Well . . . garsh . . . the engine started!

The Wonderbus has a new Mexican 1600 Type 1 engine that I bought in Tijuana. It has a new 34 PICT 3 carb. It has older tin and alternator and a bunch of other stuff pull from the overheated and blown 1776 the bus came with. All the bits were added to the longblock with care. Usually in the wrong order, which required one step backward for every two steps forward. But no pencils were dropped into open orifices, no studs snapped, all the parts fit. Well, the tin took some pounding and severe dressing-down to fit. Many little trips down to the local VW parts retailer to pick up the odd clamp or gasket or thingummy. (Why doesn't anyone stock 71 bus brake booster hose?)

The engine went in late this afternoon. Neighbor lady asked as she drove by, "it's about time." Which, now that I think of it, was less of a question and more of an editorial comment about how long the Wonderbus has sat in the street without moving.

The new battery brought oil pressure up. At first it cranked over hesitatingly, then as things got more slippery, the rpms increased.

All four new spark plugs went in without a single cross-thread (that would have been a bit disappointing . . . ). Wires and hoses were checked and double-checked. Starter was energized again, this time with everything connected. A couple moments of uncertainty . . . thoughts raced through my head, "Will she start? Did I remember to hook everything up right? How much long will Ken Jennings continue to win?"

Then the engine caught with a satisfying sound, a few moments of smoke as the squirts of oil in the cylinders burned off. A little rough at first, like it was missing on a cylinder, then it smoothed right out. I ran it for the requisite 20 minutes, at either 2,000 rpm, per Wilson, or

2,500 to 4,000 per John Connolly, I forget which, to splash that oil all over everything inside and let the engine know I am serious.

It sounded very, very nice. To me, at least: No telling what it sounded like to the neighbors. And frankly, I don't care. When the older engine broke did any of them come over to commiserate or offer a helping hand? No. Not one. Well, a nice fellow in a town nearby did lend me some tools, as did Dave Pearson (Dave? I wrote back to you -- your tools and copy of Wilson's book are waiting to go back . . . Earth to Dave). But none of the neighbors on my street helped. So I reckon that 20 minutes of hearing the engine roar at either 2,000 rpm or 2,500 to 4,000 rpm is just my cunning way of thanking them.

No sign of any leaking oil. Tomorrow, check the valves, take her for a short spin . . . and generally follow the suggested procedure for breaking in a new engine.

I am very pleased. And never would have been able to do it without the help of everyone. Thank you!

Reply to
Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliot
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Good job, Mike. This seems to be a good week for new engines!

Max

Reply to
Max Welton

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 17:56:55 -0700, "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott" scribbled this interesting note:

You obviously don't live on my street!:~)

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

Reply to
John Willis

Yep, all these newborn engines... I just finished a rebuild of my own engine. Basically it was just to fix some compromises I made during the first build. Changed out the cam, and put on different cam gear to remove excess pressure due to the dual valve springs. Bunch of little things. Oh, and ALL cooling tin is in place and is 100% German tin. I even found and put on those little square pieces of tin that fit in the center of the of cylinder heads.

In computerland, they would call my work version 1.1

As for the rest of the car, I changed out the main wiring harness. And thanks to John Connolly, I even have all my speedometer bulbs working. I didn't know I had a high beam indicator light.

Good luck to all the other folks working on their own projects. I myself am nervous about starting up the engine.

Geoffe Elias '74 Super Beetle

Reply to
geoffers

...........It's going to be interesting to hear what your impression is of how this engine compares to that 1776/kadron combo. I'm thinking that you're going to be quite happy with it.

Reply to
Tim Rogers

Mike I took a normal heater hose (sorry don't remember diameter) cut it to length, then inserted a very stiff spring that would just slide into the hose leaving just enough on each end to clamp to the bus. The spring stops the hose from collapsing from the vacuum It seem to work great

Hope this helps Mario

Reply to
Kafertoys

Tell me about it. I lay awake the night before. This has been a long, long trip since the Wonderbus's engine blew in (something like) June or July. Folks who have helped me on- and off-line will know how hard I worked at tearing the old engine down and attempting to rebuild it before finally having to give up on it as being too damaged, too much work, too wrongly put-together in the first place to be reliable motive power for a daily driver bus. Researching how to get a new Mexican longblock in Tijuana, making contacts, making the trip, the transaction, getting the new engine here, hooking all the old engine's good parts to it, getting new or good-condition used parts when the old engine's parts were screwed up or not the best choice for my bus -- this took an amazing amount of time. I never expected the repair to take so long. While the mechanical parts pretty much sorted themselves out during assembly, I had completely forgotten which wires in the engine compartment connected to what on the engine. The first couple times I pulled the engine I had everything labeled. This time it seemed to not be essential. I was wrong. A lot of mumbling and head-scratching ensued while I sorted that out.

