2018 Preparation Depredations

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Amskeptic
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2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Feb 09, 2018 9:41 am

Yeah, I am old, my cars are old, kids these days, does it have to be so windy here in Florida (5-10mph ) and it is only 61*.

You can see in the photograph here that the left heat exchanger is down. I had two exhaust nuts fail the pre-flight re-torque:

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I have no idea why I just dumbly seated the studs that had pulled down ("... that'll fixerrightUP!") and moved on to more fun things like dremelling the sharp edges and rust flakes off the heat exchanger/manifold flanges:

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Then painted the whole thing with 2,000* primer/paint/clearcoat:

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That I did. All over-focused on the "prettification". Painted the left side intermediate tin and touched up the lower tins:

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Put the whole "pretty" mess back together again with cleaned heater control valve and polished accordian duct. Yeah, and it sounds like hell now because those studs have nothing to hold on to. Apparently, I "barbershop poled"* the threads.
( * barbershop poled: whereupon a threaded device becomes a goddamn auger)

Today, I must find my last-chance repair, the one and only Bigsert kit. Why, you ask? Because these failed studs were already in heli-coils

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=13186

That means the aluminum is already carved out to 10mm. Heebie jeebie time . . .
Colin :cyclopsani:
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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asiab3
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depradations

Post by asiab3 » Fri Feb 09, 2018 11:42 am

That is some scary stuff. Good luck with the Big Sert! (Will you need to chop the tip off the included tap so it doesn't bottom out prematurely?)

Are Naranja's pushrod tube seals original? I mean, it's nice that they're dry, but I ask because the under-cylinder tins aren't painted. :pirate:

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: 2018 Preparation Depradations

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Feb 09, 2018 11:55 am

asiab3 wrote:
Fri Feb 09, 2018 11:42 am
That is some scary stuff. Good luck with the Big Sert! (Will you need to chop the tip off the included tap so it doesn't bottom out prematurely?)

Are Naranja's pushrod tube seals original? I mean, it's nice that they're dry, but I ask because the under-cylinder tins aren't painted. :pirate:

Robbie
Left side yes, right side no. Under cylinder tins were once upon a time long ago painted at a factory far away. I get to paint them if/ when I tear the engine down.
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: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:22 am

Quick update, mid-surgery.

Helicoil augers pretty much fell out of the head when I pulled the exchanger down, but guess what? They had jammed down at the flanges and the nuts were actually *torquing up to value* this morning.
I thought, "yay! the studs are holding!"
But when I started the engine, "boo! bad leak."

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Auger hole:

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Big scary drill operation. Is the angle right? Longitudinally? Laterally? Are we in the center of the hole, or only in the center of the last helicoil drill operation?

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No photograph of the countersink operation, just a stepped drill bit that makes a depression for the top of the bigsert to go down flush with the surface, and seat firmly on the counterbore.

Tapping with an adjustable wrench on-edge and a BMW spark-plug wrench t-handle deal. The tap was able to work to the bottom of the hole without any problem:

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The threads at the bottom of the bigsert are not fully formed until the driver does it for you. In so doing, it press-locks the insert into the head aluminum. Installed bigsert with the driver until it seated in counterbore. Then driver continued down the hole and pressed out the thinggamajig to lock it to the head aluminum.

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Finished product looks secure (it better be!) and the stud might be correctly aligned, but I do not know yet. I better get out there and find out. I am supposed to be heading out to Homosassa when I am done . . . :

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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sped372
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by sped372 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:06 pm

Fingers (not threads) crossed.
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by asiab3 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:29 pm

Wheeewww good luck! And welcome to the ranks of continent-crossing orange buses with insert- threaded cylinder heads. :pirate:

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Jivermo » Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:41 pm

I guess we’ll know soon. See ya Friday morning.

