Gary The Grün

Bus, Microbus, Transporter, Station Wagon, Vanagon, Camper, Pick-Up.

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Bleyseng
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by Bleyseng » Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:19 am

Flat file the faces of those exchanges with a big bastard file to flatten them out. You have some exhaust leaks at the copper rings which you need new ones. Good luck finding those 8 to 9 step studs for the exhaust as I was lucky to source a couple last year unless a someone is making them again. Just chase the threads if you can and after having the cracks welded you should remount them carefully as they like to bind.
What's with all the oil dripping??
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/

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tommu
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by tommu » Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:58 am

I followed all of ratwell's advice for the drivers side manifold, that has sealed nicely. I was able to save the threads on the other studs and re-thread the loose stud back into the head. I also used a little hylomar eap5 to seal it up.

Oil dripping was either PB blaster or the result of leaking pushrod seals. The latter now replaced.

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SlowLane
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by SlowLane » Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:57 am

Bleyseng wrote:
Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:19 am
Flat file the faces of those exchanges with a big bastard file to flatten them out.
This advice has been given a couple of times on this thread, but what has been missing is the rationale of using a BIG bastard file. You need to find one BIG enough, or more concisely, LONG enough to span both exhaust port flanges on the heat exchanger. Then you file both flanges at once, or concentrate on one flange while using the other as a guide. The point of this exercise is to get both flanges filed down square and coplanar, so that they mate properly to the machined port surfaces in the head.
Just in case that wasn't apparent.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

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tommu
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by tommu » Fri Apr 21, 2017 11:43 pm

Thanks Mr SlowLane, that and all advice did help and was gladly recieved.

F-pipes do not age well. An update:

- Exhaust finally smoke tested as leak free.

- Push rod seals re-sealed and that appears to have resolved engine oil leaks.

- Bent steering damper discovered and swapped. Both tow eyes were removed by torch with little precision or lots of booze by the look of it. I’m guessing the damper was bent by the haulage driver winching the bus on to a trailer by beam. Steering is now free lock to lock. No slop seen in any ball joints and no vertical movement of the center pin bushing. Steering feels tight but the steering box is leaking from both seals. It took around 8 oz when topped up. All the ball joints are old, boots are worn but there is evidence of previous greasing. I observed yellow point on every nut/bolt of every steering component. I think this had a comprehensive going over - over a decade ago.

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- Grease around the zerks was rock hard. After greasing the beam and replacing the old old shocks with Konis the suspension has stopped squeaking. Over all steering and suspension feels ok. I don’t have a reference point for though so I’m looking forward to someone else’s opinion here.

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- I changed the front shift bushing but I’m still getting a struggle and grind when engaging 4th. I need to relocate the shift plate more carefully - but I’m expecting the worst.

- Vacuum Leaks seem to have been chased down. S-tube had a mischievous crack right under the hose clamp lip that facing the AFM. I replaced that with an Airheads S-tube - which subsequently found to have tear in it too. I had a tricky leak between the AFM and airbox as well as leaks on the inlet manifold boots and throttle body. I’m using a smoke testing can with a 1/2 psi of pressure to test

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After finally resolving all vacuum leaks I am getting even more of a hard start problem. It’s always wanted to stall with any amount of throttle shortly after starting but this seems to be a problem for longer now. After warming up it drives ok. I have only just found time to hook up my LM2. The AFM lid looked undisturbed before I remove it and the mixture screw is around two and half turns out (I did not think to record it’s original position). After a run last night I recorded these figures:

- 11.1 cold start
- 12.7 after a minute or so
- 13.2 when i pulled away (not warm)
- 13.9 - 14 at idle.

Idle increased markedly when I bounced the wiper a little CCW. I stopped there. I plan to a) re-check timing b) connect tach to LM2 c) check fuel pressure. AFM, TS1, TS2, CSV and AAR have all passed their resistance tests. I have not tested the CSV for flow. Ambient temps are high here but I think it may briefly still come into play? I do need to pass SMOG so I need to be careful how I tune here on out. Any ideas on next steps are gladly taken. I planned on testing vacuum and fuel pressure next.

Oh, I am also discovering how this great country's bureaucracy works. I will own the Minnesota title for Gary and when it finally arrives I will have 20 days to change it to a CA title and thus SMOG.

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Herman doesn't want to go to a new home..

