Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2011 22:39:16 -0700
Reply-To: Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Pesky Vanagon exhaust system.....
In-Reply-To: <4DB3887C.9050407@ucsb.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I run the so-called aftermarket pipes manufactured by Jopex/Dansk and
are essentially what has been supplied by the dealer for number of
years - these are essentially the only OE ones available AFAIK,
although I've heard Ernst is supplying them as well, depending on the
piece. Have for the past 12 years. Got 'em from Ron @ Bus Depot
while on my 1999 8 month vacation. I have never had a fitment issue or
any leakage, and they have been off twice, once for an engine rebuild
and once for head work on my 2.1 Westy in that time. Still in
excellent condition, I think the way I've installed them each time has
helped in their longevity.
I install them the way the factory did on the assembly line by
slightly torquing them in a "round-robin" fashion. This way all ports
are evenly tightened throughout the assembly, including the collector
pipe/elbow. The only time I've had to work on the exhaust system on
my back is when I had to replace the collector pipe/elbow once and
during cat converter/muffler replacement over the years. I have used
steel bolts and the factory style "Fuji" locknuts (311101463) that the
factory called for with copper anti-seize. Never have had a problem
removing them after a dose of Liquid Wrench (tm). I would go with the
copper nuts (12mm hex 175129620), its a good idea, brass is too hard
to find anyway. No sealer on the gaskets, but remember the metal side
goes toward the head exhaust port.
My nickel's worth and YMMV
--
Jim Thompson
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
75 914 1.8 "Nancy"
Full Timing Since March 1999
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
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On Sat, Apr 23, 2011 at 7:18 PM, John Goubeaux <john@ucsb.edu> wrote:
> Any exhaust system experts have any advice to offer? I just installed a
> new 2.1 engine in a 90 and ( with engine out) bolted on new exhaust
> header pipes and the heavy elbow flange that joins them together on the
> LH back corner. It was a bit of a bear to get em all to mate up
> properly, but with a lot of loosening and tightening and coaxing I
> thought I got em all snug ( poor fitting aftermarket parts I'm
> thinking). Well after start up it looks like I have an exhaust leak at
> one of the connections to the large elbow flange. Damm - I'm thinking
> these were hard enough to mate with engine out, now I have to do it on
> my back and looking up !
>
> So are there any tricks here ? Use a gasket sealer along with the
> regular flange gasket? Are regular nuts better than copper as it might
> be easier to tighten them down more ? I used copper thinking they were
> superior. Maybe I just need to use a bigger ratchet and tighten the crap
> out of the bolts, at the risk of breaking a bolt though. Maybe it's not
> uncommon to have to loosen/re-tighten them after a few heat/cool cycles ?
>
> Any sympathy and or suggestions appreciated. -john
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