Salt Lake Suntans (more pics 7-24)

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rallybug
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Salt Lake Suntans (more pics 7-24)

Post by rallybug » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:08 am

Colin arrived with the coffee machine ready with a fresh brew for him, and we went through the plans for the day.

Primary aim was getting Harvee running well - well, after getting him running full stop.. He last ran back in around October, and then not very well.

So we delved into him. First order of business was the non-CA-spec distributor that Colin sold me. We disassembled it, cleaned it, lubed it, reassembled, and reinstalled correctly, with the correct 0.016" points gap. The vacuum unit on the distributor had the vacuum advance outlet pointing in the wrong direction, so we swapped over the one from my original CA-spec unit. Fitted the rotor arm, and then the cap with the rotor arm pointing to #1 plug's lead.

We set the static timing to 0°, then the centrifugal dynamic timing to 28° at around 3,400rpm with the hoses off. We then checked the timing for the vacuum advance and retard, and looked good.

Test drive! We drove around for, I don't know, 20 minutes or so, and all seemed well, once we'd cleared some rust spots from the RF brake rotor. There was some good hill work in there too, rising up about 6-700' and then coming back down.

Next up was the gas tank sender - the gauge hasn't worked in the 2.5 years I've owned Harvee, and when a rebuilt engine was fitted, I took the opportunity to replace the sender with a new one. Luckily, I kept the old one, and as the wiring looked OK to the sender, we removed the wires and re-attached them to the original sender - success at the gauge! Colin adjusted the tabs on the sender to calibrate the gauge, and then set it aside while he finagled the fitted sender out of the tank area without dropping the engine etc. When we connected the wires up to that sender, it had some movement at the gauge but not much. It never read a tank level though, due to this:

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Yup, that appears to be gas inside the float, presumably holding it to the bottom of the tank all the time...

The tank had about 2.5 gallons in it, so we went down and got an additional 4 gallons. Keep note of these numbers...

So, as my original sender (Made in Germany :thumbleft: ) gave better results than the newer one, Colin guided it back in above the tank from the spare wheel side and refitted it. After reattaching the wires, we checked the gauge and it wasn't showing where you would think it would for around 5-6 gallons in the tank, so we buttoned the firewall back up, reattached the S boot, AFM and air filter housing, and drove down to the gas station. Colin wanted to watch the gauge as I filled, so I slowly added has: 1 gallon, no change; 2 gallons, no change; dammit, fill it - so I did and first click on the pump was just short of 10 gallons.

Hmm, 14.6 gallon tank, 14 gallons added that day, on top of the circa 2.5 gallons added on Saturday, less any expended in the test drive etc. That math doesn't quite add up, does it... :scratch:

On the way there and back, the engine was hesitating a little, so we thought vacuum leak. All hoses were attached, but when we took the connector pieces off from the various hard points, all of them had split - these were from a new vacuum hose kit from German Supply in 2012, if I recall correctly. :shaking: Luckily, I had a length of the hose for the connectors, so we cut new ones and refitted them. WE also found that the oil breather hose (bought at the same time) had a split at one end, and the brake booster/decel valve 'Y' piece had a split on the outlet to the decel valve, so those will have to be sorted.

After all that, and having refitted the firewall and engine surround seal properly (apart form the styrofoam on the bottom of the firewall), we restarted and it sounded better, albeit still hunting at idle a little. Colin then played with the oxygen sensor, mixture screw etc and we found that it ran better without the oxygen sensor attached, so that wire stayed loose.

That just about reached the end of our day - we had sufficient time for Colin to dive underneath the front and work out what I need to have in for next year for the steering (center pin bushing kit) and that with the steering box set to dead ahead, the wheels are pointing slight to one side, so that'll need adjustment too, along with the camber for the LR wheel.

My job for the next year includes buying gaskets fro the fresh air hoses form the blower to where they go through the tinware, plus probably the thermostat cable seal to stop exhaust gases getting into the engine area, to be blown through the heat exchangers, and to also look into a couple of leaks towards the tailpipe end of the muffler.

