Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Jacksonville

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white74westy
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Jacksonville

Post by white74westy » Sun Dec 21, 2014 3:16 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Bleyseng wrote:"horrible three-pleat useless Rockford CV boots" So I have to buy two new CV boots and what are the ones to buy if these are crap? Mine are 3 years old and torn bus depot ones.
Rein has four pleats and pliability even. Those Rockfords were rock hard, refused to comply with axle movement, and even after pumping air into the pleats, would not un-dimple due to the angle of the driveshaft. Utterly useless.
Colin
(useless, I tell ya . . . white74westy, got photo?)
Two things struck me as really f'ing frustrating about the boots: 1) I asked the salesperson to check they had the right boots, on three seperate occasions, due to some uncertainty on other forums. She actually went to ask another individual who confirmed they were the "right" boots for the bus. 2) I had/have in my possession a set of Rein boots. Guess who'll be re-doing CV axles??? :angryfire:

Colin, per your reqeust:
102_4535.JPG
102_4535.JPG (138.63 KiB) Viewed 7692 times
My apologies about the quality of the photo...still trying to figure it out.

white74westy
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Jacksonville

Post by white74westy » Sun Dec 21, 2014 7:25 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Straight to the coffee machine went white74westy and I, so I could show him that I did not even have the mental acuity to figure out how to make a lousy cup of coffee." "I don't drink the stuff," he tells me.
That stuff is of the devil...makes you :bounce: :compress: :cyclopsani: :bounce:
Amskeptic wrote:I noted that we had a transaxle on the ground, the engine listing severely at an angle on the engine stand, and oh yeah, no seats, no dash, no lower windshield channel, no windows, but there were two bumpers in there. Me thinks we won't be driving so much.
That is not entirely true...guess who went for a ride around the block today??? :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Amskeptic wrote: "Let's use the motorcycle jack." His visage brightened considerably at the relief that I was dimly aware of the obvious. Yeah, whatever, leave me alone, we got the transaxle bolted up to the engine, and slid the whole motorcycle jack big whoop over to the car and managed to skate it under the rear apron and eventually get it hooked up. Sure, that was Day One.
It worked like a charm. But, more importantly, I learned an even more valuable lesson about Colin, at that instant. This was a man that was willing to take a step back and try a different approach. I greatly appreciated that! To begin, let me state that I'm well aware that I am, and always will be the student in this relationship. I have much to learn!!! I am truly thankful for this man and his love of VW's. I have also been around enough A-holes that just wouldn't have listened and were simply going to do it their way. This among a number of other things, deepened my respect for Colin. This dude gets it!!!
Amskpetic wrote:Next day, we dug into the ancilliaries, wires and fuel hoses and the fuel pump and grounds (he welded a new ground strap stud on the left diagonal arm support, pretty trick! )


Remeber that crazy grinder Colin was talking about??? I used that to cut down an extra CV bolt, that I had laying around. I also used it to grind down the existing remnants of the stud, that I snapped, trying to remove the transmission ground strap. Quick weld and voila, there she was a new point at which to ground the transmission.

Amskeptic wrote:No running or turning over the engine allowed without idiot lights, so we stuck the factory sender on the hose for the big gauge display's sending unit, we had to make a terribly hack ground wire to ground the factory sender which was expecting actual engine case grounding. Beginning to look a little HACK around here, well, we're running out of time, plastic tie the fuel pump to the frame, done! plastic tie the horrible three-pleat useless Rockford CV boots, done! squish a cheap Chinese ring terminal on the end of the alternator feed wire, not done! (he found a pretty decent heavy-duty ring terminal instead), our wiring of the fuel pump looked pretty HACK, but you know what?
I didn't care.
All of his work was first-class careful and thorough, I only wanted to execute his Main Goal:
Make it run for the first time in 17 years.
We did it. We made it run.
Now he has to go re-do our tackytastic crapimprov show up to first-class careful and thorough. And he will
.
Well, Christmas came early at the white74westy house!!! I haven't been able to get rid of the permagrin. Make it run indeed! Before Colin arrived, I really wasn't sure we would be able to get the long list of "to-do's" done. I had told myself before his arrival, that I would hope for the best, and expect the worst. There is no doubt in my mind, just how much this man LOVES what he does! I have been waiting 17 years to hear the sweet sound of the engine running in my bus! What a sweet, sweet, sound. Even better, was being able to put her back in the garage under her own power, for the first time in all those years...now that was an awesome feeling!!! Colin's dedication is second to none! I owe this man an eternal debt of gratitude! I will forever be thankful for all he did for me as well as the rest of the community!

You have my word, that I will do my best to make our "tacktastic crapimprov" show a little more palatable!
Amskeptic wrote:It was a total pleasure to meet you and your beautiful family, white74westy.
Colin
Pleasure was all mine brother!
Amskeptic wrote:( tell your stupid sprinkler system THANKS A LOT for showing me that my windows all leak. They all have to come out, AGAIN. So does the windshield. It leaks, too)
Now this sucks!

