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Sanchius and Tuna ride again...
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 3:38 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Woof?
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 5:54 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

A beautiful Saturday morning to grab a tasty chocolate croissant from the Farmers Market at the Reno Arts Center and take Tunes for a walk along the river downtown to catch the last of the fall colors

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 5:36 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Woof, said the Husky.
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 11:37 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Off-topic while I struggle with the final seized swing arm bolt on my van, I wanted to share an exciting milestone in one of my other projects, helping my B-I-L stand up a non-profit around "The African Queen", his 1943 M16A2 Halftrack with a Maxson quad .50 cal antiaircraft turret that served in WWII, Korea and French Indochina.

He found it abandoned in the bush near a French Foreign Legion post in Djbouti, Africa while he was serving there, secured title to it and brought it back to the U.S. to conserve and meticulously restore to its original, fully operational, condition (aside, of course, from the quad .50s).

This week it went on display for the winter at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio as a tribute to WWII, Korean, Vietnam, and actually, all service veterans.

https://www.facebook.com/AFmuseum/posts/10158721026117230

https://www.hagerty.com/media/hagerty-magazine/lieutenant-colonel-kolocs-1943-white-m16a2/

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The African Queen Halftrack represents American craftsmanship, honor, and patriotism. A living tribute to our “Greatest Generation”, the African Queen M16A2 Halftrack has proudly served in three major conflicts on three continents. Authentically and meticulously restored to its full operational glory, the African Queen allows you to personally interact with living history and learn about the technology, service, and sacrifice that has made the U.S. the nation it is today. Discover more about the African Queen Project at The.African.Queen.org (not yet active 11/20/2020).
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 11:47 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

^^^^
Thank you (and your BIL!) for that history.
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 9:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

^^^That's pretty neat. It remarkable to me that a rig like that was carted around the planet to serve in combat and was eventually brought home to be cleaned up and displayed.

Is that front tire as rotted as it looks when I zoom in on it?
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 5:58 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Those quad 50s would be great on the Mass Pike during rush hour, getting rid of the sqvozers and the aggressive drivers...
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 9:32 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

jimf909 wrote:
^^^That's pretty neat. It remarkable to me that a rig like that was carted around the planet to serve in combat and was eventually brought home to be cleaned up and displayed.
Is that front tire as rotted as it looks when I zoom in on it?

Front Tire: Yes, the front tires are solid rubber and the manufacturer wanted to take a core sample to check the aging profile. They are either original or period, we'll document everything more once we get the African Queen web site stood up. The USAF museum staff were really crawling over it when it came in because it is in such original condition.

Carted all over: Are you talking about the track or my BIL? Very Happy
Here's an interview with him on the discovery and recovery of the track:


Link

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 8:57 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

One of my COVID resolutions was to not buy any new Vanagon parts until I had fitted all the uninstalled parts I currently have sitting on my shelf. The one that's taken me the longest was a complete bushing renewal. It was a mere three years ago that the big box of purple goodness from T3technique initially arrived. Earlier this fall I had finished completely replacing the front bushings & ball joints. All this suspension work was showing good results, the steering was tighter and more precise and the overall ride quality was much imporved. I had done a rough alignment with a laser level, but before getting a pro 4-wheel alignment, I needed to finish the rear swing arm bushings.

I figured it was easier to do the rear bushings in-situ to avoid opening up the brake hydraulics and undoing the CVs & e-brakes. TheSamba has lots of good hints and cautions, the best being that suspending the swing arm with straps gives one just enough room to replace the bushings without stressing the very short rear flexible brake lines. I mentally walked through the steps: unload the system with some spring clamps, suspend the rear swing arm with straps, remove the two big swing arm bolts, push out the old 1-piece old bushings, install the new 2-piece powerflex bushings and reinstall; simplicity itself. The passenger side pretty much went that way last weekend, though each step took longer and was far more work than I had mentally imagined. But it was done; one final corner to do and I'm back on the road.

