Magnaflow Orange Co. CA 76-79 Buses & 80-82 Vanagons CAT

[SGKent]

Magnaflow comments please
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Wasted youth]

off-topic post deleted by me.

[SlowLane]

[SGKent]

[aeromech]

Not Magnaflow but I thought this would add to the thread.

My welder returned from vacation so today I was able to get him to weld the flanges onto the universal CAT I bought for the 1979 California bus I've been working on. Still need to install it later today.

_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[SGKent]

[porky79]

Man those pics are awesome!!! Did the cat fit right in as planned? Those pics are exactly what Magnaflow needs to see since they obviously never looked at a Bus exhaust. I am still in the same boat with my PC-1 cat so I hope your Walker works out. I have been to three different smog shops since my original visit and every one of the shops said I had to have a T-1 cat. Even the referee told me I had to have a T-1. Make sure you point out the PC-1 cat to the smog tech before they smog it.
Magnaflow lied to CARB and to everyone that ever considered installing one of their cats in a Bus.

[SGKent]

[aeromech]

And finally. CAT is installed

1979 California

_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[BusjeCA]

I failed NOx in my FEDERAL 79 Bus. I sprung for the Rockmountainwesty (http://www.rockymountainwesty.com/Vanagon_80_83_Air_Cooled_Parts_s/256.htm) exhaust ($600) and bolted the MagnaFlow 339004 ($183) in there. It fits like a glove. Set the AFR at 14.7 (2000 rpm 2nd and 3rd gear). Passed CA smog with flying colors.

[airschooled]

Thanks for the update. I forgot that modern three-way cats also reduce NOx, so for a second I thought you spent a little more money than necessary. I'm glad that's an option for now; I just wish we could keep the sound, look, and economy of the stock setup for those that want it.

Did the bus or vanagon ever come with a three-way cat? And is that what Magnaflow is working with? Excuse my limited knowledge on the subject; just trying to fill some holes in my brain.

Robbie
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Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
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[BusjeCA]

The 79 fed bus did not have a three way cat, but an old style 2-way cat.
The crossover and muffler from rockymountainwesty came with a 49 state Cat, that had the Lambda probe bung so I could set the AFR with my LM-2. Then I bolted in this cat (http://www.amazon.com/MagnaFlow-339004-Stainless-Universal-Catalytic/dp/B00BF2YUB2), the only one that is legal for my van, since it was classified as a truck when I moved it from Seattle.

All connections are 2 inch lap joints. Lost stock, but it looks pretty good, and sounds close to "normal". The old pipes are in my basement to be reinstalled when the van is finally grandfathered in....

[aeromech]

just trying to fill some holes in my brain.

Need a big shovel for that job
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[SlowLane]

[BusjeCA]

[quote="SlowLane"]

[SGKent]

On one occasion while cleaning carbon out of a friends 80's buick engine, the misfiring caused the cat to glow red. In another case a friend kept going thru catalytics every 300 to 400 miles and the shop got really pissed at her because they could not find the issue. To help her with the issue and the shop that started blaming her for their failures, I followed every wire in the engine bay around the system to see if something was broken and found a sensor that someone had replaced before she bought the car. They had cut, reversed and taped the wires like the factory loom, the reversing grounded the system and made the car think the engine was always cold, adding more fuel. Once the sensor wires were corrected the car stopped damaging catalytic converters. There is no doubt that too rich a mixture can cause them to overheat.

When I set my VW mixture up, I made sure that a little bit of oxygen remained in all tests. This insures that the catalytic is not being fed raw hydrocarbons which will way overheat it. The catalytic runs around 14.7 except on the freeway and WOT. As one might guess, 65 mph in a bus on the freeway is a heavy load so it is almost WOT. VW added an O2 sensor in 1979 to the California model. They also changed the exhaust flanges so there was more contact area, and the heat exchangers do a better job of carrying heat away from the heads thru those flanges. The 1979 models do a better job with cooling the heads although the leaner mixture makes more power and heat than the 1976-1978 models. By the early 1980's VW knew they could not meet smog requirements and the consumer's desires for more power with air cooled engines.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[BusjeCA]

Here are the clearances for the RMW with the 339004. My apologies to expose you to my welding skills.

[SGKent]

[SlowLane]

Yes, very neat job. The view from the back looks particularly tidy.
_________________
Present:
'81 Westfalia: 2L, manual. Originally Canadian, now Californiated
Back in the day:
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'69 Camper Van - Corvair powered
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"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." - Internet RFC 1925

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[SGKent]

Should have the prototype Magnaflow system sometime this week to do a trial fit and take photos.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin