Date: Mon, 17 Apr 1995 12:39:06 -0500 (CDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Gerald Skerbitz <gsker@lenti>
Subject: My on going log for this 78 x 90.5 engine (fwd)
=========================================================================
Date:
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:
Subject: My on going log for this 78 x 90.5 engine
Gene Berg Forged 78 x 90.5 engine log
Thursday, March 23rd, 1995
Said Hello to UPS woman
Unloaded 5 heavy boxes, largest one wet on the bottom as it had been pouring
and hailing that morning.
Opened and checked the boxes and picking ticket.
Opened the Crank/Fly box & well packed GBF78/Fly. WoW. I noticed that the
#1 bearing had a slight
tight spot as I spun it on the crank. WoW, Hadn't totally realized what a
wedgemated crank really was
and that I'd have to install it that way. WoW. Spent the rest of the day
reading all the sheets I could find
and going over the wedgemate biz. Nothing came with the boxes and I had to
look at GB801 to find
nothing written on the actual installation. Read FI stuff WoW. Installed FI
software.
Friday morn,
installed bearing dowel pins in case, measured bearing holes and decided to
shim them out .1" with
paper stuffed into hole. Green loctited pins and tapped them in place.
Wiped clean. Recheck depth,
better.
Installed cam bearings and cam gear on cam as per inst. No washers, Spin
cam in bearings with light oil
and check end play, Teenee, ~.001-2 easy, loove it., remove.
Install Dist drive, & dist, no spring, re-install w all 3 shims, still
loose. (.2+) Remove.
Install main bearings, #2 split 411 type is obviously superior to stock, oil
goes straight to the inside
surface without running around the outside. Also makes #3 split better for
the same reason. Put two
drops of bearing retainer behind #3 split to "fill the inscriptions?"
Gently dump crank in, noting dykem
scribes, clear flywheel gears from stand/mount, settle 1 & 4, OK, WoW easy
with the 3rd split!! Check
endplay on crank by trying feeler in behind bearing flange/crank. .0015
easy, .0025 also easy, OK stop
worrying about tight end play.=7F
Light Oil and place cam, WoW, spin crank & cam. WoW, '0' backlash,
absolutely NO lifting out when
the crank is turned back. Still can't feel backlash, WoW. Never felt one so
perfect. No need to put old
bearings in and select a cam gear from my collection of old cams.
Lifters filed for oil slot, cleaned and blown through, one was plugged and
had to clear some grease.
Clean, put four in. Check cam clearance to lifters and crank, all easy.
Incredo Crank.
Locktite and torque cam bolts, 2check gear position.
Braze pick-up tube in place, WoW.
Lunch & Log. Feeling a little better now that the crank and fly, cam gear
don't need to be returned. Plus, the braze looks good.
Install bearings on rods, install rods, check side clearance, all ~ .014
Check rod running clearance, WoW, incredo-clearance to cam, case, etc.
Close case for deck height, install 0ne P/C, deck is .030
When torquing the case I notice it starts to bind a bit at over 25 ftlbs.
Dinner and CR calcs, is 7.19 with the .100 spacer, need another .020 to get
6.95.
(There was a spreadsheet here but it don't convert)
After dinner decide to close case with sealant and locktight. Clean stuff
up and do so. Including sump.
Incredo 15mm bolt heads and washers.
Fail to correct binding so it still binds a little when torquing to 30,
loosen later and tighten again, binds a bit less. Sleep on it.
Saturday March 25,
In the fifteen minutes before leaving for work I unbolt the sealed,
locktighted case halves and end up
removing four of the main studs. Go to work.
Get home and continue undoing the case, clean all threads, nuts, washers and
case halves. Pull cam &
crank & dist gear. Remove #3 split. Yuk, foolish human put two drops of
green locktight on the back,
DUOH! Remove all traces of Green goo and burnish backs with 400 emery and
touch up faces also.
Replace main studs, noticing that the 1st upper and lower are different and
that you can damage the oil
passage behind the lower if you try to screw the longer one in too far
(almost did!). Locktight them in.