Again, many thanks!!! I can't wait for the next IAC visit!!! :salute:

white74westy
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Jacksonville

Post by white74westy » Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:13 pm

Just wanted to post a quick update on the CV boots from Rockford. I called them the other day to report my findings, specific to the incorrect dimensions. I calmly explained my situation to the young lady on the other end of the phone, that the boots were too short; that in fact, they looked as if they were missing a pleat. I think it may have been the same young lady, that sold me the boots, the first time around. Surprisingly, I was met with [an uncommon] willingness to listen and help! I am pleased to report that Rockford is sending out the correct boots (part #339-22). Here is what I wrote down in my notes:

Old Boot (This is NOT the one you want!!!)
Part # 814-21
Length 3.887"
Diameter 0.954"

New Boot
(This IS the correct boot)
Part# 339-22
Length 4.390"
Diameter 0.960"

The last measurement was the diameter of the [small rubber end] that covers the axle shaft.

I hope this helps others in the future, to avoid any confusion. I also wanted to make sure that I gave Rockford credit for at least trying to make things right. Often times it seems in the ACVW world, we're met with a casual indifference, when we attempt to enlighten vendors about the inferior quality, poor craftsmanship, lack of concern coming from sales staff, etc. In this case, I believe it was an honest oversight. I'm going to give Rockford boots another try, as I've read some very srtong, positive, opinions of them, from people that have a great deal more experience with these things than I do. Will keep you posted!

a.

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Jacksonville

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:03 am

white74westy wrote:Just wanted to post a quick update on the CV boots from Rockford. I called them the other day to report my findings, specific to the incorrect dimensions. I calmly explained my situation to the young lady on the other end of the phone, that the boots were too short; that in fact, they looked as if they were missing a pleat. I think it may have been the same young lady, that sold me the boots, the first time around. Surprisingly, I was met with [an uncommon] willingness to listen and help! I am pleased to report that Rockford is sending out the correct boots (part #339-22). Here is what I wrote down in my notes:

Old Boot (This is NOT the one you want!!!)
Part # 814-21
Length 3.887"
Diameter 0.954"

New Boot
(This IS the correct boot)
Part# 339-21
Length 4.390"
Diameter 0.960"

The last measurement was the diameter of the [small rubber end] that covers the axle shaft.

I hope this helps others in the future, to avoid any confusion. I also wanted to make sure that I gave Rockford credit for at least trying to make things right. Often times it seems in the ACVW world, we're met with a casual indifference, when we attempt to enlighten vendors about the inferior quality, poor craftsmanship, lack of concern coming from sales staff, etc. In this case, I believe it was an honest oversight. I'm going to give Rockford boots another try, as I've read some very srtong, positive, opinions of them, from people that have a great deal more experience with these things than I do. Will keep you posted!

a.
Thank you. Your diligence may save many future CV repackers grief.
Could you repost this this post to Transaxle/CV/RearAxle Forum? Then, if the quality is actually any good, we can place a note in the Parts Known To Be Acceptable forum/
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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weisswurst
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Location: NW Florida
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Jacksonville

Post by weisswurst » Mon Feb 09, 2015 8:10 am

Jivermo wrote:Well, if you get as far south as Sanford, come on down here and I'll commit to 2-3 days, and we'll get my bus back on the freakin' road!
Hi Jivermo, hope your visit was good and you are back on the road! getting ready over here for the Maestro! :salute:
jeff
"I drink, therefore yes ma'am..."

white74westy
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Jacksonville

Post by white74westy » Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:01 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
white74westy wrote:Just wanted to post a quick update on the CV boots from Rockford. I called them the other day to report my findings, specific to the incorrect dimensions. I calmly explained my situation to the young lady on the other end of the phone, that the boots were too short; that in fact, they looked as if they were missing a pleat. I think it may have been the same young lady, that sold me the boots, the first time around. Surprisingly, I was met with [an uncommon] willingness to listen and help! I am pleased to report that Rockford is sending out the correct boots (part #339-22). Here is what I wrote down in my notes:

Old Boot (This is NOT the one you want!!!)
Part # 814-21
Length 3.887"
Diameter 0.954"

New Boot
(This IS the correct boot)
Part# 339-21
Length 4.390"
Diameter 0.960"

The last measurement was the diameter of the [small rubber end] that covers the axle shaft.

I hope this helps others in the future, to avoid any confusion. I also wanted to make sure that I gave Rockford credit for at least trying to make things right. Often times it seems in the ACVW world, we're met with a casual indifference, when we attempt to enlighten vendors about the inferior quality, poor craftsmanship, lack of concern coming from sales staff, etc. In this case, I believe it was an honest oversight. I'm going to give Rockford boots another try, as I've read some very srtong, positive, opinions of them, from people that have a great deal more experience with these things than I do. Will keep you posted!

a.
Thank you. Your diligence may save many future CV repackers grief.
Could you repost this this post to Transaxle/CV/RearAxle Forum? Then, if the quality is actually any good, we can place a note in the Parts Known To Be Acceptable forum/
Colin
Done. I only hope I did it correctly! :geek:

Jivermo
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Jacksonville

Post by Jivermo » Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:50 pm

Image

Image

Jeff, not quite running yet. Next week...we're thinking. My, oh, my. What a grueling weekend it was. Were it not for the quick wit of the maestro and wonderful stories, political discourse, I may well have been driven mad. Food luck with the timing. Colin, Zeke said that the Vanagon does stall more when the gas level is low.

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weisswurst
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Location: NW Florida
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Jacksonville

Post by weisswurst » Mon Feb 09, 2015 1:13 pm

man that looks awesome! I'm off for gumout and papertowels!

weather for today.. yuck :pukeright:
Tonight and tomorrow.. :cheers: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:
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"I drink, therefore yes ma'am..."

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