Colin's Sunday Visit
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:00 am
On Sunday, Colin came for his second official visit, third overall, in the last year.
I will say, this visit was much more pleasant than the previous two!
Colin arrived around 9:40 am, on a fairly brisk, put mostly sunny day. We had coffee, and chatted
a bit before digging in. We were working at my work shop, so we were lucky, once again, to have a lift
at our disposal.
Our first duty of the day was to pull the rocker arms off each side and check head torques. They were all good to go. I checked valve clearances before pulling the rockers, and they were all still at "0" lash. This is my finally finished, rebuilt engine. Colin helped install this engine last October, three days before my girlfriend and I drove the bus to Florida.
The rebuild has around 3,000 miles on it now.
Torqued the rockers down, checked valve clearances again, and put the valve covers back on. We finished the tune up procedure and then did a compression test. My first on this engine. Colin asked me what I thought the compression would be. I guessed 130 lbs.
We started at #3, and got 130 lbs.! #4 had 130 lbs. And both #1 and #2 had close 135 lbs.!! Nice compression and apparently I'm a good guesser!!
Colin thought my Bosch plugs looked like they were running a tad lean.
Next, Colin tackled my Dakota Digital CHT gauge issue. Issue being it would only read ambient temps. I had previously checked and double checked all connections, and everything was wired according to DD instructions. Well apparently their instructions are wrong and I had two wires crossed. Colin swapped them at the dash, and BINGO. I felt stupid for not switching for fear of frying the unit.
Before Colin got his chance to drive the newly dubbed "Ophelia", he wanted to correct my starter issue. The rebuilt (locally) starter and new solenoid were spinning and not engagine the flywheel. Usually around the fourth turn of the key would it engage and turn the engine over. So we pulled the starter and monkeyed with it for awhile. Reinstalled. And same issue. A new starter (rebuild) is on order today from Bus Depot.
Now was test drive time. For me, it was just a relief to see my head temps! We drove 5 or 6 miles doing various shifting techniques, of course, Colin's patented double clutch! Very cool! And then we decided to get the bus out on I-94 to do some serious driving and testing. The first test was to see if my speedo was inaccurate, as Colin was suspecting. At 60 and 70 mph it was pretty darn close!
Colin then decided to put some stress on the engine by going 70 mph and trying to brake!! The engine performed well. We then decided to try some accleration times. 50 to 60 in? 60 to 70 in? Well aparently my bus beat BobD's times!! hehehehe
And I think Colin is a bit impressed with the Raby 9550 cam and my setup, as he couldnt get my head temps over 365. I believe he mentioned sending Jake a bouquet..........
The test drive wasnt without some bad findings. 1) my steering is loose. I had sensed that. New center pin time. And 2) my tranny may need a build at some point. Hard to get into 3 sometimes. Really have to finesse it. Which I can handle doing for awhile! PO must have a hard time finding 3rd.
My steering wheel was off center a bit, so we decided to try to adjust the drag link. Got it apart and turned the nut one screw thread. Put it all back together. <<We did not drive the bus after the adjustment>>We also noticed some cracking on my steering coupling disc. This I will replace when I do the center pin.
That was it for the day.
Oh wait, my turn signal switch isnt letting my turn signals return to the off position after a turn, and if my headlights are on, the brights will flicker on and off. So we removed the switch, cleaned things up, and tried to make some positioning adjustments. To no avail. So a new switch is going to be ordered.
A successful day it was. My issues list is dwindling and I have a very solidly built engine! My bus, according to Colin, is very close to being "there". He gave the engine his stamp of approval.
So here is my list of things to do:
- Install new starter
- Install new turn signal switch.
- Replace steering coupler
- Center pin procedure.
- Realign drag link and steering wheel after coupling and center pin are installed.
- Remove sliding door and reposition my door seal.
- Install aux. battery.
- Jack engine, loosen moustache bar and reposition. Its up against my oil pump plate.
Hopefully the tranny work can wait until winter!! My bus wants to be driven!! And will be!!
Thanks again, Colin. It was a very enjoyable day. Thanks for the great conversations and teachings.
