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Date:         Tue, 01 Aug 95 09:28:29 EST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "ray hale" <ray.hale@santafe.cc.fl.us>
Subject:      it lives!! (too long)

good news at last. the snivelling is over. fired up the rebuilt motor in the '66 kombi/camper last night at approx 9pm. it sounds great, doesn't vibrate, has a smooth power band and smells like the mixture of old pizza and musty t-shirt. (dont ask me how i know). here's how it went:

father's day weeknd we were on the interstate when the clanking and clunking happened. shut it down,,pulled over and inspected. nothing visual, but motor won't hardly turn over, hmmm. call AAA and tow to local dealer. we had barely made it in range to get it towed back to hometown. this dealer has a mechanic who is the only one that works on older stuff and he's good. but of course he has a boss who is interested in making a large dollar and doesn't really want to see the old stuff littering up his shop, scaring off the customers looking to by the new shit. they used to offer a 10% discount for "vintage cars". no more. they don't even have grease guns anymore because the newer crap doesn't need it! what's the pleasure in that?? anyway, the verdict is the mechanic says it's a rod problem, rebuild the motor. the dealer says $2000 for a short block out of california. i say tow it back to my house.

a weekend later myself and two buds pull the motor in record time:6hours and several 6 packs. 15 minutes later the motor is completely disassembled on the bench in the shop. sure enough the #4 rod bearing has spun. further inspection leads me to the contusion that i will not rebuild this particular motor but buy a long block. i investigate several places and settle on GEX.

in the weeks that follow lea and i clean, sand & paint the engine compartment, bumpers, new cargo doors, repair headliner, rewire several components, do some small fiberglass work, repair/clean/lubricate crank out windows, fix a couple leaks, and generally knock ourselves out while constantly repeating "we are NOT restoring this vehicle".

parts start to arrive and we begin assembly. motor arrives and parts are attached. new doghouse cooler, new carb, new intake manifold doesn't fit arrrgg, send back rear shocks. the woman at rmmw asked me why i was returning the shocks and i told her they were "wimpy". she laughed and wrote it down, saying it was a first. kby gr2's are on the way. the intake manifold was a good inch short of being able to slide down over the tins. it did not appear to be bent but just too short. i used the old one even though the aluminum that wraps around the two pipes is cracked right along the length.

this last saturday, several friends come over to witness the motor going in. included with this group is list member lisa mazak and her beau george with their trusty "frau", another '66 kombi standard. and they bring beer, lots o' beer. all day long it's assemble, adjust, why won't it fit properly, readjust, swear, drink another beer, eat pizza, harass the neighbors who don't like the commotion, wait for the police (who never come or we'd put them to work), etc, etc. at 9pm it's almost dark and with just an hour more work to go we call it a day, sadly, feeling defeated, cheated that we don't get to hear it roar to life after all that work.

sunday i wake feeling like someone has slugged me all over while i slept. lea claims ignorance. i slowly hook up wires and cables and fall asleep under the bus on the creeper. lea sets up a beach chair for me on the screened back porch where the mosquitos won't eat me and let's me sleep a while. i go back out and try all electrical systems, except charging of course, and all works except for the engine compartment light. i probably painted the ground connection. i call it a day.

monday night (last night) steve comes over at 6:30 and we work together for 45 minutes and the moment comes when the key must be turned. i crank and crank and not even a fart. then about 3 minutes later the float bowl finally fills or the gods smile and vroom it comes to life. it's a little rough but as it warms up we tweak the carb and timing and it smooths out. smells funky. we go for a ride. god it's smooth and quiet and sweet. no lurching in the middle of the power band. comes off the line smoothly (new throttle cable) and just feels great. we clean up, put away tools, shake hands and call it a day. i only wish lisa and george and brian and mostly lea were there to share it. it was sort of anti-climatic.

lea came home about 10pm and i dragged her out to the bus, with my best sour face and asked her to turn the key. she's been listening to my snivelling for weeks so she asks "what's wrong?" i reply, "you tell me what you think". well, she's figuring that it's messed up and she's getting stressed. she turns the key and it starts so easily, so smoothly, so quietly that she's not even sure it's running for a couple of seconds. then i smile, big. we laugh and howl and she wants to go for a ride. i dont want to drive it until the rear apron and seal is on so i hold her off. thursday morn bright and early we leave on the motorcycle for north carolina for a guzzi rally on the blue ridge and we'll finish up the bus when we get back a week later. we're hoping to hit some vw junkyards we 've heard about up there and to visit with neil pickett (neato rep) who lives near asheville.

thanks to everyone who helped with info and encouragement and just calming me down, most notably, dave easterwood, kevin murray, the hoover, the infamous dr van bondo, and busboy jim. i am completely honest when i tell you i wouldn't have had the courage to even try this without your help. this is a great exchange.

so big deal, now i can drop and install a vw motor. if i attempted it along the road like kevin did, i'd have to reserve a motel with a pool for a week!! all professional vw mechanics are safe from the likes of me. ray


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