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asiab3
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by asiab3 » Sat Apr 22, 2017 3:46 pm

Hey Tom!

I promise one day I'll find an afternoon to make it down to Burbank for a brew and wild speculation about your new bus! I'll bring mine, you can drive it; its just like fuel injection but a little slower. ;)

The Airhead s-boot was bad out of the box? They should replace that quick! I have had good to great luck with their customer service.

Any time I work on a new-to-me Type 4 engine, I find the four (on each side) intake manifold bolts loose. (I can't find T4 torque specs in Bentley, but 12-14 ft-lbs seems to work.) I check these bolts every oil change after, always on a cold engine.

Yes the CSV will briefly come into play, but it is out of the loop as soon as you release the key. Since the car drives fine warm, limit your search to devices that play during warm up only for now, unless you suspect running issues at operating temperature as well.

Is Herman leaving soon?
Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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tommu
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by tommu » Sat Apr 22, 2017 8:41 pm

Today timing was 4/5 degrees higher since I last checked. There was half a degree of timing scatter too which did seem to settle down. RPM is surging by 10/20 rpm and idle is oscillating from 13.8 to 14.1 on my LM2. The clamp isn't loose. I only oiled the wick and greased the cam in the distributer. Despite this it's driving better after retarding the timing to 7.5 btc. I do need to check at full advance but I'm sticking to 7.5 btdc in readiness for SMOG. I couldn't check cold start with new timing as the starter failed when I got home!

I followed Bentley torques for the intake manifold gaskets - check the fuel injection supplement for toque values. 14 ft/ibs I think. I'll be sure to re-torque these and the exhaust manifolds too. Smoke testing didn't reveal any leaks from them since I changed them. The only vacuum I haven't checked for is the brake booster vacuum hose. I think it's good but I need to be sure.

Thanks for the noting that CSV shouldn't come into play. I'll re-check timing, AAR and TS2 before I delve into the AFM .

Airhead have been great about the s-tube, I have no criticism about their service. Just a shame it came like that.

Herman is on the market but the more Mrs Tommu drives him, the more likely it is we'll keep him. I'm not trying too hard to sell him right now! It would be great to see you - and to get your opinion of Gary. Of course I'd love to drive yours too :-) You're always welcome.

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Bleyseng
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by Bleyseng » Sun Apr 23, 2017 7:38 am

Don't sell the Ghia as they are way more useful in the city since they fit in tiny parking spaces vs a Westy. We drive our Ghia way more than the Westy when weather permits since the vert top leaks in the rain.
Why don't you take the Westy in to a shop to have a pre smog test done to check your work before the actual test? Do you still have points installed? That's the first thing to toss and install a Pertronix setup to help clean up the spark.
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/

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tommu
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by tommu » Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:23 pm

Taking it for pre-test test is a great idea. Just waiting for the title to arrive.
I do have a Pertronix in a box somewhere. I think it landed there on Colin's first visit. I'll dig it out and see how it fits.

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Amskeptic
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:48 am

tommu wrote:
Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:23 pm
Taking it for pre-test test is a great idea. Just waiting for the title to arrive.
I do have a Pertronix in a box somewhere. I think it landed there on Colin's first visit. I'll dig it out and see how it fits.
Phooey.

Did you say the idle increased noticeably when you nudged the wiper counter-clockwise?
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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tommu
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by tommu » Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:41 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:48 am
tommu wrote:
Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:23 pm
Taking it for pre-test test is a great idea. Just waiting for the title to arrive.
I do have a Pertronix in a box somewhere. I think it landed there on Colin's first visit. I'll dig it out and see how it fits.
Phooey.

Did you say the idle increased noticeably when you nudged the wiper counter-clockwise?
Colin
Yes, when the wiper moves CCW there is a strong increase in idle speed.

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Amskeptic
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Apr 25, 2017 6:39 pm

tommu wrote:
Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:41 am
Amskeptic wrote:
Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:48 am
tommu wrote:
Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:23 pm
Taking it for pre-test test is a great idea. Just waiting for the title to arrive.
I do have a Pertronix in a box somewhere. I think it landed there on Colin's first visit. I'll dig it out and see how it fits.
Phooey.

Did you say the idle increased noticeably when you nudged the wiper counter-clockwise?
Colin
Yes, when the wiper moves CCW there is a strong increase in idle speed.