I believe you took the one picture that was taken all day long!! Looking forward to doing it again sometime!!
I will say, this visit was much more pleasant than the previous two!
Colin arrived around 9:40 am, on a fairly brisk, put mostly sunny day. We had coffee, and chatted
a bit before digging in. We were working at my work shop, so we were lucky, once again, to have a lift
at our disposal.
Our first duty of the day was to pull the rocker arms off each side and check head torques. They were all good to go. I checked valve clearances before pulling the rockers, and they were all still at "0" lash. This is my finally finished, rebuilt engine. Colin helped install this engine last October, three days before my girlfriend and I drove the bus to Florida.
The rebuild has around 3,000 miles on it now.
Torqued the rockers down, checked valve clearances again, and put the valve covers back on. We finished the tune up procedure and then did a compression test. My first on this engine. Colin asked me what I thought the compression would be. I guessed 130 lbs.
We started at #3, and got 130 lbs.! #4 had 130 lbs. And both #1 and #2 had close 135 lbs.!! Nice compression and apparently I'm a good guesser!!
Colin thought my Bosch plugs looked like they were running a tad lean.
Next, Colin tackled my Dakota Digital CHT gauge issue. Issue being it would only read ambient temps. I had previously checked and double checked all connections, and everything was wired according to DD instructions. Well apparently their instructions are wrong and I had two wires crossed. Colin swapped them at the dash, and BINGO. I felt stupid for not switching for fear of frying the unit.
Before Colin got his chance to drive the newly dubbed "Ophelia", he wanted to correct my starter issue. The rebuilt (locally) starter and new solenoid were spinning and not engagine the flywheel. Usually around the fourth turn of the key would it engage and turn the engine over. So we pulled the starter and monkeyed with it for awhile. Reinstalled. And same issue. A new starter (rebuild) is on order today from Bus Depot.
Now was test drive time. For me, it was just a relief to see my head temps! We drove 5 or 6 miles doing various shifting techniques, of course, Colin's patented double clutch! Very cool! And then we decided to get the bus out on I-94 to do some serious driving and testing. The first test was to see if my speedo was inaccurate, as Colin was suspecting. At 60 and 70 mph it was pretty darn close!
Colin then decided to put some stress on the engine by going 70 mph and trying to brake!! The engine performed well. We then decided to try some accleration times. 50 to 60 in? 60 to 70 in? Well aparently my bus beat BobD's times!! hehehehe
And I think Colin is a bit impressed with the Raby 9550 cam and my setup, as he couldnt get my head temps over 365. I believe he mentioned sending Jake a bouquet..........
The test drive wasnt without some bad findings. 1) my steering is loose. I had sensed that. New center pin time. And 2) my tranny may need a build at some point. Hard to get into 3 sometimes. Really have to finesse it. Which I can handle doing for awhile! PO must have a hard time finding 3rd.
My steering wheel was off center a bit, so we decided to try to adjust the drag link. Got it apart and turned the nut one screw thread. Put it all back together. <<We did not drive the bus after the adjustment>>We also noticed some cracking on my steering coupling disc. This I will replace when I do the center pin.
That was it for the day.
Oh wait, my turn signal switch isnt letting my turn signals return to the off position after a turn, and if my headlights are on, the brights will flicker on and off. So we removed the switch, cleaned things up, and tried to make some positioning adjustments. To no avail. So a new switch is going to be ordered.
A successful day it was. My issues list is dwindling and I have a very solidly built engine! My bus, according to Colin, is very close to being "there". He gave the engine his stamp of approval.
So here is my list of things to do:
- Install new starter
- Install new turn signal switch.
- Replace steering coupler
- Center pin procedure.
- Realign drag link and steering wheel after coupling and center pin are installed.
- Remove sliding door and reposition my door seal.
- Install aux. battery.
- Jack engine, loosen moustache bar and reposition. Its up against my oil pump plate.
Hopefully the tranny work can wait until winter!! My bus wants to be driven!! And will be!!
Thanks again, Colin. It was a very enjoyable day. Thanks for the great conversations and teachings.
I believe you took the one picture that was taken all day long!! Looking forward to doing it again sometime!!
.