice one to keep in the back pocket: If your wiper assembly has the extra contact for Intermittent, a Vanagon part might be in order. See the following:
Vanagon GL models came prewired for intermittent windshield wiper operation. If this feature was fitted as original, the wiper switch will click into a 4th position and relay #19 will allow the wipers to wipe at a fixed interval.
However, if the intermittent relay was not fitted as original, then a small plastic tab will be found in the wiper switch on the steering column stalk which prevents the lever from entering the intermittent position.
The intermittent feature is great, but there are times when the interval needs to be shorter or longer than the preset. Fortunately there are relays available (used from other vehicles or new from suppliers) which will plug right into the relay panel in place of the original #19.
When you provide material or functional updates to a vehicle that improve its power, reliability or maintenance cycle, they shouldn't stick out. Otherwise, you're either building a Frankenstien's monster, or a Hot Rod. Men who have hair transplants don't part their mop so you can see the scars. The same goes with breast augmentation: avoid showing the scars, because the scars say: "This isn't as all-natural as you think it is. It has become a pastiche of past glory and present functionality."
The VW has been a frequent target for augmentation. Perhaps that is a good thing, because it certainly means that they're often still on the road, and options exist for keeping them on the road when stock parts no longer exist for them. Still, there are technology improvements which are useful, desirable, increase safety or comfort and do not rub the viewer's nose in the fact that the vehicle has been augmented.
So here's a nice one to keep in the back pocket: If your wiper assembly has the extra contact for Intermittent, a Vanagon part might be in order. See the following:
Vanagon GL models came prewired for intermittent windshield wiper operation. If this feature was fitted as original, the wiper switch will click into a 4th position and relay #19 will allow the wipers to wipe at a fixed interval.
However, if the intermittent relay was not fitted as original, then a small plastic tab will be found in the wiper switch on the steering column stalk which prevents the lever from entering the intermittent position.
The intermittent feature is great, but there are times when the interval needs to be shorter or longer than the preset. Fortunately there are relays available (used from other vehicles or new from suppliers) which will plug right into the relay panel in place of the original #19.
Orderly
Since my wife has been sick, I've been watching the rotten children all weekend, except for when they're at their grand parents. Thank God for the grand parents.
In four days, the only three things I have done successfully are
Considering both my mood and the frustrations, I actually quit when I got the plasma cutter going, so I could say I ended on a high note.
I also realized that I'm gaining access to resources too fast, and its making me stupid. And distracting. So here is my official list of 'things that have to come first.'
1. Copiously document the power cable arrangements in the molex plugs for the double relay
2. Remove all wiring from the engine bay, backing out through rubber grommets, surgically removing from molex.
3. Remove tail light housings and all wiring.
4. Use disc cutter to remove:
6. Spraybomb the engine compartment in gloss white for contrast
7. With occlusions well removed, start mocking up for radiator supports
In four days, the only three things I have done successfully are
- Complete stripping the Impreza of usable parts
- Get the power to the plasma cutter running
- Haven't burnt down the garage.
Considering both my mood and the frustrations, I actually quit when I got the plasma cutter going, so I could say I ended on a high note.
I also realized that I'm gaining access to resources too fast, and its making me stupid. And distracting. So here is my official list of 'things that have to come first.'
1. Copiously document the power cable arrangements in the molex plugs for the double relay
2. Remove all wiring from the engine bay, backing out through rubber grommets, surgically removing from molex.
3. Remove tail light housings and all wiring.
4. Use disc cutter to remove:
- Air filter mount
- Unused Diag mount
- vapor rails
- cut out as much of the ruined battery tray as possible
- portion of air vent lip by the VIN
6. Spraybomb the engine compartment in gloss white for contrast
7. With occlusions well removed, start mocking up for radiator supports
Friday, November 29, 2013
The Price is Right!
Last post I discussed the remaining $2522 that I have to spend to put the Bus on the road. This time, I'm going to spell out exactly how I'm spending it.
After more time reading about Subarus again after a long dry spell, I re-settled on the EJ22 SOHC Normally Aspirated model as the most reliable and bullet proofed for the money. A rebuilt longblock runs $3k and will run for 200k miles easily. I also settled on the 97-98 model years because they were the first to use molybdenum in the piston sleeves and represented a 15% increase in efficiency due to improved tuning via the OBD-II ECU. I wanted the OBD-II so that I could listen in on the computer's sensor view and do other tricks to pull bits off of the bus for logging, etc.
I found a 97 Impreza in Philly with a blown clutch, 177k miles, with the timing belt having been replaced only 10k ago at 167k. This is actually hilarious. Because the Bus chassis has 167k on it. With the help of my beloved ( and the kids stuffed into the back of my Tercel on a chilly Saturday morning) we limped the Impreza home, with me grinding gears mercilessly in deference to the wrecked clutch.
Two weeks later, and after copious reading, I gutted the interior removing Dashboard, HVAC, frame cross-members, Airbags, and pretty much every component from the B Pillar forward. Once down to the bare firewall, the entire wiring harness came out. All of it except the headlamp and tail-lamp sections of the harness.
Then, after a considerable search for a loaner engine hoist, I got access to one and the same day, pulled the engine out. It is a greasy pig, leaking from every seal imaginable. But it is on my engine stand now inside the garage and I see what is going to have to be done to have it ready for action.
Original Budget: $5500
Spent as of Oct 1: $2978
Spent on engine and wiring harness: $600
Remaining: $1922
Outstanding Cost Estimates: $2943
Cooling $345
2x Scirocco Radiators FREE! (Thanks to my FiL for Christmas!)
Coolant Hose Kit $70
Vacuum Host $40
Coolant Fill, Expansion and Overflow $120
Metal Gasket Fabrication $100
Radiator Fan Mount Kits (ZipTie style) $15
Engine Mounting $1138
Subaru Engine Adapter Kit- Manual Trans $519
Subaru Engine Carrier Bar $399
After more time reading about Subarus again after a long dry spell, I re-settled on the EJ22 SOHC Normally Aspirated model as the most reliable and bullet proofed for the money. A rebuilt longblock runs $3k and will run for 200k miles easily. I also settled on the 97-98 model years because they were the first to use molybdenum in the piston sleeves and represented a 15% increase in efficiency due to improved tuning via the OBD-II ECU. I wanted the OBD-II so that I could listen in on the computer's sensor view and do other tricks to pull bits off of the bus for logging, etc.
I found a 97 Impreza in Philly with a blown clutch, 177k miles, with the timing belt having been replaced only 10k ago at 167k. This is actually hilarious. Because the Bus chassis has 167k on it. With the help of my beloved ( and the kids stuffed into the back of my Tercel on a chilly Saturday morning) we limped the Impreza home, with me grinding gears mercilessly in deference to the wrecked clutch.
Two weeks later, and after copious reading, I gutted the interior removing Dashboard, HVAC, frame cross-members, Airbags, and pretty much every component from the B Pillar forward. Once down to the bare firewall, the entire wiring harness came out. All of it except the headlamp and tail-lamp sections of the harness.
Then, after a considerable search for a loaner engine hoist, I got access to one and the same day, pulled the engine out. It is a greasy pig, leaking from every seal imaginable. But it is on my engine stand now inside the garage and I see what is going to have to be done to have it ready for action.
Original Budget: $5500
Spent as of Oct 1: $2978
Spent on engine and wiring harness: $600
Remaining: $1922
Outstanding Cost Estimates: $2943
Cooling $345
2x Scirocco Radiators FREE! (Thanks to my FiL for Christmas!)
Coolant Hose Kit $70
Vacuum Host $40
Coolant Fill, Expansion and Overflow $120
Metal Gasket Fabrication $100
Radiator Fan Mount Kits (ZipTie style) $15
Engine Mounting $1138
Subaru Engine Adapter Kit- Manual Trans $519
Subaru Engine Carrier Bar $399
Subaru Engine Mount $60
Throttle Body Reverser $80
Air Filter $80
Throttle Body Reverser $80
Air Filter $80
Exhaust $710
Stainless Steel Single Port + O2 exhaust header $590
Exhaust Bracket for 6" Round Muffler $40
Walker SoundFX Muffler for 1996 Ford F-150 XL 6 Cyl 4.9L $40
Magnaflow 2 inch CAT w/O2 $40
Engine Refit: $750
Custom Wiring Harness Work $550
Subaru OEM Seals $200
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The 11th Hour
One of the most fascinating portions of this project (and I'm sure you can see it if you sacrifice your eyes and read through this blog in a single sitting) is the degree to which I have enthusiastically see-sawed from one solution to another. First it was all about how I was going to convert the engine to Subaru power, and why.
Then it became the hunt for parts required to positively test the existing Typ4 engine. Which became an increasing drain, since each dollar I spent required two more dollars to prove that the next item down the chain was good as well. In the end I spent almost half my budget chasing the dream that I was going to re-awaken the Typ4 from the dead.
Damned Typ4. How is it possible that an engine so 'simple' is based on parts so poor yet so expensive?
The final straw, of course, was when I discovered that I was going to have to go the full monty in on the engine, essentially replacing every component, to make it reliable. This left me trying to hold my own far, far, out of my weight class. Hell, I've never even rebuilt a lawn mower engine. Now I'm rebuilding a fussy vintage engine with my own set of micrometers, snap gages, and calipers? This had got to the point of "Grandpa's Axe." (aka Ship of Theseus.)
I started with $5500 from the sale of a Restored 1972 Beetle.
Then it became the hunt for parts required to positively test the existing Typ4 engine. Which became an increasing drain, since each dollar I spent required two more dollars to prove that the next item down the chain was good as well. In the end I spent almost half my budget chasing the dream that I was going to re-awaken the Typ4 from the dead.
Damned Typ4. How is it possible that an engine so 'simple' is based on parts so poor yet so expensive?
The final straw, of course, was when I discovered that I was going to have to go the full monty in on the engine, essentially replacing every component, to make it reliable. This left me trying to hold my own far, far, out of my weight class. Hell, I've never even rebuilt a lawn mower engine. Now I'm rebuilding a fussy vintage engine with my own set of micrometers, snap gages, and calipers? This had got to the point of "Grandpa's Axe." (aka Ship of Theseus.)
I started with $5500 from the sale of a Restored 1972 Beetle.
-$1500 Purchase price for 1977 VW Bus
-$100 tow
-$1378 parts dumped into Typ4 engine repairs to date
So, not counting the multiplicity of tools I've purchased to accomplish rebuilds, etc. I've burned up over half of my budget and STILL the Bus doesn't move.
So, finally, and officially, we're done with the Typ4. There has been a tipping point in the popularity of engine swaps, such that stand alone vendors (Rocky Mountain Westy) are engineering their own conversions for the Air Cooled Bus. Jake Raby, late of the 'Camper Special' fame has moved on to Subaru or Porsche. The Typ4 is a 'dead lump walking.'
So with $2522 still left in the kitty, the pivot occurred a month ago when RMWesty dropped me a private communique with pictures of their Aircooled Conversion. They're really going to do it. A newly engineered rear support hanger, reselling Outfront Motorsport's plate style adapter, and offering their own cooling solution: an underbelly job similar to Fellows Speedshop. Of course none of the prices are published, and I might die of fright when they do publish. Still, that was the tipping point: no one else is going to support the Typ4 anymore, so building a new one myself, FOR myself when I have no assistance and only spotty internet advice seemed to pass foolhardy and head at flank speed toward damnfoolishness.
What will $2522 buy? What do I need? All this and more, next time on The Price is Right!
So, finally, and officially, we're done with the Typ4. There has been a tipping point in the popularity of engine swaps, such that stand alone vendors (Rocky Mountain Westy) are engineering their own conversions for the Air Cooled Bus. Jake Raby, late of the 'Camper Special' fame has moved on to Subaru or Porsche. The Typ4 is a 'dead lump walking.'