Harvee is in for his annual safety and emissions test today......
Harvee the Wonder Bus - a 1979 CA-spec 7-seater bus

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rallybug
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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by rallybug » Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:47 pm

Victory! :cheers: :cheers:

Idle (tested at 856rpm):
HC (ppm): Standard 500 Reading 46
CO: Standard 3.0% Reading 0.28%
CO2: 14.5%

High-Speed Test (tested at 2528rpm):
HC(ppm): Standard 500 Reading 58
CO: Standard 3.0% Reading 2.07%
CO2: 13.8%

Going on those readings, the catalytic convertor is still doing a good job!
Harvee the Wonder Bus - a 1979 CA-spec 7-seater bus

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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Jul 17, 2014 7:28 pm

rallybug wrote:Victory!
That was a clean report . . . congratulations!

Now please load up the fam and get out there and drive.
That is what I have been doing.

What a gorgeous planet. From Beatty Nevada, I had to drive to Salt Lake City via some epic valleys:

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With time on my side, I was able to count how many phone poles were planted per mile and averaged it out to 15 along this stretch of road:

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Now look at how compressed distances are. I had all the time in the world to bring the BobD to a halt, go get my shot, put the cap back on the camera, sweep out the front floor, and get back to 60 mph, I could see any vehicle a good five to eight minutes before it could conceivably pile into my VW parked in the travel lane:

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Here is the Next valley after the above Prior valley:

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The valley After That had a dirt path to the middle of epic views. That was where I took apart the taillights and the license plate lamp to discover that we had some omg dust incursion, and deteriorating plastic housings:

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Taillights got dusted up by this sloppy lower grommet as supplied by the factory:

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Shimmed it with some electrical tape that melted in my hand in the extreme heat:

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Made sure the gaskets were accounted for and the caps were securely snapped in place:

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Took this august occasion to polish and clean the evaporative tank and hoses and even the nicely cad ii plated clamp:

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Discovered that the left taillamp housing, which I had never removed from the car, had NO gasket between it and the sheetmetal. Pulled out my nifty Wolfsburg West new taillight housing-to-body grey seal. It was a couple of inches too short, like my chrome surround on the windshield. People, it is not THAT difficult to measure stuff. I had to use the other seal in the package to bridge the gap:

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Early afternoon, the license plate light was ready to help The Law read my plate from afar:

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At sundown, the taillights were clean and the reverse lights were back to clear instead of "haboob hazy brownish":

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Took an amazing walk under the bright moon. Got totally lost in that desertscape. I am usually very good with an innate sense of direction, but distant features appear to be a whole lot closer in the moonlight. My hike to "that hill" to see the city lights of Wendover turned out to be a couple of miles, and when I turned around to go find MY CAR, it was nowhere to be found. Nowhere. I followed the dirt trails, I saw my footprints, but there must have been some other wandering soul with my soles who took a left when I came from the right, and I was MILES off. When I saw truck lights whooshing down the hill as I crested a rise, I realized that I was waaaay too far up in elevation and a good mile too close to the interstate. So, I had to walk parallel to the exit then walk the trail back to my car from the "last known orientation". Arrived at the car at 3:15 AM. Said I to myself, "that was refreshing" and fell into a paralyzed coma until the morning sun roused me.

One of my favorite views, the interstate stretching out across the Bonneville Salt Flat.
Do you think that is the curve of the Earth foreshortened a bit by my telephoto lens?

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Arrived in Salt Lake City and drove right past the Ignoble Spot of last year when we had to tow Rallybug's poor bus home. This year, we did not have prissy ignition electronics to deal with, no, we adjusted these old-fashioned "breaker points", and then we drove . . . :cyclopsani:

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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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rallybug
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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by rallybug » Thu Jul 17, 2014 7:43 pm

After my pay day, when we have funds to get the two hose grommets and a new CO monitor...

