The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

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The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Mar 19, 2015 9:41 am

. . . one month and one day late.

I wrote about the visit to weisswurst on February 10th.
I did not write much of anything about the preceding visit to jivermo in Miami on February 7th and 8th, and the following visit to jivermo again on February 14th and 15th.

Why not? Because Jivermo and I got stuck in a quicksand of diminishing momentum and we kept struggling until we could not go further. Jivermo, I hope you've got some pictures and a follow-up story at the ready.

I had a lovely drive down to Miami. Chloe was running flawlessly and the headliner did not blow any additional cheap threads, thank goodness for staples, huh? I even had this crazy thought that I might like to contribute anew to bending the arc of The Story of Volkswagens On Earth, you know, share the love of these totally fun, reliable, sturdy practical cars that defy Time Itself in their modest and humble way.

I arrived at Jivermo's on Saturday morning, February 7th, ready to execute. We spent the morning touring the depths of human nature at the dining room table, but it looked to be an easy enough two day appointment. The visit was ostensibly to dress up, stick on the transaxle, install, and break in the excitedly anticipated 2 liter long block from Adrian . . .

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=12240#p210025


Meandered out to the barn around 11:00AM ish:

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and I think we first got moving on the intake runners and injectors and even the fan housing . . . if we had only known. Then we straightened up some ignition wires and relocated the distributor drive gear and checked the endplay and installed tins. Sounds straight-forward enough, and it was to have been made easier by that should have been helpful black and yellow parts organizer that was to have promised to help us find all the nuts and bolts and screws and especially the metal dipstick tube.

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We had breakfast on Sunday at Jivermo's social breakfast spot where I got to meet his business partner and a friend who stopped by to chat it up with us. We were still expecting to button it all up by the end of the day but . . . we had some difficulties. There were parts we needed that we could not rustle up in a timely fashion. We had to order some exhaust gaskets and nuts and bolts and I offered to come back down to Miami a week hence. I wanted to see Jivermo's Westy running! Running! So the Miami visit was actually Pensacola to Miami to Homosassa Springs back to Miami before heading back to Pensacola. Here's a boat I finally caught up with. (this was actually where I performed the 163,000 mile oil change) :

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I was OK with that. Chloe (see above) was running flawlessly and I wanted to drive the inner Florida roadways far from the interstate to take in Florida in February . . .

Spring Here At the 27th Parallel!
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=12406#p212351


Florida is beautiful in its middle, but you do have to pick your roads carefully. On the way to weisswurst's, I got stuck on an interminable four lane street through some garish motel/amusement park hell with rain spattering us all. The jam lasted close to 15 miles. I expected a reward at the end, some hideous car crash with parts strewn all over, but it was just one supremely arrogant passive aggressive "you will wait here until I say you can go" stop light with a short-timed yellow to make the municipality some money. I timed the red at 120 seconds and the yellow at barely 3. Once free of the gaudy faux French Quarter uselessness, the countryside beckoned with pastel blue and hazy clouds and sunshine like some 19th Century Impressionist Timeless Spring Afternoon.

I was on to Miami the second time in.
"Noo, you are not going to catch me in your stupid three-lanes-closed Interstate 95 Southbound Friday Evening Traffic Jam like you did last week, what? you think I'm dumb, or something, hah? I'm from Noo Yawk."
Sitting in a Friday evening traffic jam on three-lanes-closed Interstate 75 Southbound, I had plenty of time to congratulate myself on my wily wiles.

Now THIS Saturday morning, February 14th, Jivermo and I dispensed with our easy relaxed chattery. We had work to do. We buttoned up the exhaust, we installed the new clutch, we mated the transaxle to the engine, we installed the engine and transaxle,

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we adjusted the valves, chucked in some oil, cranked for oil pressure, we started the engine . . . Jivermo, take it away:

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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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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit

Post by Jivermo » Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:05 am

Oh, Good Lord, homework! OK, I'll get busy on this in a bit...

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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit

Post by Jivermo » Fri Mar 20, 2015 5:52 pm

The engine started right up, and ran quite strong during our 20 minute breakin. There were, however, several issues that we found over the course of our hours of work on it. I am in the process of discussing these with Adrian, who has been very responsive to my concerns, and certainly appears to be customer oriented in his dealings with me. Since this is an ongoing situation, I really prefer to postpone further commentary until we have a final resolution. When that occurs, I'll report on the outcome.

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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:03 am

Jivermo wrote:Oh, Good Lord, homework! OK, I'll get busy on this in a bit...
Yes, as you are finding out, the Itinerant Air-Cooled Phenomenon isn't all just cavorting about in the sunshine, there are DEADLINES, publishing deadlines, there's an audience, a demanding audience, they must be entertained whether or not you are dead-tired from driving enormous distances in an old Volkswagen and kicking your own butt all day trying to keep straight the gazillions of parts and repairs and schedules and people and details and pictures and collating and narrative.

