Big Blue's Back and slower than ever!! Called the Shop...

[BigBlueVW.blogspot.com]

[Mike C]

I enjoy following your adventures and was wondering if you got the engine issues taken care of.
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Bone stock 1970 non-walkthrough "Station Wagon" bus

[quote="1977_L63H_P27"]As mentioned before, it's a 9-passenger Deluxe. The true "station wagon" of buses.

[mightymouse]

Just glassed over this post real quick. Many have mentioned it.
The deck is ALL the issue. Either make them fix it, or find someone else to fix it. Put it back the way it was, .040 to .050 is the deck you need.
CC the heads just in case, but id bet they havent been flycut.
Youd be just fine at that point.

My other HUGE concern is, who the hell thought it smart to put the oil cooler in the engine bay? I mean... really?
That has to go asap. Take it and toss is as far as you can. Run that horrible full flow setup under the engine and mount an oil filter, thats all youll need.
Honestly that full flow needs to be fixed right. Its returning into the wrong passage which is a BAD idea. Seriously am upset by what youve been through and are going through. If you need ANY help at all let me know. Your not far from vegas.
Hope all goes well. dave
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Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Thomas Jefferson


Note to EVERYONE.
Know your ZDDP levels or you WILL lose a cam and lifters.

[cbcarch]

Big Blue,

Any updates?

Hope you get at LEAST an apology and a refund ( full or partial )
for the "un-improvements" rendered to your great Bus.

A strong letter from an attorney may get the shop's attention.
(If it still exists?) a report to Better Business Bureau would be in order.

If no action/reconciliation from the shop is possible, then take it apart
and do the work yourself in your awesome new garage. You will learn a lot, and when you are done you will get a lot of satisfaction when driving
your Bus knowing that YOU did the work!

Perhaps get some pro help from some of the posters for doing a complete "top-end rebuild". Get some new P/Cs --Mahle or equiv. with Total Seal rings. Have the heads modified ( since they are brand new) with oversize valves, port/polish, etc. to get some more flow in there. Maybe hi-ratio rockers w/ swivel adjusters . I agree w/all previous posts about CR--you need to have at least 7:1 or even higher--I'm running about 8:1--good power, but not too hot. Get the oil cooler/fan out of the engine compartment! Your'e just heating up the oil and the air! Ouch!
Full-flow/remote filter/deep sump combo works great.
I'd get an electric fuel pump, with a pressure regulator. Block off the mech. one. and mount the new one up high as stated by others. Keep the old mech. pump and rod as a spare in the Bus. Use good quality clamps at all fuel line connections.

As for the carb and dizzy combo:

I'd suggest dual 40IDF Webers on it--believe it or not, with the "horrible
009" dizzy. Or better yet try to find an "old school / "real" 009 and rebuild it. (The "new" knock off 009s are junk.) The little springs and weights in there are the key for mech. advance. I have never had any problems with 009s and dual Webers on any of my engines for the past 20 years. I have never used a vacuum dizzy. That poor little stock single barrel carb just can't deliver enough air/gas to give you the power you need. This is why later Busses went to 2000 cc and dual carbs or FI.
I've been running a 2027 Type 1 with that setup, ( 44 IDFs) and an aftermarket ceramic coated dual exhaust--very successfully in my '69 Westy--full of all OG Westy gear, loaded down with stuff--65-70 on the highway no problem. That's also w/the stock trans--not a "freeway flier" or 6-rib conversion. Made a plus-3,000 mile trip to Key West and back in June heat! The engine performed remarkably well.

Anyway--Hang in there, and let us know how it's going, and keep up the Bus Faith!

cheers..............
_________________
'69 Westy Camper
'59 Beetle
'64 Ghia
'70 Ghia
Street legal rail buggy
'70 Beetle Cabriolet
2014 Porsche Boxster S

[Sawsalesman]

I can't believe I just read this whole thread and we don't know how it turned out for Big Blue. Please advise us.

[Blaubus]

do not modify the engine with any aftermarket devices or flow improvements. you need to fix what is wrong with the factory stock unit, because 55mph top speed is not normal.

the .080 barrel shim will be too much for the 7.0 CR that is the minimum. VW tested the 0-60 acceleration time as being 38 seconds. notice that 55mph is in between 0 and 60? what you are experiencing is NOT normal.