So with $2522 still left in the kitty, the pivot occurred a month ago when RMWesty dropped me a private communique with pictures of their Aircooled Conversion. They're really going to do it. A newly engineered rear support hanger, reselling Outfront Motorsport's plate style adapter, and offering their own cooling solution: an underbelly job similar to Fellows Speedshop. Of course none of the prices are published, and I might die of fright when they do publish. Still, that was the tipping point: no one else is going to support the Typ4 anymore, so building a new one myself, FOR myself when I have no assistance and only spotty internet advice seemed to pass foolhardy and head at flank speed toward damnfoolishness.
What will $2522 buy? What do I need? All this and more, next time on The Price is Right!
Monday, October 21, 2013
A New Project
There is a great disturbance in the Force.
I have chosen, despite having already put money into a Type4 solution, to change horses mid-stream and go for the Subaru conversion. This is based on a conversation with my wife that went like this:
Me: "So that's the cost difference between personally building a T4 engine that I have no reason to expect is going to last very long, and completely switching over to Subaru power, which will get us out of the stuck spot with parts vanishing on me quickly. Its $1000-$1500 more in the short haul."
Her: "Oh. I don't know why you didn't tell me the numbers before. Do it. Fifteen-Hundred is cheap for a Happy Husband."
Me: "......?......?......!"
So I turned the ship about and decided that the best way that I could both scratch my itch and serve my community would be to pool together the people who have done this work, who are doing it, and those who are standing on the side wanting to jump in, but are too freaked out by the volume of fabrication implied.
So I created a website: The VolksarU Project: Where U are part of the solution.
I know. Not my best advertisement writing.
I wanted to draw the people to me (rather than go chase them down) who have useful information for someone who wants Subaru power and reliability but doesn't have $16k to have a conversion done "professionally." So I get to scratch several itches: Project Manager for an Open Design / Open Hardware project, Documentation for a procedure to assemble the design, and ultimately, a bulletproofed power-plant for my own Bus. And the VolksarU Project does all of that, and makes a DIY installation possible for the DIY non-fabricator.
So I'm dropping tidbits of information I know here, so that I can scoop them up again when I need them:
In Oz, filters must be contained to pass Inspection. No open cone filters.
K&N Apollo Universal Closed Intake Systems meets those requirements, part# RC-5052AB Street Price $140
However for best installation, prefer an air filter box that uses paper filters VS K&N, based on the data found here: http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html
For the industrial solution, see the Donaldson D080020 MSRP $105.
Add s second radiator, and that increases the cubic cooling to 11,495,400mm^3
Walker Muffler 1996 Ford F-150
1996 Ford F-150 XL 6 Cyl 4.9L
Buy a universal CAT with an O2 bung, and you're in business. The whole affair just clamps together.
Radiator surface required is 1.5 sq in of surface area per cubic inch of the engine displacement, or put another way, a minimum of 3.0 cu in of cooling volume per HP produced.
I have chosen, despite having already put money into a Type4 solution, to change horses mid-stream and go for the Subaru conversion. This is based on a conversation with my wife that went like this:
Me: "So that's the cost difference between personally building a T4 engine that I have no reason to expect is going to last very long, and completely switching over to Subaru power, which will get us out of the stuck spot with parts vanishing on me quickly. Its $1000-$1500 more in the short haul."
Her: "Oh. I don't know why you didn't tell me the numbers before. Do it. Fifteen-Hundred is cheap for a Happy Husband."
Me: "......?......?......!"
So I turned the ship about and decided that the best way that I could both scratch my itch and serve my community would be to pool together the people who have done this work, who are doing it, and those who are standing on the side wanting to jump in, but are too freaked out by the volume of fabrication implied.
So I created a website: The VolksarU Project: Where U are part of the solution.
I know. Not my best advertisement writing.
I wanted to draw the people to me (rather than go chase them down) who have useful information for someone who wants Subaru power and reliability but doesn't have $16k to have a conversion done "professionally." So I get to scratch several itches: Project Manager for an Open Design / Open Hardware project, Documentation for a procedure to assemble the design, and ultimately, a bulletproofed power-plant for my own Bus. And the VolksarU Project does all of that, and makes a DIY installation possible for the DIY non-fabricator.
So I'm dropping tidbits of information I know here, so that I can scoop them up again when I need them:
Air filters:
In Oz, filters must be contained to pass Inspection. No open cone filters.
K&N Apollo Universal Closed Intake Systems meets those requirements, part# RC-5052AB Street Price $140
For the industrial solution, see the Donaldson D080020 MSRP $105.
At the end of the day, we need a stock airfilter box that will fit in the very little space we have available in the engine compartment, especially with the loss of both left and right battery boxes for in compartment radiators.
Radiators
The standard 'AL' VW Mk1 radiator is: 5,747,700mm^3
34mm thick / 525mm wide / 322mm high // Inlets and Outlets are 32mm ID. ~=1-1/4" std diameter
34mm thick / 525mm wide / 322mm high // Inlets and Outlets are 32mm ID. ~=1-1/4" std diameter
Add s second radiator, and that increases the cubic cooling to 11,495,400mm^3
The 1997 Legacy EJ22 NA radiator is : 4,120,222mm^3. However, this is perpendicular to airflow, so maximum throughput is achieved on the stock radiator. Our installation will force all air through much smaller inlets that are much longer ducting runs to the engine, including two 90° turns to the radiators.
To offset the lower air volume available, cubic cooling has been increased 2.7x over stock. If the gasketing of the radiators to the body is installed tightly to prevent any loss of air around the radiator, this should be sufficient to cool the engine.
To offset the lower air volume available, cubic cooling has been increased 2.7x over stock. If the gasketing of the radiators to the body is installed tightly to prevent any loss of air around the radiator, this should be sufficient to cool the engine.
Donor Vehicle:
The following components should be removed from the Subaru donor:- 4 Cylinder 2.2 & 2.5L 1990-2004
- Alternator
- AC Compressor
- All Vent Hoses
- Engine Harness
- Oil Pan
- Manual Starter (for M/T Vanagons only)
- Engine mounting bolts (for M/T Vanagons only)
- Engine to ECU Harness (uncut) Including Wiring to both oxygen sensors
- ECU Engine Brain Box
- Power supply Relay W/Bracket
- Fuel Pump Relay
- Oxygen Sensors x2. (Make sure the oxygen sensors plug into the harness as there is often a sub-harness used.)
- Air Intake Tube (air flow meter to throttle body)
- Air Flow Meter (2000-2004 does not use MAF)
- Air Cleaner Box
- Alternator Harness (4 feet of harness) Also has A/C wires attached.
- Accelerator cable (Automatic Vanagons only)
- AC Hoses to and from Compressor (A/C equipped Vanagons)
- Cruise Control Servo (If needed for the Vanagon-Subaru part up to 1997 only)
- Catalytic Converters (If you plan on using these)
- Pressure sensor & switching solenoid (located on right front strut tower.
- Some models do not have one or both of these)
Exhaust
When you're buying your Vanagon compatible muffler, don't drop the two C-notes on a German Muffler. Why? Because most of what you can buy in the states either isn't German, and even when it is, it isn't any better. So buy one that fits the same for $45:Walker Muffler 1996 Ford F-150
1996 Ford F-150 XL 6 Cyl 4.9L
Buy a universal CAT with an O2 bung, and you're in business. The whole affair just clamps together.
Radiator surface required is 1.5 sq in of surface area per cubic inch of the engine displacement, or put another way, a minimum of 3.0 cu in of cooling volume per HP produced.
Wiring Harness Notes
A simple plan for grafting a Subaru power plant into a VW Bus. Ideally, this power layout should work for ANY Bus from 1968-1979:
German cars have some conventions to their wiring harnesses that are handy in our case, especially since VW made many changing to wiring between 68-79.
Essentially, if you consult a VW wiring harness, you'll find the following to be true:
The Positive Lead from the battery is always labelled 30. 30 means 'raw, unswitched power, direct from storage.'
wires marked '15' are always 'positive switched power from the ignition key in the RUN position.' In the case of a classic engine, terminal 15 on the ignition coil is hot only when the ignition key is in the RUN position.
Wires marked '50' are always 'positive switched power from the ignition key in the START position.'
German cars have some conventions to their wiring harnesses that are handy in our case, especially since VW made many changing to wiring between 68-79.
Essentially, if you consult a VW wiring harness, you'll find the following to be true:
The Positive Lead from the battery is always labelled 30. 30 means 'raw, unswitched power, direct from storage.'
wires marked '15' are always 'positive switched power from the ignition key in the RUN position.' In the case of a classic engine, terminal 15 on the ignition coil is hot only when the ignition key is in the RUN position.
Wires marked '50' are always 'positive switched power from the ignition key in the START position.'
Thursday, August 29, 2013
When you cannot fish, mend your nets
So since I'm in my very own financial sequestration, unable to afford new components or make forward progress on this engine, I must make progress on other items that require effort, but not money.
I know that goes completely against my plan of 'work on things in a rigid order' but what the hell; I'll just be sitting around watching the grass grow if I don't do something else.
So I did something else: Refinishing engine components and accessories. Any time that you're using paint, primer, epoxy, etc. you must do so within a very narrow range of temperature for curing. If you try to use self-etching primer in 40°F weather, you'll just make a mess. If you try to keep your garage warm with a space heater while spraying this stuff, you're likely to blow your dumb, flammable ass up. Even if you were to heat the room up, and then shut off the flame before you sprayed, the temperature would plunge too quickly to allow the paint to cure well. My Mrs. is also unlikely to appreciate the decorative effects of engine parts hanging throughout the house while they cure. So I'd best redeem the time and get the refinishing done while the weather is still warm and I can use the large pine tree in my back yard as my spray and cure rack. Engine assembly can wait for the cold.
I took an entire day to sand, scrubb, and make copious use of phosphoric acid to cook surface rust off of several components, including the heat exchangers. I had also purchased a gallon of carb cleaner dip, perfect for de-gunking small components like bolts, handles, and other fasteners which were getting their first cleaning in 40 years.
Between it all, I refinished the engine hatch (a cosmetic matter, but it lifted my spirits,) the intake manifolds, and both heat exchangers. The intake manifolds should be some precise VW color. Nuts. I have what paint I have. The best color I had was flat metal grey caliper paint. Guess what went on the intake runners.
Oh yea! I'm doing crazy, non-stock stuff like.....weird PAINT! (For those who don't know, my 1972 Super Beetle restoration was the picture of OCD "do it right or go to hell" precision that required exacting paint color matching on items like the oil filter....which wouldn't filter oil one bit better for being coated in Glasurit L43 Grau-Schwarz (Grey-Black.)
Please. I've learned my lesson. I'm painting this with what I have, but I'm not so blasé that I would intentionally make my work ugly. The Intake manifolds in flat silver (a very unique flat silver, not at all like semi-gloss Argent Silver used on the wheels) plugging into the central intake manifold which will be painted Gloss Black will look quite fetching, without looking either like a stock Nazi saluted it with a paint can, or (in the case of customizers who go wild with the color of engine parts) like a clown threw up Fruitloops on it either.
The heat exchangers got acid stripped to bare metal, and then coated with high temp primer, which should make them more durable and buy me longer running on that set than I should otherwise expect to experience. I'm still going to have to figure out a way to get their temperature up to 350°F and then 500°F to cure the paint, but I know that I'm not using my the kitchen oven. Not unless I want to die an early death by spousicide.
Having mentioned my intent to gloss paint the central intake plenum (the most visible part of the fuel injection system when viewed from either the rear engine hatch or the overhead engine hatch in the cargo area) I must say that I knew this would take a lot more effort than the usual sand and squirt. The inside had been imperfectly degreased six months ago, so I opened up my media blasting cabinet (unused for 9 months) and after a few quick connections and some new aluminum oxide in the hopper, I didn't even both with cleaning up the existing surface of the plenum: I just blasted it all off. Rust, paint, corrosion, and gunk on the inside and out, all gone. Virgin steel with some tooth to it. I then sprayed that with self etching primer and left that to cure. I'll probably do three light coats of gloss black on it and then (don't laugh) wax it to protect the finish and the fittings. Once reinstalled, there won't hardly be space to swing a Q-tip, so I have to dandy it up now.
All in all, a tolerable use of time.
I know that goes completely against my plan of 'work on things in a rigid order' but what the hell; I'll just be sitting around watching the grass grow if I don't do something else.
So I did something else: Refinishing engine components and accessories. Any time that you're using paint, primer, epoxy, etc. you must do so within a very narrow range of temperature for curing. If you try to use self-etching primer in 40°F weather, you'll just make a mess. If you try to keep your garage warm with a space heater while spraying this stuff, you're likely to blow your dumb, flammable ass up. Even if you were to heat the room up, and then shut off the flame before you sprayed, the temperature would plunge too quickly to allow the paint to cure well. My Mrs. is also unlikely to appreciate the decorative effects of engine parts hanging throughout the house while they cure. So I'd best redeem the time and get the refinishing done while the weather is still warm and I can use the large pine tree in my back yard as my spray and cure rack. Engine assembly can wait for the cold.
I took an entire day to sand, scrubb, and make copious use of phosphoric acid to cook surface rust off of several components, including the heat exchangers. I had also purchased a gallon of carb cleaner dip, perfect for de-gunking small components like bolts, handles, and other fasteners which were getting their first cleaning in 40 years.
Between it all, I refinished the engine hatch (a cosmetic matter, but it lifted my spirits,) the intake manifolds, and both heat exchangers. The intake manifolds should be some precise VW color. Nuts. I have what paint I have. The best color I had was flat metal grey caliper paint. Guess what went on the intake runners.
Oh yea! I'm doing crazy, non-stock stuff like.....weird PAINT! (For those who don't know, my 1972 Super Beetle restoration was the picture of OCD "do it right or go to hell" precision that required exacting paint color matching on items like the oil filter....which wouldn't filter oil one bit better for being coated in Glasurit L43 Grau-Schwarz (Grey-Black.)
Please. I've learned my lesson. I'm painting this with what I have, but I'm not so blasé that I would intentionally make my work ugly. The Intake manifolds in flat silver (a very unique flat silver, not at all like semi-gloss Argent Silver used on the wheels) plugging into the central intake manifold which will be painted Gloss Black will look quite fetching, without looking either like a stock Nazi saluted it with a paint can, or (in the case of customizers who go wild with the color of engine parts) like a clown threw up Fruitloops on it either.
The heat exchangers got acid stripped to bare metal, and then coated with high temp primer, which should make them more durable and buy me longer running on that set than I should otherwise expect to experience. I'm still going to have to figure out a way to get their temperature up to 350°F and then 500°F to cure the paint, but I know that I'm not using my the kitchen oven. Not unless I want to die an early death by spousicide.
Having mentioned my intent to gloss paint the central intake plenum (the most visible part of the fuel injection system when viewed from either the rear engine hatch or the overhead engine hatch in the cargo area) I must say that I knew this would take a lot more effort than the usual sand and squirt. The inside had been imperfectly degreased six months ago, so I opened up my media blasting cabinet (unused for 9 months) and after a few quick connections and some new aluminum oxide in the hopper, I didn't even both with cleaning up the existing surface of the plenum: I just blasted it all off. Rust, paint, corrosion, and gunk on the inside and out, all gone. Virgin steel with some tooth to it. I then sprayed that with self etching primer and left that to cure. I'll probably do three light coats of gloss black on it and then (don't laugh) wax it to protect the finish and the fittings. Once reinstalled, there won't hardly be space to swing a Q-tip, so I have to dandy it up now.
All in all, a tolerable use of time.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Stuck Parking Brake
The parking brake on the Bus is fine. The parking brake on this project is locked up tight.
There are two matters, and they disturb me. The first is that, despite having run a pretty exhaustive budgeting process and still being well under budget for the total project on the Bus, I'm broke. I mean, so broke I don't even waste quarters on the soda machine at work. No movies, no McDonalds, not even Taco Bell. If my wife and I want entertainment, we'll go to bed. (That, thankfully, is still fun AND free.)
But I am completely broke, owing to a dozen odd completely unanticipated, unbudgeted expenses all having come due during the last 10 weeks. I'm not even buying beer.
Since broke-ness tends to make me pull up sharp and re-evaluate, I've been doing so on everything from the brand of laundry soap we use to this Bus project. The Bus really can't be done any cheaper than it is being done now, especially with me blindly staggering around an unfamiliar engine. The circumstance is not helped by trying to rebuild an engine solo that requires tools and skills that are vastly outside my experience. It also puts me in the position of having to rely on a dwindling community of experts on this engine, almost all of which live 3000 miles away in Orange County, California.
I originally started this blog with the intent on documenting the conversion from a Type4 engine to a Subaru EJ series boxer engine.That's why the blog is called DIY-BusarU (A mashup of Bus and Subaru.) After I got 6 months into the process and realized that I had gone far afield down the Type4 engine path, the early posts were just an embarrassment. I was so stuck on going the Subaru direction and spending half a dozen posts explaining how I got to that point of view, then I vectored completely to the Type4 solution because the combination of cost and support available from the community. I didn't feel confident about my ability to do the engineering to make all of the components work together for the Subaru solution without having someone having created a 'worked example' that I could crib from. Also, most of the products for 'bolt in solutions' that have been developed and are sold in the UK and AUS. The price tag just mounted outrageously and I lost my nerve and folded, especially since it looked like the original engine was going to pull through with just a little TLC. Obviously, it didn't work out that way.
So I'm back re-evaluating the Subaru option, despite having a fair amount of money already into a T4 rebuild. Why? Because from here out, it is not going to get cheaper, easier or more straightforward. I'm not going to get any more help than I'm getting now, which is pretty thin considering that all of the help is by email. But there is one last....pain point. (I was going to say deal breaker, but it isn't quite. Yet.)
The T4 is O-L-D. So old that parts are even more scarce than I was led to believe. The new parts that are available are of inferior quality, and will likely yield an engine (even if I do everything right!) that may not make it to 50k miles. The pain point has been discovering that the cylinder heads (which are a major bugbear and represent over half the total cost of the engine) which I had stressed to find...are trash. And I have to start over and spend more money. I don't want to spend more money for an inferior solution.
Below are some of the numbers I generated. Unless I want to become fabrication man (HA!) I'm going to spend well north of $3750 to get from where I *am* to where I would need to be.
To use an EJ20 or EJ22 engine would require:
Lazy: $
KEP engine adapter: $520 from Outfront Motorsport
Wiring Harness: $550 complete (or take my time and DIY)
Engine: $500 used, pref with less than 200k miles. (+$100)
Radiator: $75 Aluminum/Plastic VW Mk3 Scirocco style
Fabs: $200 ( radiator enclosure, and throttle body reverser)
Engine Support: $430 Rocky Mountain Westy
Cooling loop: $200
Exhaust: $1000 (Cat Magnaflow 53034 $77+shp, Walker SoundFX Direct Fit Muffler #17828 $28, 1x Walker U clamp 35795, or
There are two matters, and they disturb me. The first is that, despite having run a pretty exhaustive budgeting process and still being well under budget for the total project on the Bus, I'm broke. I mean, so broke I don't even waste quarters on the soda machine at work. No movies, no McDonalds, not even Taco Bell. If my wife and I want entertainment, we'll go to bed. (That, thankfully, is still fun AND free.)
But I am completely broke, owing to a dozen odd completely unanticipated, unbudgeted expenses all having come due during the last 10 weeks. I'm not even buying beer.
Since broke-ness tends to make me pull up sharp and re-evaluate, I've been doing so on everything from the brand of laundry soap we use to this Bus project. The Bus really can't be done any cheaper than it is being done now, especially with me blindly staggering around an unfamiliar engine. The circumstance is not helped by trying to rebuild an engine solo that requires tools and skills that are vastly outside my experience. It also puts me in the position of having to rely on a dwindling community of experts on this engine, almost all of which live 3000 miles away in Orange County, California.
The Confession
I originally started this blog with the intent on documenting the conversion from a Type4 engine to a Subaru EJ series boxer engine.That's why the blog is called DIY-BusarU (A mashup of Bus and Subaru.) After I got 6 months into the process and realized that I had gone far afield down the Type4 engine path, the early posts were just an embarrassment. I was so stuck on going the Subaru direction and spending half a dozen posts explaining how I got to that point of view, then I vectored completely to the Type4 solution because the combination of cost and support available from the community. I didn't feel confident about my ability to do the engineering to make all of the components work together for the Subaru solution without having someone having created a 'worked example' that I could crib from. Also, most of the products for 'bolt in solutions' that have been developed and are sold in the UK and AUS. The price tag just mounted outrageously and I lost my nerve and folded, especially since it looked like the original engine was going to pull through with just a little TLC. Obviously, it didn't work out that way.
So I'm back re-evaluating the Subaru option, despite having a fair amount of money already into a T4 rebuild. Why? Because from here out, it is not going to get cheaper, easier or more straightforward. I'm not going to get any more help than I'm getting now, which is pretty thin considering that all of the help is by email. But there is one last....pain point. (I was going to say deal breaker, but it isn't quite. Yet.)
The T4 is O-L-D. So old that parts are even more scarce than I was led to believe. The new parts that are available are of inferior quality, and will likely yield an engine (even if I do everything right!) that may not make it to 50k miles. The pain point has been discovering that the cylinder heads (which are a major bugbear and represent over half the total cost of the engine) which I had stressed to find...are trash. And I have to start over and spend more money. I don't want to spend more money for an inferior solution.
Below are some of the numbers I generated. Unless I want to become fabrication man (HA!) I'm going to spend well north of $3750 to get from where I *am* to where I would need to be.
The Re-Evaluation
To use an EJ20 or EJ22 engine would require:
Lazy: $
KEP engine adapter: $520 from Outfront Motorsport
Wiring Harness: $550 complete (or take my time and DIY)
Engine: $500 used, pref with less than 200k miles. (+$100)
Radiator: $75 Aluminum/Plastic VW Mk3 Scirocco style
Fabs: $200 ( radiator enclosure, and throttle body reverser)
Engine Support: $430 Rocky Mountain Westy
Cooling loop: $200
Exhaust: $1000 (Cat Magnaflow 53034 $77+shp, Walker SoundFX Direct Fit Muffler #17828 $28, 1x Walker U clamp 35795, or
Walker Heavy-Duty U-Bolt Clamps 35795
Walker Heavy-Duty U-Bolt Clamps 35795
Walker Heavy-Duty U-Bolt Clamps 35795
Walker Heavy-Duty U-Bolt Clamps 35795
Monday, August 12, 2013
Do the Goo you Do
Everyone has a recipe for how they seal up engines. Because the VW (and also Subaru) designs have a 'crank-case' which is split up the middle, they often leak more than the 'bored block' designs which is just a block of iron with large and small holes drilled in either end and a cylinder head and oil pan clamped onto opposite ends. Remember the oil-dripper's manta and keep it wholly: "Oil under pressure within an engine will find any unsealed avenue to escape." In other words, if you're building an engine, you'd better know what gap to seal, where in the gap to seal it, and what type of sealant to use.
The toothpick wielding backwoods airhead sez, "They all leak a little."
Bollocks. I've seen well built engines which do not leak a drop. If it is leaking, that means there is something WRONG. Fix it, before it becomes a bigger issue than it is now.
Based on my research, along with talking to the big dawgs who built these dry engines, the following are the generally agreed upon, idiot proof recipe for a dry engine:
Prep: A common caution is that " X is 90% preparation." It doesn't matter what the X is. It could be painting, or relationships or engineering or (think about it) sex. This is true of engine building, too. If you're mating two parts that are covered with oil, old bits of sealer and with pits and gouges that make the Pan-American Highway look like a glass surface, why would you expect any sealant to work miracles and form a 'dry' seal? Before you stick two pieces together with any expectation that they will stay together, ensure that they are oil free, flat, and un-gouged.
Sidebar:
Oil free includes the oil from your own patty-paws. I learned such things the hard way when re-lamping theatrical lights in my youth. Dangling 25 feet off of the floor, I'd disassemble an 'instrument' (what we called a theatrical light fixture, unless we were referring to a specific design: Leiko, Fresnel, PAR, etc.) The 'lamp' to be replaced would be removed, and then latch in a new one into the bayonet fitting. Reassemble the instrument (because if the glass envelope of the lamp blew when you lit it up, these high powered items tended to explode like a grenade) and yell to my assistant to power up a certain circuit.
