Itinerant Air-Cooled

Chloe has been running well through this entire 2,000 mile Miami jaunt, 'cept for that little episode on the shoulder of I-95 where I had used late bay breaker points on my early vacuum -only distributor and the wire detached from the points, leave me alone.

Yesterday looked like the last summer day I would get this YEAR, so do you suppose I had to do one last project?




You bet I did . . . :




This was a custom stratified paint job:




Though you cannot tell with the completed job, I had to put the 2,000* paint on the actual exhaust pipes and use only the modestly hot 500* paint on the heat exchanger jackets. Turns out that 2,000* paint is useless if it does not get hot enough! I was appalled the first time I discovered this during a simple wipe down of road grime with a gas soaked cloth and I had silver flakes galore and a stripe of primer showing through. THIS time, the exchangers have suitable paint for the jackets and suitable paint for the pipe ends.



Thermostat is hanging in there doing its thermostatic thing:




Multi-layered stratified exchangers back on . . . :




I was very happy to see that the exhaust gaskets/ donut gaskets were all intact after this summer's banzai. It looks like the key to these things working is to re-torque *frequently* as they bed in. Note how I bent the lower tin straps to give the tins a noticeable drop towards the rear of the car. I dunno, I thought it would help get rid of the hot air coming off the cylinders:




They will be looking garish for about a week, then my propensity to drive through weeds and rocks will blend them back in with the rest of the undercarriage.




The *engineering* of this car still tickles me:




I must hie to Georgia, each mile north is met with resistant petulance as the temperatures relentlessly plummet. My life is so hard. I suppose I will have to put on long pants within the next few hundred miles.
Colin

Amskeptic wrote:Though you cannot tell with the completed job, I had to put the 2,000* paint on the actual exhaust pipes and use only the modestly hot 500* paint on the heat exchanger jackets. Turns out that 2,000* paint is useless if it does not get hot enough! I was appalled the first time I discovered this during a simple wipe down of road grime with a gas soaked cloth and I had silver flakes galore and a stripe of primer showing through. THIS time, the exchangers have suitable paint for the jackets and suitable paint for the pipe ends.

Ah wow, such an aspect of Itinerant Life I never considered. Here in the land of indoor plumbing, we simply put our VHT-covered products in the BBQ when the roommates aren't looking.* Baking them this way is probably just as time consuming as masking and carefully painting, but I think it hardens the paint better.

*Also make sure the BBQ is destined for the recycler the next day. I got lucky this way.

What are those metal tabs hanging off the sled tins that seem wont to grab at anything that comes close to scraping your engine?

Safe travels,
Robbie

asiab3 wrote: What are those metal tabs hanging off the sled tins that seem wont to grab at anything that comes close to scraping your engine?

"Washers" . . .
Colin

Amskeptic wrote:

asiab3 wrote: What are those metal tabs hanging off the sled tins that seem wont to grab at anything that comes close to scraping your engine?

"Washers" . . .
Colin

And here I thought they were the "washers" that hold the not-at-all fitting damper pipes to the muffler, here shown in green, to prevent leaks near red……

Amskeptic wrote:Note how I bent the lower tin straps to give the tins a noticeable drop towards the rear of the car. I dunno, I thought it would help get rid of the hot air coming off the cylinders....The *engineering* of this car still tickles me.

If VW thought they should be bent, they'd've bent them. Bend them back to original, tickling-engineering status, please.

whc03grady wrote:

Amskeptic wrote:Note how I bent the lower tin straps to give the tins a noticeable drop towards the rear of the car. I dunno, I thought it would help get rid of the hot air coming off the cylinders....The *engineering* of this car still tickles me.

If VW thought they should be bent, they'd've bent them. Bend them back to original, tickling-engineering status, please.

Yeah? Yeah? Tell that to DANSK, who spot-welded these straps on in the wrong place anyway!
I LOVE my Kustom Engineered Sooper-Breathe Deluxe lower tins. I also like the way the 500* heat exchanger jacket paint has already fried right the hell off the pipes leaving the nice 2000* silver paint remaining . . . thus tickled anew, I endeavored to remove the front bumper yesterday in the famed Valdosta field:




Painted the bolts with rust-catalyzing primer, followed by anti-seize on the threads:




Painted the bumper and dogleg mounting areas and anti-seized the threads:




Gasoline-cleaned off the undercoating overspray and some highway tar off the inside surfaces of the front bumper, then waxed:




"A little OCD, are we?" I hear you ask . . . this was all in the service of gaining access to the passenger door seal that had come loose at the lower corner where you can't access it on account of the step. Had to Goof-Off the channel and re-adhere the seal, so there.

Re-attaching the bumper, I earned an additional half inch of impact absorption by loosening both side steps (see next shot below):




With the side wing/steps slightly loose where they attach to the bumper blade, I got all bolt holes in "maximum impact readiness" position for any errant hits:




Note the serious horn in the above photograph, and compare it to the skinny little beep-beep replacement horn on the left side here:



Loosening the side step-to-bumper blade bolts also allowed me to finally align the gap between the steps and the doglegs:






Now I can wax the front of the car all the way down to the belly pan without getting my fingers trapped:






This is the sort of procrastinating project you do when you do not want to go up into the cold of northern Georgia, but go I must:




Met a 1963 Lincoln Continental in a parking lot:




As I was there, a woman hops out of a Honda Accord, "you selling these?" I explained that I was just photographing the Lincoln and was driving the bus.
"I was interested in the bus, the Lincoln, it's nice, but I don't do that lowered stuff."
(dang, I think to myself, she seems to be on my wavelength)
"I have a 1962 Lincoln that is not lowered, and it sits low anyway."
"I want your bus! I have always wanted a bus, I want to drive acro-hey! that is a New York, are you from New York? Can I come with you, no wait, let's go south."
This creature is making more sense by the second, and she is exceptionally . . .
(if she were a car, she would be a Lotus in a world of Suburbans)
"Hey, come on over to my house for a drink, come ON, it'll be fun!"
(and if she was a car, I would have to say she had been hitting the ethanol E85 a bit hard).
Colin

I actually like the lowed Lincoln...

That last picture hits me hard in a time in my life when I'm questioning the trend of rising belt lines in design. How about not one but TWO beautiful and aesthetically pleasing chassis in one frame? It's soothing. Also refreshing? A stranger agreeing on not lowering cars...

I like that Lincoln, too.

Jivermo wrote:I like that Lincoln, too.

And me.

"all my friends love a low rider..."
War.

glasseye wrote:

Jivermo wrote:I like that Lincoln, too.

And me.

"all my friends love a low rider..."
War.

What about this?

When My Lincoln Was New . . .

Sweet. One of my favourite American bodies. (That and Jane Mansfield)

F*rd really did it right in those years. The '60 Galaxie was great for a run of the mill car.



How long is it stock? Must be longer than Frito by the look of it. He's exactly 20 ft.

glasseye wrote:Sweet. One of my favourite American bodies. (That and Jane Mansfield)

I mean the wheels, the wheels, how can anyone prefer the big chrome things on that lowered Lincoln? What am I missing as far as the current aesthetic?
Colin

Amskeptic wrote:

glasseye wrote:Sweet. One of my favourite American bodies. (That and Jane Mansfield)

I mean the wheels, the wheels, how can anyone prefer the big chrome things on that lowered Lincoln? What am I missing as far as the current aesthetic?
Colin

the more current aesthetic going around is proper Detroit Steel wheels (made in Detroit!)

To me, both cars lose their poise when the front wheels and tires aren't entirely visible.