If the shop pulled the barrels off the pistons, shuffled the rings, cut the case deck and didnt hone before reassembly, then the weak compression is due partly to poor ring seal.

the shop can argue that rebuild quality is arbitrary, but not if you pay 2200 bucks! for 2200 you should have, at least, NORMAL.
i would ask them to remove the shims and put some new P/Cs on there. you have the right to normal factory specifications on a rebuild. ask them what the measured CR is right now. no one should build an engine without knowing what the CR is going to be...

[Conquest]

[BigBlueVW.blogspot.com]

I'm a little shocked this thread came back. I'll update you the best I can.

I did the basic stuff after getting it back from the shop. Checked timing, finally checked compression and drove it 500 miles and checked the valves. Etc. Nothing at all beyond checking the tune up stuff. At some point, maybe 700 miles after the work, I took it into the shop for the "free checkup". Now, here's the odd thing - it started to run really good at about 500 miles (note, after I did the compression test). Suddenly, had full power up hills, took off fast, etc. So I started feeling really good about it. I had trouble adjusting the 3rd valve enough to get clearance, so I mentioned that when I took it in.

I got it back and they had another list of things they wanted to do but obviously they weren't going to get anymore more money from me. The crazy thing is that they said that the 3rd cylinder had no compression! They said they fixed it so it did again. I was stunned because it had just started to run really well. But it sucked again after I got it from the shop.

So I continued to drive it. After a little while, it started driving fine - I'm not sure how many miles. Again, it seemed to get better the more I drove it and had power (the hills of Napa are always the test). I drove it around for about 8 months and toward the end of that, it was running great. The best it's ever run maybe? I was taking it to shows and camping and what not. Big Blue was running great.

After a few times doing oil changes and tune ups myself, I like to take the bug and bus in to my old mechanic, Paul - just to have a beer with him and have him check my work. Since I am new to this, and Paul likes to tinker with my VWs, I figure it's a good idea as I learn how to do things (though, I am getting less likely to need his help nowadays).

We took it to Paul right before our big Oregon trip in October. We planned 8 days on the road and I wanted to make sure he went over it. And guess what he said - no compression in the 3rd cylinder, again!

I was beginning to think Big Blue ran better on 3 cylinders...

He was also shocked at the work the other shop did (picture me, feeling bad for not taking it to him for advice). He spent about 2 days working on it and called me. I went to the shop and walked through it with him. He didn't do anything to the shims - all he did was work on the valves - he removed the - help me out here - top of the valves as one side had little steel balls and the other didn't. He said he had never seen someone do different things on each side. We tested compression together and all cylinders were running fine.

When I left Paul's shop, the bus ran great again. We took it 1500 miles a few weeks later with no problems at all. I drive it almost every other weekend now and it's fine.

I just helped a friend put his vanagon aircooled engine back together a few weeks ago. I think the next time I need to do work on Big Blue, I'm going to put him in sick bay and do the work myself, even if it takes twice as long.

I wish I could give you guys more details, just like I wish I could talk "engine" with that shop to see why they thought their work was fine even though the bus wasn't. I'm learning this stuff. But the good news is that Big Blue carries on just fine these days...
_________________
'56 Bug - no name yet
'63 Bug "Little Blue"
'68 Bus "Big Blue"

Find bus camping friends at http://VWCamperFamily.com/

A west coast VW bus camping adventure at: http://bigbluevw.com/

Interested in VW buses and have a Facebook account? Check out Big Blue's Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/bigbluevw

[Amskeptic]

[BigBlueVW.blogspot.com]

Rocker arms. Each side had a different set. One set had little steel ball bearing-type things. He took those out...
_________________
'56 Bug - no name yet
'63 Bug "Little Blue"
'68 Bus "Big Blue"

Find bus camping friends at http://VWCamperFamily.com/

A west coast VW bus camping adventure at: http://bigbluevw.com/

Interested in VW buses and have a Facebook account? Check out Big Blue's Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/bigbluevw

[mightymouse]

[cbcarch]

All's well that ends well!

What an incredible trip you've been on!

But haven't we all been on a few like that? (or sort of.....)

Anyway--glad it turned out good and Big Blue is chugging along.

cheers!
_________________
'69 Westy Camper
'59 Beetle
'64 Ghia
'70 Ghia
Street legal rail buggy
'70 Beetle Cabriolet
2014 Porsche Boxster S