When I first constructed the engine cradle, it wasn't really designed to be used a bunch of times. I never thought that far ahead. Today's post covers what happened when a hot and bothered shade-tree mechanic experiences a failure with a critical tool... after first losing his patience. I got so caught up in solving the problems that I failed to take any pictures. So sorry!
Engine Husbandry
A couple of years ago, I mated the transaxle to the engine under cover of the bus in my real estate agent's drive way (See Transaxle Transition). I figured, "if I could do it in MS' drive way, I can certainly do it in mine." Sure. Like before, I removed the mating studs first. Unlike before, I had the pilot bearing in the flywheel, so the mating was much harder. With a small wheeled 2-ton jack holding the transaxle up, I was not able to maneuver the input shaft through the pressure-plate, clutch and flywheel. Instead, I did what my old wrestling coach once described to me. I put the transaxle on my belly/chest and heaved it on, twisting it until the splines of the clutch fit into the input shaft, and then slid it home. I slid myself out from under the transaxle and slid the jack into my place to hold it together. I don't want to do that again. One more reason to cut a removal valence into the rear apron.
Studly
With the transaxle and engine mostly mated, I rotated the transaxle such that the stud holes lined up, and slid the bolts in. At the time, I'd forgotten that the adapter plate had 3 settings: 0*, 15* and 50*. I nutted the studs down, and rather than take my winnings and going home, I doubled down and tried to get the bell-housing mounts set before calling it a day. The driver side is easier to get to, so I started there, and after 10 minutes of up/down with the jack, I was able to slide it through the hole, the mickey-mouse mounting ear and against the nut. Then the trouble started. I couldn't get it all the way through to the nut, nor could I get the other bolt started at all. Jack up, jack down. Shake engine. Repeat. 30 minutes. 40 minutes Nothing worked. On one of my attempts, the engine shifted on the cradle. Instead of leaning over to the left, it was leaning over to the right, and partway off the cradle. The cradle was also showing signs of weakness, with it separating in a few places.
Is It Bleeding?
At this point, I kind of freaked out, but it got worse. I reached in through my home-made top-side engine hatch to pull on the driver side mounting bolt. Rather than grab the bolt, my head hit the hinge. Hard. Sudden pain and blood ensued. Instinctively, I slapped my hand against the gash. Ordinarily, that would have been good; pressure on the wound and all that. My hand, though, was wrapped in a grease/oil covered glove, so the cut now had oil and grease in it. Fortunately, Boo was gardening near by, heard my curses and came over to see what was going on. She snapped into nurse-mode, cleaning it out with various potions and butterfly taping the gash closed. Once calmed back down, I went back out to survey the wreckage. The engine was shifted clockwise by a couple hours, and from underneath, it was clear the transaxle wan't in-line with the centerline of the bus anymore. I resolved to simply get the one bolt out and call it a day. 20 minutes later, the whole operation was sitting on the ATV jack and cradle, though woefully mis-aligned and partly rolled over. I cracked a beer and left it for the night.
Ship-Righting
Getting the engine/transaxle upright was a series of "how about this?" ideas. I had the cradle and jack somewhat square under the engine, but simply tugging on the engine didn't really budge it. I tried nutting-down the nose of the transaxle, but that didn't work. I placed a steel bar across the top of the engine hatch and used load-lock webbed hooks to attach the engine to the bar. I then slowly lowered the jack. The engine shifted. I moved the jack, supporting it in its new orientation. I used the other jack under the cooling fins on the right side of the transaxle to help it rotate. I changed the ATV jack so it was perpendicular to the engine. This proved to be most effective: leveraging the steel bar/hook and the secondary jack, I settled the engine onto the ATV jack. Then, while pushing the base of the oil pan with my foot, I pushed down on the turbo. The engine rotated while the ATV jack moved to the right.
After a series of similar moves, the mickey-mouse ears seemed aligned with the holes in the mount.
Engine, Meet Hatch Lid
Once the engine was upright, I slid under the bus and got the passenger-side bolt in. Note for my future self: always start on this (passenger, right) side. If the engine flops over again, better that it flop onto the turbo-side: you can put a jack there. There's no good spot to set a jack on the right side. After about 15 minutes, I had the bolts in, and tightened down. Probably a personal record. Once in, I thought the engine looked a little funny. The intake felt high and the oil pan appeared to be pointed at the ground instead of slightly to the right. My fears were confirmed when I set the engine hatch on top of the intake. Drat. now we know that the 0* adapter plate configuration would not have fit.
Re-Studly
After all that, I wasn't going to start all over again. Instead, I thought I'd try rotating the engine 15* by removing the transaxle mounting studs. Since I'd already installed the starter, that had to come out first. Then, I re-supported the engine with the cradle/ATV jack, set the steel bar with the hooks and removed the 4 studs. I repeated the pushing on the oil pan, intake and turbo like I did before. The engine shifted somewhat quickly into an almost-there position. I had to do the final little bit while laying alongside the left side of the engine. This was arguably pretty hazardous. I slipped the lower left stud through the transaxle and pulled down on the turbo while wiggling the stud. The engine needed to shift about 1/4", but it sure felt dicey. Once the first one was in, I knew it was aligned, so I slid the upper left stud in and dashed around the right side and did the starter-stud and lower right studs. Once nutted and torqued, I dropped the ATV jack, and re-set it with the cradle.
It was a crazy couple of days getting the transaxle and engine roughed back in. I still had the transaxle nose-mount, CV joints, rear engine mount and all of the accessories to do. I'll post on that later. Fortunately, there was virtually no more drama after I got the central mount done.
