Joined: August 15, 2008 Posts: 1851 Location: ohio
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 6:14 am Post subject:
BellePlaine wrote:
I’ll fill in the details later, but we got a lot done this weekend and I’m at a good pausing point until next weekend. So I got new brake lines behind the brass T replaced, new rear shocks, new rear brake bearing (both inner and outer), gas tank installed with new fuel level sender and new fuel filler hose and neck. New vapor lines. Also, as reported above we dropped my running motor which I’ve begun cleaning.
Next steps is to finish cleaning the tins, clean the oil cooler (which all gummy and gross), figure out what I’m going to do about the CHT sender, replace the clutch cable and accelerator cable, and finish replacing the brake lines. Oh, yeah and I need to replace the front shocks and install the engine.
As of Sunday morning, I was doubtful I was going to make my goal of taking my bus to the Twin Cities Westside VW show on June 7 but I’m feeling better about my chances now that I figured out how to get that old outer wheel bearing race out!
I didn't take a lot of pics because my hands were always greasy but here's a pic of my weekend clothes just to give you an idea how dirty all of this work is.
And here's my understanding wife who had to watch our two little kids all weekend while I was under the bus. She worked harder than I did!
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WOW! it's the rare and elusive understanding wife! Were have you found such an awesome creature. Surely there is a place in the smithsonian for this highly sought after being.
Mine is not so understanding....more along the lines of "roughly tollerant" _________________ One day as a lion, or a lifetime as lamb
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 12:19 pm Post subject:
Thanks chazz79 for the complements on my wife's attitude, and I don't mean to BS everyone because she sometimes lays down the law about all of the time I've been giving to bus, but maybe because we are getting into the homestretch, she's way more tolerant. BTW, I don't know but I didn't pull the pic of her from this tread so I assume one of the moderators must have. I don't know because I didn't get a message about it but I assume I must have broken a Samba Forum rule or something. No big deal, my wife didn't really want me to take her picture anyway.
Now that my engine is out I’m able to take a closer look at it, well, that is after I chip away to the quarter inch layer of grease and grime! I finally got the heater boxes off; I had to take it all off from the heads because someone welded one of the elbows to the heater box triangle flanges. I’ll use my seized engine’s exhaust system as a replacement.
Here’s few photos of the mess. If you notice anything broken or something I should pay attention to please chime in as this is my first time with a T4. I did notice that my front engine mounts are broken.
Here’s my heater boxes and manifolds. Looks like #3 is pretty sooty.
What is this at the lower right of this photo?
And what is this wire go to? Is this for the VW service department for diagnosis? Or is it something that we disconnected and didn’t label?
I’ve got my oil cooler sitting in a bucket of parts cleaner and new O-rings on the way. _________________ '75 Riviera
Joined: April 13, 2007 Posts: 172 Location: Flemington, NJ
Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 3:17 pm Post subject:
I have not paid close enough attention to remember what year your parts bus is, but here are my observations:
Photo 1: The mounts to the mustache bar are obviously toast. The rubber usually splits due to oil and heat. New one or maybe the ones are your current engine are intact. Replace.
Photo 2: If your current and replacement heat exchangers have the same configuration at the heads, use the better ones. File the seating surfaces so you have level surfaces at all cylinders. see link http://www.bostonengine.com/articles/hbmanifold.htm
Photo 3: That looks like an original mechanical fuel pump. Usually removed and capped off on the block. It looks like the PO left it there and capped off the fuel lines.
Photo 4: I am not sure of the orientation of this shot. Or it may be the Stone IPA affecting my vision. I closer shot may help.
As to your wife, she sounds like a total keeper. I am 1 for 2 in marriages. With number 2 (chronologically ony) I found that if I support her projects, needs, desires, she is happy to reciprocate. If you are enthusiastic about the things she wants, she has no choice but to do the same in return. If not, ... _________________ 73 Riviera Camper - "Julius"
74 Super Convertible - "Someday"
Joined: August 15, 2008 Posts: 1851 Location: ohio
Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 3:23 pm Post subject:
all the motor mounts do that
The thingy is a fuel pump, wich is very wierd because the wire thingy is a hall effect switch that is usually just associated with fuel injection.....
some odd bastard creation you have there. _________________ One day as a lion, or a lifetime as lamb
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:03 am Post subject:
jl74supercab wrote:
Photo 2: If your current and replacement heat exchangers have the same configuration at the heads, use the better ones. File the seating surfaces so you have level surfaces at all cylinders. see link http://www.bostonengine.com/articles/hbmanifold.htm
Thanks for the tip! Looking at the edges of my manifolds, they are kinda rough so this is going help for sure. I need new copper gaskets to go between the manifolds and the heads but I'm kind of worried because the old ones didn't come out; it's hard to see but I wonder if they are still stuck on the heads. I couldn't tell by feeling for them either.
