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Date:         Wed, 1 Nov 1995 09:44:10 -0600 (CST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         jfourni@comp.uark.edu (Joseph F. Fournier II)
Subject:      Update: She's almost an engine! (kinda long)

Just a note to update you all on my progress.

I took the past couple of days off from work to try to complete the rebuild on my "spare" 1600. I'm trying to get things wrapped up and install the engine this weekend so I can log 300 miles, pull the engine for head retorquing, and be on the road to NC from AR by next Wednesday afternoon.

I spent a couple of hours Tuesday morning stripping down the other 1600 that I had started to rebuild. Bob Hoover convinced me that I might be wasting time rebuilding that one since I had play in the rear main bearing. (Hey, I'm a novice, sometimes I need that extra nudge to get it through my head!) The deciding factor was the realization that she could leave me stranded 600 miles from nowhere and that my options would be minimal at that point.

Tuesday afternoon I cleaned the exterior of the engine and tried to figure out what the heck that thing where my oil pump should be. I learned from Bob that it was the oil pump from an auto-stick VW. I spent many hours trying to remove it...to some extent in chunks (though I still have the cover plate and gears to the auto-stick pump if anyone needs them /-(. I did manage a technique for extracting the pump that allowed me to take the one from my other 1600 in only about 20 minutes. Fortunately, that's the one I needed.

I was up until about 2:00 AM cleaning the "spare" 1600 and miscellaneous parts.

Wednesday's Progress -------------------- Not wanting to split the case on the "spare," but being too leary to just slap everything together, I cleaned it out with diesel fuel and carefully examined the washout. No metal shavings, though I did get a small amount of "glitter" in the bottom of the wash. Good results according to my eyes.

I had previously checked the side-to-side play on the rods with results well within spec (though I don't remember the readings now). I checked end-play with 3 shims; it was within spec. I checked for movement in the rear main bearing...and rechecked...and rechecked.

I decided to go without splitting the case and spent the rest of yesterday building her out to the heads (I must admit that there seemed to be a ghostly spirit of a VW rebuilder whispering "You'll never know for sure unless you split the case...", but I chalked that up to it being Halloween. I managed to get the valves adjusted and install the oil pump, oil cooler, fuel pump, generator stand, plugs, and distributor.

She's starting to look like an engine! And the tin is all painted and shiny waiting for installation (due to a good two days of scrubbing and painting)! I'm hoping to install her in my freshly washed and waxed (another half-day invested) engine compartment by Thursday or Friday. I still have the clutch, final torquing of the gland nut, alternator, carb, exhaust, and sheetmetal to go.

What's my POINT? ---------------- For any of you who were leary of attempting a rebuild, I'd like to share the feeling of elation that goes with every inch of progress. I can't, but I'll try.

I worked until 2:00 again last night, not because I had to, but because it was so satisfying! I've probably got a good six full (12 hour) days and $300 including a few tools purchased to complete the job and some essential spare parts (one car payment for those so-attached) into this project and I don't regret any of it! I envisioned working with rachets and sockets and screwdrivers, but I've spent more time with scrapers and solvent and toothbrushes. And hot, soapy water -- lots of it and VERY hot. I could have saved LOTS of time by just slapping a bunch of dirty parts back into a dirty engine compartment...saved time > now <, that is ;)

C. K. Chesterton once said "A thing worth doing is worth doing badly." I don't recommend anyone do a poor job on a rebuild and I hope neither would Chesterton. The point he was attempting was that we should pursue activities that are fun even when we fumble from time to time...even if we're not the best at these activities. I can't tell you how many times I've fumbled along this journey. Between spending hours upon hours on the engine that came out of the bus (including building her out to the heads) only to abandon her for later mechano-dissection; installing pistons backwards (twice); installing a cylinder on a piston without circlips (that would have been interesting-NOT!); thinking I forgot to install a gasket between the oil pump gears and the cover plate... and removing the pulley to check only to realize that I HAD installed the gasket; then forgetting to install the tin behind the pulley...after the pulley was back on and torqued. 'DOH!

I think Bob put it even better than Chesterton: "the journeying remains a thing apart, unique unto itself." This is all part of the journey, perhaps not as challenging as those undertaken by others, but rather unique, with its own set of emotions and trials, and of course, challenging to me. I'll be better for having taken it.

In truth, I'm sure I would have never ventured into this without the help and encouragement of list members. Thanks so much!

And if I don't get everything done in time to take the bus on my NC trip, I will not have failed. How could I, with so many successes behind me already?

Thanks! Joe '71 Campmobile

----------------------------------------------------------------- Joseph F. Fournier II | jfourni@comp.uark.edu University of Arkansas, ADMN 316 | Phone: 501.575.7353 Fayetteville, AR 72701 | http://cavern.uark.edu/BASIS/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- " All journeys end when we reach our destination but the journeying remains a thing apart, unique unto itself. Most of us make life's journeys without understanding that the journeying is a separate thing." --Bob Hoover -----------------------------------------------------------------


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