BLAM!
Several times. I was going to pull the instrument out of service when the technical director (the only one who had a degree at this point and got paid to do this) came in, heard the tale of repeated blow bulbs, then asked me to show him exactly what I was doing. I dug out a new bulb from its cardboard, package, unwound the padding and tossed it in the trash, and went to pull the slip of plastic off of the glass envelope and discard it as well.
"STOP," my boss said with a gong-like bark. "The reason that slip of plastic is there is so that you can mount the lamp without getting your greasy fingers on it."
I started to object, but he pulled me over to a nearby window behind the upstage curtain. He took my hand and carefully wiped my fingertips on the glass. A very slight smear.
"That," he said with patience, "Is why you just blew through this year's budget for lamps in a single morning." When the oil from your skin gets on the glass envelope, and then the envelope is suddenly heated to 600°F, the glass envelope expands unevenly and explodes.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I am inclined to forget this quite often, even when I have my hands inside of a computer, which is my day job now.
If I start with a compulsively clean crankcase, taking care of any surface problems before I begin the build, I only have to keep NEW stuff from settling on or otherwise damaging mating surfaces. My final wipe down is brake cleaner and lint free towels. As clean and flat as possible before I add sealant to the mating surfaces. Also check your sealant's instructions: you may have 30 minutes or 3 seconds to get the parts joined. Or you may need to dress only one half of the joint and leave the other bare, or dress both. It depends on the product, so read first before you proceed. Also make the assumption that you will not be taking the engine apart again after you do get out the sealant. It could be an frustrating day if you damage your glued together engine case trying to get it apart again because you forgot to install the cam.
Products:
The following are the most commonly recommended products for assembling a Type4 engine to go "200k miles or until it breaks." You can often do with less high-born brand names, but if you want to do the job ONCE and not wonder, the following products are the best choices going:
- General Assembly Lube: Brad Penn Engine Assembly Lubricant 7105
- Thread Lock: Loctite Blue 242
- Thread Sealant: Loctite White 565 (Industrial)
- Case Sealant: Curil K2 (125g)
- Cylinder Base Sealant: Elring Dirko RTV Sealant 100g 036.161
- Fan Hub to Crank Nut: Molybdenum disulfide lube, no thread locker (Moly B)
- Case halves: Curil K2 (125g)
- Bearings: Brad Penn Break In Oil (7120)
- Lifters: Torco MPZ Engine Assembly Lube HP
- Case studs: Curil T (100g)
- Head studs: Curil T (100g)
- Valve Cover Gasket (Seal to Cover): Permatex Aviation Form-a-Gasket #3 pn 80018
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Back in the game
Enforced time off from a project is usually good when you've been working at a fevered pace. It lets you retrench and reconsider various moves you've made and occasionally, alter course before you wreck yourself on something you had been 'too busy' to see.
One of the other side effects is that if your long-suffering spouse and children have been starting to get itchy because you've been secluded in the garage too much, it will give them a chance to see you and to interact and feel like you're still part of their lives. In many ways, frequent pauses should give you and your family more stamina to keep plowing on with the project through to completion.
This is the very mode I've been in for the last two weeks, when I discovered to my profound disappointment that the engine crankcase I have spent almost a year (sporadically) trying to save is pretty much a boat anchor. 167k miles of pounding, periodic maintenance during its original ownership, and only repair (no maintenance) during its second ownership. This has left me with an crankcase that, while repairable, is beyond economic repair.
So having been blessed with the good timing to find a Volkswagen of Canada rebuilt crankcase for sale by one of the 'pillars of the community' (John Connelly at Aircooled.NET in Salt Lake City, Utah), I paid my moneys and then had to wait for UPS to put it on their donkey cart and haul it to New Jersey. It was delivered last night. I'll let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves. Here we have a great example of why I would rather buy from the more reputable vendor, rather than merely the least expensive: short of some poorly shot paint which has peeled and cracked since it was sprayed by the factory, this case has been sitting on a shelf since it was remanufactured in 1982. It has already had the oil gallery bore plugs removed, and has been tapped to have permanent taps installed after the case is scrupulously cleaned (by me) before internals assembly starts.
Since I know that John was planning on using this case for his father's Westfalia camper (by far the heaviest air-cooled vehicle VW ever made) I know that this case was hand selected by someone with decades more experience than I have for his own purposes. There is no way to be an expert in everything, so when you are able to leverage the preferences of an expert for what THEY would buy if they wanted to build a bulletproof engine, you win big time.
One of the other side effects is that if your long-suffering spouse and children have been starting to get itchy because you've been secluded in the garage too much, it will give them a chance to see you and to interact and feel like you're still part of their lives. In many ways, frequent pauses should give you and your family more stamina to keep plowing on with the project through to completion.
This is the very mode I've been in for the last two weeks, when I discovered to my profound disappointment that the engine crankcase I have spent almost a year (sporadically) trying to save is pretty much a boat anchor. 167k miles of pounding, periodic maintenance during its original ownership, and only repair (no maintenance) during its second ownership. This has left me with an crankcase that, while repairable, is beyond economic repair.
 |
| John has been running his shop long enough that he KNOWS how to pack heavy items. |
 |
| Emerging from its cocoon. Note the factory rebuit sticker on the PCV chimney. This intentionally covers over the vehicle's original engine number. |
So am I jumping right onto the engine build? Ha. No.
There is this thing called 'budget.' I am still under budget for the total project, but often you must pad out your work to let the coffers refill when you've had unexpected expenses. Like buying a new crankcase. Or buying a new windshield for your daily driver. Or the pussycat is broken and needs a new spring. Whatever. Surprise expenses define life.
Obviously, this greatly changes my planning for the engine build. There's no point in starting work (though some blueprinting is necessarily in order) until I have all of the components necessary to button up the bottom end of the crankcase. That includes the seal kit, front and rear main seals, webcam142, cam gear, lifters and cam bearings. Total cost for all of that is going to come in about $400, and that doesn't include the 'top end' work for the Pistons & Cylinders, blueprint & CC the heads, or any of the other items which cost money and necessarily must come AFTER the bottom end gets finished. I think I need to give the checkbook a break and start hammering on other items which cost nothing to work on while my wallet recovers.
So instead, I'm going to concentrate on some critical lowbuck items to tide me over:
All before the weather turns. yes... I'm already thinking that I don't want to be engine building in January.
 |
| Proof of purchase. But disappointed in their paint job. |
So instead, I'm going to concentrate on some critical lowbuck items to tide me over:
- Get long promised home projects wrapped up before the weather turns.
- Complete install and testing of the fuel tank and button up the firewall.
- Resecure the engine compartment covers.
- (Possibly) paint the engine compartment. Why would I do such a thing? Because it is painted the original body color (Agate Brown) and it is as dark as a cave when you're working in there.
- Pull the wheels and get into serious evaluation of the brakes. That is something that I can do without much expense and even if the brakes were disabled, I could still move the vehicle if I needed to.
- Bring the bus down off of the super stilts and roll it back so the windshield can be removed.
- Compulsively CLEAN the garage so that when I can start the bottom end build, I can be sure that I won't get any engine killing GRIT in the works.
All before the weather turns. yes... I'm already thinking that I don't want to be engine building in January.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Paying the Piper (9 months later)
I made an original cut at a cost list early on in this project when I still naively thought that I was going to fluff and buff the engine, perhaps replace a bunch of hoses and wear items and bring old Ferdinand back to life. It just goes to show that there is no fool like an old fool. And when it comes to vintage cars, I am certainly an old fool.
Expenses on this project since November 2012:
Engine: $2375 Planned, purchased ($775), yet to be purchased $1600
Engine Accessories: $701 (Replacing all external parts and hoses)
consisting of planned and purchased ($683)
Expenses on this project since November 2012:
Engine: $2375 Planned, purchased ($775), yet to be purchased $1600
- Webcam 142 Camshaft, Lifters, Cam gear $332 (Alamo Motorsports)
- 021-198-541 Cam Bearings $29 (Aircooled.Net)
- 029-198-009 Reinz Gasket Set $70 (Aircooled.Net)
- AA 94mm Pistons & Cylinders $220 (Aircooled.Net)
- 022-109-451 Valve Adjusters $52 (European Motorworks)
- 029-105-245B Flywheel crank seal $10 (Aircooled.Net)
- 021-105-247A Rear crank seal $10 (Aircooled.Net)
- 039-105-701 Rod Bearings $24 (Auto Atlanta)
- 1700cc Heads Bored out 2000cc & rebuilt $500 (europeanautomachine.com)
- All other conversion tin and heat valves ($90, Litchfield show)
New Durability upgraded AMC heads from Suburban Engine: $150(These have turned out to be scrap, but that's how the ball bounces. A buck-fifty, down the toilet.)- NOS Magnafluxed Crankshaft $100 (Clark, Thunder Bay)
- NOS Connecting Rods $100 (Clark, Thunder Bay)
- NOS Kolbenschmidt Main Bearings $50 (Clark, Thunder Bay)
- VW Factory Rebuilt GE Type4 crankcase $285 (John Connolly, aircooled.net)
- 071-251-053EK Ernst Right Exit Muffler and Kit $250 (Bus Depot)
- 113-101-157C Metal Cam plug $2 (aircooled.net)
Engine Accessories: $701 (Replacing all external parts and hoses)
consisting of planned and purchased ($683)
- Custom Fabricated PCV Hose: $32.50 (GeeBee Racing, thesamba)
- Custom Fabricated Decel Hose: $45.50 (GeeBee Racing, thesamba)
- Custom Fabricated S-Boot: $75 (GeeBee Racing, thesamba)
- General Vacuum Hose $4 (Advance Autoparts)
- General EVAP hose $4 (Advance Autoparts)
- Watts Vinyl Hose 1/2"ID x 10ft, $3 (Evap Can to Air Cleaner Housing, Home Depot)
- Fuel Filter $7 (BD)
- Battery Cables 2AWG: $20 (Autozone)
- 4x FI hose clamps: $3 (Autozone)
- 1 meter 3/8" J30R9 FI hose: $12 (Autozone)
- 1 meter 1/4" J30R9 FI hose: $12 (Autozone)
- Replacement Points set: $8.50 (Autozone)
- Intake Manifold Boots ($15, BD)
- Throttle Body Gasket ($6, BD)
- Ex Manifold Copper Gaskets 5 ($7.50, BD)
- Used T2B Heat Exchangers ($265, Bob Hays)
- VDO Fuel Press Gauge ($25, JEGS)
- Gates 27336 3/8" Barricade Hose ($11, OEHQ)
- 2x Gates 27335 5/16" Barricade Hose ($20, OEHQ)
- 4x Sorenson Fuel Injectors ($114, Autozone)
- 021-199-231C Rear Engine Mount x2 $18 (Aircooled.net)
- M8x1.25x12mm Qty 25 (Bolt Depot) $11.53
- M6x1.00x12mm Qty 12 (Bolt Depot) $7.05
- M6x1.00x16mm Qty 12 (Bolt Depot) $7.88
- Plug wires: $80 (Holy Frijole!)
- Sparkplugs NGK BP6ET, 14mm x 3/4" Threads, 13/16" Socket : 4x $20 (aircooled.net)
Here's what I started with: $5500 budget from the sale of a Restored 1972 Beetle
-$1500 Purchase price for 1977 VW Bus
-$100 tow
-$683 external parts installed or required to date
-$775 Engine crankcase and Internals to date
Still left in the kitty: $2442
Still needed to complete the engine: $1013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Walt Disney was Right
"Do not be fooled by its common place appearance. Like so many things, it is what is on the inside that counts." - Alladin
Call it a moral victory. I have done everything short of file the rough spots on this case down with my tongue. I just hit the 'point of no return.'
Last time I described the nasty surprise I found in the form of a beat out bearing saddle. Tonight I met the 'final straw.' SOME GOON BUGGERED THE THREADS ON THE OIL DRAIN AND HEILCOILED IT!
There. I feel better. The picture is not of my engine because I don't think I can bear to take any more pictures of it. This is on a poor Mazda.In theory, there is nothing wrong with a Helicoil to limp by when the threads are stripped, though I prefer a TimeSert, which is a much more elegant solution and more robust, as well. But this was finally it. Removing this Helicoil and then renting the tool to install the TimeSert, as well as the TimeSert itself, plus the cost, delay and aggrevation.... We're done here.
To reassure myself that I wasn't simply blowing my stack in frustration, I made a list of how much it was going to cost me to save this crankcase so I could put brand new internals into it. I didn't like the numbers so I rearranged them. Unsurprisingly, the total dollar figure didn't change. Here's what a competent shop (Like AJ Simms' LowBugget) in Orange County, California would charge for the work that I would need on this case:
- $130 for align bore (If I can find someone closer than Virgina, Conneticut or Georgia who is qualified to do the work.)
- $50 hot tank cleaning
- $85 oil gallery drill and tap (to provide the oil galleries with a thorough cleaning after being machined)
- $20 oil gallery plugs
- $50 timesert drain plug (insert plus tool rental)
- $50 reweld breather tower tang (Which I busted off trying to get this ooey-gooey case apart according to directions.)
- $90 for a set of SilverLine steelbacked .50/STD/STD mainbearings to replace the STD/STD/STD Kolbenschmidt steelbacked mainbearings I've already purchased. (So in a way, I'd be in it for the combined price of both bearing sets.)
That'll be $475. Which doesn't sound like much, but this crankcase is not the Hope diamond. Why am I going through heroics trying to save THIS case?
Because I'd love for this build to be 'numbers matching' which means that I've forgotten the vision statement for this project: "Don't restore it ... make it run reliably." So it won't be numbers matching. Because I'm not building it for preservation, I'm rebuilding this vehicle to HAVE FUN in with my family.
So Vaya con Dios, ya poor jerk. There's going to have to be a replacement case and I found just the ticket: John Connolly at aircooled.net happens to be selling a VW Factory Reconditioned Type4 crankcase for substantially less than half of what it would cost me to repair my present crankcase.
Here's the same breakdown for the Factory Rebuilt crankcase:
Crankcase, Shipped from Utah: $285
$130 for align boreNOT NEEDED! STD/STD/STD ON CRANKSHAFT!$50 hot tank cleaningALREADY DONE$85 oil gallery drill and tapALREADY DONE- $20 oil gallery plugs
$50 timesert drain plugNOT NEEDED$50 reweld breather tower tangNOT NEEDED$90 for a set of SilverLine steelbacked .50/STD/STD mainbearings. NOT NEEDED
Bloody Type 4 engine. I shouldn't carp about the impossibility of finding parts; if anything, good deals have blessedly continued to fall into my lap. But they keep doing so because the sellers 'don't have any use for these parts' anymore. Built right, I'll be sporting a walker or a wheelchair the next time this engine needs to be replaced. But I find it a real knee slapper that after having wasted the better part of a year carefully analyzing the engine to see how much I could save, to determine that it is only the tin-work and accessories that are worth keeping is pretty shabby. If I'd tossed the engine out and started fresh back in December, I'd be driving it by now.
Instead, we get progressive revelation. Oh well.
The Case of the Hidden Razor Blade
I bottomed out in a new emotional low on Sunday night. I picked up my pretty kit of micrometers and snap gages, and trudged out to the garage in the +95° heat and started doing my measurements on the main bearing saddles of the case. Remember, this is the crankcase that I was told "these engines are built like an Ox! You should be able to clean it up, put in new bearings and reassemble."
Bolllocks.
Like a chump, I had left the main and cam bearings in the saddles (held in place by their alignment dowels) until I was ready to do the thrust measurements for each bearing saddle. "Thrust" measures the front to rear slop of each bearing inline with the crankshaft. Add up all of the 'thrust' slop and you have a total potential for what is called 'End Play' which isn't as kinky as it sounds. It means 'how much total total distance the crankshaft and flywheel can float forward and backward in the case. There are shims which you can add at the flywheel end that can reduce end play to a carefully calibrated range between .003" and .005" so the flywheel doesn't drift too much, but isn't so tight that it grabs the #1 bearing (zero distance) and eats it at 4000 RPM. (Bearings are not supposed to spin!). I carefully removed each of the bearings and alignment dowels and stored the set away and then took a good look. Great googly-moogly.
I saw that the bearing saddle for the #2 crank journal was looking...odd. But I decided for my own sanity that I was going to start at #1 (the flywheel end) and work my way back to #4 at the impeller (fan) end.
One oddity about how I work on my cars now is that I wear gloves. Always. I always wear nitrile exam gloves that are a skin tight. This isn't because I'm some priss afraid to get his hands dirty. (Though I don't like it and it is a nuisance.) It is because I earn the bread that my family eats with my hands. They type very, very fast in a high pressure job, where my keyboard has all of the lettering worn off and the keycaps polished to a gloss like Dath Vader's helmet. I cannot afford damage to my hands, as the computer environment I work in doesn't use a mouse. Two years ago I busted my collar bone and was out of work for 5 weeks. I almost lost the job. To injure my hands in some of these antics is courting disaster, so I protect them all the time.
Wearing those nitrile gloves has other benefits though: they not only keep the grease out from under my fingernails, when my hands have become completely caked with grease from wrestling something into or out of position, I can take a break and put on a fresh set of gloves. Clean hands in 15 seconds. And rather than the slip of a screwdriver slicing open my hand, it just slices open the glove and my hand gets away with a mild to moderate scratch. Very handy, those gloves.
I saw the edge of the bearing saddle on the #2 and ran my hand across it...and my glove split open across my palm! I got strong light into the area, looked closely and felt sick.
See what appears to be a chamfer across the bottom edge there? That's not a chamfer or bevel. It is a lip of metal sticking out and overhanging the vertical portion of the bearing saddle. And the horizontal edge sliced open the glove on my palm like a cut-throat straight razor. Carefully dragging a fingernail up from the bottom to the face of the saddle will cause it to STOP against the huge lip pounded onto the edge of that saddle.
The steel bearing that fits in this saddle has been pounded so hard and so long that it has deformed the underlying metal of the saddle, despite the reputation of these cases for being 'virtually bullet proof.' Certainly I can have it align bored, removing perhaps .5mm of metal from the surface of the saddles. But then I'll need to drive the case at least 2 hours and pay $120-150 for the work. The OEM Kolbenschmidt bearings won't fit, either. They're 'Standard/Standard' aka not machined larger on the saddle side to take up the space removed, nor made larger on the inside diameter to make up for a crankshaft that has had to be trimmed 1/100th of an inch to remove grooves or burrs. These bearings go to waste if I don't have a perfect crank, and a perfect case to put them in.
What's a girl to do?
Bolllocks.
Like a chump, I had left the main and cam bearings in the saddles (held in place by their alignment dowels) until I was ready to do the thrust measurements for each bearing saddle. "Thrust" measures the front to rear slop of each bearing inline with the crankshaft. Add up all of the 'thrust' slop and you have a total potential for what is called 'End Play' which isn't as kinky as it sounds. It means 'how much total total distance the crankshaft and flywheel can float forward and backward in the case. There are shims which you can add at the flywheel end that can reduce end play to a carefully calibrated range between .003" and .005" so the flywheel doesn't drift too much, but isn't so tight that it grabs the #1 bearing (zero distance) and eats it at 4000 RPM. (Bearings are not supposed to spin!). I carefully removed each of the bearings and alignment dowels and stored the set away and then took a good look. Great googly-moogly.
I saw that the bearing saddle for the #2 crank journal was looking...odd. But I decided for my own sanity that I was going to start at #1 (the flywheel end) and work my way back to #4 at the impeller (fan) end.
One oddity about how I work on my cars now is that I wear gloves. Always. I always wear nitrile exam gloves that are a skin tight. This isn't because I'm some priss afraid to get his hands dirty. (Though I don't like it and it is a nuisance.) It is because I earn the bread that my family eats with my hands. They type very, very fast in a high pressure job, where my keyboard has all of the lettering worn off and the keycaps polished to a gloss like Dath Vader's helmet. I cannot afford damage to my hands, as the computer environment I work in doesn't use a mouse. Two years ago I busted my collar bone and was out of work for 5 weeks. I almost lost the job. To injure my hands in some of these antics is courting disaster, so I protect them all the time.
Wearing those nitrile gloves has other benefits though: they not only keep the grease out from under my fingernails, when my hands have become completely caked with grease from wrestling something into or out of position, I can take a break and put on a fresh set of gloves. Clean hands in 15 seconds. And rather than the slip of a screwdriver slicing open my hand, it just slices open the glove and my hand gets away with a mild to moderate scratch. Very handy, those gloves.
I saw the edge of the bearing saddle on the #2 and ran my hand across it...and my glove split open across my palm! I got strong light into the area, looked closely and felt sick.
See what appears to be a chamfer across the bottom edge there? That's not a chamfer or bevel. It is a lip of metal sticking out and overhanging the vertical portion of the bearing saddle. And the horizontal edge sliced open the glove on my palm like a cut-throat straight razor. Carefully dragging a fingernail up from the bottom to the face of the saddle will cause it to STOP against the huge lip pounded onto the edge of that saddle.
The steel bearing that fits in this saddle has been pounded so hard and so long that it has deformed the underlying metal of the saddle, despite the reputation of these cases for being 'virtually bullet proof.' Certainly I can have it align bored, removing perhaps .5mm of metal from the surface of the saddles. But then I'll need to drive the case at least 2 hours and pay $120-150 for the work. The OEM Kolbenschmidt bearings won't fit, either. They're 'Standard/Standard' aka not machined larger on the saddle side to take up the space removed, nor made larger on the inside diameter to make up for a crankshaft that has had to be trimmed 1/100th of an inch to remove grooves or burrs. These bearings go to waste if I don't have a perfect crank, and a perfect case to put them in.
What's a girl to do?
Monday, June 24, 2013
The New 2 Do
The Mrs. has been extremely patient. I've been off chasing butterflies with this bus for some months now, and she has silently endured a failure to complete a few 'niggling projects.' But we're about to leave for California in 56 hours (yes, I'm counting in hours) and I think it would do me good to clean up a few of those outstanding matters before we go, that way she can come home to a house with them completed.
In the mean time, I need to make a long list of things to do on the Bus engine to prepare it for rebuilding. The list is not for the faint of heart. As I said earlier, this is blueprinting: Where none of the dimensions are assumed to be as they should be, so all must be measured.
In the mean time, I need to make a long list of things to do on the Bus engine to prepare it for rebuilding. The list is not for the faint of heart. As I said earlier, this is blueprinting: Where none of the dimensions are assumed to be as they should be, so all must be measured.
Acquire snap gages from HFAcquire Micrometers from MMRemove and number all of the crank and cam dowel pins, securing them in their own carriers.Scrupulously clean the mating surfaces of the case especially at the front and rear.Take case halves and reassemble them, empty, back together.Torque the case bolts to spec using Brownline TQ wrench.Cover the bore holes at the flywheel end.Using a strong light at the flywheel end, look down the length of the bore to see whether any light can be seen in gaps between the main webbings or mating surfaces when the case is fully torqued. Visible light at a mating surface automatically rejects the case.Using snap gages and micrometers (and less accurate calipers when impossible to use mic) measure and document the bore of each of the mainbearing saddles three times, at 90*, 210*, 320* and then take the average. If any of the measurements are further out than 1/10 of an inch, align bore on the crankshaft bores is indicated.Using snap gages and micrometers (and less accurate calipers when impossible to use mic) measure and document the bore of each of the camshaft saddles three times, at 90*, 210*, 320* and then take the average. If any of the measurements are further out than 1/10 of an inch, align bore on the cam bores is indicated.Use snap gages to measure the rest of the bores- Using micrometers, record the thrust of the camshaft and crankshaft bore webbing.
- Inspect for fretting of the metal around the bearing bores
Friday, June 21, 2013
Designed to Scare
This post is specifically designed to scare.
Not you. Me.
This is what is known as an engine 'blueprint' or build sheet. Rather than simply slinging together parts that 'should fit' from the manufacturer, we document what the measurements SHOULD BE on all of the parts, and then ACTUALLY measure every stinking part to make sure they they are how big they say they are on the box, and have the material properties the spec says they should have. Essentially, you trust nothing. It is very time consuming to be paranoid.
Many of the engines that you buy from resellers are assembled from new components that are assumed to be 'made correctly' from the manufacturer and unfortunately, the customer winds up being the Quality Assurance department. So I'm taking the extra time to blueprint. And it scares me because the measurements drive far into the 1/1000ths of an inch range and being out of tolerance by 1/50th of an inch can mean an engine that lasts 1 lifetime or 1 minute.
The following is the specification for the Type4 engine, as well as my measurements of (update: My new VWoC case.) Original GD case specs will be left below in case I ever get the ridiculous idea that I want to rebuild another engine.
Note that my measurements will be in inches because in this benighted country, metric has yet to catch on with the good old boys.
Designation New (mm (inches) Wear Limit MINE
Crankcase bores
+ Main Bearing Bores
- Bearing 1-3 dia. 70.00-70.02 (2.7559-2.7567) 70.03 (2.7808)
- Bearing 4 dia. 50.00-50.03 (1.9685-1.9696) 50.04 (1.962)
+ Flywl seal Bore dia. 95.00-95.05 (3.7401-3.7420)
+ Fan seal Bore dia. 62.00-62.05 (2.4409-2.4428)
+ Cam bores dia. 27.50-27.52 (1.0825-1.0833) 1.083
+ Oil pump Bore dia. 70.00-70.03 (2.7559-2.7570)
+ Lifter Bores dia. 24.00-24.02 (.9448-9456) 24.05 (.9467)
Crankshaft
3 undersize grinds of
.25mm (0.00984252 aka ".010 inches")
.50mm (0.019685 aka ".020 inches")
.75mm (0.0295276 aka ".030 inches")
+ Crankshaft
- Main Journals Diameter
1-3 59.97-59.99 (2.3609-2.3617) (2.35975)
4 39.98-40.00 (1.5739-1.5748) (1.573)
- Con-rod journals Dia. 49.97-49.98 (19677-1.9681) (1.967)
Out of Spec
- #2 & #4 main journals runout 0.02 (.0008)
+ Crankshaft unbalance max. 12cmg
+ Main bearing journal out-of-round 0.03
+ Con-rod journal out-of-round 0.03
+ Crankshaft main journals
(taking housing preload into account):
- Bearings 1 & 3 radial 0.05-0.10 (.002-.004) 0.18
- Bearing 2 radial 0.03-0.09 0.17
- Bearing 4 radial 0.05-0.10 0.19
+ Crank main end play 0.02-0.07 0.15
+ Con-rod journal / Con-rod radial play: 0.1-0.4 0.7
Designation New (mm (inches) Wear Limit MINE
Crankcase bores
+ Main Bearing Bores
- Bearing 1-3 dia. 70.00-70.02 (2.7559-2.7567) 70.03 (2.7570)
- Bearing 4 dia. 50.00-50.03 (1.9685-1.9696) 50.04 (1.9700)
+ Flywl seal Bore dia. 95.00-95.05 (3.7401-3.7420)
+ Fan seal Bore dia. 62.00-62.05 (2.4409-2.4428)
+ Cam bores dia. 27.50-27.52 (1.0825-1.0833)
+ Oil pump Bore dia. 70.00-70.03 (2.7559-2.7570)
+ Lifter Bores dia. 24.00-24.02 (.9448-9456) 24.05 (.9467)
Crankshaft
3 undersize grinds of
.25mm (0.00984252 aka ".010 inches")
.50mm (0.019685 aka ".020 inches")
.75mm (0.0295276 aka ".030 inches")
+ Crankshaft
- Main Journals Diameter
1-3 59.97-59.99 (2.3609-2.3617) (2.35975)
4 39.98-40.00 (1.5739-1.5748) (1.573)
- Con-rod journals Dia. 49.97-49.98 (19677-1.9681) (1.967)
Out of Spec
- #2 & #4 main journals runout 0.02 (.0008)
+ Crankshaft unbalance max. 12cmg
+ Main bearing journal out-of-round 0.03
+ Con-rod journal out-of-round 0.03
+ Crankshaft main journals
(taking housing preload into account):
- Bearings 1 & 3 radial 0.05-0.10 (.002-.004) 0.18
- Bearing 2 radial 0.03-0.09 0.17
- Bearing 4 radial 0.05-0.10 0.19
+ Crank main end play 0.02-0.07 0.15
+ Con-rod journal / Con-rod radial play: 0.1-0.4 0.7
Not you. Me.
This is what is known as an engine 'blueprint' or build sheet. Rather than simply slinging together parts that 'should fit' from the manufacturer, we document what the measurements SHOULD BE on all of the parts, and then ACTUALLY measure every stinking part to make sure they they are how big they say they are on the box, and have the material properties the spec says they should have. Essentially, you trust nothing. It is very time consuming to be paranoid.
Many of the engines that you buy from resellers are assembled from new components that are assumed to be 'made correctly' from the manufacturer and unfortunately, the customer winds up being the Quality Assurance department. So I'm taking the extra time to blueprint. And it scares me because the measurements drive far into the 1/1000ths of an inch range and being out of tolerance by 1/50th of an inch can mean an engine that lasts 1 lifetime or 1 minute.
The following is the specification for the Type4 engine, as well as my measurements of (update: My new VWoC case.) Original GD case specs will be left below in case I ever get the ridiculous idea that I want to rebuild another engine.
Note that my measurements will be in inches because in this benighted country, metric has yet to catch on with the good old boys.
Designation New (mm (inches) Wear Limit MINE
Crankcase bores
+ Main Bearing Bores
- Bearing 1-3 dia. 70.00-70.02 (2.7559-2.7567) 70.03 (2.7808)
- Bearing 4 dia. 50.00-50.03 (1.9685-1.9696) 50.04 (1.962)
+ Flywl seal Bore dia. 95.00-95.05 (3.7401-3.7420)
+ Fan seal Bore dia. 62.00-62.05 (2.4409-2.4428)
+ Cam bores dia. 27.50-27.52 (1.0825-1.0833) 1.083
+ Oil pump Bore dia. 70.00-70.03 (2.7559-2.7570)
+ Lifter Bores dia. 24.00-24.02 (.9448-9456) 24.05 (.9467)
Crankshaft
3 undersize grinds of
.25mm (0.00984252 aka ".010 inches")
.50mm (0.019685 aka ".020 inches")
.75mm (0.0295276 aka ".030 inches")
+ Crankshaft
- Main Journals Diameter
1-3 59.97-59.99 (2.3609-2.3617) (2.35975)
4 39.98-40.00 (1.5739-1.5748) (1.573)
- Con-rod journals Dia. 49.97-49.98 (19677-1.9681) (1.967)
Out of Spec
- #2 & #4 main journals runout 0.02 (.0008)
+ Crankshaft unbalance max. 12cmg
+ Main bearing journal out-of-round 0.03
+ Con-rod journal out-of-round 0.03
+ Crankshaft main journals
(taking housing preload into account):
- Bearings 1 & 3 radial 0.05-0.10 (.002-.004) 0.18
- Bearing 2 radial 0.03-0.09 0.17
- Bearing 4 radial 0.05-0.10 0.19
+ Crank main end play 0.02-0.07 0.15
+ Con-rod journal / Con-rod radial play: 0.1-0.4 0.7
Designation New (mm (inches) Wear Limit MINE
Crankcase bores
+ Main Bearing Bores
- Bearing 1-3 dia. 70.00-70.02 (2.7559-2.7567) 70.03 (2.7570)
- Bearing 4 dia. 50.00-50.03 (1.9685-1.9696) 50.04 (1.9700)
+ Flywl seal Bore dia. 95.00-95.05 (3.7401-3.7420)
+ Fan seal Bore dia. 62.00-62.05 (2.4409-2.4428)
+ Cam bores dia. 27.50-27.52 (1.0825-1.0833)
+ Oil pump Bore dia. 70.00-70.03 (2.7559-2.7570)
+ Lifter Bores dia. 24.00-24.02 (.9448-9456) 24.05 (.9467)
Crankshaft
3 undersize grinds of
.25mm (0.00984252 aka ".010 inches")
.50mm (0.019685 aka ".020 inches")
.75mm (0.0295276 aka ".030 inches")
+ Crankshaft
- Main Journals Diameter
1-3 59.97-59.99 (2.3609-2.3617) (2.35975)
4 39.98-40.00 (1.5739-1.5748) (1.573)
- Con-rod journals Dia. 49.97-49.98 (19677-1.9681) (1.967)
Out of Spec
- #2 & #4 main journals runout 0.02 (.0008)
+ Crankshaft unbalance max. 12cmg
+ Main bearing journal out-of-round 0.03
+ Con-rod journal out-of-round 0.03
+ Crankshaft main journals
(taking housing preload into account):
- Bearings 1 & 3 radial 0.05-0.10 (.002-.004) 0.18
- Bearing 2 radial 0.03-0.09 0.17
- Bearing 4 radial 0.05-0.10 0.19
+ Crank main end play 0.02-0.07 0.15
+ Con-rod journal / Con-rod radial play: 0.1-0.4 0.7
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
When the lowest price wins
What will you pay for quality?
In the modern hyper-capitalist sense, there is an idea called 'the race to the bottom.' It means, what is the worst quality product that the buying public will tolerate that allows the manufacturer to spend the least amount of money making, while keeping the price artificially high enough so that a worse product made now is the same 'price' as a superior product made previously?
This is the terror of globalization, and no, this is not a political screed. The Chinese manufacturing sector is perfectly capable of producing very high quality products: you wouldn't call the iPhone "cheap and flimsy." Products manufactured in the US of A by ISO 9000 certified companies can be pot metal junk, as long as the process for how to make this low quality junk is well documented.
There are some parts, however, which cannot be substituted with 'less expensive materials.' That's because the less expensive materials fail to meet the specifications required to do the job. They might be the right shape, but that doesn't make their hardness, lubricity, or a dozen other attributes right for the job.
I first experienced this when I was selling audio components for Silo in 1991. That year, Sony had introduced the five disc 'Carousel' CD player which unloaded the whole tray and let you rotate a turntable carrying the disks so you could reload it for an enormous five hours of play time. These things were flying off the shelves, and then Sony got greedy: they replaced some of the moving components with plastic rather than nylon. The units looked the same, and played the same, and within about 50 open-close cycles, stripped that plastic gear that drove the rack which was molded into the tray. The tray won't come out, and now your brand new $200 player has et up $100 worth of CDs that are trapped inside it. All for the sake of $0.005 part that should have stayed a $0.01 part.
So what happens when an entire industry goes this route? Lowers the quality until what was once considered to be robust is a joke? Ask Craftsman. Anyone who works with tools will tell you that the steel, mechanisms, and specifications of a modern Craftsman tool are an embarrassment compared with the same tool made thirty years ago. While Sears will take back your broken tool and replace it with another for free (thus honoring the Craftsman lifetime warranty) it will be of the same or worse quality than the tool that failed.
This is the race to the bottom that has been happening in the VW aftermarket during the last twenty years. The only difference is that it is accelerating so fast now that parts quality is beyond redemption. VW hobbyists have always been a cheap lot: Don't buy a new one, rebuild the one you have. Limp by, rather than fix it 'right' and variations on that theme. Now, the only thing about an old Volkswagen that is still cheap...is the owner. The prices are still rising, and the parts quality is in the suds, that is, when you can find the parts at all. NLA (No Longer Available) has become the new price.
Unfortunately, this race to the bottom has only been exacerbated by the Hobbyist community itself. If you expect consumable parts (engine, suspension, brake, gaskets, seals) to stay at the same price *FOREVER*, you will inevitably wind up with parts that soak up the inflation and scarcity differential by lowering the quality of the components.
