IAC in Verona, WI - Day 2

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THall
Getting Hooked!
Location: Verona, Wisconsin
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IAC in Verona, WI - Day 2

Post by THall » Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:12 am

This past Sunday was my fourth visit with Colin. We of course started the day with coffee and chatting about the bus, politics, interior design (no, we will NOT be remodeling the bathroom at this point), and which college our daughter may attend.

Mike (Happyfolk) made a brief cameo. Tom (busboytom) drove in from the Lacrosse area and spent the day with us...and, yes we put him to work. The weather was beautiful!

(Tom's bus in the street, mine and Mike's in the driveway, and Naranja in the garage)
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First order of business was to dig into my issue of seepage from the cylinder to head mating connection at #4 and to a lesser degree, #3. The leakage was reduced to almost nothing prior to Colin's arrival when I replaced the fuel pressure regulator. But, we still have evidence of a very slight leak and gas/oil residue.

I had also previously removed the rocker assemblies to check torque on the lower head bolts. I did not get any movement at the prescribed torque. But, what Colin did was break torque on the bolts and bring them back up to torque in one fluid motion (after making reference marks as to the current position of the nuts). On the 3/4 side where the seepage was/is occurring we found two of the nuts (don't recall which ones) went beyond our reference marks by what we will call one or two hours. If I remember correctly the 1/2 side did not change.

The rocker shafts did not pass Colin's quality control standards, so a cross-hatch sanding, through cleaning and re-lube was in order. Did Adrian use all fresh parts on this rebuild...hmmm? The valve adjust screws sure looked like they've been used more than the 2k miles since the initial rebuild.
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After reassembly and valve adjustment we were on to resetting the points gap and timing (which I thought I had dialed in :pale: ).

Low cold idle diagnosis was also on the to-do list. While Adrian did swap out the Schneider performance cam with a "stock" cam last fall, I'm not convinced that it is truly stock profile. However, after dwell and timing were in check, Colin did some fine tuning of the AFM with the result being an acceptable idle. This made me very happy.

We took the bus out for a run, came back and made another tweak of the AFM, went out again and proclaimed that the engine is sounding and running quite well....whew. DD CHT gauge was reading in the 360* range on full throttle up hill pulls with 83 deg ambient temps.

"What else ya got?" Colin asked. "Well the damn brakes are still squealing"

I pulled off the right rear wheel. A bit of effort was needed to get the drum off which included PB Blaster, 2 or 3 screw drivers prying in tandem, and a BFH. When the drum was pulled off out came half of a spring...yeah, that might be part of the problem. From there we did some nice cross-hatch sanding on the inside of the drum and shoes, applied anti-seize to the mating surface and re-assembled (a replacement spring is on the way). The driver side drum was far more stubborn, and by this time of day the mosquitoes were looking for a meal. The BFH was needed far more on this drum, which was killing my already compromised hearing (yeah, I should have used ear protection during my 25+ years of playing rock n' roll). So, Tom stepped in and took one for the team so I could stick my fingers in my ears while Colin whacked away at the drum. Thanks guys!
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We finished up the day with a beer and final chat session and Colin and Tom were on their way with some chocolate pie.

It was a very good day and the bus is sounding as good as it ever has.

Next year....front beam replacement. Colin gave my donor a thumbs up :cheers:
'78 Westy 2.0 FI

71whitewesty
Addicted!
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Re: IAC in Verona, WI - Day 2

Post by 71whitewesty » Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:40 pm

Glad to hear it's running well,sounds like it's time for a road trip. =D>

And damn, there are some fine looking westys at your place. :cyclopsani:

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Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
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Re: IAC in Verona, WI - Day 2

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:02 pm

71whitewesty wrote:Glad to hear it's running well,sounds like it's time for a road trip. =D>

And damn, there are some fine looking westys at your place. :cyclopsani:
Dang-tootin'. That was a nice test drive in the green one too, especially that 55 mph shift into 4th..

Amber glass squares set in earth tone tiles at the 1/3 elevation in the bathroom will look smashingly sophisticated . . . :blackeye:
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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Happyfolk
Getting Hooked!
Location: Verona, WI
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Re: IAC in Verona, WI - Day 2

Post by Happyfolk » Wed Jun 22, 2016 7:54 pm

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79 CA FI Westy
Mexico Beige
"Sandy"

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busboytom
I'm New!
Location: Western Wisconsin
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Re: IAC in Verona, WI - Day 2

Post by busboytom » Mon Jun 27, 2016 12:48 pm

Lack of planning on my part cost me the opportunity to host Colin for a second time. So I politely ask if I could join THall at his appointment. I was warned by the Cman himself if you show up at some else's appnt, you get put to work, which is how it should be. I was hoping to lean in :help: and ask a few questions between valve covers, rocker arms and torque wrenches. My 77 Westy was having cold start problems. Once it started albeit from the weight of a heavy right foot it managed a steady idle. So Colin, THall and I have heads inside and around Mr. Hall's engine compartment and we see a hardware stores worth of hose clamps....on everything. "These must be spares, huh"? ....nope. There sure were a lot of em. His engine bay is immaculate BTW.... except for the baling wire ?? holding aloft the perforated pressboard on the engine bay ceiling ??? Colin says he's going into production on those someday. So after a very long day (2.5hrs to and 2.5hrs home besides a very long day with no lunch break ) I embarrassingly attempted to start my cold Bus in front of the teacher. The third try worked. The next day full of potential things to check, I open up the engine door and gaze at my intact perforated pressboard ceiling thingy and what do my wandering eyes behold..... the rubber "T" that connects vapor lines to the charcoal canister was not connected. Um, THall, got an extra hose clamp or two? Now clamped, we are golden. With quick accelerator primer it fires right off and idles nicely. Colin didn't think there was a link, but hey, this Bus starts the way it's supposed to now, so I'm not arguing.

Back at THalls I invited Colin to the street to sit in our newly upholstered vanagon seats in appropriate yellow/green plaid. They are sooooo comfortable. He hops up into the captains chair and first thing he says....."where's your belly pan"? geesch! talk about hurting a guys feelings. :pale: "......but what about those seats"? So yesterday in true Itinerant wilderness upgrade fashion I freshened up and installed the pan. :thumbleft:


A great day of learning and fellowship. Thanks THall for allowing me to join you and to your wife for the delicious chocolate cake (it didn't make it to Middleton!! I was starving. ) Colin, thank you for your enthusiasm for these fine but aging pieces of engineering, the patience you have with their owners, the encouragement you instill in us and the community of IACer's you've created. Safe travels.

busboytom

How's that fuel filter holding up?
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busboytom
71 Squareback
77 Westfalia
68 Westfalia
Sears Allstate trailer
Appleby popup camper

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