Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

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Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:10 am

Once again, I have run out of time, but I will post right here of my travel to Los Angeles from Nevada, visit with asia3b, Elwood, and lanval. I have three stops today 125 miles up from what was supposed to be a simple drop down from Irvine to La Mesa CA. Instead, I am in Burbank, on my way to Thousand Oaks, then La Verne, then to La Mesa by 1:00AM.

Haw,
Colin

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by Jivermo » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:37 am

Man, this is a difficult pic to figure out.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by asiab3 » Fri Aug 07, 2015 12:20 am

Newhall, CA, 8/3/15:

There were four brake cylinders, three Volkswagens, two single-port 1600 engines, one Itinerator, and a plethora of knowledge dropped on this here asiab3 fellow. More to come tomorrow, as I have pictures! stories! anecdotes! and more!

Proof that slow-y Chloe did in fact visit:

Image

Just removed my nosecone without removing the engine…
…Robbie……
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by jtauxe » Fri Aug 07, 2015 7:43 am

Jivermo wrote:Man, this is a difficult pic to figure out.
I agree... It is a puzzler.
John
"The bus came by and I got on. That's when it all began..." - Garcia/Weir/Kreutzman
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Aug 07, 2015 9:19 am

jtauxe wrote:
Jivermo wrote:Man, this is a difficult pic to figure out.
I agree... It is a puzzler.
Excellent, me and my Kodak EZ Share still have some tricks. =D>

It was taken at 30 mph on I-15 from the driver's seat of Chloe. I zoomed the right side curb mirror on the Kenworth.

Robbie, are you making history or contaminating the innards of the input/output transaxle bearings with undercar dirt? Your pluck is admirable but keep your Inadvertency Antennae tuned.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by Jivermo » Fri Aug 07, 2015 9:23 am

Inadvertency Antennae
Love this one!

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by asiab3 » Fri Aug 07, 2015 11:34 pm

Where does the time go?

One year ago last week, Colin showed up to my place in the BobD bus and spent a day and a half making me focus, concentrate, and work smarter. This time the bus was a sweet brown cow, but the attention to detail was that once-a-year peak that I am never forced into with my job or personal responsibilities.

Coffee was poured, so with a reintroduction to the dog and family, a new introduction to Kate, and a guffaw at the 1933 typewriter I am restoring, we started the annual "draw a concept and quiz me" lesson. This year was lubrication system properties, fuel pressure atrocities, and political system monarchies. Well, two of those were Volkswagen related… :blackeye:

A step out to the vehicles yielded a conversation about the finer points of single port 1584 engines, forced to live their lives floored in whatever climate we point them towards. It's no secret that Colin's buses do well all around the country, so I did take a pointer or two from them when deciding on my engine specifications this year. I ogled the preheated air intake cable system, which I'm missing one final part for, then Colin acquainted me with the gasket/seal housing on the 30pict3 one-year-only idle cutoff solenoid. I've never seen that before, and I'm hoping installing one may bring my low RPM acceleration mixture into a safer air/fuel ratio. It is on the edge of unacceptably lean, and cold starts are a little wonky in the mixture department. It's bad enough that no parts supplier on the planet thinks that people still run 30pict3 carbs, but to try to buy a part for us???

"Nah, just cut the plunger off the solenoid if yours is shot."
"But sir, this carb doesn't have the plunger."
"Then just stick a jet in there."
"Then the car will run-on."
"They all do that."
"What about the idle bypass circuitry?"
"What's that?"
…Next shop… :pukeright:

A compression test yielded a curious 120-140-135-140. (Right? Did I mix those up?) Anyway, the #1 cylinder seemed a bit low for a newish engine with 4,000 miles on it. Interestingly enough, the engine seemed to puff a bit of smoke upon startup after. It's never done that with the new engine, so I may have just caught it on a bad ring-alignment day. Another compression test will follow soon, I suppose.

Oh yeah, did I mention the spark plugs were so gritty coming out, that I seriously considered leaving them in for there best of the engine? Luckily, Colin had some PB Blaster handy, and I removed them because he didn't want to be the one to ruin my heads. He is, you know, a consultant… :bom:

Sooo I didn't ruin the heads. :joker: But I'm sick of the Bosch "Made in Russia, Comrade" plugs that aren't really threaded correctly. Or built correctly. Or good, at all. I'm trying to find an NGK that doesn't stick the insulated tip out past the shell. B5HS? I really liked the way the old ones threaded in and out repeatedly, but I want to make sure I'm in the correct heat range. 5-6 seems to be recommended on TheSamba, but NGK plugs use a LOWER number for a hotter heat-ranged plug.

At this point, Colin wanted to drive the engine to see if my tyro efforts at engine building could produce a quieter and less-thrashy T1 plant than Chloe's world-traveling setup. I am extremely happy with the engine, but I feel like the next one will be what I always dreamed of this one being. I do not feel like the balance shop did as good of a job as they charged me for. Live and learn, I guess. Halfway into the 4th gear shift, I decided NOT to remind our Itinerator that 4th gear acceleration is not allowed without holding the gearshift. Now, touching the gearshift without changing gears is USUALLY forbidden… But this popping out of 4th deal that I've been living with is terrible. Four or five embarrassing pops for the bus, and Colin pulls into the gas station because some bonehead forgot to fill his tank for the appointment. DUH!?

It's ok though, because I forgot my wallet, too. So it gave us a chance to hit a few 4,400 RPM shifts, where the engine just sings. Back at the ranch, Colin wanted to pull my transaxle drain plug so badly, but I convinced him, (us, really,) otherwise because I had no oil, no pump, and no desire to remove a transaxle and miss the next week of work… [I pulled the plug and drained the oil yesterday. Pics to come, but nothing unordinary.]

