Itinerant Air-Cooled Ciao Portland II

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Ciao Portland II

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:01 am

The dhoch14 bus Kiltgy needs to drive at some point. It is what the Mosaic Bus could become. I love driving this car. I remember the engine spewed all over the garage a couple of years back and on the counters in the kitchen with dhoch14's questions like "where is the . . . ?" and what a beautiful sounding engine he now has, with a smooth responsive transmission:
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. . . . and though we look skeptical for some reason, the VW had just performed admirably on the test drive:
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You Portlanders . . . look at this view on the way to work:

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Then I tripped down to Sherwood to regale the Oregon72 family dog with forgotten piano snippets, but more importantly, to torture both of us with the promise of a great engine that is only hamstrung by some annoying fuel delivery issues. I am counting on Oregon72's excellent attention to detail to find the solution. This engine is just about the quintessential 1700 experience.

Went to Starbucks. Got the heebie-jeebies:
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Fancypants had a piano. Oh, and a VW bus in pieces. Got the VW back together. But the piano pieces . . . . .
Another beautiful-sounding home-built engine sprang to life. I was proud to see him pull up at the Lucky Lab. You all are the proof that you are the best mechanic to rebuild your engines. I hope you enjoy every bit of the pride of doing it yourself. It adds an enormous dimension to your character to dive in and do it. Christmas parties at work, you can offer that enigmatic smile when your associate blabbles at the punch bowl, "yeah, I actually repaired my lawnmower, had a blockage at the carburetor, do you know what a 'carburetor' is?"

It was a day of "little things" with Misszora, but sometimes the little things have the greatest effect on your day-to-day enjoyment of your VW. All of you engine overhauled folks can consider a day of little things, I am going to have to come up with a Little Things Day that leaves you with smooth doors, gliding shifter, quiet smooth clutch, self-cancelling turn signals, proper quarter window action, smooth heater cables . . . anything! to stay in business.

Bookwus Day beat me down to a puddle over a simple request, written up elsewhere, then it was Purdman82, a mere kid the last time I visited him in Gainesville Florida 2005, now a Forester Man who declared, "the shifter shalt not rattle" and lo, it did rattle no longer. The visiting women were extremely suitably impressed:
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Papasmurf was my last PNW call, and it represented What It Is About This Forum.
He bought his bus with a $3,000.00 engine rebuild and had little issues from day one, like a knock and lousy oil pressure. He drove it for 7-8,000 miles knowing that it did not quite sound right, but that's a fresh rebuild back there, right? Well, we took the engine down to discover this:

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Nicely embedded little screw in the cylinder head that must have felt pretty bruised by now. The piston had what looked like a little fish skeleton fossil imprint, that is not the screw visible, just the impression:
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. . . and I was all for slapping that puppy back together at that point. But Papasmurf did say that the oil pressure was lousy when the engine would warm up, and it consistently triggered the oil light. Well, that is a warning, isn't it? I looked at the oil pressure sender, not leaking. We decided to check rod bearing clearances. Lousy plastigauge measurements yielded decent clearances. The endplay was .007" which was excessive for a 7-8,000 mile engine. That was all he needed, "I want to tear it down." And indeed, when we tore it down, the main bearings rocked on the crankshaft. Rocked! It was Dan Hall's machinist who triumphantly announced that the main bearing clearances were .014"! Yes, the professionally built engine had an undersized crankshaft with standard main bearings . . . So, we have a new neophyte engine builder in our IAC Forum who is going to do a better job than the pro. I can feel it. And he is learning quickly:
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I could not think of a better good-bye to Portland than to stop by for one last excellent beer with Hambone, a keystone of the Itinerant Air-Cooled Portland Experience.:
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Thanks for your patronage folks, I feel extremely lucky to be making my way in this economic climate doing something I love. It was a bit helter-skelter, and I wanted to have more issues more thoroughly resolved before leaving Oregon. PLEASE PM me with questions and observations and any loose ends regarding our appointments.
Colin
(Misszora? it has to be your 13mm socket that showed up beside my toolbox this morning when I was bus-cleaning. Says 13 right on the side of it)
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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DjEep
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Post by DjEep » Fri Jul 09, 2010 8:01 pm

Thanks for stoppin' by our strange little burg today. That bus is even more amazing than I thought! I think the only baywindow bus' I've seen close to that were, well, Road Warrior and ratwell's. But both of those had countless hours into their maintenance/restoration.

