Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2010 12:17:19 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Clutch alignment tool? and Lapping compound ?
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Hi Don,
clutch alignment tool..
the best thing is an old input shaft. Even an old input shaft from an old VW
Bus will work, doesn't have to be vanagon. 'the right thing' is one old but
good transaxle input shaft.
I just picked up some that are a little too rough on the nose where the
pilot bearing runs for German Transaxle to put them in their rebuilt
transmissions .... got a few of those. It's the real right way.
there are plastic ones that come in Sachs clutch kits. Got a few of those
too. Those don't always work perfectly though.
You can just eyeball it,........get it as centered visually as you can, that
can work. 'but' sometimes it takes a few adjustments and re-tries.
you can just turn something on a lathe.
the real part is better - an old input shaft. I have a spare to sell here
and there.
a trick going together as you probably know, but trans in gear, rotate
crankshaft a bit going together, to get splines to engage.
surfacing ..
'sure' .....sure, try that with plate glass and valve grinding compound,
first course, then eventually fine.
'with luck' that 'might' work well enough.
Check the surface for flatness with a straight edge. Just any straight edge
won't really do very well though, say like a carpenter's right angle/square
thing , if you know what I mean.
I have a 'real' straight edge ..a steel beam made in you know where just for
checking things for real flatness , like cylinder heads. You put it across
the head diagonally both ways, checking in the middle with feeler gauges for
how much it's out of true flat. .004 inch ( 4 thousandths ) would be a mile
out of true flat. Well, have a mile, and .006 would be way warped/bent.
if the head gets too warped from overheating, the cam bore can be out of
straight and true.
Repairing that is a whole special deal if it needs it, usually these heads
don't I don't think.
you could bolt it flat to the block without lifters installed and see if
cam turns freely when cam bearing caps are tightened down.
it's proper and normal to chase the block threads with a tap to make sure
the threads are well cleaned and not carboned up or whatever in the block.
Usually new stretch head bolts are installed, the spec on that is lube bolt
threads with engine oil, and I put engine oil at the top of the bolt too,
where the washer is on it.
I can spend really a lot of time just getting the head and block ready to
bolt together ...
like paint work, it's all in the prep.
The whole job is about 'good workmanship' I think.
Using unorthodox methods like hand lapping the bottom of the head ..
as long as it's really done carefully and well, I think all in-the-woods
methods are fine, if done well enough.
I only use german head gaskets, like victor rintz say. Sure would never use
some FelPro non-retorque 'mellican thing.
what fun. The more care you invest in putting it together really well now,
the more that pays off as the years and miles go by of course.
sometimes I'll worry about some tiny little thing or feature that is not
1000 % perfect..
and I can't easy get it any better....
then I just visualize sometime in the future ...say after 6 years of good
use out of it and thinking ..'oh yeah....I guess that one little thing was
fine."
Scott
turbovans
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2010 4:16 PM
Subject: Clutch alignment tool? and Lapping compound ?
> I am in the process of swapping parts around in my 84 5sp manual
> transmission inline gas VW powered vanagon. I took out my 1.8 liter 92
> Jetta motor to swap in a 2.0 liter Jetta bottom end. I'll reinstall my
> 1.8
> liter head onto the new 2.0 liter block and also re-use my 1.8 liter
> 'everything else' almost on the ABA block. The ABA block is said to make
> more power.
>
> So I haven't swapped a clutch recently. I know I have to align the disc
> so it will remate with the output shaft of the trans. Most people seem to
> use a second old tranny shaft? Or some special tool? Is there a way to
> "McGuiver" something that would work without trying to source a spare
> shaft
> or mail order a clutch alignment tool? I did a quick Google and I see the
> tool for pretty inexpensive, but I really want to finish up this swap in a
> day or two and get my van going again. Could I carve or shape something
> from wood or PVC pipe or some-such, maybe duplicate the dimensions of my
> existing output shaft..since all the same parts need to remate anyhow? I
> am
> working alone, so I want my reinstallation of the motor to be as smooth as
> possible.
>
> Second question....I've seen valves lapped into heads using an abrasive
> compound on the valve seat and simply spinning the valve with some kind of
> compound between the valve and the seat. I want to surface my 1.8liter
> head
> myself, in that same manner. In order to clean off all the old gasket and
> get a good seal without taking it to a machine shop and trusting that job
> to
> someone I don't know, I want to use some lapping compound and a flat
> surface, like thick plate glass, and simply 'plane' the surface of the
> head
> by hand until it is shiny and flat. Has anyone done this? It looks like I
> can do it without removing the cam or the valves..just take off the
> manifolds and I have the bottom of the head clear. I want to put it
> face-down on the flat surface with some compound and simply 'sand down'
> the
> mating surface till it is smooth, clean and flat.
>
> I see that compound comes in a couple of "grades", like sandpaper. What
> grade do I need to go down to in order to get a good headgasket seal? My
> "new" block was not leaking when I took that head off. The old 1.8 liter
> one was leaking, but the head is ok, not cracked or badly warped. The
> last
> time I removed and replaced that head, I did not surface anything..and
> after
> 40k miles, the headgasket did blow out between two of the cylinders...I
> recall someone saying "If you can avoid 'unsealing a motor' you should. It
> is difficult to get a good headgasket seal again"...They seem to have been
> right on..cause mine did eventually leak...Probably due to me cutting
> corners with the re-assembly...
>
> Anyone know these answers or care to advise? Thanks
>
> Don Hanson
