Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

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Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Feb 19, 2016 8:39 am

Here I am at Farmer Jeff's Big Building once more for yet another round of crushingly crazy caniptions with this orange monstrosity. Here's the gracious accommodating Farmer Jeff Himself:

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The ostensible reason for my visit was to install new bolts nuts and gaskets and repaint the heat exchangers and manifolds. Michigan, however, intervened once more with a reminder that road salt is the bane of all automobiles everywhere. Having experienced the invasive rust at the windshield and rear quarter panel, having almost been stopped cold in Valdosta by a hideously crusted crossover pipe, do you think I would have been a little more conscious of the possibility that the exhaust system would be exceptionally challenging? Naw.

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You might see over on the left side of the above photograph that I dremeled off the bolts between the u-pipe and the manifold. Then I realized that this disassembly just was not going to happen. The flanges were in no shape to take hits as I attempted to punch out the headless bolts. So I stopped trying, good for me, stop while I am ahead, but who is ahead with headless bolts? The manifold studs were the next treat. Seven of the eight came out with the manifolds, three of those gave me the dreaded loosen-then-tighten as I turned them out. Tightening while loosening is evidence of galled threads and a dam of shredded aluminum piling up in the threads. Normally, I drench the threads with PB Blaster and screw the stud back up into the head then back down. These guys seemed to get tighter still as I did that. When I committed to getting them out damn the torpedoes, they squawked hideously and pissed off the turkey. See, there was a dandy pompous turkey on the premises who thought I was getting too friendly with his hens (I photographed the one who was sweet on me last visit), and he started stalking me. Every time a stud would squawk, the turkey would do a gobble. Hilariously demented, that's how I like it:

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The manifold studs came out with varying degrees of aluminum and the self-locking nuts were rust-welded to the other ends. I dremelled the nuts carefully in half, ran a die over both ends ( 9x1.25 on the head side, 8 x 1.25 manifold side ) then dremel-smoothed the center portion of each stud to remove the vise grip marks, sort of like shot-peening connecting rods to reduce stress. In the photograph, you can see the copper ring removal tool that used to be a 5.5.mm allen wrench. This thing worked perfectly to get the rings out without a speck of damage to the exhaust ports:

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What the heck, let's re-condition the heat shield, I am way behind schedule, stoned on PB Blaster, gasoline, rust dust, paint fumes, why not? :

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Here's the repainted muffler/crossover pipe, and the right side exchanger/manifold with the cut off bolts just painted over. See that coffee POT? These guys are the best:

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I did not cut off any bolts on the left side exchanger. I went straight to milling the pipes with a bastard file and drilling out the flange holes. Hideous shrieking of the drill bit occurred while Jeff was on the phone, the turkey got all challenged again, ahh, life on the farm . . . Cleaning the rust off of each exchanger took six hours per side. Someone, some person, some . . . . . one, had undercoated the exchangers but good, thus blocking drain holes, hello, then our good friend Fred The OverSprayer had oversprayed the baked-on undercoating, and these things were a fiend to clean. Late on the second day, the left side exchanger was finally ready for paint, hanging precariously from two folding chairs:

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Exhaust valve and port #3, a tad lean:

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Exhaust valve and port #4, a tad less lean but still a tad lean:

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Did I mention that I scraped/sanded/painted the fresh air pipes that lead from the heater blower hoses to the exchangers?:

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Here's midnight on the second day after a second disassembly to double up the gaskets between the damaged exchanger flanges and new old stock new crossover pipe:

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So this system is sporting new paint over old rusted flanges and gaskets and is missing four bolt heads on the right u pipe:

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From 1:00am to 2:00am I played with a dancing thermostat cable trying to thread it through the eye of a plastic disc way up in the darkness of shadows cast by a hot halogen lamp that blinded me every time I looked to the side. Finally got that squared away and lurched off into the cold night to the Scotty travel trailer, exhausted, filthy, and wondering if this effort to save the exhaust system was all for naught.

In the morning, I happened across this horrendous crime scene, some poor stuffed squirrel in an advanced state of rigor mortis had been savagely mauled and was about to be buried in a shallow grave:

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The criminal posed nearby:

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I am on the road to Miami and the exhaust system is apparently not too bothered by its boltlessness:


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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 Florida I

Post by Jcameron75 » Fri Feb 19, 2016 10:48 am

You do good work Colin, be safe on your trip. I hope to see you next time you are at the farm. Lol
59 bug, 56 vw truck, 4 jars of apple pie! sounds like a good weekend!

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:05 pm

Jcameron75 wrote:You do good work Colin, be safe on your trip. I hope to see you next time you are at the farm. Lol

Oh good grief no no way this was an "ABORT . ABORT . ABORT ."

The good work was back in my youth:

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Yes! Let's do a pizza / beer back porch gobblefest with the turkey. I have had enough of all of this workworkwork craziness.