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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by BusBassist » Thu Feb 15, 2018 9:38 pm

(EDIT: 03/07/18 Moved exhaust conversation to here)
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=13382&p=228384#p228375

Thanks Colin - this makes sense.

Here's hoping your exhaust is still stealthy.

Jeff
Late 73 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine.

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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Curtp07 » Sat Mar 03, 2018 3:42 pm

Did I miss the conclusion to this thread? Was in Miami three months for training so I’ve been in a bubble.
Curt

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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Jivermo » Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:01 pm

Was in Miami three months for training so I’ve been in a bubble.
Curt
Three months in Miami? Didn’t see you here...we could have shown you a bit of training.

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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Curtp07 » Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:26 pm

I have had enough Latin Cafe 2000 to last me a long time ;)

Looking forward to seeing Colin again this year.

..and since I’ve had my head in books for the past three months I just caught the fact you guys are in Miami...would have loved to come help!

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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:57 am

In the Miami Meanderings thread, I finished off the exhaust system surgery with new brackets and new bolts/nuts on the r/s exchanger, u-tube, and manifold. That was sort of exhausting.

After the second curing test drive, I pulled into the garage and noted the aroma of curing paint, the aching of back, and the arthritic warnings coming from finger joints. Great time for a little recuperation, right?

Wrong. See, whilst filing flanges, I had also parted the seas of the distribution bureaucracy of a particularly diffident tire manufacturer, and had spoken with Stephanie at Maxxis in Suwanee GA to grant me the name of her go-to guy at Tire Center International (Matt) who gave me the name of the surprised guy at Real Deal Tires in Hickory NC to send eight (8) Maxxis 751 tires to Discount Tire's Kristopher in Pensacola. Yep. Stephanie had told me that the 14" Maxxis radial tire was being discontinued, and I was allegedly vacuuming up the remaining tires in the supply chain.

So, the third curing test drive was a little trip over to Discount to mount 4 of the 8 on NaranjaWesty. The tires taken off had been installed on the BobD in 2014 . . .

viewtopic.php?f=68&t=12191#p209383

. . . and had done 2 1/2 Itinerary laps, (about 50,000 miles with tread depth down down to 5/32"). I demand serious good tread depth on Itinerary laps to be prepared for heavy rains and crazy trails or desert washes.

I am a terrible customer for busy big box tires stores, but Kristopher was a trouper (<note correct spelling) and I drove out of there with correct air pressures, correct lug nut torques, no damage to the undercarriage, and four additional new tires and drove back to the RodneyTheAirlinePilot's garage so the little Lionel Train kid could mock my next move:

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My next move was to remove the right rear wheel with the brand new tire and start sanding. Do you all remember when I painted all four of these wheels at a roadside rest stop and an abandoned shop in Texas in 2010? Sanding off the original Volkswagen paint was so easy. I painted those wheels in two days.

viewtopic.php?f=58&t=8734#p156987

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Wail hail. **This paint is engine enamel! Four coats! It ain't coming off!** Oh my god, what have I begun?? By the end of the evening, my finger nails are separating from their quicks. I don't want to paint my wheels any more.
Look at this mess!

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The back side was even worse, but my attitude is extremely devoted to the notion that these wheels have to be perfect, and the back side has to be prepared as fully as the front side. Gawd, I *hate* sanding and sanding, it is going to take ALL MONTH. It did take all day to sand, dremel down the weld spatter from the factory, and dress the nicks and gouges from the 140,000 miles total that these wheels have rolled. My back was raging, my fingers were tormented, and it was just Wheel Number One:

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Day two, Wheel Two, I switched to paint stripper from Home Depot, very carefully applied because it says on the can right there "do not allow product to contact rubber". After the stripper, I then had to scrape the gunky paint off. Then I called upon the famous and long-suffering and dangerous Law Firm's Craftsman drill of old Chloe window polishing days to scuff the rims. That poor drill got so hot I could not hold it. It would go into a chicken scream every once in a while, so I would lubricate the bearings, tap it against the pavement and go back at it. This drill has been known to catch GumOut vapors aflame with its exposed brushes just sparking away:

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I could feel electricity leaking out onto my hands as I cleaned the wheel. But I was so grateful for the paint stripper assist that it re-energized me in this project:

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By day three, RodneyThePilot is offering extremely sensible suggestions that I wonderingly accepted stupidly.
1. "Put the wheel on this upside down garbage can, then you won't kill your back."
2. "Tape the rim without the plastic sheeting then you can tape the sheeting onto the tape willy-nilly."
3. "Why didn't you sandblast the rims when the tires were off?"

Yeah, so look how carefully I cleaned the groove here. Jeweler's screwdriver in endless circles with the wheel tilted down, followed by a razor blade, then hand painted just before spraying:

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Yesterday morning, you wonder why I wasn't responding to your PM's, jtauxe? I was crazed to get this behind me:
(hubcaps all have three coats clearcoat over the rust-catalyzing primer)

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Here's the last wheel. I ran out of Discount Tire plastic bag dropcloths. This here is 26 WalMart plastic bags from the recycling stash here at the house:

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Day Four, evening. Such a relief, to be done, huh?

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The right front hubcap fell off three miles from the house, I didn't even know it. When I got to my destination, it was pointed out to me that I was missing the hubcap. I re-traced my steps, certain that I knew where it had fallen off, yards from the house.
"Yeah, I heard it, but it didn't sound like a hubcap coming off, it sounded like something had shifted in the interior."
Well, no hubcap to be found at the spot where I was so damn certain. I eyed a little delinquent punk shiftily scuttling into his house, certain anew that he had stolen it for his stupid little punk wall collection. Then I re-traced my route in its entirety, "as a measure of respect to my old once-intact Volkswagen" I said to RodneyThePilot. I was getting more hyper-irritated by the mile, at the traffic, at the busy-ness of rush hour in Pensacola, at shifty little parasitic punks who scarf valuable old hubcaps, as I cast an eye along the shoulders of the roads.
Holy heck, that must be it, a shiny little flying saucer in a hedge along Cervantes at 14th Street. Pulled a u-turn and reconnoitered and pulled another u-turn and there it was. Stopped, loitered along the hedge, plucked the flying saucer, and stuck it back on my VW to the marveling eye of an old lady walking her little dog.
"And then, Gladis, he just walked into the hedge and came out with this shiny hubcap and it fit perfectly on his camper, I don't know, I know, I don't know, it just fit and he drove off. Oh, Skipper was barking his head off."

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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wcfvw69
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by wcfvw69 » Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:18 pm

Damn Colin,

That drill is older than you are! Lucky you didn't get a strong perm when it electrocuted you! :sunny:

Why the did the cap come off?
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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Amskeptic
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:25 am

wcfvw69 wrote:
Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:18 pm
Damn Colin,

That drill is older than you are! Lucky you didn't get a strong perm when it electrocuted you! :sunny:

Why the did the cap come off?
I have a fierce loyalty to that drill and we even have a gearbox "rebuild" between us. I got the perm, it is an Albert Einstein perm.

Now then, you are the second person to ask how the hubcap came off . . . the hubcap came off because I had never seated it just after the painting operation on that wheel. I must have said to myself, "don't mar the fresh paint, let it dry overnight, so just hang the cap on lightly." Then I forgot to seat it the next day. Then we have the question of how it managed to hang on for three miles . . .
Colin

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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wcfvw69
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by wcfvw69 » Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:06 pm

I did the same thing about 15 years ago. I had restored the 69 bug and painted the rims. When I installed the brand new OE quality German VW caps, I didn't seat one all the way on. It came off down the street. Like you, I back tracked and found it. This brand new hub cap was dented and had deep scratches. I wasn't happy that I had to order another $20 dollar cap. These same caps today are $75 dollars each when you can find them.
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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