Your efforts, your travails, your timely and critically important observations and edifications may very well relate to their decision-making in the future.
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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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by Jivermo » Sun Apr 05, 2015 9:20 am

Ahhhh...deadlines! Time constraints have caused me some delay in continuing this saga, as well as sort of being in the rock and hard place position. Well, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
When Colin came down to Miami, and we began to dress my beautiful looking Headflow Masters long block, I was indeed a very happy person. His arrival meant that, with maybe two days of work, I could be driving by bus again. What joy loomed!
Very early on, Colin pointed out a disturbing find, "Look here, Ian, we have painted over grime here around the case."
Yes, it was true-dirt had simply been painted over. A scowl of disapproval began to form on Colin's expressive mug.
Moving on, we checked the end play, which settled out at .005. OK, but not excellent.
All right-engine is now in, and we start it up, and it is running well, to my ear. We rev it up and down, and then: What's this? Oil is dripping down in a steady stream, from around the large screw plug of the oil pressure relief passage. The drip slackens off as the engine warms, but this is an ominous sign indeed. We give the engine a good 20 minute breakin period, and I get under to drain the oil, and check for the leak source. I can't see it, but Colin believes it to be from one of the oil gallery plugs above and to the right of the oil filter, near the attachment of the oil cooler. We unscrewed the pressure relief screw initially, to see if that was the source of the drip, and out came the Adrian modified ball and spring device. This is what prompted Colin to do his write up on that particular change from the original VW specification. The screw seal was fine, and it was the oil gallery plug Colin suspected. I wouldn't know for certain until I pulled the fan housing off several weeks later so that I could actually see it (and video it). A drilled, tapped and plugged hole is leaking upon startup, until the ball device in the pressure relief cylinder blocks it off as the engine heats up. Why is this? The drilled hole is actually an oval shape, so that the tapped threading is not complete. There is a void at the top, and oil just flows right up and out. There is no method of dealing with this other than redrilling the hole larger, retapping and installing a plug with a complete seal. Of course, this is not something you want to take lightly, with the high risk of metal shards getting into your oil passage. When I pulled the drain plug to drain the oil, I got another unpleasant surprise: curved metal pieces came out with the plug. The threads in the case were quite stripped, and this called for more machining work, and more risk of engine contamination. My thoughts of driving my bus were pretty much dashed at this point, and Colin exhibited a high degree of pissedoffidness, and general irritation at seeing these travesties of machine work. And yes, I was pissed off, too. I had a schedule of work on my bus, and Colin had obliged me by coming all the way down to Miami from Pensacola for a two day work session-a preseason IAC game. I had spent a considerable sum on the long block, believing I was going to get something I could count on for at least 100,000 miles.
We decided to go ahead and adjust the valves. Pulling the valve covers off, Colin immediately noticed an unexplained grit in the valve covers. "Appears to be a sand blasting medium.", he said. As we turned the screws to adjust the valves, we could actually feel the grit in the screws. I would compare it to the feel of sand between your teeth.
The upside of all this: Two days working with Colin, even though it may be a disappointing experience, is not to be considered time wasted. I learned much and, as it goes, Colin and I solved many of the world's problems. I know my bus much better now, and have faith that I will one day realize my goal of touring North America and filming the experience, much like Ben of Hasta Alaska renown.
What of Adrain of Headflow Masters in all this? I called Adrian to go over all that we had found. I've always found Adrian to be accessible, and a gentleman. He listened, without interruption, while I went over all of the details, and then said that he would build me a new long block and send it out to me. I sent him the pictures I had, and the video of the plug welling up upon startup of the engine. He sounded distressed that all this had occurred.
Despite the labor and expense of this experience, I am willing to give Adrian the opportunity to make this right. We are at a difficult time and place in this bus life of ours. I went with Adrian because I believed him to be one of the two top builders of type 4 engines left in the US. I have always read very good reports on his work-especially his head work. Our resources dwindle by the year, with crummy builders like GEX and others spreading misery and making folks believe that the type 4 is just a piece of crap. I believe that the type 4 air cooled engine is a work of art, and is deserving of the very best that we can provide for a rebuild. Working with Colin has only intensified my desire to get this thing right, and to keep the air cooled engine alive and well. Gary at Rimco is currently building a short block for me, using my original case. I'm most likely going to send him a set of Adrian heads that I have, and have him do up the complete long block, so I'll have a spare.
Meanwhile, we'll see what Adrian comes up with. I want to give the guy the opportunity to redeem himself, and give me a piece of work that is worthy of what has been written of him in the past. I decided to provide this report because I do owe this to me fellow bus owners, those who read and support this interest of ours, and those who share Colin's work ethic and passion. We must demand the very best from our suppliers, whether it is a long block with good bearings and critical measurements adhered to in the original VW style, or if it is a cheesy door handle or ill fitting Westy pop-up tent. If not, both our interest and our vehicles will die, drowned in a tidal flood of dismal, Chinese made, copies of once magnificent engineering. Let's all hope for the best, on this day of resurrection and rebirth. I will report back to you all as this saga continues.