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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 Florida I

Post by weisswurst » Sat Feb 20, 2016 6:29 pm

Wow that last pic of the tom turkey was great you can see his beak waddle flinging in mid-gobble! That replacement camera is serving you well!
Come back soon Colin!
Jeff
"I drink, therefore yes ma'am..."

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by Jivermo » Sat Feb 20, 2016 7:27 pm

Colin made it down to Miami, and I stopped by for a visit at the Cuban Connection, VW Treasure's welcoming home. They were in the thick of it when I arrived around 2:00pm.

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VW Treasure's engine sure looks nice. Adrian did the rebuild, so I guess we'll have a future performance report on this.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by Jivermo » Sat Feb 20, 2016 7:34 pm

After a steaming Cuban expresso, and a glove box installation, it was time for me to go. Especially when I looked in on this scene, and determined I could not be of any further assistance:


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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by zabo » Sun Feb 21, 2016 7:17 am

Jivermo wrote:Image
nightmare inducing scene
60 beetle
78 bus

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by VW Treasure » Sun Feb 21, 2016 8:27 am

Thanks Jivermo for taking and posting these initial pics of Colin's timely arrival to our "compound". It couldn't have come at a more timely moment. It is truly a blessing to have Colin in our neck of the woods so early again....no less to kick off his new year's itinerary! By looking at the picture of him with his hands inside a "spaghetti bowl" of electrical cables, one can only imagine what we went through yesterday trying to test each and every cable, connection, fuse, ground...ect. In the hopes of finding a maligned short circuit, while at the same time keeping the 40-year old + dashboard cluster bulbs from turning on and then off like a Christmas tree! That's not to mention attempting to, and ultimately conquering the installation of the aftermarket, Chinese-built front windshield; a project which was started at around 7 p.m., well after every one of us had already spent most, if not all, of our energy reserves while dealing with the electrical troubleshooting, window glass and dashboard installation. Now for the next step this coming Thursday; all-things engine (tins, rockers with swivel-foot adjusters, thermostat, heater boxes and the likes)! Thank God we have Colin on our side :cheers:

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Feb 22, 2016 6:29 am

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Did the trip to Miami include the usual drama? Yes, yes it sure did. We had the usual recipe of:
a) a torrent of Friday Afternoon Traffic
b) an automobile that was not sure it liked it.

Naranja has a colicky little engine whose every bout of indigestion causes me instant fuel tank /filter/ pump panic. I have now cleaned three fuel filters 16 times total ( for a sum total of 80 minutes which is still less than removing the engine/fuel tank to get it cleaned so HA ), and I reverse-flushed the pump once up in Somewhere GA. This particular Friday afternoon's Sudden Death occurred in Boca Raton on I-95 S, but I had followed the little-voice-in-my-head that said, "get off the highway now!". Only as I was waiting in the long backed up line of cars for the light to turn to green at the end of the two-lane exit ramp did the car just up and die.

"Fuel filter!" said I, and I set to work removing it and installing the pre-cleaned spare filter now @ four cleans (six allowed per filter lifetime). Attempted to restart the engine and it said, "no."
"How dare you, you rotten tangerine," replied I.

Left the ignition on and went to the AFM to hear the pump. Did not hear the pump. Clicked the double relay a few times with the AFM wiper. Pump suddenly started. I figure that a small .005mm boulder of crud had slammed one of the fuel pump rollers and stalled it out, but we're running now. A fellow motorist gallantly waved me in front of her as I triumphantly pulled back out out onto the exit ramp lane three feet and stopped. Like I SAID, Friday afternoon traffic . . .

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Had a horrendous night's sleep, thanks for asking. I managed to park at a supermarket back lot that was nice and dark and quiet. Fell just enough asleep to be groggy when a loud motorcycle importantly announced that it just had to pull into the supermarket. Dozed off. Then it as importantly announced its departure, that was 1:25am. At 2:40am, a flock of sirens screamed past. At 4:10am, a young female voice broke into a prolonged giggle. Then it started a drunken soliloquy punctuated by a male monosyllabic response. This female voice did not stop slurring for damn close to a half hour. I was ready to come raging up,
"Shut up! You're no philosopher! You have nothing to say! You are just dangling on the twig of your parent's misplaced pride, you are one in a billion typical teenagers who thinks she has stumbled across The Great Truth, shut up! Can't you see that guy is only waiting to make out with you?? He hasn't followed a damn word of your disjointed declarations of desperately delusional divinations of duh! Stop! Go sleep it off!"
But I didn't. No, I moved the car around to the other side of the back lot to get away, like a little homeless mouse. 5:10-5:15am, I apologized to her. "I'm sorry, you're allowed to discover the world anew, I am just cranky and can't sleep." At 5:50am, the sound of a truck invaded my sleep. I knew this truck from thousands of other moments just like it.
"I know, I know your brakes are going to squeal!" They did.
"Now you are going to release the air!" It did.
"Now you are going to rev up and some horrid dumpster lid is going to bang!" Oh, it did too, and we repeated this ballet of bashing about eight more times.