I was making good progress on the driver side this week. But suddenly everything came to a screeching halt when I found that the outer swing arm bolt had corroded itself solidly to the metal bushing core. This van is quite solid and has very little rust, all of the other bolts had come out easily, so this discovery came as a very unpleasant and unexpected surprise. Given its exposed location, this can't be uncommon and it turns out to be a wicked little problem. Rotating the bolt with a big breaker bar just flexed the metal core within the rubber bushing. Hammering the ends of the bolt did nothing. Using a ball joint separator to put pressure on the bolt while hammering it was also useless. I doubted I could get enough heat into the bolt to relieve its bond to the metal bushing core without melting the outer bushing rubber, in which case the bolt & core would just spin.

It was time to get out the sawzall and cut the bolt out. First I used a razor knife and a small chisel to remove the rubber bushing flange, exposing the inner metal core (rusty pipe looking thing in right center of picture below). I learned on the passenger side that using power tools to clear the rubber bushing flanges creates a cloud of unpleasant smoke & smells and makes a gooey mess.

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With the sawzall I cut through the bushing core and swing arm bolt as close to the swing arm as possible, then lopped off the other end of the bolt flush to the inner face of the swing-arm mount tab, giving just enough space to extract the swing arm. This was one of those times I spent more time dreading the job than the 20 minutes it actually took to do all the cutting.

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Success!

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Using the 2" press bush I had made up for the big front ball joints, I pressed out the old rear swing arm bushings. I was disappointed to find the old bushings to be in very good shape, meaning that I wouldn't see much difference with the new bushings.

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I made a quick run down to the bone-yard to grab a couple replacement swing-arm bolts off the parts Vanagon that just happened to be there. $2.78 + $2 entrance fee and I was all set.

I figured I'm about an hour from finishing and I'm already mentally pouring myself my victory beer. I had just finished cleaning up some corrosion I found on the inside of the swing arm bushing tubes and was about to insert the new bushings when I noticed that the spring stack had shifted. What??? I looked closer and noticed that big metal plug centering the spring on the lower spring mount on the swing arm had rusted away from the swing arm.

Uh-oh, this swing arm needs to replaced. This job just got a lot harder.

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Tuna's only contribution to all this was an extended nap while bravely guarding the dining room rug

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 9:44 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Maybe you just need a perch?

https://www.vancafe.com/251501400-p/251501400.htm
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:01 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Escorial Syncro wrote:
Maybe you just need a perch?
https://www.vancafe.com/251501400-p/251501400.htm

Thanks, Joel, I was unaware of these. That'll be plan B. Plan A is to pull the swing arms from the boneyard van, which had appeared to be solid.

Once things warmed up after lunch, I returned to the yard with a full kit of swing arm bolt extraction tools and a long 22mm wrench to separate the bearing hub from the swing arm without touching the 46mm 360ft/lb rear axle nut. I had already pulled the inner swing arm bolts the day before, but both outer bolts proved to be well seized inside their bushings, even after applying 300ft/lbs of impact and long extension bars to them.

Since this van is headed for the crusher soon, I simply cut away the outer body mount tabs and extracted both swing arms with little problem. I'll finish removing the bolt and bushing back home in the comfort of my warm, dry and well-lit garage. I separated the hub from the drivers side arm and left the hub and the other swing-arm unit in the yard to grab when the yard has their 1/2 price Black-Friday sale at the end of this week. I think I'll pass on adding the 1940 Chevrolet winged-lady hood ornament graphic to my van.

I was very lucky here, Vanagons have become to be very rare in the nearby yards, with one showing up for about for a month or so every 2 years, making it ~20-1 odds against finding the part I need right when I need it.

I love these yards; One day and $28 later and I am back on track again.

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Back home, Tuna's ceaseless dining room vigil continues.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2020 7:41 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Wow, the Air Force Museum just released a professional quality video on the African Queen Half Track story.

Even though I'm quite familiar with its history, some of this still gave me chills.