Serious VW hobbyists have taken to hoarding New Old Stock component that are still in the factory box, rather than buying a new component at one fifth the price that is of unknown durability. This fact hit me square between the eyes with a 2x4 this week: The main bearings (part #36 in the diagram) which support the crankshaft (part #1).
These bearings are the ones that take the horizontal pounding of the engine, and as such, wear out. The bearing doesn't actually touch the crankshaft: the crankshaft floats on a 4/1000 of an inch layer of oil as it spins at stock speeds of up to 4800 RPM. That oil is refreshed by pumping cooled oil into that shadow thin gap under pressure.
This is why machinists who know what they're doing can make a decent living: most people have a concept of 'small' as about the diameter of a grain of sand, or 197/1000 inches, about 50x the size of this oil gap.
As you can imagine, the accuracy of the bearing surface and the accuracy of the crankshaft surface that floats and spins in it (call a journal) is paramount. The aircooled engine design is so forgiving that the most exceptional idiot can assemble an engine out of a box of parts, measuring nothing, and produce an engine that will run. The engine might not run for long, and might grenade itself within a month or the first time they really put the hammer down on the accelerator, but it will run.
When building for longevity however, the builder had better be compulsive about measurements and cleanliness in the assembly area. Even with good measurements, an engine assembled in a dirty shack is likely to have a service life perhaps 50% or less of one assembled in a clean-room environment.
So what was the bad news? How does material quality affect me and this engine build in particular?
Next time.
In the modern hyper-capitalist sense, there is an idea called 'the race to the bottom.' It means, what is the worst quality product that the buying public will tolerate that allows the manufacturer to spend the least amount of money making, while keeping the price artificially high enough so that a worse product made now is the same 'price' as a superior product made previously?
This is the terror of globalization, and no, this is not a political screed. The Chinese manufacturing sector is perfectly capable of producing very high quality products: you wouldn't call the iPhone "cheap and flimsy." Products manufactured in the US of A by ISO 9000 certified companies can be pot metal junk, as long as the process for how to make this low quality junk is well documented.
There are some parts, however, which cannot be substituted with 'less expensive materials.' That's because the less expensive materials fail to meet the specifications required to do the job. They might be the right shape, but that doesn't make their hardness, lubricity, or a dozen other attributes right for the job.
I first experienced this when I was selling audio components for Silo in 1991. That year, Sony had introduced the five disc 'Carousel' CD player which unloaded the whole tray and let you rotate a turntable carrying the disks so you could reload it for an enormous five hours of play time. These things were flying off the shelves, and then Sony got greedy: they replaced some of the moving components with plastic rather than nylon. The units looked the same, and played the same, and within about 50 open-close cycles, stripped that plastic gear that drove the rack which was molded into the tray. The tray won't come out, and now your brand new $200 player has et up $100 worth of CDs that are trapped inside it. All for the sake of $0.005 part that should have stayed a $0.01 part.
So what happens when an entire industry goes this route? Lowers the quality until what was once considered to be robust is a joke? Ask Craftsman. Anyone who works with tools will tell you that the steel, mechanisms, and specifications of a modern Craftsman tool are an embarrassment compared with the same tool made thirty years ago. While Sears will take back your broken tool and replace it with another for free (thus honoring the Craftsman lifetime warranty) it will be of the same or worse quality than the tool that failed.
This is the race to the bottom that has been happening in the VW aftermarket during the last twenty years. The only difference is that it is accelerating so fast now that parts quality is beyond redemption. VW hobbyists have always been a cheap lot: Don't buy a new one, rebuild the one you have. Limp by, rather than fix it 'right' and variations on that theme. Now, the only thing about an old Volkswagen that is still cheap...is the owner. The prices are still rising, and the parts quality is in the suds, that is, when you can find the parts at all. NLA (No Longer Available) has become the new price.
Serious VW hobbyists have taken to hoarding New Old Stock component that are still in the factory box, rather than buying a new component at one fifth the price that is of unknown durability. This fact hit me square between the eyes with a 2x4 this week: The main bearings (part #36 in the diagram) which support the crankshaft (part #1).
These bearings are the ones that take the horizontal pounding of the engine, and as such, wear out. The bearing doesn't actually touch the crankshaft: the crankshaft floats on a 4/1000 of an inch layer of oil as it spins at stock speeds of up to 4800 RPM. That oil is refreshed by pumping cooled oil into that shadow thin gap under pressure.
This is why machinists who know what they're doing can make a decent living: most people have a concept of 'small' as about the diameter of a grain of sand, or 197/1000 inches, about 50x the size of this oil gap.
 |
| The crankshaft main bearings, in which the crankshaft journals rest on a thin skiff of oil and spin at up to 5000 RPM. |
As you can imagine, the accuracy of the bearing surface and the accuracy of the crankshaft surface that floats and spins in it (call a journal) is paramount. The aircooled engine design is so forgiving that the most exceptional idiot can assemble an engine out of a box of parts, measuring nothing, and produce an engine that will run. The engine might not run for long, and might grenade itself within a month or the first time they really put the hammer down on the accelerator, but it will run.
When building for longevity however, the builder had better be compulsive about measurements and cleanliness in the assembly area. Even with good measurements, an engine assembled in a dirty shack is likely to have a service life perhaps 50% or less of one assembled in a clean-room environment.
So what was the bad news? How does material quality affect me and this engine build in particular?
Next time.
Was ist das "Boxermotor" mein Herr?
A brief sojourn into the horizontally opposed engine, for the uninitiated.
The video below is a product of Subaru, so obviously it pitches the 1966 beginnings of the Subaru boxer engine. But the more important point is that this video shows why the boxer is a superior design, both from a longevity standpoint, as well as from a performance and practicality standpoint.
Josef Kales, under the direction of Ferdinand Porsche created the Boxer motor, a horizontally opposed four cylinder engine for the 1932 NSU Typ 32 protoype. The engine design was later evolved by Franz Xavier Reimspieß for the Volks-auto, later to become the KDF-wagen under Adolf Hitler's reign, and finally the Volkswagen, risen from the ashes of the Third Reich.
Sadly, Volkswagen AG came to see the boxer engine as a liability rather than a strength, conforming increasingly to other motor-trends such as inline overhead cam engines mated to transverse gearboxes which became popular in the late sixties and early seventies. While VW de México continued to manufacture and sell the venerable air-cooled boxer in their domestic incarnation of the VW Beetle through 2003, Volkswagen AG wanted nothing more to do with the boxer.
Ironically, just as VW was trying to abandon the boxer, Subaru was 'reinventing the wheel' with their new boxer engine which first saw production in 1966. While not the first or only Japanese company to build boxer engines, Subaru has remained at the fore-front of boxer development since it took over the crown from VW in the early 1970s. Today, boxers are used in many cars, including the new Scion (Toyota) FR-S, which uses a Subaru-built boxer with Toyota engineered heads.
It seems that the boxer is going to keep living a long and happy life. With or without VW.
The video below is a product of Subaru, so obviously it pitches the 1966 beginnings of the Subaru boxer engine. But the more important point is that this video shows why the boxer is a superior design, both from a longevity standpoint, as well as from a performance and practicality standpoint.
Josef Kales, under the direction of Ferdinand Porsche created the Boxer motor, a horizontally opposed four cylinder engine for the 1932 NSU Typ 32 protoype. The engine design was later evolved by Franz Xavier Reimspieß for the Volks-auto, later to become the KDF-wagen under Adolf Hitler's reign, and finally the Volkswagen, risen from the ashes of the Third Reich.
Sadly, Volkswagen AG came to see the boxer engine as a liability rather than a strength, conforming increasingly to other motor-trends such as inline overhead cam engines mated to transverse gearboxes which became popular in the late sixties and early seventies. While VW de México continued to manufacture and sell the venerable air-cooled boxer in their domestic incarnation of the VW Beetle through 2003, Volkswagen AG wanted nothing more to do with the boxer.
Ironically, just as VW was trying to abandon the boxer, Subaru was 'reinventing the wheel' with their new boxer engine which first saw production in 1966. While not the first or only Japanese company to build boxer engines, Subaru has remained at the fore-front of boxer development since it took over the crown from VW in the early 1970s. Today, boxers are used in many cars, including the new Scion (Toyota) FR-S, which uses a Subaru-built boxer with Toyota engineered heads.
It seems that the boxer is going to keep living a long and happy life. With or without VW.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Happy Father's Day
When last we left our hero (me) I had just purchased a set of tins from Gary LeBlanc of Suburban Engine and looking down after the transaction to see what else was at hand, I saw a pair of grey boxes marked AMC.
I nearly choked. Inside were *new* AMC heads which had already had their wear components replaced! I inquired and Gary chuckled hollowly. "I've been trying to sell these for the last nine months. Everyone's scared of them. They ask me, 'Who did the valve job? What are the materials? Did they do everything?'
"I can only say what I know: I've had them on my flow-bench and all four valves are sealed tight to their seats. No leaks. I don't know if it is a 45 degree cut, a three angle job, or lapped to a perfect fit. But I know it don't leak. There's been die grinding just beneath the spark plug bore on the inside of the combustion chamber. No one does that if they're not CC'ing the head. And no one bothers to CC a head that they're just slapping together. Who ever built these used a new casting, replaced all of the wear parts, CC'd the head and then meticulously marked each valve for what sides the heads should be installed on."
When I found my voice again I asked why he didn't just use them. Surely he's still doing Type 4 engines. Gary demurred that his reputation was all he had, and if he put that set of heads (which he did not know who built them, nor what quality of parts they were assembled with) on a customer's engine and the thing et itself in 20,0000 miles, his reputation would be damaged. Also, how do you warranty or vouch for something that you don't know where or who it came from?
"Oh no," he said, stridently. "I might put it in my own car, because if they grenade the engine, it'll be me who's pushing it. But not in a customer's car, and I won't offer any guarantee on these heads to you, either. They may be the work of a master inside. Or they may be a fluff 'n buff job. I don't know and I've got too much to do to play with them to find out. If you want 'em, they're $100 apiece."
At this point I struggled to keep from wetting myself. $200 complete? $200?!?
When I started this quest for new heads, the first stop was the figure $1600, which caused all of the blood to drain out of my head. That was two new AMC castings with the wear parts replaced with the finest materials and reworked by one of two master builders: Adrian at Headflow Masters in Vista, California or Len Hoffman at H.A.M. in Athens, Georgia.
Having decided that I was willing to live with less than the perfect best, I shopped for the 'next best' which I assumed was new AMC heads alone. $800 for a pair was the best price I ever found. And I could drive around with my fingers crossed that I wasn't going to drop a valve seat and bugger up the engine.
Then, having discovered that Adrian at Headflow Masters would rebuild an original VW Type 4 head if it didn't need welding, I contacted him for pricing on this. I have two butt-ugly Type 4 heads that I could take to Adrian and for $700, have the $1600 hand worked quality on stock castings. Still, we're talking about a lot of green. Not that I begrudge Adrian the money for his labors. It's the dual embarrassment of not having such monies at hand, and having to fly to California with these two dog-eared, gooey cylinder heads in my luggage to deliver them to Adrian.
So now, suddenly, I found myself at a dilemma: These heads show every sign of having been carefully rebuilt by someone who *really* pays attention to detail (the CCing of the heads) and are in prime condition and seal well.
Am I willing to buy a pig in a poke?
I asked Gary for twenty minutes to think about it. He laughed and said I was the first person to properly take the heads out of the box, inspect them, ask questions, and notice details about them that said a lot about the machinist who must have worked them. Everyone else just stared and then walked away. I said I'd be back in 20 minutes either way.
So wandered off to find a few of my friends. Chris (fuser on thesamba) was vending from his work bus which had monster truck suspension and required a rope ladder for passengers to mount. I had bought some bits from him earlier in the day and we had chatted about thesamba and some of the bits I was buying. So I asked if he knew Gary from Suburban Engine.
Gary? Everyone knows Gary. Quality Brother. What's up.
So I told him about the mystery heads. And his face fell. And then I told him the $200 price, and he started pulling hairs out of the back of his hand. "If I had known," said Chris tensely, "That Gary was selling run-ready Type4 heads of any stripe, I would have kicked you in the shins then outrun you to buy them. But since you've asked me about them, I'm honor bound to answer your question. Don't just stand here, you jackass, get back over there before someone else buys them!"