Made it to the Cuban Chromestead, we have a full day ahead:

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Groggily, I drilled through VW Treasure's beautiful new blue paint, "now why did I just do that?"

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Naah, just kidding, I knew why I drilled through the beautiful new paint. I drilled through the beautiful new paint because, like the Naranja Westy, his body & paint guy bondo-glopped up the index hole for the left rear side reflector. As mentioned, there was a lot of wiring wandering around under the dashboard, but we're professionals here, and we dispatched many little "issues" with chaotic consultations. Here's the team:

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I have had fierce battles with the rear side windows. Hambone remembers his. Chloe remembers that epic struggle with paint sticks and electrical wire fraying as I pulled and pried and pushed with all I had and that fresh new headliner panic. So, when the eight-almost-nine year old team member said, "I want to pull the string, I want to pull the string, can I pull the string?" I was a little hesitant.
Pshaw.
Like greenolivemedia's nine year-old of "I can do this" fame, she pulled the string and the window went in.

The senior team member "Viejo" joined in with Victor to machine all the rocker arms in preparation for swivelfoot adjusters. I barely was able to show them what needed to be done, "we're good, we get it . . . . we got it, they're done."

When it came time for us to do the windshield about 11 hours into the day, the junior team member chimes in, "can I pull the string, I want to pull the string". She is still here! I patronizingly suggest with a sing-song dopey condescension, "this is a big job and it is going to be difficult for ALL of us." Pshaw. Look out world, the current flock of kids seem to be made of pretty stern stuff:

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We have another day coming up to install the rocker arms and a bunch of engine parts, will update you, but right now, I have to jet over to the good vet.
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 Florida I

Post by VW Treasure » Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:10 pm

That's my beautiful and talented Sofie there for you...just turned 9 year-old princess. Talented JUST like her father! :bom:
Looking forward to Thirsday epic day when Colin will finally bring Headflow Masters' engine build full potential to life! Again, we couldn't feel any more blessed than to have Colin's vast expertise to our disposal...not to mention Jivermo's backing and blessing just in case we need that "extra hand" to keep Colin's work completely kosher and running smooth.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by Jivermo » Tue Feb 23, 2016 5:17 am

Well, thank you, Ray...but I am a novice at this game, too. We all continue to learn under Colin's tutelage. This week, we'll be working on my Westy's brakes-it appears that the master cylinder is on its way out. I'll come away from this encounter with a much clearer understanding of how my brakes design and function. I was speaking with Colin last night, and he was delighted with Sophie's interest and help with the window installations on your bus. I'm betting that none of Sophie's schoolmates have any inkling of how windshields are fitting into automobiles...but she certainly does. Showing a young person how things work, and that realization that they can do things like that for themselves is an invaluable life lesson. My son rebuilt a Ford model A carb when he was around 6, and I think that gave him the confidence to take on other things later on. An interesting week ahead of us, no doubt!

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by VW Treasure » Tue Feb 23, 2016 5:31 pm

No doubt that the experience of being 9 years-old and already getting her little hands dirty with degreasers, hand cleaners and silicone sprays while installing a front windshield on a vw bus must surely have made her feel like the most capable of 9 year-olds in the world! I remember Colin's pupils getting bigger and bigger every time she shouted: "I'm pulling the cord!" But every time he checked up on what she was doing inside the bus, each and every time he would grin from ear to ear with a "thumbs up" sign letting us all know that she was getting the job done. No doubt she understood quite well what was required of her in order for the windshield rubber to fit properly over the headliner. It really is a blessing to be able to get our children involved in our crazy hobbies and in the process have them learn at a young age the meaning AND the value of teamwork, hard work, finishing what you start, getting the job done the right way, and that no matter how young / small they are, our love and trust for them is unmeasurable and unlimited...as is their potential!

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by asiab3 » Tue Feb 23, 2016 5:40 pm

This thread warms my heart. Not only do I treasure the memories like that I have with my family, but I'll also rest assured that Tesla won't have any trouble finding their next engineers in fifteen years.

Keep it up folks. :)
Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by Jivermo » Wed Feb 24, 2016 1:12 pm

"What? Me worry?"

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Colin refinishing Naranja's luggage rack, out in my barn. Intermittent rain, and political discourse hinders the pace.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida I

Post by Jivermo » Wed Feb 24, 2016 1:19 pm

Colin here enjoys the copious amount of free space in which he has to work. "A place for everything, and everything in its place!", that's my motto! The boattail Bugatti is a future project, and Colin told me that he did not know anyone who owned a Bugatti.
"You still don't.", I told him.
Some epoxy and glass cloth work on the luggage rack, with coats of Interlux following.



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