Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:10:59 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Possible...Overheating-Rebuilding engines. Car experiences!
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This may be a story more for Friday but here goes.
Both of my parents grew up in Brooklyn, my Father was the first the learn
to drive. I was in kindergarten and I can still remember him taking driving
lessons. This was in 1965. His first cars was 1961 Ford Falcon. I recall it
regularly breaking down in the city. In 1966 my parents bought a home in
Islip NY. That car was now required transportation. My mom learned to drive
a short time after, got a job and the car was used for both to get to work.
The engine in that car went and since my dad had so much bad experience he
traded it for a brand new Mercury Comet. Three years later the transmission
went. They couldn't afford to have it fixed so traded up again for the
Torino wagon. My dad awful proud of that car with the V8 and disc brakes.
This from someone that couldn't change a tire! I remember we were on a trip
in New Jersey and the rear axle had something go so wrong you could feel the
heat inside the car. After that my mom fell asleep behind the wheel and ran
the car into a telephone pole. So with little money and no mechanical skills
my dad decided to get a Beetle. The next year the now family of six did a
trip to lake George in that Beetle. A few weeks later my dad came home with
a 67 bus as our 2nd and the travel van. That beetle was passed to my sister
and then to her brother in law. That $1,800 car served the family until
1996. The Bus became mine in 1978. I sold it in 1981 as it was just too far
gone with Rust. I started working on both those cars at around 13 and did my
first engine in the bus. The Beetle threw a rod at ~ 120k. I rebuilt the
replacement engine many years later. The bus seemed to need engine work
about every 40-50K. it liked to burn valves. Those two VW's were my early
training vehicles. My mom placed a lot of trust in me. That bus was replaced
by 70, then a 72, then I moved onto Vanagons. With the Vanagons I had to
make the transition from engine rebuilding to transmission rebuilding. Of
the Vanagons I have owned I bought one that needed an engine but otherwise
the worst I have had to do was heads on my current passenger Syncro. I am
now driving FUN BUS after a long hiatus for it to get body work and paint. I
have been driving it to-from work for almost two weeks. It now has over 255K
and the engine has never been opened. It has traveled up and down the East
Coast countless times. In 1993 it went from New to California and in 1993 it
went to Alaska. Somehow I just cannot knock this engine. If only the
transmission was as robust.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Don Hanson
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 1:24 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Possible...Overheating-Rebuilding engines.
Yah, but here we are again, messing with VWs again. Your story "I
rebuilt an air cooled engine back ____________" ....that has been told
here now often. But none of us learned, none of us paid any attention to
the details, did we? ....Like the minor detail that we are once again in
VWs.....Older, but wiser?
I, for one, have learned that I don't care to keep rebuilding the boxer
motors (in my primary form of transport)...learned that in the college of
Hard Knocks...pun.
At least I am working on the inline four motors from VW now...motors that
seem make rebuilding a matter of choice rather than a frequent fact of
life....
Soon your kids won't even know what 'rebuilding a motor' means...There is
a new generation that thinks you just turn in your lease every few years and
get another disposable car..
On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 10:08 AM, neil n <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:
> This is not a comparison to Scott or Dennis, but there's hope for me
> yet? ;^)
>
> After getting started with a little help and guidance, (i.e. crank
> disassembly. "What? Mom? I can't put an engine crank in your oven?") I
> rebuilt a 36 HP VW engine as an early teen. It ran for a few months
> but for various reasons developed a horrible knock; the crank would
> move in/out while it ran. A subsequent attempt on a 40 HP was much
> less "stellar". Working on my own, I thought I knew what I was doing.
> But the details were lacking! It promptly leaked oil at the push rod
> tubes.
>
> Properly rebuilding a WBX still seems like a major hurdle to me.
> Details yes, but being set up to do the job in a clean environment
> with the right tools etc. takes some planning I think. Thank goodness
> for the internet. "Simple" things like making sure the crank bearings
> et al are properly seated before assembling the case halves could be
> easily overlooked. (though I'm sure there are manuals that mention
> this)
>
> As for college, I have no regrets not staying beyond one year. No
> student loan debt and I was already working as a "pro" anyway. In my
> case, real life was an excellent teacher.
>
> Neil.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 6:34 PM, Dennis Haynes
> <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I rebuilt my first lawn mower engine at 13. Had a plastic wheel part
> left over that I didn't know its purpose. Engine ran fine for about a
> 1/2 hour.
>
>
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> > Behalf
> Of Scott Daniel - Turbovans
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 6:02 PM
> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > Subject: Re: Possible...Overheating
>
> > I wasn't disciplined enough to push thorough for a mechanical
> engineering degree like I was supposed to.
> > Too interested in climbing mountains, playing chess, chasing girls.
> > After 3 years of college, it was years before I could stand to sit
> > in a
> class again.
>
>
> > a smart careful person can easily study up on engine rebuilding,
> > take a
> whole engine apart carefully..
> > rebuild it etc.
>
>
>
> --
> Neil n
>
> Blog: tubaneil.blogspot.ca
>
> '88 Westy http://tinyurl.com/c8rlw6p
>
> '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco" http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>
> Vanagon VAG Gas inline-VR Engine Swap Group:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/d7gd5ej
>
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