Link

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 24, 2020 8:34 am    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

That half-track has a great history! Thanks for sharing it.
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 3:29 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Making progress. Replacement rear control arm cleaned up, wire brushed, and first coat of Tonka Truck Yellow applied.

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 3:50 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

I’ve got 30:1 odds on the Husky over the half track in winter....

Woof.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 5:14 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Abscate wrote:
I’ve got 30:1 odds on the Husky over the half track in winter....

Woof.

Dunno, they each have their respective strengths and Tuna's outer coat, while warmer, wasn't made by the Diebold Safe Company.

All I can say is that it is so much easier renewing the control arm bushings on the bench rather than under the vehicle.
But after factoring in retorqing the CV bolts, bleeding the brakes and reattaching the hub carrier, it's about a wash.

The yard van also yielded two extra upper spring pads, which may help even up the stance (https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8607367#8607367). However, I am just currently barely clearing the skylight going in the garage door. I hope adding a second spring pad on each side doesn't put me over height.

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 7:34 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

OMG.. ChrisToph3r recommended 'if you're looking for better control and less nose dive, get a set of Carat springs' to accomplish your driving ambitions.

Ever since, my purple rubbers have been waiting for a set of springs to present themselves on the Classified list.. Happens that I've been taunting a coup of springs from a Carrat owner who may eventually ship them.

Win Win.. A little lower, and better control. Less fervor on that garage overhead. Add an air dam, and BAM!!! A highway daemon!! I'll play the lot here for a bit more time Wink
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:08 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

'Tis a thing of beauty. Note the doubled upper spring pad.
I'm always amazed at and grateful for how rust free this van is, which explains why running into that seized bushing bolt came as such a shock.

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The afternoon was sunny and warm for December and there was still time to take Tunes for a bike run in the park.
When we just go for a walk, we simply don't go fast enough to tire her out and we end up with a happy, bouncy, 60lb hand-grenade later in the evening.
A nice couple mile bike-jor in the afternoon, where she runs at full speed for a quarter of it, always tires her sufficiently to avoid any late night mischiefs.

I buttoned everything back up, torqued the wheels on, put on the bike rack with the dog bike mounted, changed out of the greasy shop clothes and into windproof biking gear, and started to drive out of the garage with Tuna riding shotgun, checking if we still clear the sunroof with an extra rear upper spring pad on the drivers side.
It clears, we're good, time to go.

Experience has taught me to always give a slow speed tap on the brakes after working on any car and I did so. What??? Spongy brakes??? Oops, I had the brake system open when swapping the control arms and forgot to bleed it. The second thing that goes is the memory and I can't remember what the first is. I didn't want to change clothes again so I'll have to do this sano. Remove the wheel, put down some white paper to keep clean and do a quick gravity bleed. Now we're good to go.

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It quickly becomes apparent that the ride with the new, non-seized, suspension bushings is much improved and I'm quite happy with it.

10 minutes later we're at the park where Tuna can FLY!

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 06, 2020 5:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

The aftermarket catalytic converter I recently installed in Mrs. S's Acura came with an undocumented feature, a bad weld that resulted in a small farty exhaust leak. That won't do, it's got to come out and be fixed. Naturally it has to be the tough rear cat sandwiched between the back of the transverse v6 and the firewall, which requires 3 hours of contortions and puzzle-solving to extract.

Now that it's out, I could ship the defective cat back and maybe have her back on the road in 2 weeks. But, I always wanted to learn to weld, so I had Mrs S. pick me up an early Christmas gift, an entry level 110v flux welder off of craigs. I spent a bit of time this morning teaching myself how to make metal puddles and lay down beads on scrap metal, then successfully filled the hole in a few minutes.

It may not be the prettiest weld ever created, but problem solved and a very satisfying new skill added to the mechanical resume.
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 06, 2020 6:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Sanchius and Tuna ride again... Reply with quote

Metal will never look the same again.

Woof woof, said the Husky.
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