Let dry over dinner. Try the crank back in the case by itself. Torque to
20, then 24, then 28, still spins
easy, 32, then 34, still spins easy, YaY! Listen to ol Geno, no stinking
stuff behind the bearings, not
even a teeny weeny bit. Also indicates the bearing clearances are quite
tight. Should get the 10W oil for
break-in.
Start on Pistons. Carefully clean hands and use all new towels all the
time. Read instructions for awhile.
Assemble piston rings with much oil and TLC, check for proper Total Seal
ring engagement, make sure
the tops are in the right cylinder location, arrow forward, gaps are top and
10,2,12 and that the one
keeper is in center postion. Keepers sharp side out. Not to bad, only a
couple small scratches on the
piston tops. Push pistons in from bottom check, label and cover. Pins move
easier if you just breath on
the pistons to warm/expand them.
Sunday March 26,
Do a lot of fiddling around today, cleaning, reading etc. Cleaned and
picked an oil cooler, making sure
the passages are clear and the fins aren't bent. Going to try a type III to
get the additional temp sensor
tap for FI which I think will just fit. The location, just after the
cooling fins, should give the most accurate reading of oil temperature.
More internal fins also. Looks nice all cleaned up. Just have to modify
the fan house.
Install throttle body arms, lash caps, oil pump studs, (depth gauge getting
a lot of use) oil cooler
assembly. Try my oil primer pump only to find it is for a dished cam and
won't fit. Fiddle with linkage
mount and fan house. Notice that it fits on top of the fan tin and doesn't
say anything about that in the
instructions (though it's obvious).
Monday March 27,
Fax order green locktight and 10W oil. Ask a bunch of silly questions (6.95
or 7.19 etc.) of GBE. Pick
up old FI stuff and old oil pumps from storage, not as much stuff as I
thought. Thought I had two FI
pumps and a full wire harness. Nope, just one and only four injectors. No
spare pump either, bummer.
How are these injectors supposed to fit the TWM fuel log anyway? Plus, I
realize that the exhaust
analyser does not interact with the HALTECH at all. Too bad, should have
waited for an exhaust based
system.
Make new oil primer pump (out of my huge stock of old pumps) for the flat
cam. Install alternator stand
after removing studs. I use bolts so that when the alternator fails I can
just pull the whole thing out the
back. Have pulled too many generators and when my fairly new alternator
failed awhile back, just after I
had installed the engine, I decided to always assume it is not if, just
when. Have to be careful it won't
leak but it's worth it on the road.
Put together the fuel system and test for pressure and pump function. The
pump works, one of the
injectors won't close consistently and leaks. Gas all over the basement.
Call GBE about injectors fitting
TWM's. These (007) injectors do not fit the TWM throttle bodies/fuel rail
at all! Oops, so much for my
theory of using old, cheap, easy to get type III injectors and hardware for
my fabulous PEFI system.
Tommorrow's order is now 4 injectors?, 2 cans heat paint, one 2-1/4" exhaust
fitting.
Tuesday March 28,
Clean Alternator and fan. Call around and find that BSH0280150036 injector
is an old (1971-73) Volvo
or Mercedes FI item. Go out to U-Pull liquidators and find a Volvo, pull
six injectors and get them, with
an exchange policy, for $6.50 each. ($5.00 outright) Start to feel better
since these parts are still cheap
and easy to get... Test at home and they work fine (backyard this time). I
still don't see how they're
going to fit and seal properly to the fuel rail though. They are almost the
same as the type III 007
injectors, except that they have a barbed end.
Clean fan housing, Yuk.
Wednesday March 29,
Buy stock seals for the base of the injector, also a fuel pressure gauge
since mine went down inside Jims
squareback when it died. Try them. Seals don't really seal to the TWM
body. Looks like I need two
seals at the base, and another at the top.
Also bought fuel pump block-off, drilled out base, clean-up 3/8 npt threads,
install studs, clean and
mount.
Called in to GBE for brake shoes, paint, muffler flange etc. Had a pleasant
talk with Gene about the FI
seals, FI harness, pump pressures, driving at 85 mph past the police while
programming the laptop, etc.