Chazz, you're right, I do have an odd ball engine! _________________ '75 Riviera
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:11 am Post subject:
The Twin Cities Bug-In is next Sunday and after the work I got done this weekend, I’m happy to say that I’m still on pace to be there with my bus. Of course, I’m going to cash in at least one or two vacation days this week but if I don’t use my vacation I loose it in July anyway so I’m happy to do it.
Here’s a report of this weekend’s progress…
I muscled off the tin screws and removed all of the tin. I never knew that a little propane torch to place some heat on the screws would allow them to come off with relative ease. I got the tin, fan housing, and engine case scrubbed clean and the oil cooler is still swimming in a can of carburetor cleaner. I contemplated scrubbing off the rust and painting the tin but I’ll save that for later. For now, it’s functional and degreased. Hopefully, my engine will run nice and cool now that it’s clean.
I figured out what I’m going to do with the exhaust system mapped out using pieces from the running motor and the seized motor. The running motor had the Monza style aftermarket exhaust which I don’t like how it looks or the fact that it blows exhaust at you while working on the engine. So I’m replacing it with the seized engine’s muffler system. Both engines have the same style heater boxes.
Based on the recommendations I read on the Samba, I also replaced the clutch cable and the accelerator cable this weekend. I swapped the front shocks for KYB GR2s and put in a new steering dampener. The bus is much stiffer now. I was going to replace all of the metal brake lines but I’m going to save that for later because my old ones are in pretty good shape and I was just doing it as insurance anyway. So I simply replaced the front rubber brake lines and called it good for now. I still need to adjust to rear shoes, change brake fluid and bleed the lines.
So what’s still on the list?
Install the CHT gauge, put the pieces back on the engine, replace the tires (new Hankooks are waiting for me at the shop), install the engine, add the bus to my insurance policy, and get it licensed. _________________ '75 Riviera
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:07 am Post subject:
I ordered some new motor mounts but was sent the wrong ones so I pulled the old ones from my seized engine and cleaned them up. They aren't cracked or broken so I think I'll use them.
Oh, and I found another mouse mummy on the spot where the motor mount attaches to the engine. This bus/motor just keeps on giving!
Also, here's a shot of my freshly cleaned oil cooler. It spent 4 days in a bath of parts cleaner and came out looking really good. New oil seals arrived yesterday as a last minute order.
I'm taking the day off tomorrow to put the tin and exhaust back on and install the CHT gauge and sender. I'm hoping to have the engine put back in the bus on Friday or Saturday at the latest. _________________ '75 Riviera
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject:
Sometimes it pays to have Old Timers. For instance, there is this cool old dude that stops by to check on me while I'm working on the bus in my driveway. My old timer is named, Tom and he seems to come by just when I need a hand the most. Today this was especially true. One of the things to do off my list is to check my thermostat to make sure that it worked properly. I followed the Bentley instructions about heating water to 149 - 158F to see if it would expand (Chapter 5 "Engine and Clutch", section 7.2). My thermostat didn't do anything but I wasn't too worried because I have my seized engine to pull parts off of. Well, that one was toast too.
So, Tom shows up and looks at the thermostat and says that most thermostats have their operating temperature stamped on them. Well sure enough, ours does as well and it reads 85 - 90C; so we go back and reheat my water to 180ish and confirm that the thing works. So I guess don't believe every thing you read, even in your Bentley Manual.
Besides all of that I also installed my VDO CHT gauge (but I didn't get the gauge light wired yet), I adjusted my rear brake shoes and then went to bleed the system only to find out that my master cylinder is leaking! Tomorrow I'm going to pull the one off my parts bus and hope for the best. Yesterday, I got plates and the thing insured. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll have the tin and exhaust back on the engine and the thing ready to shove in the bus by Friday. I'll keep you posted but in the meantime here's some pics of today's work.
You can't see it in this pic but this is where the temperature is stamped on the thermostat.
_________________ '75 Riviera
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:52 am Post subject:
It's Friday and I've only got today and tomorrow to replace my leaking master cylinder, install my engine/transmission combo, drive axles, and tune the carbs well enough to take my bus to the Westside VW Bug-In on Sunday. I think that I can still pull this off.
