Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Jul 10, 2016 8:55 pm

NaranjaWesty died again after the Spearfish appointment, and this time the Rotten Tangerine wasn't kidding around. We died on the shoulder of a hill off I-90 westbound. Removed the fuel filter as pick-up trucks towing boat trailers did not bother in the slightest to move in the slightest away from my feet sticking out. The wind blasts got gasoline in my eyes, and I was a little cross.

Mr. Wyoming Highway Patrolman thankfully stopped and parked right on the shoulder white line to make subsequent pick-ups move all the way into the passing lane. He hung out with me through the fuel filter clean out, and I triumphantly and crisply put the tools away and started the engine . . . not.

He watched with interest as I:
a) yanked the fuel filter
b) blew the fuel filter contents into the magnetic dish
c) read the contents of the magnetic dish
d) pulled the cover off the AFM and got the fuel pump to whine
e) couldn't get the car started

The interior was a mess after I had transferred all of the rear deck junk to the floor.
Finally got the engine started after attaching my new post-robbery Harbor Freight fuel pressure gauge that sprayed all over the place until I tightened the brass compression fittings. Figured that there was vapor lock on the hot engine, and I had inadvertently and fortunately "bled" the fuel system with the leaky gauge.
Mr. Patrolman was happy to see a successful ten minute conclusion to a break down.
"Don't forget that little screw! You told me to remind you!"
Indeed I had reminded him to remind me that I had put the 7mm fuel injection test port screw on the deck behind the cabinets.
He wound out his Dodge Charger and blasted up the hill. I wound out my Westfalia to 12 mph on the shoulder and bam! hesitation and stall within a quarter mile. Starter motored into a parking lot and viewed the impending clouds with grey sheets of doom wafting my way with a stiff head wind:

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Lost the damn screw too. Not leaving the leaky fuel gauge on, no way. Dumped all of my screws on the tool box and started testing little screws willy nilly to see which might fit. Found a choke cover screw and a washer (that we are running right now).
I am also wondering mightily if the fuel pump is dying. Rain came through and left a sunny afternoon behind it. Yay. Took a picture of this train hauling turbine blades. It was eerie in real life, to see all of those shapes following the engines through curves and across the plain. The photograph captured maybe four and a half of forty:

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On the other side of the interstate, Wyoming joins in on the continuing pillage of Mother Earth:

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Some people are challenged when it comes to keeping a tidy yard, I think some are downright proud not to bother:

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Cleaning the fuel filter here, I spied a deer who utilized millions of years of DNA engineering to stand stock still. Couldn't bring myself to tell the deer that it just doesn't work with a concrete backdrop:

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This, what, mule deer? visited the industrial park driveway where I was changing my transaxle oil yet again:

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The used transaxle oil has barely 10,000 miles, but I could feel the synchronizer action disappearing, and it seemed too thin for the 90* + headwind driving days on I-90. While with mpls_ham, I picked up some Lucas 85-140 gear oil and stuck it in, here with the deer. That is the new oil at the bottom . . . :cyclopsani: :

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Next day, was the appointment with Waterdawg2004 in Gillette Wyoming. Waterdawg was sitting out in the garage with his bevy of two VW buses:

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Discovered a whole new low in Horrendousness Experienced By Customers had been reached. Had to ask twice to make sure. His windshield seal had been installed inside-out. The glass people then broke the windshield trying to force it in. They said that they don't guarantee glass so, good-bye :

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Seriously? Seriously?

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We did get the oil pressure and alternator lights squared away, a new oil pressure sender, some tuning, some driving in:

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We also had to ascertain which engine was the good engine. I say they are both good . . . candidates for overhaul. Plenty of work to do out at the spread, but there is nothing better than to have something to do out in the garage.

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Good to meet you, Waterdawg2004, and thanks! for! the Dakota Digital gauge! It is in:

a) special thermocouple ring press:

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. . . that is designed to clear the wall of the socket:

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b) thermocouple wire harness un-kinked and ready for chassis-threading:

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c) modified motel room card ready to paint along with the gauge body:

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d) gauge and thermocouple wire harnesses ready for hook up. I ran the thermocouple wire up just in front of the heater tree so it can lead directly to the gauge in the ash tray:

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e) painted gauge ready for F vs C and 430* warning calibration:

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Well, the gauge vacation was nice, but I have some demanding mountain and headwind driving coming up, and I need to let you all know what sort of heat a factory Type 4 with an untouched AFM generates. Well, it generated 420* into a headwind at 60 mph on a 90* day . . . on my way to whc03grady in Montana.

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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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Ronin10
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by Ronin10 » Sun Jul 10, 2016 9:14 pm

Colin,

If you can make it through the next week to get to me, I'm pretty sure I have a spare functional fuel pump for you to carry onward. I certainly have one in my travel spares, but I believe I also have another on the shelves. Will check tomorrow.

Also, that train pic of the turbines is mesmerizing.
Oscar: 1976 Sage Green Bus, Stock Motor, Solid Lifters, Manual Transaxle

Jivermo
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by Jivermo » Mon Jul 11, 2016 4:16 am

Hah! You've got your Digital gauge mounted in the same spot that I do. I find it a nice spot, easily visible, with the added benefit that you can swivel it about, in case you need to show a passenger how hot it is back there.