Thanks for following along,
Showing posts with label kennedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kennedy. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Friday, September 19, 2014
Bearing Bang On
As the leaves start to change color, and the sunsets arrive sooner each day, the pressure to beat the rains increases. Accordingly, I have spent the last 2 evenings trying to get the bus back together. A quick update today, recognizing there will be great progress over the weekend.
Clutch-less
Wednesday, I had about 45 minutes between the time I got home and the time I needed to pickup C from soccer practice down by his mom's house. I figured that wasn't enough time to get the pilot bearing in, but I'd just see how far I could go. I was pretty fortunate, actually. The 13mm bolts loosened pretty easily. I held the clutch in place with a thick bolt slid through the pressure place and clutch center hole, and removed the 2 as a single unit, noting the position of the pressure plate on the flywheel. The flywheel looked and felt abrasion-free. a wipe with a paper towel brought it to a scuff-less shine. Since it has been less than a thousand miles since I swapped tranny's and less than 2 thousand since I put on the clutch, I expected nothing less. I looked at the clutch face next. It still looked new, so I switched to installing the bearing.
Bearing Bang On
About this time, T was messing around on his skateboard, so I asked him to hand me the pilot bearing I'd picked up earlier ('98-'02 Jetta/Golf/Beetle 1.8T bearing). Unlike the original bus bearing, this one delivers pre-packed with a yellow-ish grease. For the first few millimeters, it slid in, and then required some setting after that. I used a ratchet extension against the bearing and a lightly-tapping framing hammer, (following a figure-8 patterns) to slowly set the bearing flush with the flywheel. I did a quick time-check and had about 15 minutes left.
Clutched
I grabbed the extra input-shaft I have lying around for my clutch alignment effort. I aligned the clutch/pressure plate such as they were when I removed them and loosely fingered in the bolts. Unlike the first time I did this 2 years ago, the input shaft slid in tightly. There was very little wiggle for the clutch, helping me understand how much wiggle there used to be without the pilot bearing. Everything held firm, and I finger-tightened the bolts. Following the jump-the-center torquing model, I first tightened with the socket in my fingers, then a short ratchet and finally my torque wrench (set to 18ppi).
After a quick tool put-away, wash-up and change, I headed south to collect C from soccer practice. I arrived as practice was ending. Perfect timing, and now we're one small step closer to having the bus in one piece again. That's it for today.
Clutch-less
 |
| note the band on the inside-left making it thicker than original bus bearing |
Bearing Bang On
About this time, T was messing around on his skateboard, so I asked him to hand me the pilot bearing I'd picked up earlier ('98-'02 Jetta/Golf/Beetle 1.8T bearing). Unlike the original bus bearing, this one delivers pre-packed with a yellow-ish grease. For the first few millimeters, it slid in, and then required some setting after that. I used a ratchet extension against the bearing and a lightly-tapping framing hammer, (following a figure-8 patterns) to slowly set the bearing flush with the flywheel. I did a quick time-check and had about 15 minutes left.
Clutched
I grabbed the extra input-shaft I have lying around for my clutch alignment effort. I aligned the clutch/pressure plate such as they were when I removed them and loosely fingered in the bolts. Unlike the first time I did this 2 years ago, the input shaft slid in tightly. There was very little wiggle for the clutch, helping me understand how much wiggle there used to be without the pilot bearing. Everything held firm, and I finger-tightened the bolts. Following the jump-the-center torquing model, I first tightened with the socket in my fingers, then a short ratchet and finally my torque wrench (set to 18ppi).
After a quick tool put-away, wash-up and change, I headed south to collect C from soccer practice. I arrived as practice was ending. Perfect timing, and now we're one small step closer to having the bus in one piece again. That's it for today.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Engine Drop Thoughts
Over Labor Day weekend 2012, I dropped and re-installed the TDI engine so I could swap transaxles. I had bought a newly rebuilt one from AA Transaxle in Seattle (See Transaxle Transition). This Labor Day weekend (2014), I dropped the engine again to remove that transaxle so I could replace the input shaft seal. In both cases, I leveraged the notes I made in 2011 when I removed and re-installed the fuel tank (see Engine Extraction).
In preparation for the drop, I re-read the notes and realized that I didn't explicitly state whether the bus had to be put on stands for the engine drop. So, I thought I'd try it this time with the bus on the ground. It can be done. Once the engine is down, unless you're going to work on it right there, you still need to lift the bus to get the engine or transaxle out. Admittedly, you only need to jack-up the passenger side so the transaxle can slide out, but still, its worth noting. To get the engine out, it is a big hairy deal.
I am seriously considering changing the rear-end to have a removable valence like the early bay and the split-window buses. Consider, I have a thick steel bar running across the rear from frame-to-frame, holding the engine. This is creating increased stiffness at the rear, which (reportedly) was the motivation to eliminate the removable valence. My thinking is that if I can remove the valence, I could lower and remove the engine/transaxle as one unit without having to lift the bus 3+ feet into the air or parking over a ditch (yes, I did that to install it the first time).
The transaxle is still on the ground in my garage, and the engine is still on the ground (on the ATV jack) under the bus. I have pulled together all the bits and parts I need to fix the leak and re-install, and I hope to start some of that before the weekend. For my own future reference, here are a couple fruitful notes on parts:
The pilot bearing for the KEP flywheel (all 200mm clutch adaptions): '99-'03 VW (Jetta, Golf, Beetle) 1.8 Turbo bearing
The stud / mounting bolts from the transaxle to the adapter are 3/8", standard (not fine) right-hand threaded.
The Circlip which holds the input shaft tight to the reverse gear is part number 004 311 317.
That's it for this time. Hopefully, I'll be able to get under the bus tonight or tomorrow night to get the clutch/pressure plate off so I can seat the pilot bearing. As always, thanks for following along-
In preparation for the drop, I re-read the notes and realized that I didn't explicitly state whether the bus had to be put on stands for the engine drop. So, I thought I'd try it this time with the bus on the ground. It can be done. Once the engine is down, unless you're going to work on it right there, you still need to lift the bus to get the engine or transaxle out. Admittedly, you only need to jack-up the passenger side so the transaxle can slide out, but still, its worth noting. To get the engine out, it is a big hairy deal.
I am seriously considering changing the rear-end to have a removable valence like the early bay and the split-window buses. Consider, I have a thick steel bar running across the rear from frame-to-frame, holding the engine. This is creating increased stiffness at the rear, which (reportedly) was the motivation to eliminate the removable valence. My thinking is that if I can remove the valence, I could lower and remove the engine/transaxle as one unit without having to lift the bus 3+ feet into the air or parking over a ditch (yes, I did that to install it the first time).
The transaxle is still on the ground in my garage, and the engine is still on the ground (on the ATV jack) under the bus. I have pulled together all the bits and parts I need to fix the leak and re-install, and I hope to start some of that before the weekend. For my own future reference, here are a couple fruitful notes on parts:
The pilot bearing for the KEP flywheel (all 200mm clutch adaptions): '99-'03 VW (Jetta, Golf, Beetle) 1.8 Turbo bearing
The stud / mounting bolts from the transaxle to the adapter are 3/8", standard (not fine) right-hand threaded.
The Circlip which holds the input shaft tight to the reverse gear is part number 004 311 317.
That's it for this time. Hopefully, I'll be able to get under the bus tonight or tomorrow night to get the clutch/pressure plate off so I can seat the pilot bearing. As always, thanks for following along-
Thursday, July 16, 2009
starter follow-up
First, the westyventures auto-tranny adapter fits perfectly for the 002 (early bay manual) transaxle. I was able to slide the adapter into place, and physically connect the starter to the adapter. It seemed like everything lined up, gears-wise, but it was hard to tell from underneath. I am going to have another go at it before final connection to make sure.
There are a couple of things to note. On the original bay window bus, the upper starter bolt runs from inside the engine compartment through a tab on the block, through the bellhousing and out to the starter. On the engine compartment end, it has what's called a captive nut which is a semi-circular end that hangs up against the block so it doesn't turn when you're putting the nut on the other end. This works great for the original starter. It doesn't work at all for the adapter. The adapter has a small counter-sink hole, but it isn't large enough for a full-sized nut. The counter-sink was designed for the vanagon upper bolt which is an Allen-head bolt that runs from the starter side through the bellhousing.
If you are going to use this adapter with a TDI starter on an original 002 with an aircooled engine, you will need a vanagon upper starter bolt (over-length) and a fitting nut. The bolt will go in from the starter side through to the engine compartment and the nut will thread on from that side.
In my case, where I'm using an a Kennedy adapter to mate a TDI engine to the 002, there isn't a captive nut. Instead, there is a stud threaded into the adapter. I covered some of this in this post from last Summer. To make the adapter fit, the stud needs to be pulled and replaced with a vanagon-style Allen-head bolt. I didn't have one handy, so I'll be finishing this when I do.
My sister and nephew are visiting from SoCal this week, and my other sister (with family) will be visiting next week. Add a camping trip at the end, and not much progress will be made for a little while. I hope to have some idle moments to start filing the sharp edge of the hole where the engine lid will go. This is lower priority than lots of other things, but with the engine mount work in mid-stream, I don't want to move it or otherwise get something started that would slow that progress one minute. I probably won't post again until I get back from Lake Billy Chinook unless some news breaks.
There are a couple of things to note. On the original bay window bus, the upper starter bolt runs from inside the engine compartment through a tab on the block, through the bellhousing and out to the starter. On the engine compartment end, it has what's called a captive nut which is a semi-circular end that hangs up against the block so it doesn't turn when you're putting the nut on the other end. This works great for the original starter. It doesn't work at all for the adapter. The adapter has a small counter-sink hole, but it isn't large enough for a full-sized nut. The counter-sink was designed for the vanagon upper bolt which is an Allen-head bolt that runs from the starter side through the bellhousing.
If you are going to use this adapter with a TDI starter on an original 002 with an aircooled engine, you will need a vanagon upper starter bolt (over-length) and a fitting nut. The bolt will go in from the starter side through to the engine compartment and the nut will thread on from that side.
In my case, where I'm using an a Kennedy adapter to mate a TDI engine to the 002, there isn't a captive nut. Instead, there is a stud threaded into the adapter. I covered some of this in this post from last Summer. To make the adapter fit, the stud needs to be pulled and replaced with a vanagon-style Allen-head bolt. I didn't have one handy, so I'll be finishing this when I do.
My sister and nephew are visiting from SoCal this week, and my other sister (with family) will be visiting next week. Add a camping trip at the end, and not much progress will be made for a little while. I hope to have some idle moments to start filing the sharp edge of the hole where the engine lid will go. This is lower priority than lots of other things, but with the engine mount work in mid-stream, I don't want to move it or otherwise get something started that would slow that progress one minute. I probably won't post again until I get back from Lake Billy Chinook unless some news breaks.
Friday, October 10, 2008
engine, meet transaxle - take 2
With life spinning at an increasing rate, I haven't been able to do much since my last post. I did, however, get the engine and transaxle mated last night. This is huge. If you're one of those Microsoft Project people, I just hit a diamond. Major breakthrough. The instructions Kennedy supplied are technically correct, but I would append them a little bit:1: test fit clutch disk onto your output shaft.
This sounds so bloody simple, you might ask "WHY?". Well, sometimes the disk has a manufacturing defect where the center hub is not on an even plane with the disk. If that's the case, it will slide onto the output shaft, but not sit parallel with the bellhousing edge. When that happens, you can't mate the engine and transaxle. The pressure plate will hold it fixed flat, but the output shaft won't be able to get in there. Fortunately, I did not have this problem.
2: leave the adapter plate off for your first fitting.
Basically, this gives you an extra inch of wiggle as you test mate the engine and tranny. Remember that inch in step 4.
3: slap on the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate.
This is pretty straightforward. Kennedy suggests torquing the flywheel to 55ft pounds. That isn't necessary for this step, sinceit all comes off and goes back on again. In fact, torquing might toast your one-use-only bolts. Set the clutch disk inside the flywheel and set the presure plate on. Loosely finger-in the bolts just enough to hold the pressure plate on there. Then, use an extra output shaft or alignment tool to set the clutch disk in the center. tighten down the bolts, using the jump-the-center torquing technique until they are no more than 18ft pounds (according to Bentley manual for the bus - there was not setting indicated in the Kennedy instructions).
4: attempt to mate.
This is the key point that the instructions don't cover. Basically, mate the engine and transaxle without the adapter plate. It works great, and it proves that the output shaft can fit inside the clutch and flywheel. The adapter is an inch thick, so there should be close to an inch between the engine and transaxle at this point. If you can't get them that close, something isn't right. Is there something hangng in the way? Are you sure the splines are aligning with the clutch disk teeth?
5: pull it all apart.
Leave the ATV jack alone (up/down-wise) and just wheel the transaxle back. This is important because once you get the angle right, you don't want to completely hose it now.
6: put the adapter plate onto the engine.
DO NOT PUT THE DOWELS IN. I don't remember if the instructions say when to put them in, but I strongly urge you not to do it now. You'll see why. Just torque down the mate-to-engine bolts according to the instructions (40 or 45 ft pounds depending on which bolt).
7: put the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate back on.
This time, torque it down to the spec (flywheel up to 55, pressure plate up to 18). Be sure to use the alignment tool or extra output shaft.
8: attempt to mate engine and transaxle for real.
It is in this step that you'll see why the dowels needed to be left out. In order to get the output shaft to slide into the clutch disk, you need to be able to rotate the transaxle slightly - even if you've followed all of these steps. Them dowels are designed to prevent that rotation, so you get into trouble if they're in there at this point. $170 worth of trouble. I was able to slightly rotate the transaxle (holding the rear end up off the jack a touch) and fit the output shaft through.
9: thread the dowels through.
Once the transaxle is pressed against the adapter plate, you can rotate the transaxle to your desired angle (upright, 15* or 50*) and thread the dowels through. Finger tighten as best as you can. Then, using 2 nuts on the long-thread end, tighten them all the way down into the plate.
10: nut-down the transaxle.
Now, just torque it down. According to the instructions, the torque limit is 40 ft pounds. I tightened down the nut on the starter dowel too, so I could see that the transaxle set
onto the adapter all the way. That nut, of course, will have to come off to get the starter on.This picture doesn't really show it well, but it looks really good. You can just make out the silver plate with the "KEP" lettering in the mass of black.
I have 2 seperate action items next. 1) get the engine into the bus around the raindrops and (2) solve the TDI-starter into an 002 starter hole question. Fortunately, my man Justin has offered to fabricate something. I just need to rough-up an example with wood or something. So far as getting the engine-transaxle into the bus? Well, I hope the weather is accomodating this weekend. Of course, I have a painting-the-livingroom project that I'm getting sucked into, so the bus may sit idle for a little longer than I'd like.
More later--
Sunday, October 5, 2008
There Goes Sunshine
Well, my hopes to beat the rainy season just didn't make it. The Autumn rains have begun and the bus is still on jacks in the driveway, and the engine/transaxle are still sitting on the garage floor. I had a few delivery issues, and some other things come up, but time just pushes out on projects this size. My last mishap was the killer, though.
"I didn't like the sound of that..."
I alluded to an issue with the adapter plate in a post a week or so ago. Here's what happened. After waiting for the clutch and pressure plate to arrive,
I mounted them onto the flywheel using the extra output shaft I had from the 091/1 vanagon transaxle I had lying around. Once everything seemed aligned perfectly, I attempted to mate the engine and the transaxle. Since the engine is on a little wheeled sled and the transaxle is on a ATV jack, everything would move if I pushed. After about 3 hours of manipulating the transaxle it seemed to be aligned, but I couldn't get it the last 1/4". I figured the friction between the output shaft and the splines on the clutch disk was greater than the wheels resistance to 
moving. What I should have done was roll everything against a wall so I had some resistance to my pushing. Maybe I was tired, and should have just taken a break. Instead, I tried to close the gap by tightening down the nuts on the adapter plate. That proved costly. I used my torque wrench because I was concerned about screwing things up, so I set the torque wrench to 20 foot-pounds and worked the jump-the-center concept of torquing. Unfortunately, the plate was not designed to handle any torque that pulls or pushes it from flat. The KEP adapter plate is designed to hold the transaxle and the engine together (once flat) and from rotating relative to each other. So, the adapter plate's design combined with my ill-advised means of closing the gap lead to the adapter plate's failure. Yeah, that's right, I cracked it with less than 20 foot pounds.
Enter the rains.
So, I talked to Kennedy about the cracks in the plate. They said send the cracked plate, and they'll send a replacement. They even said they had a bunch on the shelf, so they could get it right out. So far, so good. Then, a week later, they tell me they'll replace it, but I have to pay for the new plate. That's not exactly replacing, that's a willingness to sell me another one. They did give me a 15% discount on the replacement plate (at least that's what I think it calculated out to). My costs for the Kennedy Engineering stuff has become a much larger percentage of the costs than I had intended. $440 for the original adapter kit + $170 for the "replacement" plate + $120 for the stage1 pressure plate = $730. That's a lot of cabbage. Certainly more than anything else on this project, and it irks me that they didn't give me a better shake on the cracked plate. Anyway,I haven't opened the box yet; it arrived on Friday.
While we were dicussing the plate, the sunny weather ended. Here in the Northwest corner of Oregon, the rainy season usually starts by the middle of October. This year, it basically started on the 2nd of October - 2 weeks ahead of average. Honestly, even if it was on-time, I ould be in the same spot, and I probably wouldn't have goten the engine into the bus. At this point, the delays from shipping, and the cracked plate negotiation cost me 2 weeks. So, I'm pushing my goal to have the engine in the bus, and the bus in the garage to Halloween.
I'll be re-attempting the engine - transaxle husbandry this afternoon. If all goes well, I may still be able to get the engine into the bus next weekend. Then, there's getting Hal over here to do some welding, clearing the garage, etc... Should be a busy couple of weeks. Oh ,did I mention I started a new job on Monday? Busy days, but life would be awfully boring if I was only trying to keep one ball in the air :D
"I didn't like the sound of that..."
I alluded to an issue with the adapter plate in a post a week or so ago. Here's what happened. After waiting for the clutch and pressure plate to arrive,
I mounted them onto the flywheel using the extra output shaft I had from the 091/1 vanagon transaxle I had lying around. Once everything seemed aligned perfectly, I attempted to mate the engine and the transaxle. Since the engine is on a little wheeled sled and the transaxle is on a ATV jack, everything would move if I pushed. After about 3 hours of manipulating the transaxle it seemed to be aligned, but I couldn't get it the last 1/4". I figured the friction between the output shaft and the splines on the clutch disk was greater than the wheels resistance to 
moving. What I should have done was roll everything against a wall so I had some resistance to my pushing. Maybe I was tired, and should have just taken a break. Instead, I tried to close the gap by tightening down the nuts on the adapter plate. That proved costly. I used my torque wrench because I was concerned about screwing things up, so I set the torque wrench to 20 foot-pounds and worked the jump-the-center concept of torquing. Unfortunately, the plate was not designed to handle any torque that pulls or pushes it from flat. The KEP adapter plate is designed to hold the transaxle and the engine together (once flat) and from rotating relative to each other. So, the adapter plate's design combined with my ill-advised means of closing the gap lead to the adapter plate's failure. Yeah, that's right, I cracked it with less than 20 foot pounds.Enter the rains.
So, I talked to Kennedy about the cracks in the plate. They said send the cracked plate, and they'll send a replacement. They even said they had a bunch on the shelf, so they could get it right out. So far, so good. Then, a week later, they tell me they'll replace it, but I have to pay for the new plate. That's not exactly replacing, that's a willingness to sell me another one. They did give me a 15% discount on the replacement plate (at least that's what I think it calculated out to). My costs for the Kennedy Engineering stuff has become a much larger percentage of the costs than I had intended. $440 for the original adapter kit + $170 for the "replacement" plate + $120 for the stage1 pressure plate = $730. That's a lot of cabbage. Certainly more than anything else on this project, and it irks me that they didn't give me a better shake on the cracked plate. Anyway,I haven't opened the box yet; it arrived on Friday.
While we were dicussing the plate, the sunny weather ended. Here in the Northwest corner of Oregon, the rainy season usually starts by the middle of October. This year, it basically started on the 2nd of October - 2 weeks ahead of average. Honestly, even if it was on-time, I ould be in the same spot, and I probably wouldn't have goten the engine into the bus. At this point, the delays from shipping, and the cracked plate negotiation cost me 2 weeks. So, I'm pushing my goal to have the engine in the bus, and the bus in the garage to Halloween.
I'll be re-attempting the engine - transaxle husbandry this afternoon. If all goes well, I may still be able to get the engine into the bus next weekend. Then, there's getting Hal over here to do some welding, clearing the garage, etc... Should be a busy couple of weeks. Oh ,did I mention I started a new job on Monday? Busy days, but life would be awfully boring if I was only trying to keep one ball in the air :D
Friday, September 12, 2008
Flywheel fun
I mentioned last post that I've been distracted with job searching, school starting etc. In fact, I was wrestling with taking a contract in another city working for a missile manufacturer. The money was good, the project interesting, but I just couldn't face helping build missiles and bombs that were eventually going to land on people. The travel would have been unpleasant for the family (and me), too, but we would have accepted that as part of the new information job market dynamic.
In the end, we rarely have the opportunity to actually test our ethics like this. Given the alternative of possibly not working at all, not being able to support my family, pay the mortgage, buy food -or- helping build missiles for the government 2 airflights away from that family, what do you do? There are people that probably think they can make the decision easily, but I think if you really thought about it, you'd see why this was so difficult. Between the potential involvement (albeit indirectly) innocent deaths and the time away from my family, I couldn't do it. Anyway, here's hoping I find a job soon and this just becomes another interesting story to tell years from now. Returning to the bus...
After conferring with Kennedy Engineering (KEP), I resisted taking the flywheel to a machine shop. KEP indicated that the flywheel wouldn't have fit onto their balancing machine if the center hole were too small. In the meantime, I ordered a KEP pressure plate and heavy duty clutch disk from CIP1. They arrived today - and that was with their 10-14 day free shipping. Good to know that time window can be that pessimistic.
Last night, I followed their advice and slowly pressed the flywheel on using the old "jump the center" approach to torquing things down. Basically, crank one down a little bit and then jump across the centerpoint to the opposite bolt. Keep doing that until you need to set torque. It worked great. I cranked the flywheel down using a 17mm socket and torqued to 55 ft/lbs as specified in the KEP instructions.
It was starting to get late, but I figured I still had a little in the tank, so I unboxed the clutch disk and pressure plate from CIP1. They look like nice parts. I still had an output shaft from the old 091/1 transaxle I sold early in the Summer, so I had a way of aligning things. About 15 minutes later, I had the clutch and pressure plate aligned and installed. It was pretty easy, actually. Take the clutch disk and put the flat side down on a clean spot on your bench. Set the pressure plate on top, and move them as a unit. Set the pressure plate / clutch disk unit onto the flywheel and align the 6 bolt holes. Thread in the bolts enough so that the will hold the pressure plate on, but not in a fixed spot. Then, thread the extra output shaft (or alignment tool, if you have one) through the center until it comes to rest deep inside the flywheel. Then, tighten the bolts.
The pressure plate does not come with bolts, so I used some stainless 13mm bolts that I had from when I removed Hapy's old exhaust. Torqued to 25 ft/lbs per Kennedy instructions, and I'm ready to re-mate the engine and clutch. I have a picture of this assembled flywheel / clutch / pressure plate on my phone, but I didn't have time to sync the phone and my home computer. I'll push the picture up tonight, if I remember.
More next time...
In the end, we rarely have the opportunity to actually test our ethics like this. Given the alternative of possibly not working at all, not being able to support my family, pay the mortgage, buy food -or- helping build missiles for the government 2 airflights away from that family, what do you do? There are people that probably think they can make the decision easily, but I think if you really thought about it, you'd see why this was so difficult. Between the potential involvement (albeit indirectly) innocent deaths and the time away from my family, I couldn't do it. Anyway, here's hoping I find a job soon and this just becomes another interesting story to tell years from now. Returning to the bus...
After conferring with Kennedy Engineering (KEP), I resisted taking the flywheel to a machine shop. KEP indicated that the flywheel wouldn't have fit onto their balancing machine if the center hole were too small. In the meantime, I ordered a KEP pressure plate and heavy duty clutch disk from CIP1. They arrived today - and that was with their 10-14 day free shipping. Good to know that time window can be that pessimistic.
Last night, I followed their advice and slowly pressed the flywheel on using the old "jump the center" approach to torquing things down. Basically, crank one down a little bit and then jump across the centerpoint to the opposite bolt. Keep doing that until you need to set torque. It worked great. I cranked the flywheel down using a 17mm socket and torqued to 55 ft/lbs as specified in the KEP instructions.
It was starting to get late, but I figured I still had a little in the tank, so I unboxed the clutch disk and pressure plate from CIP1. They look like nice parts. I still had an output shaft from the old 091/1 transaxle I sold early in the Summer, so I had a way of aligning things. About 15 minutes later, I had the clutch and pressure plate aligned and installed. It was pretty easy, actually. Take the clutch disk and put the flat side down on a clean spot on your bench. Set the pressure plate on top, and move them as a unit. Set the pressure plate / clutch disk unit onto the flywheel and align the 6 bolt holes. Thread in the bolts enough so that the will hold the pressure plate on, but not in a fixed spot. Then, thread the extra output shaft (or alignment tool, if you have one) through the center until it comes to rest deep inside the flywheel. Then, tighten the bolts.
The pressure plate does not come with bolts, so I used some stainless 13mm bolts that I had from when I removed Hapy's old exhaust. Torqued to 25 ft/lbs per Kennedy instructions, and I'm ready to re-mate the engine and clutch. I have a picture of this assembled flywheel / clutch / pressure plate on my phone, but I didn't have time to sync the phone and my home computer. I'll push the picture up tonight, if I remember.
More next time...
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Parts is parts
I had one last maintenance item to deal with before I started mating the engine and transaxle - the engine rear seal. I had ordered one from "BleachedBora", but the part numbers got mixed up somewhere along the way and the part I got was a rear engine seal, but it wasn't the exactly right part. Apparently, gone are the days that VW makes the same part for all of their cars.
First, some orientation. The engine rear seal is what holds the engine oil inside the engine at the point where the driveshaft/crankshaft comes out of the engine to attach to the transmission. Ordinarily, people don't change these very often at all. In fact, most people dson't change them at all. If things start acting funny with their car, or there's an oil puddle they either sell the car or pay the dealer some ridiculous amount to pull the engine, seperate the transmission from the engine and replace a $40 seal. So, it seemed like it was a good idea to replace it when it was all exposed in front of me.
So, if you're looking at the crankshaft/driveshaft, there are 6 bolt head pointing at you going around in a circle. There are 2 others that are pointing at the ground that come up into the seal housing from below. These 2 from-below bolts are not the same for all ALH engines. Why!?!? So, I got the seal with the slightly smaller bolt holes, so the seal didn't fit. So much for preparing for mating engine and transaxle this next weekend. Another one is on the way, so I may still be able to get the engine/transaxle mated, but it will be a much longer day now.
Start me up...
I've spent some time over the last couple of days thinking about how I'm going to start this engine once its all together. The original 1972 starter will fit, but it isn't strong enough to turn a TDI engine. The TDI starter has a different bolt pattern, so it won't fit. There are "high power" starters out there, but the word on the street is they don't last very long, but they would fit, and would start the engine for a while... before they suddenly fail. So, we look to what the vanagon TDI converters do. They're lucky. They have a resource in Karl (at WestyVentures) that fabricates starter adapter plates. They make it so the TDI starter will fit into the bellhousing of a mid-70's through early 80's transaxle (the 091). Unfortunately, the 002 starter (for transaxles manufactureed between 1968 and 1975) and the 091 starter aren't identical. The shaft sticking out of the 002 starter into the bellhousing is 1/2" shorter. So, if Karl's adapter were to be used on a 002 transaxle, the gear would stick a 1/2" too far into the bellhousing, missing the flywheel. Argh.
Now is when you start thinking... why didn't I just buy the 091 adapter plate from Kennedy Engineering? That bellhousing would have fit my transaxle, and I could have used Karl's adapter. So.. back to the drawing board. I'm looking for a burned out TDI starter now, thinking that I may be able to fabricate something. If not, I may start looking for a KEP adapter setup for a 091 transaxle. This is where the money on conversions is lost. I thought I was saving money by not going 091 out the gate, and now I may end up there anyway. But first, I lose a bunch of time and money. Drat.
More next time--
First, some orientation. The engine rear seal is what holds the engine oil inside the engine at the point where the driveshaft/crankshaft comes out of the engine to attach to the transmission. Ordinarily, people don't change these very often at all. In fact, most people dson't change them at all. If things start acting funny with their car, or there's an oil puddle they either sell the car or pay the dealer some ridiculous amount to pull the engine, seperate the transmission from the engine and replace a $40 seal. So, it seemed like it was a good idea to replace it when it was all exposed in front of me.
So, if you're looking at the crankshaft/driveshaft, there are 6 bolt head pointing at you going around in a circle. There are 2 others that are pointing at the ground that come up into the seal housing from below. These 2 from-below bolts are not the same for all ALH engines. Why!?!? So, I got the seal with the slightly smaller bolt holes, so the seal didn't fit. So much for preparing for mating engine and transaxle this next weekend. Another one is on the way, so I may still be able to get the engine/transaxle mated, but it will be a much longer day now.
Start me up...
I've spent some time over the last couple of days thinking about how I'm going to start this engine once its all together. The original 1972 starter will fit, but it isn't strong enough to turn a TDI engine. The TDI starter has a different bolt pattern, so it won't fit. There are "high power" starters out there, but the word on the street is they don't last very long, but they would fit, and would start the engine for a while... before they suddenly fail. So, we look to what the vanagon TDI converters do. They're lucky. They have a resource in Karl (at WestyVentures) that fabricates starter adapter plates. They make it so the TDI starter will fit into the bellhousing of a mid-70's through early 80's transaxle (the 091). Unfortunately, the 002 starter (for transaxles manufactureed between 1968 and 1975) and the 091 starter aren't identical. The shaft sticking out of the 002 starter into the bellhousing is 1/2" shorter. So, if Karl's adapter were to be used on a 002 transaxle, the gear would stick a 1/2" too far into the bellhousing, missing the flywheel. Argh.
Now is when you start thinking... why didn't I just buy the 091 adapter plate from Kennedy Engineering? That bellhousing would have fit my transaxle, and I could have used Karl's adapter. So.. back to the drawing board. I'm looking for a burned out TDI starter now, thinking that I may be able to fabricate something. If not, I may start looking for a KEP adapter setup for a 091 transaxle. This is where the money on conversions is lost. I thought I was saving money by not going 091 out the gate, and now I may end up there anyway. But first, I lose a bunch of time and money. Drat.
More next time--
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
TDI - Day 2
Well, the next 8 hours have been spent on the TDI install, and I'm not really that much further along. Why? Well, most of that time has been spent doing research.
The first few hours were spent thinking and digging on the engine mounts. I found a guy to design and fabricate the engine mounts.... or so I thought. He had experience building roll-cages and building race cars, so he sounded up for it. Unfortunately, he hasn't answered emails, so I may need to find someone else. So, those hours may have been completely lost.
The next few hours were spent making decisions on the transaxle to use. After fielding advice from round the world, I found German Transaxle in Bend. They have been rebuilding and improving VW transaxles for ages. They recommended sticking with the stock 002 transaxle initially. I could get a rebuilt, hopped up 002 transaxle from them in the future for about $1500. That new tranny could get the bus up to 75mph at 3200 rpm. Apparently, there wouldn't be much of a step between gears either, as they would be changing the ring & pinion not individual gears. This was encouraging. Since I have a '84 wasserboxer transaxle with 80k miles on it and a full set of shift linkage, I figure I can sell those ($500) and be partway to the new transaxle.
Next, was finding an adapter solution that would mate the ALH TDI to the 002 transaxle. After talking with a few different vendors and fabricators, I went with Kennedy Engineering Products. They have a 091 adapter ($510) and a 002 adapter ($400). I asked if there was a need to get the 091 bellhousing and larger adapter. They said no, so $440 ($40 shipping) and 3 1/2 weeks later, I have my adapter. Upon inspection, I realize that the flywheel is 200mm and the old bus flywheel is 210mm. I'll have to get a clutch for a 68-71 bus - so my existing clutch that has less than 5k miles on it can't be reused. Maybe I can find someone that wants to buy it after I pull it.
Last, I dealt with some radiator issues. I bought a Jetta radiator from a nice cat in Southern Oregon. I bench-tested the fan with a car battery and it runs nice a quiet. I, then, took many measurements of both the radiator and the underside of the bus where I plan to position the radiator. I took these measurements to the freeware "Google Sketchup" to work through a mounting design. There are 3 mount points on the radiator, and I plan to reuse all of them. More importantly, the radiator, with the fan housing, is around 7 inches high. The body cavity on the bus is 5 inches deep. Even if I wanted the fan housing pressed against the floor, I would have a protruding radiator. I had suspected this would happen. I am still considering how deep to set the radiator, but my current thinking is to have the radiator mounts a-fix just above the bottom of the rails. This would leave most of the fan housing within the cavity and the radiator hanging below the bus, so a housing will be necessary. I had suspected that as well, and had planned to construct something out of sheetmetal to both protect the radiator as well as route air through it.