Yesterday, I pulled off the non-leaking master cylinder off of my parts bus (a '76) and almost finished up putting on all of the engine tin, starter, fan, etc. I had to put in a 1/2 day of work yesterday so I only had the afternoon to work on the bus. Same situation today but I'll have lots of help on Saturday because I'm towing the bus to my buddy's shop so we can work with the bus on a lift and use better tools then my hodge-podge selection!
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject:
Got a lot done today but couldn't get 'er started. We replaced the Master Cylinder, got the engine installed, motor oil, trany oil, put on the new Hankooks, and new fuel line but my starter crapped out. So we tried the one from the parts bus and that one would spin but not engage. Also, we discovered a fuel pump leak so no VW show for me tomorrow. Oh well, me and my friends tried our best but we just can't control somethings I guess. _________________ '75 Riviera
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:43 am Post subject:
I'm having a hard time chilling out and relaxing while waiting for the new stater to arrive and get it installed. Keep in mind, two weekends from now (Father's Day Weekend) will mark my one-year anniversary since owning my first bus, the parts bus. I've only driven it about 20 miles since owning it because it needed proper tires and new fuel lines and in the time it took me to order fuel lines and have them delivered I had been offered this Riviera Project which I've never driven. In the past year, I've pushed this Riviera up and down my driveway from the garage to the work space every weekend that didn't have snow on the ground. Now, after all of that work and $ spent just to get this on the road I've got to wait a few days for a new starter and it's taking all of my energy to muster up the patentience.
Ok, sorry to vent but I'm excited to drive this thing you know.
So to preoccupy my time, here are some pics from last weekend's engine/trany install and master cylinder replacement. We did at my buddy Chad's small auto repair shop. I think I may have mentioned earlier that Chad lives in my small town and has a sweet Westy Vanagon and was noticing all of the work I was doing to my bus in my driveway when we became friends and offered to his help and the use of his shop for the engine install. The old-timer, Tom, was there with us on Saturday to help as well. It's good to make and have friends, especially VW friends.
Joined: February 23, 2009 Posts: 125 Location: AZ, CA, or HI
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:19 am Post subject:
just finished reading your thread, great job, the bus looks so good, especially since you did it all your self, sucks that you couldn't make your original deadline, you should try to take a vid of the first time it starts up/ first drive _________________ 1973 Deluxe Transporter Sunroof
TOP GEAR ftw
Joined: May 12, 2009 Posts: 19 Location: El Segundo, CA
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:25 pm Post subject:
awww.....I was rooting for you to be done by your deadline. you're an inspiration to this newbie rivi owner! _________________ 1970 Bay Riviera - "Count Busula"
Joined: November 16, 2006 Posts: 3017 Location: minnesota
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:08 pm Post subject:
Sorry you couldn't make it to the bug in. They had a great turn out. If you'll have your bus running and ready by this saturday our club is having a hamburger run over to rapidan. If your interested meet us at the clements vw dealer in Mankato on saturday at 3:30pm _________________ '70 std bug (daily driver)
'66 sunroof ( show car)
'74 bus
'66 so-42
'67 so-42
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:07 am Post subject:
I cannot imagine taking on a project like this had it not been for all of the information and encouragement provided by so many of this forum.
Thanks everyone! I'd like to buy you a beer.
That being said, there is more work to do on my bus and plan to keep updating this thread as I make improvements. I also look forward to posting a pic of my family's first camp-out with the bus which will be this weekend! _________________ '75 Riviera
Joined: October 05, 2006 Posts: 1036 Location: Western Mass
Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:22 am Post subject:
BellePlaine wrote:
we got the sink cabinet modified to fit my homebrew kegs. I had to shorten the shelves and reposition the hinges and scooch over the spare tire door but you can barely tell the cabinet has been modified. And now I can bring beer camping... in a keg, cuz bottling sucks. Here's a pic.
ok thats the idea i been working on too, i brew and use the 5g cornys as well, are you gonna stay with a picnic tap or get a tower on the cabinet?
also how are you keeping it cool, and are you sure 5 gallons of beer is enough! lol.Joe
Joined: June 01, 2008 Posts: 383 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:44 am Post subject:
78Kombi wrote:
ok thats the idea i been working on too, i brew and use the 5g cornys as well, are you gonna stay with a picnic tap or get a tower on the cabinet?
also how are you keeping it cool, and are you sure 5 gallons of beer is enough! lol.Joe
I sent you a PM Joe. _________________ '75 Riviera
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