Oops, the part number is reversed in the catalog and I don't want the 036
injector at all. I need the 201
injector which has a snap ring seal at the top and fits the bottom. It also
goes for over $90 each. Ouch.
Guess I won't buy them new from GBE, even if I do still have a job. "You
should've gotten snap rings
with the TWM bodies," Oh, that's what those things are! WoW this is a
mess, at least ol Geno admitted
it was wrong in the catalog and was actually in the process of figuring out
all the injector part numbers
from Bosch, who were not being very co-operative. OK, I'm not upset, but I
sure don't want to pay $360
just for injectors I thought I had for free. I think I can exchange the 036
injectors for a spare pump at U-
Pull. Ask Small Car World again for info, they are off a 944 Porsche Turbo,
84 Buick Skylark 1.8L turbo,
83-84 Pontiac Sunbird 1.8L turbo, and several BMW's, 530i, 7??i etc. Thanks
SCW, calling wrecking
yards now.
Well, it's pretty bad but getting better, first $30 each, then $40 here in
Berkeley, but maybe $15 from San
Jose'. All from BMW salvages. Bet those BMW's get wrecked more. Better go
clean some more stuff
now. Good thing there's not much work this week, and a holiday on Friday!
Tested the fuel pressure with one injector. Regulator was set for 30 psi
just like type III is supposed to
be. Injector had a nice spray. Cranked the pressure up to 40, which is
about the limit of the adjustment.
Injector really wailing now, spray is over 5 feet long and "highly
atomized." However, when I fire the
injector, the meter dips correspondingly. It did this at 30 psi too, so I
don't know if it's just that the
injector is just being held open too long or what.
Thursday March 30,
Installed manifold carb studs. Trim gasket down to manifold holes, attach
throttle body. Gee, these
13mm nuts don't fit at all, need the 11mm narrow muffler type.
UPS lady! The 10W oil is some beauty stuff, thin, light and clear. Go to
work, then down to
Partsheaven where I pick up my 201 Porsche injectors for $20 each. They
even go out and get two
newer ones when I whine about the seals being torn up. Go to Buggy House
and get more 11mm nuts,
but don't find tall 4"x6" air cleaners.
Install injectors in fuel rails at last. They fit, and I figured out how to
use the locking collar. But when I test them one is dead.
Clean case up, move a couple studs out further. Now I'm going out on a limb
here a little, I cut a second
oil groove in the lifters leading into the pushrod tube oil hole. I figure
the more oil going to the head the better, and I still am amazed that the
entire right side of the case gets its oil from the left, and that the #1&2
exhaust lifters are the last in line. Plus, when you look at hydraulic
lifters, they have the entire center ground, so a second groove shouldn't be
too much.
Check some things, dist. gear is now .008 end play with a new clamp on the
dist. Mark and align dist
gear. Cam endplay is over .0015 and under.002. Cam gears aligned.
Clean case halves with alcohol, lightly coat both halves with 3H sealant.
Geno says one half, can says
both? Install cam plug, dump in crank/fly, say buy-buy. Close case. Three
drops green locktight each
stud/nut. Tighten centers, then install and tighten outsides, then torque
centers to 24,27,32. Torque
outsides to 15,20.
Back off rod nuts and locktight. Tighten to 20, then 26. Wiping off excess
as I go here. All still spinning
very easy.
Install head studs, locktight and set them as deep as they'll go. Check for
studs breaking through the
inside with fingers, not a problem. With one P/C and a head, the studs are
more than long enough, but
not so long they hit the rocker arms, and the top center pair may even need
to be cut some to clear
manifolds.
Install P/C's and heads with no pushrod tubes and 4 nuts each to check crank
clearances. I can't really
see each piston skirt but I don't feel anything touching, still spins easy.
Attempt to come up with a pushrod length only to find my rocker arm studs
just aren't long enough for my
1.4:1 rockers.
Friday March 31,
UPS lady again, got brakes shoes & heat paint.
Off to exchange the injector, see ya!
Well, after retesting all the injectors, they seem fine. And they don't
seem to leak.