Made it back to work before the boss got peeved, but had a fun surprise in store when I checked the engine I just had just completely re-sealed and drove over to daddio's. The oil cooler seals didn't leak anymore, but the cooler itself did. AHHHHH!!!!! So off with the now hot muffler and shroud in already 90*+ heat...... :pale:
"Live life, love life. Enjoy the pleasures and the sorrows. For it is the bleak valleys, the dark corners that make the peaks all the more magnificent. And once you realize that, you begin to see the beauty hidden within those valleys, and learn to love the climb." - Anonymous

Do you want to Survive? Or do you want to LIVE?

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 10, 2010 3:58 pm

DjEep wrote:Thanks for stoppin' by our strange little burg today. That bus is even more amazing than I thought! I think the only baywindow bus' I've seen close to that were, well, Road Warrior and ratwell's. But both of those had countless hours into their maintenance/restoration.

Made it back to work before the boss got peeved, but had a fun surprise in store when I checked the engine I just had just completely re-sealed and drove over to daddio's. The oil cooler seals didn't leak anymore, but the cooler itself did. AHHHHH!!!!! So off with the now hot muffler and shroud in already 90*+ heat...... :pale:
The cooler itself? No fair. An original VW cooler?
It was good to hang with you and drink beer in the middle of the day.
I shall be ruined yet.
It is 61* here in Crescent City CA and I am whining all over again.
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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hambone
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Post by hambone » Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:47 pm

Thanks Colin! Great having you around, like an endearing tornado.
Can you please come back and pull my engine for me? I'll pay in Necco Wafers and expired bubblegum.

Safe travels!!!!!!!

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Cindy
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Post by Cindy » Sat Jul 10, 2010 5:01 pm

Bob--Is that Eva?! She is still a toddler in my mind's eye.

Cindy
“No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side.
Or you don't.” ― Stephen King, The Stand

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whc03grady
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Ciao Portland II

Post by whc03grady » Sat Jul 10, 2010 8:43 pm

Amskeptic wrote:You Portlanders . . . look at this view on the way to work:

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Wow, just think: all that snow and ice melting in a volcanic instant and overfilling the Sandy River and the Columbia with mud and trees and ash. Work out your escape routes, PDXers.
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

shawnhigh
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big fun

Post by shawnhigh » Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:21 am

Colin! Got home yesturday and I'm so glad you and Papa smurf got to the bottom of things. My garage even looks clean! I can still feel the presence of the godfather. Sorry I missed you but I'm sure we'll be back on for next year. I was so close to calling into work ill. Safe drives to ya and let me know if you need anything as the trip continues.
good day
shawn
72 Riviera blue
72 Westy white
72 westy white
68 squareback blue

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Post by kiltgy » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:41 am

Colin,

It was great to meet you and a real pleasure to work with you. Next year when you come out, I hope to have the bus at least dried out, and hopefully running even better!

Cheers!

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Amskeptic
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Re: big fun

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:24 am

shawnhigh wrote: glad you and Papa smurf got to the bottom of things.
I can still feel the presence of the godfather.
"mmmmph youze takecaradat Square(wheeze)back, an' don'lettme hear about no carvin up no beetles, weeze wud hate ta hear about no carvin up no beetles . . . . . "

Thanks for the use of your garage, Shawn, I look forward to checking out the other VWs in your fleet.
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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DjEep
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Post by DjEep » Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:15 pm

Amskeptic wrote: The cooler itself? No fair. An original VW cooler?
It was good to hang with you and drink beer in the middle of the day.
I thinky so... I even filled it w/ solvent and pressurized it w/ air while I had it off the first time. I guess I could hold my finger on it tight enough to blow solvent out of the leak. Lame, but solved.
"Live life, love life. Enjoy the pleasures and the sorrows. For it is the bleak valleys, the dark corners that make the peaks all the more magnificent. And once you realize that, you begin to see the beauty hidden within those valleys, and learn to love the climb." - Anonymous

Do you want to Survive? Or do you want to LIVE?

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