Itinerant Air-Cooled KY to OH

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled KY to OH

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:47 am

It has been very hot and relatively humid. It, thankfully, has not rained appreciably since the dousing in Saint Louis. My repaired new rear window seal has not leaked through the occasional car washes, yay for 22ga red wire!

Drove to Paducah KY to help Paducah Frank assemble his engine, the engine that ran so well but smoked worse than I do. Frank and Lydia have a system on Itinerant Air-Cooled Day. She is the stenographer and Frank is the explosively enthusiastic performer. I arrived to find an engine very much in pieces. Then it went downhill. Poor Frank had no idea that I would be peppering him with endless rapid-fire questions, then not accepting the answers without more rapid-fire questions still, then criticisms, endless criticisms regarding organization and hygiene. We piled into NaranjaWesty and tooled over to pick up his new cylinder heads and camshaft from Smiley(?) the local VW guru who was able to share some time-tested tips for testing connecting rods (they failed). Nice little drive, however, in the broiling afternoon heat. Back at the garage, we test-fitted the camshaft and, of course, found ourselves at the very margin of acceptable, this time a little clicky at the mesh. We did perform a little forensics on Old Smokey. #3 piston and cylinder had gotten into some hot argument and the cylinder wall was wretchedly scored, there's the oil consumption right there. I finally declined to go any further with the build, because there was a missing prior step to my arrival, namely cleaning all of the parts and bolts and nuts and organizing them into a cohesive sequential manner so you HAVE what you need when doing time-critical procedures like assembling the case. Frank and Lydia were the models of polite restraint throughout my ten hour diatribe against most-everything, "these case bolts, too gummy for accurate torque!" "we need a clean operating table!"
I hope it was informative if nothing else, Frank!

Assured that Frank and Lydia would persevere (you better believe it, too), I took off for Louisville to enjoy another vexing appointment punctuated with a fine fine cup of coffee. 1979 catalytic converter/ox sensor-equipped Hall Effect Ignition 2.0 engines really do have a tough time with heat. True the day they are sold new, it can get worse from there as valve guides wear, carbon builds up, dirt slowly clogs the fins, distributors get sloppy and over-advance the timing, and of course vacuum hoses split.

But what if it is a fresh Adrian Headflow Masters engine under all of that 1979 technology? We had a day the likes of which I have never seen and hope never to see. 437* at IDLE?? Pretty much no matter what we did, that poor engine heated up horribly. Valve adjustment, hydraulic, done. Timing, 28* @ 3,400 rpm with no hoses, vacuum retard functional, done. Disconnected O2 sensor, adjusted AFM to "happy place", still horrific heat. Plugged O2 sensor back in hoping that lean lean may have so little fuel in it that it cools because there is hardly any flame in the first place. Ah nope. Checked compression. 100/105/95/90. OK, sucky but that should only help it run cool. But it did not. Cooling fan blows air and stuff. We compared the airflow under the car to NaranjaWesty's engine. Seriously similar. Synchronized the cooling flaps to ensure that one or the other was not hanging down by a 1/4" or something, no change. Swapped Dakota Digital gauges to see if there was some anomaly there, ahhh no. Did I mention it was hot outside? Did I mention that yours truly delivered a fine valve cover leak that necessitated removal at branding temperature? Somehow, we got it to *run better* but it is still Hapless in Hades. We are both going to research this ridiculousness, and I hope we track it down. It runs well! Just before we passed out from dehydration, I shot this:

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Drove off into the sunset, it sure was hot and muggy. Pulled up to 65 mph with windows down, got into a race with a semi (I was trying to get ahead of him so I could tuck out of the passing lane), looked down at the Dakota Digital gauge ... 399* Yes, there are mysteries yet with internal combustion engines. Hahaa wouldn't it be funny if the camshaft was retarded by a tooth on SamW's engine, trapping combustion pressure and heat halfway up the exhaust stroke? See? I am still mulling.

Drove into Ohio under the duress of increasing human population density and damaged roads once more. It is all closing in, houses, cars, cities, houses cars cities, spoken-for land, regimented spaces:

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"Ohio. Find it here." Find WHAT here?? The longest traffic jam ever? 30 miles of stop and go? Can't wait:

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After an hour and a half, I saw the overhead sign warning of an "accident at Union/mile marker (toofarwhateveritwas)". Bailed off the interstate and dang, everybody had the same idea as me at the same exit. The exit ramp was a traffic jam. Finally pulled into a closed factory parking lot and pulled down to the back lot where I could see the traffic jam on the exit ramp above me. What to do for an hour or so? Spied a leaking fire hydrant flush plug. Yes, I will remove my wheels and wash them under running water, and try to settle down my squeaky front brakes with some sanding and washing under the parade of cars slowly creeping by:

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Buttoned up at sundown, made it back onto the interstate now flowing, and made it to Columbus OH.
Here is your shot of Columbus, OH:

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Awoke to a tapestry of nature with the din of truck traffic just bizarrely emanating from over the hillock:

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(continues here)
viewtopic.php?f=78&t=13919&p=233879#p233879
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

PaducahFrank
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled n Kentucky

Post by PaducahFrank » Tue Sep 17, 2019 12:19 pm

Lydia's excitement was heartwarming as we anxiously awaited Colin's slightly tardy arrival. Sporting her new piston earrings - the king of romance strikes again - she was ready with the pot of coffee, a fresh batch of brownies in the oven, and the little VW themed trinket gift. Did she actually believe we'd have the bus on the road later that day? I was already covered in sweat rapidly trying to tidy up a bit as I had a sinking feeling the work area cleanliness was a bit substandard. It was exciting as always when the perfect right-off-the-factory-line bus pulls into view and up the driveway. Colin jumps out and immediately starts griping about the oppressive heat and humidity ("why does anyone live here?") before we even start looking at the damn engine guts.

What a day!!! From the first condemnatory comments about our climate it was an incessant verbal beat down. Lydia hung in there pretty well but every time I had to step away from the war zone I implored Colin to not make her cry.

Mr. Smiley helped me get all my parts and has kept me from going insane during this project. 80 years old, cranking out the work, knowledgeable, calm, and reasonable. I'm feeling Colin thinking "who in the hell is this Smiley guy" as we glide out to his garage in NW to get our reground cam and new heads. Ole Smiley held his own, as I figured he would, against our antagonist. To Colin's jab about a twisted rod check Smiley says, "the rods in those 2 liters are so strong they're always good" and I think Colin, a bit staggered by Smiley's practical counterpunch, concurred. I could feel Colin cringe a bit and I did too when Smiley said he always rips out the fuel injection and puts in a carb at the first sign of trouble.

Back to the trenches. I was concerned about the oil pump so we took it apart - looked good. Colin liked the oil cooler, we put the crank and cam in, the distributor and plastigaged two rod bearings (he liked them too!!! - I think) then Colin pulled the plug on the engine reassembly as he was unhappy with the rod bushing wrist pin slop and I was instructed to take the rods to a machine shop and have new bushings installed.

There is a little rusting problem underneath up front and Colin showed us how to mitigate that. Then it was in the house for a little chalk talk about putting the shims that go between the heads/cylinders between the crankcase/cylinders for better piston/cylinder heat equalization. He also drew up a little rod modification that sprays a little oil on the back side of the piston to help cool it. Oh yeah, we were instructed to get Tom Wilson's "How to rebuild your Volkswagen" book - which we did.

Ever go see a movie and walk out thinking "what the hell was that"? Then a couple days later after you can't stop thinking about it you say "damn that was incredible". That's how I feel about this year's IAC visit. Colin asked me what my vision was and I swung for the fences, "lets put these 10 million parts together, put this sucker back in, and go for a spin!". In reality I think my vision is I want this damn thing all back together, whenever, and have it perform well for a long time.

The jury is still out on that.
Paducah Frank

1978 2.0 F.I. Non Cali Westfalia
1974 Triumph TR6
2005 Chevy Colorado

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled n Kentucky

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Sep 17, 2019 1:39 pm

PaducahFrank wrote:
Tue Sep 17, 2019 12:19 pm
I implored Colin to not make her cry.

Hello Frank,
Great write-up. I could feeeeel the irritation of the Itinerator from here ... 8-[
Well, I hope I did not make Lydia cry, in fact, I hope I seized her with the imperative to perform all operations with clean care. Yes, the brownies were excellent.

You two shall enjoy the inestimable joy of driving down the road with the experience of having had all of those parts pass through your hands ... and my PM inbox is always open for any questions.
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

Curtp07
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled KY to OH

Post by Curtp07 » Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:28 pm

Love the write ups, but unfortunately you have pushed me even further into the Subaru realm (go on I can take it). With the new garage coming by Spring, I do believe I will be scheduling you in 2020, even if it is to do some fixin on the Beetle, as hopefully by then the Bus will have a fresh 2.5 sitting in the engine bay :)

I’ll have the beetle engine on a stand ready for tuneup and we can throw it in and go!

Go ahead I can take it :) See you soon!

Curt

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled KY to OH

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:48 am

Curtp07 wrote:
Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:28 pm
Love the write ups, but unfortunately you have pushed me even further into the Subaru realm
Go ahead I can take it :)
Curt

Oh Curt ... are you sure?
Of the 810,775 reliable Type 4 engine miles across three vehicles racked up over 40 years on my watch,
I have been delayed for no more than 20 hours (and that was the gallery plug fiasco in August of 2002).

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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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