Which pretty much made up my mind on site. The final kicker was when I strolled up to Gary and said I'd take them, he said archly, "You got any kids?" Which kind of knocked me off my stride. What did this have to do with....?
Sure. Two kids, a nine year old boy who couldn't care less about my bus and my six year old daughter who loves it so much she wants to move into it even though its been up on jacks for six months.
Gary smiled. "Happy Father's Day. Gimme $150."
So through the generosity of others (both financially and informationally) I've just jumped the whole process ahead by WEEKS, and cut my engine rebuild cost almost in half.
Happy Father's Day indeed. Thanks Gary. Even if the heads don't work out, thanks.
I nearly choked. Inside were *new* AMC heads which had already had their wear components replaced! I inquired and Gary chuckled hollowly. "I've been trying to sell these for the last nine months. Everyone's scared of them. They ask me, 'Who did the valve job? What are the materials? Did they do everything?'
"I can only say what I know: I've had them on my flow-bench and all four valves are sealed tight to their seats. No leaks. I don't know if it is a 45 degree cut, a three angle job, or lapped to a perfect fit. But I know it don't leak. There's been die grinding just beneath the spark plug bore on the inside of the combustion chamber. No one does that if they're not CC'ing the head. And no one bothers to CC a head that they're just slapping together. Who ever built these used a new casting, replaced all of the wear parts, CC'd the head and then meticulously marked each valve for what sides the heads should be installed on."
When I found my voice again I asked why he didn't just use them. Surely he's still doing Type 4 engines. Gary demurred that his reputation was all he had, and if he put that set of heads (which he did not know who built them, nor what quality of parts they were assembled with) on a customer's engine and the thing et itself in 20,0000 miles, his reputation would be damaged. Also, how do you warranty or vouch for something that you don't know where or who it came from?
"Oh no," he said, stridently. "I might put it in my own car, because if they grenade the engine, it'll be me who's pushing it. But not in a customer's car, and I won't offer any guarantee on these heads to you, either. They may be the work of a master inside. Or they may be a fluff 'n buff job. I don't know and I've got too much to do to play with them to find out. If you want 'em, they're $100 apiece."
At this point I struggled to keep from wetting myself. $200 complete? $200?!?
When I started this quest for new heads, the first stop was the figure $1600, which caused all of the blood to drain out of my head. That was two new AMC castings with the wear parts replaced with the finest materials and reworked by one of two master builders: Adrian at Headflow Masters in Vista, California or Len Hoffman at H.A.M. in Athens, Georgia.
Having decided that I was willing to live with less than the perfect best, I shopped for the 'next best' which I assumed was new AMC heads alone. $800 for a pair was the best price I ever found. And I could drive around with my fingers crossed that I wasn't going to drop a valve seat and bugger up the engine.
Then, having discovered that Adrian at Headflow Masters would rebuild an original VW Type 4 head if it didn't need welding, I contacted him for pricing on this. I have two butt-ugly Type 4 heads that I could take to Adrian and for $700, have the $1600 hand worked quality on stock castings. Still, we're talking about a lot of green. Not that I begrudge Adrian the money for his labors. It's the dual embarrassment of not having such monies at hand, and having to fly to California with these two dog-eared, gooey cylinder heads in my luggage to deliver them to Adrian.
So now, suddenly, I found myself at a dilemma: These heads show every sign of having been carefully rebuilt by someone who *really* pays attention to detail (the CCing of the heads) and are in prime condition and seal well.
Am I willing to buy a pig in a poke?
I asked Gary for twenty minutes to think about it. He laughed and said I was the first person to properly take the heads out of the box, inspect them, ask questions, and notice details about them that said a lot about the machinist who must have worked them. Everyone else just stared and then walked away. I said I'd be back in 20 minutes either way.
So wandered off to find a few of my friends. Chris (fuser on thesamba) was vending from his work bus which had monster truck suspension and required a rope ladder for passengers to mount. I had bought some bits from him earlier in the day and we had chatted about thesamba and some of the bits I was buying. So I asked if he knew Gary from Suburban Engine.
Gary? Everyone knows Gary. Quality Brother. What's up.
So I told him about the mystery heads. And his face fell. And then I told him the $200 price, and he started pulling hairs out of the back of his hand. "If I had known," said Chris tensely, "That Gary was selling run-ready Type4 heads of any stripe, I would have kicked you in the shins then outrun you to buy them. But since you've asked me about them, I'm honor bound to answer your question. Don't just stand here, you jackass, get back over there before someone else buys them!"
Which pretty much made up my mind on site. The final kicker was when I strolled up to Gary and said I'd take them, he said archly, "You got any kids?" Which kind of knocked me off my stride. What did this have to do with....?
Sure. Two kids, a nine year old boy who couldn't care less about my bus and my six year old daughter who loves it so much she wants to move into it even though its been up on jacks for six months.
Gary smiled. "Happy Father's Day. Gimme $150."
So through the generosity of others (both financially and informationally) I've just jumped the whole process ahead by WEEKS, and cut my engine rebuild cost almost in half.
Happy Father's Day indeed. Thanks Gary. Even if the heads don't work out, thanks.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Paydirt
I just got back from the 25th Annual Litchfield Bug-In in Connecticut. Great camping, friendly people, and most of all, a chance to sync in real space with some of the people that I have only met on thesamba.com forums. I'm really impressed by their generosity, and willingness to share information with plebs like me who are beneath their touch. They've been a tight organization for a long time. But they're still sharing, and that rates props in my book.
But with those niceties dispensed with, I'm excited to share the really big news: I absolutely cleaned up at the swap meet. My mate Don commented that there was so much Bus stuff there that he was convinced a few Buses exploded and scattered parts everywhere.
I went up with a very specific list of parts in mind, which I had published on the samba:
And of course, I was looking for other parts that I knew I needed but thought it unlikely to find there:
Well, a fellah can dream, can't he? Certainly I wasn't looking for a pair of fresh Type4 heads. Those things are rare as hens teeth.
Of the stuff on the list above, I came up with the following, though I paid partially by walking my feed down to the stubs and getting a really lobster like sunburn while digging through greasy boxes and looking at parts:
So all told, I waltzed through spending a grand total of $80 and flushed out almost every engine accessory part that I need for the bus. Well, excepting those heads.
But wait, there's more. The night of camping, I pulled up at Stanagon's bus where Stan Wohlfarth already had a lot of tin laid out, and chatted with him while I pawed through the tin. That's where those two $15 pieces came from. He didn't budge because I didn't haggle. I NEEDED that tin. There are some people who, when presented with a price will counter-offer like a nervous tic. I'm not one of them. I don't need to get the BEST deal, and I don't need to steal them. I just want a reasonable deal. I need what I need and I'm willing to pay what I must to get them. If he had wanted $100 each, I would have kept looking, but I would have taken a bucketful of reference photos first, the better to encourage the internet hoarders to give up their parts.
Stan mentioned that he didn't have his full collection to vend there, his buddy Gary LeBlanc (business partner, really) from Suburban Engine was coming tomorrow morning and he'd have more of the 'precious metals' to sell. I had corresponded with both of these guys when looking into having a replacement engine built. Both of these guys were mentored by 'Boston Bob' Donalds who was one of the finest Type 4 engine builders on the East coast, but who died about five years ago, leaving them to carry on his legacy. Both Gary and Stan are what you would expect of a mechanic and a machinist. But they are genuinely great guys and rather than hoarding their knowledge, they share it with anyone who asks, even though they could make more money clutching the information to their breast. But they learned from their mentor, who gave what he knew to them freely, the knowledge continues on in vintage cars still on the road. There's a parable there, somewhere.
When I met Gary on day two, Stan reminded Gary who I was and then I noticed some of the stuff Gary had brought. New bottom tins. I need those because a rock had torn mine up. So I bought them for $20 for the pair, and offered high because they were in great condition, but Gary insisted on taking less. How odd.
Then I saw them. The clouds parted, the Angels sang, and I saw in the possession of Gary LeBlanc, Proprietor of Suburban Engine....
To be continued...
But with those niceties dispensed with, I'm excited to share the really big news: I absolutely cleaned up at the swap meet. My mate Don commented that there was so much Bus stuff there that he was convinced a few Buses exploded and scattered parts everywhere.
I went up with a very specific list of parts in mind, which I had published on the samba:
- 021-119-362-C Front Right Tin with Fuel Pump Cutout 72-74
- 021-256-332AU Hot Air Fan Pipe Right 72-74
- 071-256-051 Hot Air Pipe LH HeatX to Air Flap 72-74
- Left Front Lower Warm Air duct 72-74
- 021-256-205K Heat Control Valve Flap Flapper
- Walk through passenger heat vent cover
- 211-707-311-KCH chrome rear bumper 73-79
- 73-79 Bay Window Windshield
And of course, I was looking for other parts that I knew I needed but thought it unlikely to find there:
- Replacement RH hot air pipe
- New under cylinder ducting for the engine (on of mine took a bad hit and was partially torn off)
- New Windshield.
- Replacement Cold air ventilation controls handle
- DPD Air Conditioning Fans and Evaporator
- A replacement set of seat covers, complete.
Well, a fellah can dream, can't he? Certainly I wasn't looking for a pair of fresh Type4 heads. Those things are rare as hens teeth.
Of the stuff on the list above, I came up with the following, though I paid partially by walking my feed down to the stubs and getting a really lobster like sunburn while digging through greasy boxes and looking at parts:
- Right Front Lower Warm Air duct (no fuel pump cutout. Rare 1979 one year only design) $15
- Hot Air Fan Pipe Right (this sucker is simply unobtainium.) One dollar. $1 for a part that usually sells for $60-70 each when all grimy and dented. Hoowah!
- Hot Air Pipe LH HeatX to Air Flap. One dollar. $1!!!
- Left Front Lower Warm Air duct $15
- Heat Control Valve Flap Flapper (take three and use the best two, MSRP $125 each) $5 each!
- Walk through passenger heat vent cover $10
- Replacement RH hot air pipe $3
- Under cylinder ducting for the engine $20
So all told, I waltzed through spending a grand total of $80 and flushed out almost every engine accessory part that I need for the bus. Well, excepting those heads.
But wait, there's more. The night of camping, I pulled up at Stanagon's bus where Stan Wohlfarth already had a lot of tin laid out, and chatted with him while I pawed through the tin. That's where those two $15 pieces came from. He didn't budge because I didn't haggle. I NEEDED that tin. There are some people who, when presented with a price will counter-offer like a nervous tic. I'm not one of them. I don't need to get the BEST deal, and I don't need to steal them. I just want a reasonable deal. I need what I need and I'm willing to pay what I must to get them. If he had wanted $100 each, I would have kept looking, but I would have taken a bucketful of reference photos first, the better to encourage the internet hoarders to give up their parts.
Stan mentioned that he didn't have his full collection to vend there, his buddy Gary LeBlanc (business partner, really) from Suburban Engine was coming tomorrow morning and he'd have more of the 'precious metals' to sell. I had corresponded with both of these guys when looking into having a replacement engine built. Both of these guys were mentored by 'Boston Bob' Donalds who was one of the finest Type 4 engine builders on the East coast, but who died about five years ago, leaving them to carry on his legacy. Both Gary and Stan are what you would expect of a mechanic and a machinist. But they are genuinely great guys and rather than hoarding their knowledge, they share it with anyone who asks, even though they could make more money clutching the information to their breast. But they learned from their mentor, who gave what he knew to them freely, the knowledge continues on in vintage cars still on the road. There's a parable there, somewhere.
When I met Gary on day two, Stan reminded Gary who I was and then I noticed some of the stuff Gary had brought. New bottom tins. I need those because a rock had torn mine up. So I bought them for $20 for the pair, and offered high because they were in great condition, but Gary insisted on taking less. How odd.
Then I saw them. The clouds parted, the Angels sang, and I saw in the possession of Gary LeBlanc, Proprietor of Suburban Engine....
To be continued...
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