Assembled the exhaust and heat exchangers. Guess I cut the flanges off to
soon, they're too short. Cut
the flang piece and fit it over HE. Do six brazes instead of four. Put the
new 1-1/4" flanges together and
in place, wire in place so they stay. Check the clearance to the engine
mount. OK BRAZE, WoW.
Pretty heavy, but I get OK and do nice job, mon. Very satisfying to not
have to worry about the exhaust
leaking, a serious matter. The brazes look good and this is definitely
going to stop the leaks. Wire brush
and polish inside exhaust flanges, grind the ridged ones, file flange gasket
surfaces flat. Exhaust looking
nice and quiet, really easy clearance to the mount, WoW. I also cut back
the lower part of the heater pipes so that they actually fit straight to the
heat exchanger. This was also very satisfying because the aftermarket
headers 'never' fit right and always leak air badly from this connection.
Saturday, April 8,
Been at work for awhile and have been doing less engine hobbying, and even
less logging.
Since last log I've installed pistons and cylinders, deflector, pushrod
tubes, and heads. Sealant behind
head washers, three drops green on each stud. Torqued to 15, 20 then 25.
Got worried that 25 was too
much so I searched around and found that though many sources say 22-23 for
the 8mm studs, and 25
for 10mm, Haynes says 25 for 8mm studs with case inserts. OK, feel better,
maybe the case won't
crack.
Painted headers and muffler the other day, also cleaned and painted some
shroud pieces and fan house.
Everything looking very nice.
Installed my oil primer pump and fired up the drill. Very difficult to get
oil pressure with the 10W. Even changing direction on the drill to push
air out the pick-up. Had to put 5 quarts in before it grabbed.
Maybe I brazed the pick-up tube on too high up. Also could be because I
dress down the oil pump
outside diameter to make it easy to get out, so the seal to the case is
pretty bad. The 10W oil is
incredible, it goes everywhere. I find that even my best attempts at a
leak-free engine are being
thwarted by this stuff.
Install rocker arms and pushrods (backed out the studs) and try the oil
primer again. Spin crank through
a couple cycles to get oil out to each rocker arm. Now I'm getting worried
that my second oil groove in
the lifter is too much. I could have lowered the oil pressure by doing this
because the groove allows
more oil to the loose rockers. Hard to tell at this point.
This was a couple days ago and I've been wiping down the case to try and
find the leaks. They are not
as bad as I first thought, but the valve covers, sump, and I think a couple
pushrod tubes have drops on
them when I look in the morning. Contemplating ripping the heads off and
3Hing the pushrod tube seals,
which I didn't do because I thought the seals might work. Oh well. I also
think the heads/cylinder seal
may even be a source of a leak. There is no seal there and it seems absurd
it would leak there, but I
looks like it could be from there.
The injection wiring harness doesn't have enough length between the left and
right bank injectors, so I
had to splice a jumper to the left bank.
Enough gabbing here, going out to fix the rear brakes, install the other gas
tank with the new fitting for
the return line, replace the trans seal, and fuss with the wiring. Later.
Monday. April 10,
Yesterday ended up tricky, the wheel cylinders didn't fit, I need the
211-611-047C not F, (they switched in
the middle of 1971) the backing plate adjusting holes are all torn up, and
when I tried to put the wheel
back on, the axle pushed through the inside and the roller bearings fell out
of place. So now I'm
rebuilding the axles with new bearings and repacking the CV's as well.
Plus, the left rear emergency
cable wasn't even connected! It is totally frozen in the flex tubing and I
can't even get it out, no wonder
they didn't fix it.
Also ripped out the old vaccuum hoses to the power brake booster, they
didn't seem too bad but I will
tolerate NO boost delay in panic stop conditions. I'm going to try a second
vaccuum valve located at the
booster itself to minimize the time it takes the valve to close, along with
replacing all the hoses and all
the wheel work.
I've also researched the head torque issue more and will now have to rip the
heads off because they are
on too tight. Even if the Haynes book does say 25 ft lb with case inserts
and 8mm studs, Ol Geno says
18 and since this a Geno engine I'd better follow the rules. Off they come,
and I'll also try to get the
pushrod tubes to seal better. I also received a response from the listserv
that supports 18. So be it.
