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Date:         Fri, 17 Nov 1995 13:43:04 +0100 (MET)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Edward van der Jagt <bivdjagt@cs.few.eur.nl>
Subject:      Engine transfered - part III: it runs

Well, it has taken us two months but we have finally transferred the engine from one bus (the '78) into the other (the '71). (But counted in hours work it would probably be one or two days)

The transfer wasn't as easy or quick as expected. We encountered the following problems: - The old bus/engine had a generator and the new one had an alternator. - We lowered the `new' engine out of the '71 bus twice because we forgot some engine tin, and we had to bent it slightly. ('78 should have a type IV engine, so the engine-tin was slightly different) - The trans in the '71 is not bolted/welded to the chassis so lining up the engine (bolts) with the trans is *not* easy. - And some other minor problems (different oilfiller cap, air filter, etc.)

When the engine was finally put in place and all the nuts and wires were in place we tried to start the engine............. Yep, you guessed it, it didn't fire up. This was very strange because we had made no modifications to the engine or pulled anything loose, and above all, I had driven the '78 bus with this engine in it to the garage. We changed the battery, but that didn't help. As we were working in a truck garage, we got a little power boost from one of their batteries. That didn't help either. Two weeks later my neighbour (who knows a lot more about engines, he used to be a truck mechanic) came along and helped figure out what was wrong. It appeared that there wasn't enough spark. The middle cable on the distributorcap seemed to have a wrong resistance. So changing the cables was the next thing to try. Ofcourse the old distributor and cables were the only parts left home, and the garage (VW/MAN) didn't have these cables ofcourse.

Last saturday my dad went to the bus with the old distributor, the old cables and a set of new cables. Changing just the rotor didn't help so he replaced the entire distributor cap and cables for the old ones. And YES, the engine started again (with a powerbooster that is, our own batteries were nearly empty). He didn't get a change to drive it around the terrain yet, but that shouldn't be a problem, should it ? All that is left now is making sure the engine is timed correctly, has a compression ratio that is not out of bounds, and making the bus ready for it's inspection so it can get a valid license plate: - Getting the horn to work :-( - Modifying the interior so it can be classified as a camper, and I pay even less road tax until I don't have to pay anything anymore after July '96 - Finding a replacement heater tube (the long one under the bus) - Long run: - stopping/removing the rust wich has now appeared - getting the bus painted, somehow - redesigning the `camper' interior (PO made it himself) - Very long run: rebuilding the old engine

Please tell me if I have to check more things before actually driving with this engine. -- Edward bivdjagt@cs.few.eur.nl http://www.cs.few.eur.nl/~bivdjagt/


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