Now it's BACK to the gas station, but this time, for some god-forsaken reason, Colin showed me the path to Chloe the Cow and hopped in my bus, Buddy. I've been meticulously caring for Buddyr for four years now, and I've seen it on the road without me ONCE, last year, and it scared the pants off me. So now I'm sitting behind the wheel of one of the finest T1 buses in all the land, and I see my bus just pull off down the street while I struggle with the most precise shifter I've ever felt. "So, like, your knuckles DON'T have to hit the intake plenum??"

I'm about to cross the 'tracks to turn down Railroad Avenue, and I hear a "think" from the back seat. Great, our coffee cups have now spilled all over the NOS interior panels and the slider door track will certainly rust out in seconds if I do not Pull. Over. Now. *Honk* "Wow these dual horns are niiiice," and I think I see a panicked look on Colin's face. And then I forsee 40 years of slave labor for the coffee spill. And then I see my bus bursting into flames as I watch from afar. And then I need to add dual horns to my project list… And… And…

For a few days afterwards I felt the nerves of Colin trusting me with his bus. I do not get that way test-driving other VWs I work on. But this one… This one rendered my camera stoopidd.

Image

Brake cylinders happened. I finally know what those guys are doing when they tell me to "Push," "hold," and "release," the pedal when they bleed the brakes for me. The list of "things I don't really understand at all" shrunk magnificently today: Bleeding the brakes bleeds the AIR not the FLUID. Like duh? Couldn't someone have told me that BEFORE I bought the gallon drum of brake fluid? :pirate:

Of course, I could not let Colin go without driving mom's '69 convertible bug. It's such a sweetheart. Flick the starter, you're off! Smoother than a 2015 VW Beetle convertible! It's one of the Good Ones. Hear the valvetrain echoing off the tree canopy? Of course you do, there's no roof! Or seatbelts!

Family recipe results were spread around the table, because one can NOT live forever on string cheese. Dad, again, expressed interest in buying the Squareback… I'm going to need to quit my job to take care of my family's VWs one of these days… :rabbit:

"Hey Colin, I'm going to follow you as you leave, because if the brake fluid squirts out onto the pavement, I want you to see firsthand how late to work I'm going to be tomorrow!"
(Did I mention It's a 132 mile commute that evening?)

A block later, he pulls over, "Why don't you go first, in case your brake fluid squirts out onto the pavement."
FINE, I'll lead the train of two, with my new fancy brake cylinders and almost-adjusted drums! Ok, they're holding, you win… :cyclopsani:

21.something MPG all the way back to San Diego that night was uneventful. Though Colin's trip Up The Hill was a few miles longer, it was comforting to know that TWO Real Volkswagen Buses were taking the highways of Southern California that night.

Robbie

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1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by wcfvw69 » Sat Aug 08, 2015 5:48 am

Nice write up Robbie..

What part are you missing for your pre-heat oil bath system? I found a guy on The Samba a while back that had every part I needed and most were NOS!
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by asiab3 » Sat Aug 08, 2015 8:03 am

wcfvw69 wrote:Nice write up Robbie..

What part are you missing for your pre-heat oil bath system? I found a guy on The Samba a while back that had every part I needed and most where NOS!
Thanks Bill!

The clip that holds the air preheater cable to the shroud. I tried fabricating one, but my efforts were lost due to the proximity of the intake manifold. I'll install everything next time I have the engine out. That will be in early September with the new transaxle. Just in time for winter, aye!

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by Jivermo » Sat Aug 08, 2015 8:12 am

Like this pic a lot...bus going off into the sunset. It has the quality of reminiscence like some of R. Crumb's cityscapes. I took the liberty of taking away the distracting, soulless vehicles.


Image

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by asiab3 » Sat Aug 08, 2015 8:23 am

And the edits make art of my camera phone's inability, thanks! :sunny:
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by dingo » Sat Aug 08, 2015 9:01 am

yeah i like that pic too...especially the the one in robbies post...somehow seems to say more than all the words, tho i read those too !
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by wcfvw69 » Sat Aug 08, 2015 9:27 am

asiab3 wrote:
wcfvw69 wrote:Nice write up Robbie..

What part are you missing for your pre-heat oil bath system? I found a guy on The Samba a while back that had every part I needed and most where NOS!
Thanks Bill!

The clip that holds the tube to the shroud. I tried fabricating one, but my efforts were lost due to the proximity of the intake manifold. I'll install everything next time I have the engine out. That will be in early September with the new transaxle. Just in time for winter, aye!

Robbie
DBrownfids@aol.com

Send him an email. His name if I recall is Dave and is a super nice guy and is VERY knowledgeable about air cooled VW parts. I think he use to be a VW Dealer parts guy back in the 70's. I hope he has one for ya.

Bill
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by asiab3 » Sat Aug 08, 2015 11:39 am

dingo wrote:yeah i like that pic too...especially the the one in robbies post...somehow seems to say more than all the words, tho i read those too !
Mine is symbolic of the staying power of these cars. They'll be on the road long after those other sedentary little boxes are turned into refrigerators with built in wifi and facial recognition.
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From SoCal

Post by hambone » Sat Aug 08, 2015 12:09 pm

I put in a later oil bath with the built-in air preheater thermostat. You used to be able to still find those things...
Good to know about the 30pict3 cutoff issue. What are people doing for parts?
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