Then you are lean. If it runs well, and does not hesitate or stumble, leave until smog is done. If it does hesitate or stumble, your HC readings will likely spike.
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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tommu
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by tommu » Fri Apr 28, 2017 11:22 pm

No hesitations and after adjusting the AAR it's starting and idling better when cold.

I applied for title today at the DMV. They gave me a 30 day waiver to let me get SMOG. I dropped into a shop on the way home for an impromptu pre-test and I’m glad I did as I would have failed the real thing. NOx emissions were 1500 at 15 mph and 1800 at 25 mph. Things were rushed in the shop so I didn’t get the other numbers but they were within limits.

After getting home I remembered that I hadn’t yet adjusted the EGR valve. It was fully closed through the whole test. I also tested mechanical advance of the distributor and, with vacuum plugged, full advance reached 36 degrees.

Will a functional EGR and advance of 20 degrees be enough to pull those NOx numbers down?

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asiab3
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by asiab3 » Thu May 11, 2017 1:55 pm

tommu wrote:
Fri Apr 28, 2017 11:22 pm
Will a functional EGR and advance of 20 degrees be enough to pull those NOx numbers down?
Perhaps ;)

Tommu and I speculated wildly about a few concepts this week. A brand new "BusDepot rebuilt SVDA distributor" was in the car when I got there, and it eliminated timing scatter that Tommu found on a sloppy original distributor. So I WATCHED him time it at idle to 7.5°btdc around 900 RPM. (CA smog spec.) LM1 readings were concerningly lean, as it idled at 15.0:1 and never went below that on the road. Steady cruise at 25 was 15.7:1 and a good hefty load in fourth gear saw 15.2:1. Even for a smog test, that's too lean for my taste. Thoughts?

Nine clicks richer on the cog wheel brought us exactly 14.7 under most conditions. "Unhealthy for long term life, but nice for smog," say I. NOx emissions were still 1300 PPM as I held the EGR valve at "maximum open" during the sniffing. Back at the well-stocked garage, we talked about high combustion temperatures and pressures creating excess NOx emissions, while his HC and CO readings were laughably perfect. The topic of compression ratio came up, and though we do not know it, most cylinders being around 130-140 PSI in a recent compression test has me wondering if the engine has a higher-than-stock compression ratio.

Since Tommu's smog shop is fairly generous with their pre-testing, I thought we would try a drastic reduction in overall timing to see if lower combustion temps (as a result) would bring down the NOx reading. "Hey look at that Tom, I SAW you set the idle timing at 7.5° btdc, and now it's at 10° btdc. Maybe you bumped it tightening the clamp?"

No. I brought the engine down to about 500 RPM with a little fingering of the wiper, and the timing dropped back to 7.5°. Releasing the wiper brought the engine back up to the 900-ish RPM idle, and the timing jumped back up to 10°. I then speculated that the distributor was a little tight earlier, and now the weights are free to move as they see fit. We checked maximum advance, (hose off) and found it to be around 32°. So we have: A distributor that has 3° of advance built in above 500 RPM, too much total advance for combustion temperatures, and a smog test to pass so idle timing has to be in book spec.

What did we do? We had a beer.

And then we set the "new" idle timing to 7.5°, understanding that if Tommu drags the engine below 600 RPM, he might loose a few degrees of advance. And the maximum mechanical advance is now 28° with the hoses off.

With the "new" timing map, the mixture map was too rich across the board. :compress: So we undid our previous AFM adjustment, counting the teeth backwards, and found a great blend of rich under heavy load, lean under long decel, and 14.5-14.7 at gentle light cruise, where the smog test is performed.

Tommu is taking it for another pretest this week. I am waiting patiently, as you can see by this wall of text I have spewed in his thread. :cyclopsani:
Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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tommu
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by tommu » Thu May 11, 2017 2:52 pm

While waiting for a new starter motor to arrive I took a look at the clevis pin. There was a bolt rather than a clevis pin. I suspect this caused the tight clutch pedal.

I plan on going for pre-test 3 tomorrow.

EDIT: I need a bigger garage.

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asiab3
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Re: Gary The Grün

Post by asiab3 » Thu May 11, 2017 4:19 pm

I think the squaaaawk from your pedal is a dirty or dry pivot... Colin's Chloe bus has had a bolt for years if I recall correctly.

Did you loosen the wing nut to get SOME semblance of pedal free play? ;)

Yeah, who the heck is taking up all your garage space and drinking all your beer, HMMM??

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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