Well I guess he told me...

You got called out by the newbie HAHA

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Well I guess he told me...







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didn't mean that as a comment on your photo chops - your skills are obvious

wish I could do that


m

well, um, I didn't realize that was an official design submission

newbie, boobie, it's all good. Happy to be here

m.

It's o.k. he's kind of special to us. We keep him full of french fried taters, and he stays happy. But if we run out of mustard you better watch your arse.

'Reckon I'll have me some of the big 'uns.


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Update: So I tried to CC my heads using a large 60cc syringe from work (dont worry, they are disposable), it was way too difficult to get the thing to work accurately as it was too big and dribbled too much (I know many of you heard that before). I got one of my friends to snag me some pipettes from her lab, but she only had 5ml pipettes so it took a little longer to fill each chamber. One head turned out to be all 58cc, the other head was 56, 79, 60cc. This sucked as my CR with these volumes would be about 7 or even lower. Soooo, I dropped the heads back off at the machine shop today so they could cut them down .055". They are not fast, though, so I hope it doesnt take too long
Meanwhile, I am waiting on my .040" copper head gaskets which supposedly shipped yesterday.....5 days after they were supposed to. WTF is the deal with these gaskets? Everyone offers them, no one stocks them.

I also am still waiting on the machine shop to clean up my oil pump housing, and finishing my other barrel. I cant do anything more on teh engine until the rest of this stuff is done......

NOT that I am dising the effort or engine but it sure makes you appreciate the German counterpart!

Nothing wrong with the stock engine, mine is a little modified and with any modified engine there comes some tweaking.

In a way the case reminds me of a ferrari case I saw apart.

This one is a working model, 8hp at 10,500 rpm
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What is it with these damn parts monkies!? Sooo, after sending back the wrong sets of head gaskets that a previous idiot sent me, on my dime, I ordered a set off of a seller on Ebay, through Ebay for protection purposes. This seller is one I recognized from my home town of La Mesa, CA so I felt confident with the order. I order TWO sets of head gaskets, they were supposed to be shipped when paid and I paid immediately. 5 days later they ship. They get here today.....well, one set gets here today Idiots didnt read their own damn invoice where I ordered 2 sets. Lets see how they deal with this problem. At least I dont need them right away now, but it may be another week or so before I get the second set in

Dang, already got an email back apologizing for the mix up and promising to send another set out ASAP. Lets see how it plays out. SO far, they already have better customer service skills.

So, tires.... For VW buses, tires are often a PITA to find. Correct ones, that is. The tires need to be higher load and thicker sidewall. Using regular passenger tires is a dangerous gamble. The original tires had a weird size designation - 185R14C. Notice there is no aspect ratio. The "C" stands for commercial and means that there are at least 6 or 8 (I forget) plys in the side wall. Finding these tires is a bitch and they tend to be about $75 ea from the bus vendors. However, if you know the parameters for the load rating you can find regular tires with an RF or XL rating which stands for reinforced. The min parameters to shoot for are:
* Size: 205/70R14 97R
* Load Range 97
* Max Load Capacity: 1580 lbs
* Max Inflation Pressure:: 40 psi

With these data it is much easier to find tires. I am considering these at $58 ea from the Tire rack.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...yes&place=4

However, Scotty is a professional and has hook ups and I will see if he can score me some tires that are as good as these at a 1653# rating for less

Mike - you've obvously done more research in to this than I have but I'm not sure that just because the load rating is the same that the tires are created equal. Only reason I bring this up is because the bus can be a handful to drive on a windy day even with the right tires, without is a total pain. The heavy duty sidewall of the commercial tires help alot to reduce this. It would suck to save a bit on tires, get them on your bus, only to find out that it is a total stain to drive in the wind, all I am saying . . .

Sway bar helps too, rear sway is supposed to also but then makes corning a bit more of a bitch.

-Chris

Here is a great source of info on the subject. You will notice that the heavier vanagons use the size I mentioned, and there is an explanation that addresses the valid concerns you bring up.

http://www.roadhaus.com/tires/guideline.html

Okay, cool. I remember my rents were convinced back in the day to use passenger car tires on their syncro vanagon . . . tires were popping all the time. No inets to tell them otherwise back in 86! Finally someone knew what was going on and told them to put truck tires on, they were not happy with the price tag.

The latest: I tried, unsuccessfully, to tow the bus home from Scotty's, but no dice just yet. I just bought 5 tires for it for $346 shipped

Can you say "trailer?"

I knew you could

The only thing is that after driving 4+ hours down and picking the trailer up at your house, followed by 4+ hours back to my house, followed by a few hours to your house to return the trailer, followed by a return trip..... Yikes. I am looking for the easiest way and the $30 tow dolly may be a better bet, but I am not sold on the idea yet

Can't wait to see it all together I'm excited for ya Mike. Love the new avitar too

Well, the engine parts are STILL awaiting treatment. Hopefully this week, Fri. But, to show that I am dedicated to having the bus done soon, I insured it today and will register it tomorrow or Thurs I hate paying insurance on non-op cars

I am on the phone with insurance trying to get my 914 insured as I type this.

How are you going to get the bus to the title shop? Are they allowing pictures of the vin, or are you towing?

