Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Moderators: Sluggo, Amskeptic

Post Reply
User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Mar 04, 2016 7:55 am

So VW Treasure and I did indeed have quite a Thursday, February 25th, devoted to his Headflow Masters engine. This was the engine of last December that sprung a few surprises on us, like foam.
"Foam?" you ask. Yes. Foam:

Image


That there is foam. Foam blocking up the fan housing outlets to the heat exchangers, because, apparently you don't need to cool your exhaust pipes coming from the 1,000* exhaust valves and 900* exhaust ports, and 750* manifold pipes, not to mention that you don't need heat in the cabin. Silly factory engineering! Here's some more foam, foam that is a bit burnt:

Image


To his great credit, VW Treasure would have none of this edited engineering, and demanded and received new fan housing flaps, and we did make it all as the factory designed. We also installed "new" exchangers and noted with disgust that every single port from the 20-total-running-miles Headflow Masters engine had been leaking. Here's some foam and some soot:

Image


I promised with more bravado than common sense that THIS installation would be Itinerant Air-Cooled Certified leak-free. We bastard-filed the exchanger pipes, drilled out the mounting holes, and anti-seized all the studs and we torqued the exchangers up like a couple of blind old biddies.
"I can't see the scale on the torque wrench."
"Me neither."
"Here, let's put a piece of tape on the scale, we can see THAT." :

Image

Meanwhile, I vandalized his new scale with some fingernail polish:

Image


At lunch, I was treated to ART! Real art! Art from an artist! Art on the walls! Art, beautiful evocative gorgeous paintings that answer questions that nobody asks but the artist. The light that lands on some peaches next to a tea kettle, you look at that and it is pretty, yes of course, but someone had to figure out exactly how the light lands on the peaches and how the reflected light from the tea kettle backlights the peaches which are then reflected back into the tea kettle with the correct optical distortion of the peaches on the curve of the wall of the tea kettle, and then they had to paint it with brushes and colors that they had to mix! Unbelievable.

The man who helped us modify the rocker arms, VW Treasure's father Viejo, is an artist of reknown. I was so jealous of that tea kettle and those peaches. I felt like a ham-handed toddler with a Crayola crayon in that man's presence. That whole house sings with art, I loved it. I drank it up. Here! Go drink it up yourself!

https://www.facebook.com/jesusechevarriaart/


Well, we went back to work in the garage. Spent the afternoon fitting heater pipes and tearing off that VW 411 heat shield that was jammed against the body because, as everybody knows, a VW 411 heat shield does not fit a VW Bus. We got the engine running, yes, a transaxle oil change, and we drove the bus around the neighborhood and I stomped it briefly just to hear that engine get up and breathe a little, then I asked VW Treasure to do the same. Headflow Master engines *can* get to work when they have monster carbs, and this one got up and moved. Performance Art!

Now, interspersed in another thread, VW Treasure and his family came over to Jivermo's on Brake Day, Saturday February 27th, to get some vent windows installed. You know I get nervous with vent windows, hello Chloe! now add poorly fitting rubber seals on vent windows that have to be installed with new headliner (oh yeah, we have a big huge incorrect panel seam that was exactly where we have to squeeze in a sharp edge on the vent window frame over the pinch weld). I was sweating bullets.

The Nine Year Old Princess magically showed up with her string when it was time to install the big glass (competent AND punctual, she shames 90% of all sub-contractors out there) . . . We ran right out of time, and the Cuban Chrome brigade bade a farewell as I dived back in with Jivermo who was right then ready for brake bleeding.

VW Treasure? Let me know how the windows do at the first rain. A true joy to work with you ridiculously talented people.


NOW THEN, I am supposed to be heading back to the frozen north of Atlanta, but when I read of the sleet forecast .. .. ..

