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Date:         Tue, 7 Dec 1999 07:28:02 -0500
Reply-To:     Frank Miller <fmiller01@SPRYNET.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Frank Miller <fmiller01@SPRYNET.COM>
Subject:      Re: Engine rebuilding resources
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Karl,

Be careful.. I went the same route - bought an '84 GL cheap because of the known head gasket problem, pulled it out because I hate working upside down, then decided to go the full montey and do the entire engine. Sure am glad I did because the bottom end definitely needed help, too. I just used the Bentley, Tom Wilson's book (although it's for air-cooled's), the list vendor's websites, some knowledge gained on this list & a bunch of horse sense. Followed Robert Lilley's advice & am getting the rotating parts balanced before reassembly. While I had the engine out, figured I might as well have a look at the trans, too, so it's on the garage floor, too. Then while I had the clearance, I hit all the little rust spots in the engine compartment with Corroless and some paint. Replaced all the CV's while the axles were off. Then I did the rear brakes shoes & decided to replace the wheel cylinders while I'm in there because of the age of the van. The flexible brake lines looked OK, but they got replaced too because of the age of the van. But while I had the wheel cylinders off, the brake backing plates were butt-ugly with rust so I pulled them, too, & hit them with the bead blaster & a new paint job. (Had to buy a bigger compressor & re-wire and re-plumb the garage because the old one wasn't producing enough air for the blaster and the new airtools, but that's another story.) The rear trailing arms look pretty ugly next to the new backing plates, but I held the line on pulling them & blasting them because I knew what was sure to follow next. The exhaust pipes were all rusty, too, so they got blasted and painted with some high temperature coating. All the fuel lines are about to be replaced, the gas tank's about to be dropped for gasket replacement just because it's a good time to do it, and the long coolant lines are due to be pulled & repainted or replaced because people on this list talk about them failing. I haven't even gotten anywhere near the front end yet. I'm sure I will find plenty more things while I'm in there. I'm looking at Bulley's website and then my van & thinking "Hmmm..". Somebody should have warned me before I bought this thing that I was buying a lifestyle rather than a hobby. All my friends think I died because I never hang around with them anymore & my son knows that on the weekends I get him that we are working some project in the shop together. On the 914 (got 2 of those, too) list this is known as DirkWright's disease. There is no known cure for it.

Frank Miller

Alternative Business Systems "Leaders in Customer Relationship Management Solutions" 4216 Indianola Avenue Columbus, OH 43214-2826

Tel: (614) 447-0060 Fax: (614) 263-9086 URL: www.altbussys.com


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