My next drive will be Sunday at the latest though!
Harvee the Wonder Bus - a 1979 CA-spec 7-seater bus

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Randy in Maine
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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by Randy in Maine » Thu Jul 17, 2014 7:46 pm

I felt I was lucky when I was able to get a decent cup of coffee out there (back from 1979-1985). I even lived in the avenues.
79 VW Bus

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rallybug
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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by rallybug » Thu Jul 17, 2014 8:00 pm

Randy in Maine wrote:I felt I was lucky when I was able to get a decent cup of coffee out there (back from 1979-1985). I even lived in the avenues.
There's some decent roasters around here now, even with the LDS not allowing them to drink tea or coffee lol the coffee I have at home is from Caffe Ibis in Logan.
Harvee the Wonder Bus - a 1979 CA-spec 7-seater bus

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rallybug
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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by rallybug » Sun Jul 20, 2014 6:14 pm

Proof!

Image
Harvee the Wonder Bus - a 1979 CA-spec 7-seater bus

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Amskeptic
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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Jul 21, 2014 8:36 am

But what about the curve of the Earth? Was that the curve of the Earth in those Wendover Looking East shots? My suffering differential wants to know if its work was all in vain.
ColinInFortunaCA
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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glasseye
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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by glasseye » Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:16 am

Regarding Earth curvature, I'm gonna say "barrel distortion". Common in cheap-ass, er, inexpensive telephoto lenses. :drunken:

Only place I've seen Earth curvature is at sea (and then it's not left-to-right, but fore-and-aft) or from the cockpit of a 757 at cruise altitude.

Bonneville Salt Flats is, like awesome, ay? :cheers:

As for "dust intrusion", OMFG. :bounce:
"This war will pay for itself."
Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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Randy in Maine
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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by Randy in Maine » Mon Jul 21, 2014 1:39 pm

If I recall from my surveying days, it is about 0.67 feet (about 8") vertical per horizontal mile.

I just found this in Wikipedia....

1 mile = 1.609344 km

Radius (r) of earth along the equator = 6,378.137 km [source 1]

The angle in radians (a) between two points a distance (s) along the circumference of circle of radius (r) is:

a = s/r

We have measured one mile around, so
r = 6378137 metres
s = 1609.344 metres

a = 0.000252321356479612434

The distance along the radius that we have moved by moving around the earth is:

r - (r * cos(a))

cos(a) = 0.99999996816681556656998075613651
r * cos(a) = 6378136.7969635885373159573500023 metres

r - r cos(a) = 0.2030364 metres

So, for every mile around the circumference of the earth, the curvature drops by 20.3 cm, which is 7.994 inches.
Source:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_radiu...
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Amskeptic
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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Jul 21, 2014 7:08 pm

That has to be it! That looks like 13 feet across 20 miles or so, yaah? Thanks, Randy!
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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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by glasseye » Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:50 pm

No question you can see it looking fore and aft. Ships appear on the horizon masts first, then hulls. The same effect is visible at Bonneville and elsewhere.

I thought Colin meant the left-to right curvature faintly visible in the second Wendover image.

Just sayin' :salute:
"This war will pay for itself."
Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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Re: Salt Lake Suntans

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Jul 22, 2014 10:12 am

glasseye wrote:No question you can see it looking fore and aft. Ships appear on the horizon masts first, then hulls. The same effect is visible at Bonneville and elsewhere.

I thought Colin meant the left-to right curvature faintly visible in the second Wendover image.

Just sayin' :salute:
I find it beautiful and exciting, "I am on a PLANET!"
. . . except when I am worrying about dust incursions, "stupid planet and its stupid WEATHER."

I love that dramatic approach to the salt pan anyhow. My Walmart-issue Kodak EZ Share lens prolly got distorted when it ate some July Death Valley sun and melted the glass a little . . . that's what I think.
ColinAteUpByTheMistHereInEureka
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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Re: Salt Lake Suntans (more pics 7-24)

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:33 am

I have to keep dumping photographs in these threads. I just don't have the commentary to go along with them. How many years of "gee, it shore is purty" can the readership tolerate?

On the way to Salt Lake City:

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I love these mirages . . . :

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It looks like you are driving into a lake when heading east on I-80:

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Leaving Salt Lake City to drive to Eureka 892 miles away:

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The Dawn Of Man aka kids slumming on a rock at dusk:

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At dusk, the salty landscape looks more like snow. My body reacted by wanting a Panera cinnamon roll and a nice cup of coffee:

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The colors here were far more beautiful than my camera could capture:

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Gee . . . shore is purty:

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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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