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Jul 11, 2016 7:04 am

Jivermo wrote:Hah! You've got your Digital gauge mounted in the same spot that I do. I find it a nice spot, easily visible, with the added benefit that you can swivel it about, in case you need to show a passenger how hot it is back there.
Every bus I own now has a Dakota Digital CHT gauge using a E-Z Pull Motel6 room card to pop it right on out of there . . .
you know, for the car show? . . . the car show I have never entered?
Colin

BobD, July 2011, before I formalized the installation with black paint

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Chloe 2015 Pensacola refresh, using satin black paint:

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Now I have all of these ashtrays with painstaking repainted gearshift patterns . . .
Colin :flower:
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

waterdawg2004
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by waterdawg2004 » Mon Jul 11, 2016 7:44 am

Good to hear you are still trucking down the road. Good visit for me, we got more done in one day then I could get done in a month. It looks like I will be needing a lot of parts so I found this bus for sale in Gillette for $1500.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1793822

I will need at least
Fuel injection
Windshield
Heater parts
Etc.
Is it worth $1500 or how much should I offer, thanks for any advice.
Will these FI parts even work on a 1976 with a 1700 engine.
Buck

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SlowLane
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by SlowLane » Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:28 am

waterdawg2004 wrote: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1793822

Will these FI parts even work on a 1976 with a 1700 engine.
No, mostly because the bus in the Samba ad is a 1973 model, which has dual carburetors, not fuel injection.
Not worth anywhere close to $1500, in my estimation, but I'm probably still living in the '80s.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

waterdawg2004
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by waterdawg2004 » Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:40 am

Thanks, I did not recognize the carbs so thought it was FI.

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whc03grady
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by whc03grady » Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:55 am

Amskeptic wrote: This, what, mule deer? visited the industrial park driveway where I was changing my transaxle oil yet again:

Image
It's a pronghorn, actually, often called "antelope" though they are only very distantly related to true (i.e., Old World) antelopes; they're much more closely related to giraffes actually. They're the world's second-fastest land animal--55 mph over half a mile.

Mule deer look like your poorly-camouflaged example earlier (which is a whitetail), but are grayer, bigger, and have longer ears.
Ludwig--1974 Westfalia, 2.0L (GD035193), Solex 34PDSIT-2/3 carburetors.
Gertie--1971 Squareback, 1600cc with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection from a '72 (E brain).
Read about their adventures:
http://www.ludwigandgertie.blogspot.com

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hambone
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by hambone » Mon Jul 11, 2016 2:26 pm

You're crazy, too much fussin around with cosmetics, pull that freakin tank already. How can you handle the stress of such a road trip?
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zabo
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by zabo » Mon Jul 11, 2016 2:40 pm

yes, is the reluctance to pull the tank because the engine has never been removed before? if you remove it will the perfect balance be upset? It does seem like you are spending a crazy amount of time blowing out fuel filters, drinking gas and risking your life on the side of highways.
60 beetle
78 bus

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dingo
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by dingo » Mon Jul 11, 2016 7:00 pm

Amp draw will tell if your pump is in death throes or not..i forget the specs..6 amps ? or is it 8? increases as it slowly dies.
seems like spare fuel pump is a good item for the road, considering minimal space and weight.
'71 Kombi, 1600 dp

';78 Tranzporter 2L

" Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches."

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wcfvw69
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by wcfvw69 » Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:35 pm

hambone wrote:You're crazy, too much fussin around with cosmetics, pull that freakin tank already. How can you handle the stress of such a road trip?
I have to say, this was my thoughts as well. For as many of the crazy, off the beaten path repairs/servicing as Colin has done over the years, I've been shocked that he's put up with the dirty tank for as long as he has.

You know, Colin is SUPPOSED to be our "role model", leader and example setter in how we all properly maintain and service our beloved VW's. He always sets such an exceptionally high standard in doing so w/his beautiful fleet of buses.

Right now, I'm feeling let down, gypped, ripped off. I want my money back. My dues. My fee's. Not only that, he's perpetuating the myth of our old VW's not being reliable and is breaking down for others to see on the roads he's been traveling.

Well, at least we have Colin Jr. (Robbie) to fall back to and watch as he traverses over the wide open countryside as he crosses the big ole USA, hopefully break down free.

PS., on a serious note, I'm joking Colin as you should know. :)
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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whc03grady
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by whc03grady » Tue Jul 12, 2016 8:54 am

Isn't it varnish he's fighting, not rust? Much harder fix.
Ludwig--1974 Westfalia, 2.0L (GD035193), Solex 34PDSIT-2/3 carburetors.
Gertie--1971 Squareback, 1600cc with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection from a '72 (E brain).
Read about their adventures:
http://www.ludwigandgertie.blogspot.com

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Bleyseng
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by Bleyseng » Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:46 pm

For a $100 you can have the tank cleaned by a shop and no more varnish or rust clogging the filter. I did it on my ghia gas tank
Geoff
77 Sage Green Westy- CS 2.0L-160,000 miles
70 Ghia vert, black, stock 1600SP,- 139,000 miles,
76 914 2.1L-Nepal Orange- 160,000+ miles
http://bleysengaway.blogspot.com/

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the miz
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Wyoming . . .

Post by the miz » Tue Jul 12, 2016 2:04 pm

Amskeptic wrote: Mr. Wyoming Highway Patrolman thankfully stopped and parked right on the shoulder white line to make subsequent pick-ups move all the way into the passing lane. He hung out with me through the fuel filter clean out,
It never ceases to amaze me how readily Colin makes friends with local law enforcement! The Wyoming State Troopers seem to be a friendly bunch, though. I once met a Wyoming Trooper after being rear ended by a toothless Nebraskan tailgater on an otherwise empty Wyoming highway north of Cheyenne...we needed to apply the velocity retarders to avoid hitting a mule deer...the Nebraskan did not follow suit. So we met a nice trooper...he did a horrible job of filling out the accident report...but he was nice, that notwithstanding.

miz
1982 Westy- Vana White

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