Date:         Fri, 05 Jul 1996 23:59:48 -0600
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Dieter Dworkin Muller <dworkin@village.org>
Subject:      Gerbil engine replacement, part III


This morning started with the intention of putting on the fuel pump,
generator stand, and distributor before breaking for lunch.  As with
everything else in this project, it didn't quite work out that way.

First, I checked the torque on all the case studs.  The big ones were
all spot-on, but the small ones across the top were all relatively
loose.  I suspect this means I misunderstood the torque page.  It says
the case studs are at 25 ft-lb, and all other bolts (modulo noted
exceptions) are at 14 ft-lb.  The probable disagreement is what
constitutes a case stud.  I claim it's everything that holds the case
together.  I suspect they just meant the large ones.  Nothing stripped
in the process of tightening the top studs, so at this point, it's
best to let dead dogs lie.

Spent a while with the carburetor cleaner, getting the generator stand
relatively oil-free.  Then I got to play around with the make-shift
gasket scraper otherwise known as a razor blade.  You have to be
careful with this sort of thing, because it's easy to shave off metal
along with the gasket.  Since I ended up with some real shiny spots, I
know I did.  Thus, I made a point of smearing a thin layer of gasket
cement (Permatex #2, from Loc-Tite) between all four mating surfaces:
case to paper gasket, gasket to metal vent thing, vent thing to
paper gasket, gasket to generator stand.  A little bit oozed out
around the edges, but I'm pretty sure I won't be getting any oil leaks
from there.  Also did my best to get the torque (14 ft-lb) right on
mounting studs.  This, as with all of the nuts/bolts I'm trying to
torque, is being made awkward by the high degree of difficulty
involved in getting the torque wrench into place.  I've got to find
one of those crows-foot open-end adaptors.

Next came the fuel pump.  Since I had a new one, I figured I'd use it
instead of the old one.  No good reason, as I have no reason to
believe the old one leaked, but since the engine's new, might as well
go with as much new stuff as possible.  Clean up the plastic spacer/
guide block, permatex around all the gasket surfaces, and put it into
place.  Next, clean up the pump push rod, and drop it in.  That sure
seems to be a long way down in there....

Try turning the engine over a bit, and the rod just sits there.  Hmmm.
You know, there's this funny looking shoulder on the distributor drive
shaft that looks like it would probably move that rod, if'n it was
installed first.  Fortunately, the push rod is magnetic and relatively
light, so it's not that hard to fish out.

Find TDC for cylinder one, and install the distributor drive shaft.
It's awfully reluctant to go in, but a bit of grease does wonders.  Of
course, removing the plastic guide for the fuel pump push rod helps,
too.  Unfortunately, the drive shaft is rotated about 45 degrees from
where it should be.  After trying to get it out and turned to the
right orientation for twenty or thirty minutes, I figure it'll be
easier just to note where the new #1 firing position is, and leave it.

Now it's time to put the fuel pump on.  Put on the guide tube, then
drop the push rod in, and it sits up like it's supposed to.  Great.
Attempt to fit the new pump on.  This fails miserably, because the
lever arm that the push rod acts against is much lower than on the old
pump.  To use it will require bending that lever.  That seems a little
drastic at the moment, so I grab the old pump, clean it up (getting
quite a bit of gasoline everywhere -- you'd think it'd all have
evaporated out in the two weeks it's been sitting disconnected), and
install it.  Lots more permatex, of course.  The old engine had a
perennial oil leakage around the fuel pump, which I'm doing my best to
make sure doesn't happen again.

I'm getting a little cranky, so break for lunch.  The distributor will
still be there when I get back.

After lunch, tear apart the distributor, replacing the points and
condensor with the compu-fire electronic ignition unit.  It goes in
pretty easily, but I'm not really comfortable with leaving the
condensor mount screw hole open.  I'll probably end up covering it
with some electrical tape or some such.  Put a bit of grease on the
distributor shaft, and put it onto the engine.  Since it's turned
around from where #1 should be, put a marker on the #1 firing position
on the cap so it'll be easier to remember when I install the plug
wires.

By now, it looks like I still have to do:

- pulley
- thermostat vanes and linkage
- cooling tin
- exhaust system
- heater boxes
- clutch
- generator
- installation

Plus all the things I plan on doing to the body before installing the
engine.  Since it looks like I can't really do a whole lot more
without first installing some tin, off I go to unwrap the new bits
I've got, and clean up the old ones that I'll be re-using.  Once
again, carburetor cleaner works really well for this sort of thing,
with much less effort required than with Simple Green or the like.

After the tin that goes behind the pulley (and putting it on, as
well), things got interesting.  The Bug-Pack under-tin that I got from
Rocky Mountain Motor Works looked really pretty, but fit very poorly.
Most of the curves were wrong, and the ridges didn't line up for the
two sections that go on the right side.  Yet another reason to be
careful when buying things made in Taiwan.  In any case, judicious
application of pliers, a knee, and the like got it all to fit.  I'm a
little concerned about the fact that some of it is effectively spring-
loaded now, though.

The chromed over-tin from Scat was almost as bad.  It over-hung all
four of the exhaust ports, but not by much.  Again, a pair of pliers
worked wonders.  I couldn't use the old over-tin, as the dead engine
had single ports, and the new one has dual intake ports.

Break for dinner, and get caught in the rain.  Since I'm on the
motorcycle, this is somewhat distressing.

When I get back, rather than go crash, I figure I'll try to dry out in
the garage for a bit, and put the heater boxes and exhaust on.  It's a
new extractor from Scat.  Given my experiences with the various
exhaust systems I've gotten from RMMW, I figure this'll take care of
the next few hours, and leave me good and irritated.  Fortunately, I
was wrong.  It went on just exactly like exhausts are supposed to.
The asbestos rings for the heater boxes were a bit of a pain, but not
seriously so.  The biggest problem was getting the feeder tubes for
the heater boxes lined up.  Since I have heavy-duty compression
clamps, I just got them pointed at each other as best I could, and
tightened the clamps as far as they'd go.  It looks like they're
pretty much air-tight now.  They're certainly light-tight.

At this point, I'd have to say that it's worth avoiding the Dansk
exhaust systems.  They're a lot more work than they're worth
(particularly if you have to pay someone to reweld the flanges, like I
did).  Get an extractor that plays well with heater boxes, and you're
set.  Of course, I haven't heard what this system sounds like yet....

Tomorrow starts with the clutch.

	Dworkin