Image


Image


.. .. .. I decided to go AWOL in Florida's Finest Wildlife Refuges where I take refuge with my other wild refugees:

Image


Image


It was a beautiful day to tackle anew Fred The Over-Sprayer's mighty overspray. That gleaning cadmium plated gas cap thingamajiggy was flecky brown primer and yellow only thirty minutes prior:

Image


Painted the opening around the gas cap with my new five can spray paint mix:

Image


This lovely evidence that Florida's elevation is only three inches higher than the ocean .. .. .. :

Image

.. .. .. inspired me to turn it into a canvas worthy of the great painter I had just met:

Image


Then I got rambunctious on a trail and clonked the belly pan but good:

Image


Not one hour later, I had to fix it:

Image


This Westy's twenty year garage hibernation is definitely over:

Image
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

User avatar
zabo
Old School!
Location: earth
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Post by zabo » Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:41 am

Image

this is some nice art :)
smart man avoiding this little cold snap- has me all wet and shivery
60 beetle
78 bus

VW Treasure
I'm New!
Status: Offline

Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Post by VW Treasure » Sat Mar 05, 2016 8:16 am

Greetings my great friend! This morning I saw your posting on our engine "overhaul", as well as your gracious mention of my father's artwork. I am very humbled and as soon as I show "the old man", I am sure he'll be as well, for I hope you do know by know that you're part of our family! In case I didn't get to say "thank you" enough times last week for all your kind, professional, and timely help with our still work-in-progress '74 Baywindow "Dory", I want to say it one more time: THANK YOU! Thanks to you, I finally have her home and just a few nights ago took the wife and kids cruising along Coconut Grove's ritzy Grand Avenue, during which venture we received lots of thumbs-up and smiley faces pointing to Dory happily growling along with her Colin's recently tuned rocker arms with swivel foot adjusters and richer Dellorto 36's twin carbs. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the VW meet on South Miami last Saturday. I woke up very early that day wanting to get Dory's interior ready to be shown off, and in the process my dad and I took the best part of the day cutting the slits on the new cargo rubber mat in order to install the two bench seats. But...let me tell you; it was ALL worth it! Now we can finally go cruising with the entire family through the streets of Miami after the two-year project is finally up and running. Can't wait to see you and Ian once again and have the opportunity to thank you both in person!

User avatar
THall
Getting Hooked!
Location: Verona, Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Post by THall » Sat Mar 05, 2016 2:19 pm

Amskeptic wrote:So VW Treasure and I did indeed have quite a Thursday, February 25th, devoted to his Headflow Masters engine. This was the engine of last December that sprung a few surprises on us, like foam.
"Foam?" you ask. Yes. Foam:

Image
Did Adrian add that foam? If not, did he assemble the engine with the shroud in that condition? Wow... :scratch:
'78 Westy 2.0 FI

Jivermo
IAC Addict!
Status: Offline

Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Post by Jivermo » Sat Mar 05, 2016 2:33 pm

Yep. I saw it with my own peepers. Full of expanding foam, a new experiment in insulation.

phaedrus76
Getting Hooked!
Location: Bloomington, MN
Status: Offline

Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Post by phaedrus76 » Sat Mar 05, 2016 9:57 pm

Was the engine packed up for shipping using expanding foam and it accidentally got into the fan shroud or what?
76 Sage Green Deluxe Westy w/ manual trans.

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Mar 07, 2016 3:53 pm

phaedrus76 wrote:Was the engine packed up for shipping using expanding foam and it accidentally got into the fan shroud or what?
Nope.

Adrian has decided that the fan housing air ducts are "superfluous."

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

phaedrus76
Getting Hooked!
Location: Bloomington, MN
Status: Offline

Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Post by phaedrus76 » Mon Mar 07, 2016 9:08 pm

::dcrazy:: Surely there is more to this story, or is Adrian just sliding off the edge of rationality?
76 Sage Green Deluxe Westy w/ manual trans.

User avatar
Bleyseng
IAC Addict!
Location: Seattle again
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Florida II

Post by Bleyseng » Mon Mar 07, 2016 11:35 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
phaedrus76 wrote:Was the engine packed up for shipping using expanding foam and it accidentally got into the fan shroud or what?
Nope.

Adrian has decided that the fan housing air ducts are "superfluous."

Colin

:scratch: Someone needs to :study:
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/

Post Reply