Sambanista help needed in Colombia

[VisPacem]

[Rhinoculips]

Whoot! Good to hear everything went smooth. I was quite curious to how much hassle customs was going to give you. Auto parts can be tricky coming through the bureaucracy.

Keep us posted on how she runs through out the remainder of the trip.
_________________
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” - Edward Abbey

Click to view image

[Farf]

Here´s the update. My brother flew into Bogata with the necessary parts, connecting rods, bearings, pistons, cylinders and gasket kit. He managed to avoid customs which turns out to be a good thing as it clearly states on the customs form NO AUTO PARTS allowed. I had posted a question previously asking if this work could be performed while the engine is still in the van (No reply). The short answer is yes and we did not even have to jack the van up. We had to make a small press for the wrist pins out of 3/8 all-thread, some washers, nuts and a socket, it worked very well, about 15 minutes per pin. We assembled the motor at the campsite while dodging rain storms, it took us about 4 days to complete the major work including changing the water pump while we were in there. Another day or so bleeding air from the cooling system, adjusting valves, clean up etc. I would like to thank all of the people on The Samba who contribute to the technical forums, without this information I think I would still be lying in the mud. Next, on to Ecuador and Peru.

Thanks, Mike

[Californio]

A few parts places to try. (Parts = repuestos en espagnol)

http://www.crarepuestos.com/repuestos.html
http://www.repuestosvolkswagen.com/contactenos.html
http://bogotacity.olx.com.co/repuestos-y-servicio-para-camiones-ford-volkswagen-iid-33447433 (advertises free home delivery, maybe useful?)

and a dealer,
http://www.casatoro.com/pagina/index.php?doc=repuestos_home

Anyhow I'd get it done locally. Or at least buy the parts. Doesn't make any more sense to have parts shipped from US-Colombia than for say a German guy to have parts shipped from Germany to the US. Again though language would be an issue.

[Rhinoculips]

[Californio]

I would at least investigate buying local and just having the work done there. There is so much VW presence in Latin America that whatever you need should be easily available, even if it has to come from Brazil. (I'm assuming you speak Spanish. If not, more difficult.)

[Farf]

Hi Steve, glad to hear the pool is warmer. Shipping an engine block to Colombia looks nightmarish. Cost of engine, cost of repair parts and cost of shipping equals cost of a decent 2wd Westy. So with that in mind and much info gleaned from the sages on the samba, I'm choosing to do a complete top-end rebuild including rods and bearings. Its ironic that a short notice round-trip ticket to Bogata from NYC is only $483.00. I hope my brother doesn't mind 22 transfers and 48 hours of travel time. (kidding) It´s about a 7 hour journey for him. One question that I could not find an answer for, can all of this be done without pulling the engine? I've had the exhaust system out, so it should'nt be a problem to remove again. Any other hints or advice is appreciated. In preparation for a long stay at our campsite I went out a bought a toilet seat, seems these things are a luxury item around here.

Mike

[ranchero]

Mikeguyver,

Sorry to hear about your misfortunes. If there there is any way I can assist from Salida I would be happy to. Too bad I sold my longblock awhile back.

Steve

PS. Tell Trish that the water coming into the pool is at 104!
_________________
'90 Westy Syncro EJ25 (money pit #1)
'96 FZJ80 (cheap by comparison^^)
'13 Golf R. Daily driver.

[Rhinoculips]

Mike,

Do you have a blog or website on your travels? I always love reading about VW travels. A few years ago, I rode my motorcycle from Colorado to Tierra del Fuego. Many thought I was crazy for riding through Colombia, the so called kid-nap capital of the world. Colombia was one of my favorite countries. Very friendly folk.

You may want to check into the import restrictions. Importing car parts can be very difficult and/or costly. Used parts can be even more of a pain.

Fair winds and following seas,

Lobo Rojo
_________________
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” - Edward Abbey

Click to view image

[Farf]

Californio, yes we left Colorado on Nov. 1 and drove down through Mex. and Central America. Shipped van from Colon, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia. We hope to make it to the southern tip of South America and return in one piece. We still have about 1.5 years to get this done. In reference to my last post, my brother poked big holes in my plan regarding rebuilding the bottom end, so I'm exploring having a rebuilt long block sent down. I hate to spend the money and not get the motor I really want but I would really hate to end up in a much worse situation. As some Canadian travellers we met said, 'things can deteriorate rapidly'.

Thanks, Mike

[Californio]

One question, you drove this from Colorado to Bogota? That's deserving of some kind of award right there.

My experience with mechanics in Latin America (not a lot) has been that they do improvise, but also that because VW's are so common there, you're likely to find someone who knows boxers inside and out. Compared with, even, mechanics in the midwestern states here.

[Farf]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I too am concerned about the bottom end. Balancing risk/cost is quite difficult with the unknowns that I have. The local mechanics are all very nice and helpful but large hammers and Sawz-alls are quite prominant at their shops. So with that in mind, I'm thinking that I will purchase a complete rebuild kit with enough extras to patch up #2 piston/cylinder drive South and enjoy, get to Bogata find a decent shop and I have them, with the parts I will provide take care of the re-build. Other than the motor disintegrating on the way down and because this is the plan I've come up with, I sense something is amiss, anyone want to take a stab at poking holes in this, and me if you want (ouch, wide open), a little humor helps in situations like this.

Thanks, Mike

[vwlovr]

[Californio]

When you figure in the cost of an RT ticket from US to Bogota at the last minute, my guess is it would be cheaper to take it to a shop. You're really going to pull that engine in the central plaza of Villa de Leyva? Yes it's a nice place but...presuming your Spanish is fluent, I'd start making calls...

[morymob]

Lots o grey areas here , unknown eng internals at 200K, Trustworthy wrench ?.who will be doing work? Me, i would try to see if brother can fit a short block at least in his carry-on, minus heads and maybe an added new water pump, no flywheel.

[nomados]

I don't see why you couldn't do a rebuild where you are. Core charge is something to think about too. Parts are easier for Bro to bring down/ bring back compared to a longblock/ core.
There's a lot of excellent rebuild threads here on the forum, if that's an option.
_________________
'86 Westy auto
'84 Westy 4 spd previous
'75 wing, watercooled boxer 4 motorcycle.

[tclark]

would it not be easier for brother to bring down a re-man short block rather take a chance on a mistake on rebuilding internals on the road ..
>#1- 125, #2 - 70, #3 - 123, #4 - 115
and those number are kinda sad..
r & r a motor is a day for regular vw mech maybe in you env might be 2 days but seems like it be fool proof & you got a nice broken in heads from your previous tear down ... and then you have no worries the rest of the trip
esp with the 2.1 rod know to have died at your mileage
seems like a no brainer to me
_________________
89 Westy with TDI AHU 1.9 manual lots of mods
85 GL 1.9, auto (for sold)

[dobryan]

[Pascal]

[Farf]

Was able to drive to Villa de Leyva last night. Nice town to be stuck in.
I was able to rig up a leak down tester using the rear spare tire pumped up to 70 psi as my constant pressure source, the hacked off end of a plastic clutch alignment tool, a red hot paper clip about .04¨ diameter to poke holes in plastic clutch tool piece for the orifice and gauge tap. Used an athletic ball inflation needle and the tubing from a can of fix a flat to back feed into compressor for my pressure readings, a whittled down wine cork and a tapered cap from a tube of sealant. I was lucky to have carried some spare vacuum and fuel line tubing.

Test Results:

#2 cylinder @ TDC and valve adjusters completely backed off.

70 psi in, 15 psi @ cylinder head. Not good. Repeat same results.
No bubbles in coolant tank. Lots of air out of crankcase breather hose. About 78% loss.

As a reference and verification of the apparatus I tested # 1 cyiinder.

Test Results:

70`psi in: piston rapidly went into a downstroke. Reset piston @ TDC locked motor in position and re-tested. Gauge approached 56 psi before my contraption blew apart. I am assuming # 1 is ok.

So, it looks like blown rings in # 2, if I'm not correct please let me know.

Thanks again, Mike