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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Apr 05, 2015 10:13 am

Jivermo wrote:When Colin came down to Miami, and we began to dress my beautiful looking Headflow Masters long block, I was indeed a very happy person. His arrival meant that, with maybe two days of work, I could be driving by bus again. What joy loomed!
My expression was somewhat more clouded by an awareness of the irascibility of reality . . . :blackeye:
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Jivermo wrote: Oil is dripping down in a steady stream, from around the large screw plug of the oil pressure relief passage. The drip slackens off as the engine warms, the ball device blocks it off as the engine heats up.
From theSamba, in response to my post "Lubrication - Experts Please Chime In"

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... highlight=
oscarsnapkin wrote: Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2015
I had my GD engine rebuilt by Adrian last spring/early summer and installed it/started it a few days before Thanksgiving. I don't know anything about the lubrication system, but could this explain why my engine leaks oil for a few minutes after a cold start? It appears to be coming from above the oil filter bracket. I figured there was a relief valve there and the pressure was too high because of the tight clearances in the new engine. It leaks a smaller amount of oil now than it did when I first installed the engine. I have less than 50 miles on it, running Brad Penn Break-In oil,
Jivermo wrote: Pulling the valve covers off, Colin immediately noticed an unexplained grit in the valve covers. "Appears to be a sand blasting medium.", he said. As we turned the screws to adjust the valves, we could actually feel the grit in the screws. I would compare it to the feel of sand between your teeth.
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I strongly recommend against sandblasting any part of an aircooled VW engine. Cold tank wash, GumOut spray and a toothbrush, dish detergent and hot water . . . but sandblasting can fill pores in cast aluminum, then get rinsed out under oil spray. This is FATAL in a Type 1 engine.
Jivermo wrote: *I am willing to give Adrian the opportunity to make this right.
*I believe that the type 4 air cooled engine is a work of art, and is deserving of the very best that we can provide for a rebuild.
*I decided to provide this report because I do owe this to me fellow bus owners, those who read and support this interest of ours, and those who share Colin's work ethic and passion. We must demand the very best from our suppliers,
. . . and in so doing, we must do our best too. That can be tough, to maintain a clear concise, fact-based, emotionally neutral report of our issues, and your comportment, Jivermo, through all of this is an example whose bar I cannot possibly meet:

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Jivermo wrote: If not, both our interest and our vehicles will die, drowned in a tidal flood of dismal, Chinese made, copies of once magnificent engineering. Let's all hope for the best, on this day of resurrection and rebirth. I will report back to you all as this saga continues.
Thank-you. Yes. You are a good man.

Image
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: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by Jivermo » Sun Apr 05, 2015 10:51 am

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The leaking oil gallery hole. Note the red locktite ends abruptly, as do the threads, at the top of the hole where it is a bit oval. The pressurized oil flowed up this passageway and out. Removal of fan housing and engine mount was necessary to get a good view.

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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by wcfvw69 » Sun Apr 05, 2015 11:11 am

I'm pretty surprised to see this type of work from Headflow Masters. As you, I, and others have read, most of the feedback on him has been very favorable. I'm sure hoping that he comes through and makes this 100% right for you. As you mentioned, there's not many engine builders whether type 1 or 4 with great reviews and feedback.

I was also under the impression that he dyno'd each engine before sending them out? Was that not the case here?

Please continue to keep us updated with your experiences with Headflow Masters. I'm going to suspect that he will go above and beyond in correcting this for you and addressing how this engine left his shop in this condition.
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by Jivermo » Sun Apr 05, 2015 3:33 pm

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The passage in relation to its location. You can see why it was difficult to pinpoint the leak.

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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by the miz » Mon Apr 06, 2015 2:26 pm

I decided to provide this report because I do owe this to me fellow bus owners, those who read and support this interest of ours, and those who share Colin's work ethic and passion.
Thanks Jivermo! I've been anxiously following this thread, while waiting for my new turnkey engine to ship from Headflow Masters. It has been informative, to say the least...please know that the effort you've put into the post is appreciated!

-miz
1982 Westy- Vana White

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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by airkooledchris » Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:58 pm

Thank you for sharing this story in such wonderful detail. Watching and hoping for a positive resolution.
1979 California Transporter

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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by Bleyseng » Tue Apr 07, 2015 2:30 pm

Is that a Melling oil pump too?
Geoff
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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by asiab3 » Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:04 pm

Bleyseng wrote:Is that a Melling oil pump too?
When I spoke with him months ago, he said he primarily uses 30mm Schadek T1 pumps. This was due to most customers carelessly wanting "new" parts because the "old" ones were "old." :scratch:
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Apr 08, 2015 10:02 am

asiab3 wrote:
Bleyseng wrote:Is that a Melling oil pump too?
When I spoke with him months ago, he said he primarily uses 30mm Schadek T1 pumps. This was due to most customers carelessly wanting "new" parts because the "old" ones were "old." :scratch:
Oh, and who am I to talk any more? I have a 30mm Shadek in my 1600 engine . . .
Colin

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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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Re: The Jivermo Miami Visit now with pics

Post by Jivermo » Sat Jun 13, 2015 8:17 am

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Here we go again.

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