At least the gas tank went in OK, the old one was pretty beat up and had
several patches. The vapor
breather lines had broken tubing, WoW, vapors rising to the space above the
gas tank just waiting for a
spark! It also has some nasty sandy sounds coming from it when it's shaken.
The finger filter was pretty
clogged near the bottom. New one feels much better, hope the new fitting
doesn't leak.
Trans seal refuses to come out.
Todays shopping list, from Small Car World;
VWA211-611-047C(B)(x2) REAR WHEEL CYL, 1971 BUS $15.96@
VWA211-501-287 (X2) REAR WHEEL BEARING INNER $15.55@
VWA211-501-283 (X2) REAR WHEEL BEARING OUTER $37.39@
VWA211-501-317 (X4) REAR WHEEL SEALS $4.49@
VWA211-609-701P EMERG. BRAKE CABLE $12.42
VW 111-209-147A GAS TANK FINGER FILTER $3.55
VWA113-115-193M MAGNETIC DRAIN PLUG $
shop around for backing plates, maybe go to U-Pull and fight for them.
WAHHH, this wasn't in the budget, but driving this beasty engine around
requires the best brakes and
bearings possible.
12mm Vaccuum hose from VW is $11.95 per foot.
A couple of notes here about some goals I've had for this car all along.
Awesome brakes, no boost failure due to inadequate vaccuum, emergency brakes
that hold.
NO engine compartment vapors, no falling asleep at the wheel due to CO gases
being blown into the
passenger compartment. No bad smells. This has been a problem with dual
carbureted paper air filters.
The fuel injection should really help this because the fuel is below the
throttle plate. I am planning to
install an air intake ducted to the engine only from the older bus intake
position (side of the car). That
way even crankcase vapors can't reach the passenger compartment. Plus it
should help free up some
air for the cooling fan.
Best possible factory heat. This means no large valve heads and that all
heating ducts be tight.
Quiet engine. Yuk yuk. Well, no high lift cams or headers. FI should be
quieter that carbs? Just fixing the heat exchanger flanges should help=
alot.
Tuesday, April 12,
Another day on the emergency brakes and wheels. Finally had to cut the
emergency brake tubing in
order to get the cable free. Wouldn't have had to if I had just cut the
swagged ends off the front of the
cable before trying to pull it out the back. But once I had the swagged
piece stuck in the last four inches
of tubing there was no hope. Brazed the tubing back together. I've also
brazed the adjusting holes, trying
to fill in the ripped steel with cement nails and the stronger 80,000 psi
rod. In the process of removing
the emerg brake fitting from the backing plate I ripped out the holder from
the back plate and had to
braze that back in. All this in favor of new backing plates ($96.00) or
heading out to the wrecking yard
and trying to find, and remove, good used ones. These should be even better
because of the super
adjusting holes.
Even after I replaced the wheel bearings with new ones and repacked with
synth grease, the axle still
pushed through when I went to put the wheel back on. Almost destroyed the
new bearings before I
realized what was happening. Obviously the problem wasn't worn bearings at=
all.
Ripped the heads off the other night, the going is getting rough. Cleaning
all that RTV off after prepping
it so well is not easy.=20
Posted this to rec.auto.vw at this point.
Monday, April 17,
Having fun reading the listserv messages and forgot to work on the bus.
No, actually I managed to get the FI harness installed in the car. Worked
out pretty well, the computer and relays are under the rear westy seat
screwed to the side panel. I drilled and ground out a hole just below
through the pan big enough for the injector connectors and ran them to the
rear. The fuel pump is just in front of the axle tube attached to the
framing cross member. The harness jacket had to be cut up a fair amount
because they seem to think the relays will be somewhere else than the
computer. Mounted a couple barrier strips in the engine compartment roof
for B+ and ignition on circuits. Pump ran when I turned the key so I think
it's right.
I have also retested the fuel ring with injectors installed in the rails and
double-checked for leaks and function. I set all my regulators (I have
three) to 38 psi. One of them leaks.
So now I shall post this to the listserv and continue avoiding work and play
with the bus instead.