Guys who rebuild lots of engines probably don't sweat not having an engine start properly or run well and don't mind pulling it from the vehicle as many times as needed to sort it out. But here, that darn 71 bus mustache bar seems to have been designed specifically to get in the way of any install, no matter what strategy I employ, so engine install always gets bogged down at that step for a while. I prefer to not have to pull the engine if I can avoid it.

It's a lot of work, man. Knowing that I have been granted the opportunity to totally screw up a perfectly good new longblock gives me pause. I'm not a mechanical wizard and have no automobile engineering or shade-tree mechanic background. It was over a year ago that I got the Wonderbus. I can't believe how much attention it has required, what a test of my patience (with it and myself) it has been. I have learned much in the process.

And I'm taking it on the engine's maiden voyage in an hour. Fingers crossed. AAA card in pocket.

Reply to
Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliot

Congrats Mike! Now don't break it... BTW, who the hell is Ken Jennings?

Jan

"Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott" wrote:

Reply to
Jan Andersson

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 07:32:10 -0700, "Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott" scribbled this interesting note:

That's why you need a test bed. Hook it up, start it, run it, sort out any and all issues, then install it into the vehicle!

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

Reply to
John Willis

Reply to
ilambert

Heh. A thinner-skinned man who didn't have my history of messing things up might take umbrage at that remark. But considering the circumstances, I just gotta say, "Thanks for the advice."

This is an exercise for the student.

Reply to
Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliot

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that Jeopardy nerd. :-)

Reply to
Shaggie

Today's initial spins around town went very nicely. I'm babying the engine for the first 100 miles, valves adjusted this morning, 35 miles on the engine's clock now, oil change tomorrow. The new 34 PICT 3 carb needed some adjusting -- idle was high, engine took a bit of cranking to get started when warm: started sooner if I did not touch the gas pedal. Timing tweaked so the SVDA dizzie advanced per John C's instructions.

Initial impression: starts much easier than the 1776/Kadron setup,and has power right away. No flat spots, no stumbling or hesitation, smooth across the band, responds to the pedal quite nicely. It feels -- maybe "peppy" is not the correct word -- but like a nice little chugger that is very much up to the task of moving a bus and is happy doing it.

I have a crap foam air "cleaner" right now -- the missing oil bath air cleaner pedestal part should be here next week courtesy Ken Madson (the Bus Company) and then I'll mount a used but in good condition stock cleaner. Air is /real/ dusty here in SoCal where we get about 7'' of rain a year. Nothing to wash things clean.

I was looking at that oil bath air cleaner and it has a lot of moving parts -- which I need to study up on to see what they do and how they are to be adjusted . . . if at all. Bentley's should have some useful info on that.

Took the car over to a car wash in Oceanside. Paid for the "mini-detail." Chrome parts brightened, all the black parts Armor-all'd, paint all shiny. The best part about getting the Wonderbus back on the road? Waves from fellow bus drivers, and while riding down the Coast Highway, a woman riding pillion on a totally Marlon Brando'd-out Harley Sportster (black leather bags, chrome studs, eyebrows on the headlights) said "nice bus," as she rode by.

Reply to
Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliot

Very good, I experienced the same feeling myself this past week when mine started the first time. Congradulations Mike

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">Den's1977 Puma

Reply to
Dennis Wik

Fantastic! I just today re-started my '72. It's been 2 years (or close to it) since I've had a chance to do that. The engine was actually slightly seized, but after spraying some penetrating oil in the cyls & rocking the car in gear, it broke loose. I think one cly had just a few drops of water in it. Last time it ran it smoked badly (it's a rebuilt engine) & would not rev up, so I expected to have to do alot of work to it to get it running right again. Not needed! I poured some gas in the carbs & it started to fire, but would not run. Then I realized I could hear the elec. fuel pump running (gotta love those!), & it was thumping louder indicating no gas. So I gave it a gallon & after a few spins it started right up. Ran as good as ever, except for not wanting to idle. Couldn't resist taking a few laps around the driveway, slinging a little of the gravel I've spent so much time on smoothing out! LOL! Guess it must have had a stuck float making it smoke before (it had been sitting then, too). I do expect to pull the carbs & clean them out, if nothing else. I also have to pull the tin (aluminum) & polish it back out. Anyone know of a good clear to use on polished aluminum, to preserve the shine? BTW pics of this car are here:

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(it's theshortened street baja).Now I need the $$$ to replace the stolen (700 watt) sterio system, 2 seats& 2 door panels, & a lot of work to have it ready to drive...Later, ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"

Giggle Cream - it makes dessert *funny

Reply to
ThaDriver

Reply to
ilambert

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