My Itinerant Air-Cooled Experience - Grayslake IL 6/7/2008
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:29 pm
My Itinerant Air-Cooled Experience (Part I)
Sunday, June 8th 3:00am
"Center lifters...center lifters...get dirt in the engine and it will seize...center lifters...top dead center...center lifters..."
"Whoa, what time is it?" I think to myself as I awake from a dream and squint to see the alarm clock. It's 3am and body feels like it was hit by a truck. I ache all over. I'm tired but I have the urge to center the lifters. I need to get back to sleep. I leave for Galena in a few hours and I'm beat. I roll over and close my eyes but it takes a while before I doze off again...
Flashback...
Saturday, June 7th 9:00am
I'm standing in the driveway, waiting for Colin to arrive. Diet Coke is in the cooler and coffee is brewing. Man I'm excited and can't wait to get started.
Then the blue bus comes rolling around the corner. I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Oh man, after months of waiting the time is finally here...
ACVW Tune-Up 101
Colin provides me an overview of air cooled engines, how they operate and what we'll be covering during the first half of the day. He starts off by describing lifters, their role in my engine, centering the lifters and cylinder order. Along the way he illustrates the items we talk about so I have a better understanding of how they work. Air cooled engines and mechanics in general are all new to me so this is a great help.
Once I think I understand valves we move to points and timing. Once again a topic I'm not familiar with so we covered the coil and how it turns 12v from the battery into 20,000v for the spark. Colin then explains the inner workings of the distributor and how it works. All of this is illustrated for my benefit. The details and theory of timing is also covered.
My mind is racing as I try to absorb the information and we’re still in my kitchen and haven’t even touched the bus yet. I think it set the pace for the day. There are a lot of things to learn and I’m starting with no prior experience. Colin is very respectful and takes the time to make sure I understand.
So, let’s go outside and take a look at the bus.
To be continued...
Sunday, June 8th 3:00am
"Center lifters...center lifters...get dirt in the engine and it will seize...center lifters...top dead center...center lifters..."
"Whoa, what time is it?" I think to myself as I awake from a dream and squint to see the alarm clock. It's 3am and body feels like it was hit by a truck. I ache all over. I'm tired but I have the urge to center the lifters. I need to get back to sleep. I leave for Galena in a few hours and I'm beat. I roll over and close my eyes but it takes a while before I doze off again...
Flashback...
Saturday, June 7th 9:00am
I'm standing in the driveway, waiting for Colin to arrive. Diet Coke is in the cooler and coffee is brewing. Man I'm excited and can't wait to get started.
Then the blue bus comes rolling around the corner. I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Oh man, after months of waiting the time is finally here...
ACVW Tune-Up 101
Colin provides me an overview of air cooled engines, how they operate and what we'll be covering during the first half of the day. He starts off by describing lifters, their role in my engine, centering the lifters and cylinder order. Along the way he illustrates the items we talk about so I have a better understanding of how they work. Air cooled engines and mechanics in general are all new to me so this is a great help.
Once I think I understand valves we move to points and timing. Once again a topic I'm not familiar with so we covered the coil and how it turns 12v from the battery into 20,000v for the spark. Colin then explains the inner workings of the distributor and how it works. All of this is illustrated for my benefit. The details and theory of timing is also covered.
My mind is racing as I try to absorb the information and we’re still in my kitchen and haven’t even touched the bus yet. I think it set the pace for the day. There are a lot of things to learn and I’m starting with no prior experience. Colin is very respectful and takes the time to make sure I understand.
So, let’s go outside and take a look at the bus.
To be continued...