Date:         Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:27:48 -0500
Reply-To:     Matt Roberds <mattroberds@COX.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Matt Roberds <mattroberds@COX.NET>
Subject:      On the road again (New head installed on '87 Westy 2.1 l)
In-Reply-To:  <20070826185441.MVAZ15942.fed1rmmtai104.cox.net@fed1rmimpi02.cox.net>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

Hello all!

Short version:  We had this

(warning: graphic depictions of mechanical carnage ahead;
  all images are about 400 kB, 1600x1200)

http://www.birdbird.org/cars/westy/dscn0012.jpg
http://www.birdbird.org/cars/westy/dscn0015.jpg
http://www.birdbird.org/cars/westy/dscn0016.jpg

and we turned it into this

http://www.birdbird.org/cars/westy/dscn0021.jpg
http://www.birdbird.org/cars/westy/dscn0033.jpg

and the van is much happier now.

Slightly longer version:

I went back over to my friend's house yesterday (Sunday) to reassemble
his '87 Westy further.  We had put the head on Friday evening and he
spent Saturday waiting for the sealant to cure and chasing parts we
needed.

Getting the exhaust flanges lined up to get the bolts in was a moderate
PITA.  Other than that, "installation is the reverse of removal."  We
had already replaced all of the short fuel hoses (injector to log) on
the right side, and yesterday we replaced the two long hoses to the
right fuel log, the long hose to the firewall fitting, the firewall
fitting itself, and the short hose from the firewall fitting to the
long hard line that goes up to the tank.

We put the battery on the charger, drained the oil and refilled it, and
refilled the coolant.  We went through "did we plug this back in?  did
we tighten that?" a couple of times, and decided we were getting close
to actually running the engine.

First we hooked the battery back up, and I turned the key off-on-off,
off-on-off a few times to run the fuel pump and pressurize the fuel
system without starting the engine.  With no leaks in evidence, we
disconnected the primary wire at the coil and cranked the engine,
listening for expensive noises... and didn't hear any.  So we hooked
the coil back up, I got in the driver's seat, called "Contact!", and
twisted the key... and it fired up in less than one full rev of the
crankshaft!  Hooray!

We idled it for a while and continued to look for leaks and odd sounds
and smells; everything seemed OK.  It sounded a *lot* better than it did
when running with the stuck exhaust valve seen above.  :)  It left the
garage under its own power (and not trailing coolant this time) and went
out to the driveway.  We shut it down, cleaned up the garage, and
pondered doing the full cooling system bleed it needs.  My friend cited
needing to get up and go to work in about six hours, so we called it a
night.

The plan right now is to bleed the cooling system, change the rest of
the fuel hoses, and then drive it a little to see what else it wants.
Hopefully we are getting closer to having a running van, so we can delve
into the more esoteric Westfalian mysteries like the Eternal Flame of
Dometic and the Hermetic Seal of Pop-top.

Thanks to everyone who has responded on-list and off to my queries so
far.  (There will be more, don't worry.)  I have to give a shout out
to both Ben Huot and Boston Bob, whose Web sites have been quite
helpful during this adventure.

Matt Roberds