Re: New York New Heads Day One

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Amskeptic
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New York New Heads Day One

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jun 01, 2019 7:28 pm

Read this link to get yourself up to speed:

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https://www.itinerant-air-cooled.com/vi ... 57#p228311


The Final Solution Bigsert has failed. I have a ticky exhaust leak. Therefore, after tomorrow's appointment with wdollie6, we are going to swap out the perfectly functional original VW heads @ 99,600 miles, and stick in some Len Hoffman ceramic coated heads with good exhaust studs. We might even get a visit from Jivermo of Miami's McIntyre Home For Wayward Volkswagens.

Engine Surgery Inventory, all of it:

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Will be updating this thread ...
Colin

(Would ya look at this? I ordered "top-quality" FAG wheel bearings . My singular order came from three countries):

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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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airkooledchris
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Re: New York New Heads

Post by airkooledchris » Sat Jun 01, 2019 10:54 pm

could a reputable head rebuilder fix the OG one, if you wanted to put it back into service, or is this point of failure signal the complete end of life moment?

I've noticed that a LOT of the product descriptions on Busdepot have started to include the line "better than the original" - and that is always a red flag. You really are on your own out there in terms of doing homework or returning products that don't live up to their sales pitch.

I am about to set the end play on my bus so I opened my 3 brand new .38 shims just in case id need some (probably all) to get it into spec. All 3 of them measure around .34/.35 :scratch:
1979 California Transporter

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Bleyseng
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Re: New York New Heads

Post by Bleyseng » Sun Jun 02, 2019 6:54 am

Yes, the stud boss can be welded/filled and retapped without that much trouble to save it.
Geoff
77 Sage Green Westy- CS 2.0L-160,000 miles
70 Ghia vert, black, stock 1600SP,- 139,000 miles,
76 914 2.1L-Nepal Orange- 160,000+ miles
http://bleysengaway.blogspot.com/

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tommu
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Re: New York New Heads

Post by tommu » Sun Jun 02, 2019 4:48 pm

airkooledchris wrote:
Sat Jun 01, 2019 10:54 pm
could a reputable head rebuilder fix the OG one, if you wanted to put it back into service, or is this point of failure signal the complete end of life moment?

I've noticed that a LOT of the product descriptions on Busdepot have started to include the line "better than the original" - and that is always a red flag. You really are on your own out there in terms of doing homework or returning products that don't live up to their sales pitch.

I am about to set the end play on my bus so I opened my 3 brand new .38 shims just in case id need some (probably all) to get it into spec. All 3 of them measure around .34/.35 :scratch:
I bought some shims from CSP last year and they too were wildly out and uneven. It’s totally put me off of my CSP engineering. Precision should be their fortè. Another set from Buslab came in OEM Porsche branded bags and were indeed close to accurate.

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Re: New York New Heads Day One

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Jun 09, 2019 6:55 pm

Have just left Essex and am battling head temps, sticky flaps, lousy fuel economy, and the exhaustion of staying up late and drinking waaay too much very good Pinot Noir with a man who has known me since I was one year old. We suffer great humor and great sorrow and great memories and a serious respect for the march of time.
I spent two days with a dear friend who was my siblings' fourth grade teacher in Virginia, and her grandson, a sixteen year-old who is Awake and Alert and a joy to converse with (if you decide to register, please join in).
My mother, I can only hold my breath, I do not know anything about this last chapter she is in, but any horrifying second from now I will get a phone call and all of my brave defenses will collapse like a tower of playing cards in a wind storm. She is in me forever don't you know, and I plan to give you all a big dose of her, so buckle up and be on your best behavior ... or else.

So yeah, some long long time ago (June 3rd I think it was), I awoke with trepidation for the marathon head transplant to transpire within the tight confinement of my scheduled visit with the above souls.

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Here, we discover that along with the pulled Bigserts on #4 and #3, we also have an exhaust ring mangled to death and leaking over on the right side of the engine, #1 ... can you believe it? I never even heard it:

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Five and a half hours in:

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Yep, the fan housing had to come off to free up the #2 and #4 rear intermediate tins to freely allow the heads to slide off the studs:

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Last view of the original untouched longblock and oil sender grommet which refused to let go of the sender as the upper tins were pulled off:

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Eight and three quarter hours in, the head nuts are off:

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LOOK at how lean I have been running this engine at 17-18 mpg @ 65-70. Too lean really, but the heads sure were OK, this is 3/4:

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#3 Bigsert was ripping its fool self out too ... what the heck?

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Here's the 1/2 head. You can see the oil that was "wafting in" from the #1 intake:

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#1 intake valve and guide:

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#2 intake valve and guide. Looks excellent for 100,000 miles:

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Odd #2 and #1 pistons with leanleanlean carbon bleached out white. Cylinder walls were spotless:

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#3 and #4 pistons. Who does this to their pistons?

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Look at the time it takes to clean four pistons:

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We'll call this Day One a fifteen hour day.
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: New York New Heads Day One

Post by zabo » Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:31 am

no space to pull the engine or just a masochistic in situ fun time?
60 beetle
78 bus

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Re: New York New Heads Day One

Post by airkooledchris » Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:53 am

high head temps from the special coating Hoffman heads? does that make them less susceptible to damage when they got hot, or is it supposed to make them run cooler?


im trying to focus on the work your doing and not the weight that you must feel upon your soul at this time. I hope for the best possible outcome in all that your working with currently.
1979 California Transporter

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Re: New York New Heads Day One

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Jun 10, 2019 6:32 pm

zabo wrote:
Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:31 am
no space to pull the engine or just a masochistic in situ fun time?
It seemed a much tidier solution to disassemble in situ in Wayne's hard-working garage, and stick my disassemblies upon the poptop.

2007
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2019
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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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Amskeptic
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Re: New York New Heads Day One

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Jun 10, 2019 7:19 pm

airkooledchris wrote:
Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:53 am
high head temps from the special coating Hoffman heads?
does that make them less susceptible to damage when they got hot,
or is it supposed to make them run cooler?
High head temps normally occur from bad architecture, timing, mixture, or cooling system problems.
My architecture is fine, deck height, compression ratio, valve seating/shrouding, etc. If you read the ad copy below, you will see them talk about cooler running but hotter combustion. Yikes or bs.

I believe Len told me that the AMC heads have less cooling air flow-through (thicker fins) which had me concerned that the combustion heat was just not escaping fast enough out on the highway. So I made wilder and wilder adjustments to try to suss out my adjustment effects upon the heat. Really, if I can make it run hotter, then I have some agency over it and should be able to make it cooler by reversing my adjustment plus additional, right? I was just chicken to take my adjustments to the next level. Stupid engine was beginning to worry me when I had the wiper almost falling off the rich side of the track, the spring just stupid loose (rich), the mixture screw almost all the way down (rich), and a chokingly rich mixture, but head temps would invariably climb up to 430* on the hills. What? What?

Well hell's bells, let's get pissed and knock that damn wiper back lean a full friggen tooth, something I have never done, and then relax the spring so it will get the mixture richer right off idle.
Holy cats. 400* CHT at 65-70, 17 mpg, good steady idle, smooth pick up, wtf, wiper is lean!

So the coating alleges to protect the aluminum from rapid huge infusions of heat in transient conditions, but you know it is not any sort of "insulation" or we would be painting buildings with the stuff. It is just a infrared mirror coating. What happens when it is subsequently coated in carbon?

Here's some usual ad copy horsesh*t that actually folds back unto itself to help make no sense at all:
Setting up a thermal barrier in the combustion chamber also helps the chamber retain heat for more power potential. Again, assuming detonation does not become a problem, (WTF?- ed) this can increase combustion efficiency while lowering engine-coolant temperatures (seriously?). Aluminum heads, which are said to reject heat quicker than traditional cast iron, may see particular benefits from TBCs. (so if we are putting a heat barrier to hold heat, how does the aluminum "reject" that heat?? -ed) Barriers can also be applied to valve heads to keep them cooler.

Coating the inside and outside surfaces of exhaust parts with TBCs is said to increase exhaust-gas velocity, reducing backpressure (really?? -ed) and reversion.
Phooey on all the bullsh*t for our lawnmower engines that barely put out 17 hp per cylinder. This is just like "anti-bacterial" soap that does not clean your hands so much as strip them of their natural flora thus making you more susceptible to infection.


Here is a Joe Blow poorly-spelled-but-thoroughly-corrected response in a Chevy forum:
One must also be careful in what particular coating is used where and when as sometimes depending on the cylinder head material (aluminum versus iron), piston shape, ring type , fuel used, and compression, the coating of all combustion surfaces can retain too much heat of combustion in the chamber and lead to other potential detonation, heat transfer issues and exhaust gas temperatures that are too high.
So, I have coatings, and I will measure exhaust temps in Death Valley and manifolds and fan housing as usual and we will see what happens.

airkooledchris wrote:
Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:53 am
im trying to focus on the work your doing and not the weight that you must feel upon your soul at this time. I hope for the best possible outcome in all that your working with currently.
Chris, I am anxiously waiting for my mother to get free of her prison. The Alzheimers gave me time to relinquish our relationship to the past (I only get to interact with her in full command of her faculties in my dreams). But there are also others I love who are skating close to the exit and they are still as sharp and beautiful and ornery as I have ever known, so they shock me with the finality of physical collapse while their hearts and minds struggle against the indignities like a wolf helplessly jerking against the steel trap. I shall miss them excruciatingly. I can't easily talk about my mother closing in on her departure, without the energy getting sticky with unspoken realizations. I just hate this. I'll get through it. You all shall be subject to their spirits that flow through me yet.
Good luck with the coming blast of relentless spirit and demand. :blackeye:
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: New York New Heads Day One

Post by Jivermo » Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:59 am

Your words remind me, once again, that we don’t have a say on how our loved ones exit this life. My mother got the flu, at 79. She was spry and vigorous, and could still bend down and place her palms flat on the floor, as she did in her youth, when she studied ballet. The antibiotics used to treat the flu disrupted her gut flora, and she died as a result of the ensuing, massive infection. I was completely unprepared for her death, and did not get a chance to be with her. My best childhood friend, along with his wife, committed suicide in February. These losses change you, and are quite sobering, but they smooth out a bit with the passage of time. As you noted, you will carry on some part of these departed souls for as long as you live, in word and deed. I will miss my mother, but I rejoice in some of the great gifts that she instilled in me, and even find pleasure in remembrance of her small peculiarities, like her Inability to correctly pronounce the words, “vodka”, “electricity”, and “Walgreen’s”. My sister and I can laugh about that now, but it’s a soft laugh, with a tinge of sadness. We go on, but our shoulders are stooped a little more by our losses. I walk in your shoes, Colin, and share your heaviness of heart, my friend.

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Re: New York New Heads Day One

Post by Curtp07 » Tue Jun 11, 2019 8:41 am

Darn you guys, so much in this thread to follow. Colin, thank you for putting what’s in your head into text. So much more than VWs here. All the best, Curt.

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