Zach

New tires are on the bus. I left my camera in the 944 yesterday and forgot to take it this morning ( drove Vulva today ) so I don have no pix mang

I think white would look better on the wheels instead of black

Zach, the big DMV office here in Harrisburg is not only fast, but they dont accept the VIN rubbing. They only accept pictures. I forgot I need the VIN pic so I guess I will be registering it next week after I pick it up.

Scott, is it ready for pickup? I can get it as soon as Thurs.

I am probably going to take a day off in the very near future to run up the the Harrisburg DMV office then. My insurance is bought for the 914. $14K agreed value. Should have the insurance cards in my email box tomorrow.

The shop near me wants to see the physical car since I bought it out of state.

Zach

I dont even think that the Harrisburg office has people to come out. The whole visual verification thing is the job of the vehicle inspector at the shop.

Ready for pickup captain. Unbroken glass still not in but rolling stock is fine for the trip.

The seal is on the way to your house, but I can always have you ship it here. I am gonna plan for Thurs for a quick turn around

Thanks for the hard work Scotty, the pics are not even close to how awesome this bus is I was hoping to finish it down there so you could be in it for he first ride, but I guess I will have to have someone else push it back

UHaul is reserved for tomorrow at 9am and then I am on the road. No time for messing around, in and out, no one gets hurt (thats what she said ). I need to get back before late night.

hope it all goes well....

Blasted the fronts, etched, sealed and blakced out. I hit the backsides lightly and just gave them a coat of black.

Nice

Nice! Good luck bringing it home.

Oooo, BOING! Cant wait to get the damn thing driving. I hope the machine shop is done with my stuff by Fri.

Soooooo, I am finally home from picking up the bus and dropping it off. I left at 0830 If there was a wrong turn to be made or a traffic jam to find, I was there! How do I end this adventure? Well, cop a squat and I will tell you.

I get to Zach's house, he is not home and his wife is busy with the spawn. Soo, I have to unload the bus my self.....on his VERY sloped driveway. Oh ya, Scotty disarmed the breaks. I cant forget to tell ya'll that point. Anyway, I am at a 45* to Zach's garage with the bus, my VUE is in his grass, I have the wheels chocked, and I pull forward with the the VUE thus pulling the bus off of the trailer.....and it rolls over the chocks and slowly heads for Zach's garage door. I manage to throw the VUE in park, and run to the bus and slow its roll.......into Zach's garage door Mostly it looks like the door paint transferred to the bus' corner. It will likely buff out Zach's door was only bent a little, I pushed it back out and got out of there before the wife came out and wondered what happened It still went up and down fine, and it wasnt perfect to begin with, but I will be back to beat it back to a better looking form

What a friggen day

When I gave you permission to put the bus into my garage, I intended for you to open the door first. Dork.

I'll have to to a little more massaging to it this weekend. It opens fine but binds when closing. Right now I have it off the motor, as it was jamming at the top. No biggie.

Does the bus have any brakes at all? I'd like to swing it around so it is more even with the top of the drive. It will keep Erin happy if it is more orderly.

Zach

No brakes. The pads separated from the metal and locked the wheels so Scotty had to remove them. I will be replacing all of the brakes on it soon. I can come over when ever you want to move the bus around and fix your door. I only have plans tonight, other than that I am available. I also forgot to drop off my new windshield that is still in my car

The parts are supposedly done at the shop, which just happens to be on the way to Zach's house, so I will stop by and drop off the windshield, and massage the door into a more functional arrangement So much shame

What time do you think you will get to my place?

Zach

scotty - i hope you break that thing in right with some local sweety - BEFORE - you give it back to mikey ; )

I'ts already in my driveway.

But tomorrow IS International Steak and a BJ Day. Hrm, wonder if we can pass the baby off to the grandparents and get some hippy love'n.

Zach

The door is "fixed"

Good news on the bus, I pulled the tank to see about getting it coated and the inside looks brand new and the fule level sender is brand new Score!

All of the engine parts are done now... I think I will be in the garage late tonight putting things on other things

With the heads back from the shop and turned down to my calculated seat height, it was time to finish the heads; smooth the seating edges, CC and adjust as necessary.

You can see the sharp edges left by the machining. These edges are a great place for heat to build up and cause preignition.
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Here are the smoothed edges.
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Here are the pics of me CCing the chambers. All was good as they were within 1cc or less, between 47-48cc for a CR of 7.5-7.6:1
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I got one of the heads on and things are progressing along nicely. This engine is pretty darn easy to assemble.

So uh what exactly what is up with that crack ithe first pic and those " plugs " in the others ?

I looked at that too Scott. The cracks are in the plexiglass disc he was using to cc the heads.

O.K. I see them in most pics but the one in that very first pic sure looks like it is in the head. Is my eyesight that off ?

No. It took me several looks before I realized what it was.

I think that is a bit of shaving from the machine shop. Its gone in the "smoothed" picture.

Zach

Zach gets the prize The pics are sometimes staged as I tend to get focused in my work and miss photo ops. In the pics you can see a piece of debris in the chamber that I removed after the pic as well. I'll try to get a pic posted of 1/2 of the engine done I have to read a whole book for tomorrows class....I started it at noon (doh).

Here are 3 pics of the head installed