I'll try to remember to post a screen-shot of the sketchup. I don't know how well it can be used for genuine design, but it did tell me alot about how well the rad will fit without having to lie down under the bus and holding it.
that's it for now. More next time--
The first few hours were spent thinking and digging on the engine mounts. I found a guy to design and fabricate the engine mounts.... or so I thought. He had experience building roll-cages and building race cars, so he sounded up for it. Unfortunately, he hasn't answered emails, so I may need to find someone else. So, those hours may have been completely lost.
The next few hours were spent making decisions on the transaxle to use. After fielding advice from round the world, I found German Transaxle in Bend. They have been rebuilding and improving VW transaxles for ages. They recommended sticking with the stock 002 transaxle initially. I could get a rebuilt, hopped up 002 transaxle from them in the future for about $1500. That new tranny could get the bus up to 75mph at 3200 rpm. Apparently, there wouldn't be much of a step between gears either, as they would be changing the ring & pinion not individual gears. This was encouraging. Since I have a '84 wasserboxer transaxle with 80k miles on it and a full set of shift linkage, I figure I can sell those ($500) and be partway to the new transaxle.
Next, was finding an adapter solution that would mate the ALH TDI to the 002 transaxle. After talking with a few different vendors and fabricators, I went with Kennedy Engineering Products. They have a 091 adapter ($510) and a 002 adapter ($400). I asked if there was a need to get the 091 bellhousing and larger adapter. They said no, so $440 ($40 shipping) and 3 1/2 weeks later, I have my adapter. Upon inspection, I realize that the flywheel is 200mm and the old bus flywheel is 210mm. I'll have to get a clutch for a 68-71 bus - so my existing clutch that has less than 5k miles on it can't be reused. Maybe I can find someone that wants to buy it after I pull it.
Last, I dealt with some radiator issues. I bought a Jetta radiator from a nice cat in Southern Oregon. I bench-tested the fan with a car battery and it runs nice a quiet. I, then, took many measurements of both the radiator and the underside of the bus where I plan to position the radiator. I took these measurements to the freeware "Google Sketchup" to work through a mounting design. There are 3 mount points on the radiator, and I plan to reuse all of them. More importantly, the radiator, with the fan housing, is around 7 inches high. The body cavity on the bus is 5 inches deep. Even if I wanted the fan housing pressed against the floor, I would have a protruding radiator. I had suspected this would happen. I am still considering how deep to set the radiator, but my current thinking is to have the radiator mounts a-fix just above the bottom of the rails. This would leave most of the fan housing within the cavity and the radiator hanging below the bus, so a housing will be necessary. I had suspected that as well, and had planned to construct something out of sheetmetal to both protect the radiator as well as route air through it.
I'll try to remember to post a screen-shot of the sketchup. I don't know how well it can be used for genuine design, but it did tell me alot about how well the rad will fit without having to lie down under the bus and holding it.
that's it for now. More next time--
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
new engine opinions: update
I've gotten a great response on this via email. I want to thank everyone that read through all of the different options and offered their opinions. I have some new information about the TDI option, and a 7th option that many readers felt I overlooked.
TDI update
Kennedy Engineering, aka KEP, has responded to my questions about an adapter plate, and have indicated that they can support either the original transaxle or the one on the floor of the garage (091/1), or the later baywindow transaxle (091). Since the bellhousing for the 091 can fit on the 002, I have more options. I'm not sure if that's good or bad at this point.
I also found a website for a guy in Australia that built his own under-mount radiator setup. I'll add a link here later, but it was primarily pictures with very little text. I've also received emails from a company over there (Custom Offroad) that constructs an undermount radiator. They've apparently done a lot of these, but mostly for Subaru engine conversions, and their customers go off-road... in the desert. Sounds pretty convincing that they work.
Last, someone pointed out to me that the TDI engine can be "chipped" so it puts out considerably more power, so I shouldn't have rated it second.
Missing option
A number of readers felt that I overlooked ordering an engine from "Boston Bob". He has a great reputation in the aircooled VW community and has been doing it for a very long time. His quality falls above the BusDepot/AVP special, and is probably on par with Jake (the Camper Special), but not as expensive. I'm sure there are subtleties between the finished product that each can produce that explain the cost difference. I know Jake has been experimenting with higher output engines and trying to build with near-stock longevity. As I understand Boston Bob's approach its: building engines that are closer to stock that last nearly forever. Bob can build more powerful engines just as Jake can build less powerful engines. They have different approaches. Regardless, Boston Bob should have been in the choice list as he offers an improved engine at just above BusDepot prices.
That's really all I have for today. Because of a family reunion event that is warming up in CA, the bus may not make that Lake Shasta trip. That may be for the best if his engine is in questionable condition and his replacement is not yet ready for install. I'll have to figure out a way of explaining it to Hapy....
TDI update
Kennedy Engineering, aka KEP, has responded to my questions about an adapter plate, and have indicated that they can support either the original transaxle or the one on the floor of the garage (091/1), or the later baywindow transaxle (091). Since the bellhousing for the 091 can fit on the 002, I have more options. I'm not sure if that's good or bad at this point.
I also found a website for a guy in Australia that built his own under-mount radiator setup. I'll add a link here later, but it was primarily pictures with very little text. I've also received emails from a company over there (Custom Offroad) that constructs an undermount radiator. They've apparently done a lot of these, but mostly for Subaru engine conversions, and their customers go off-road... in the desert. Sounds pretty convincing that they work.
Last, someone pointed out to me that the TDI engine can be "chipped" so it puts out considerably more power, so I shouldn't have rated it second.
Missing option
A number of readers felt that I overlooked ordering an engine from "Boston Bob". He has a great reputation in the aircooled VW community and has been doing it for a very long time. His quality falls above the BusDepot/AVP special, and is probably on par with Jake (the Camper Special), but not as expensive. I'm sure there are subtleties between the finished product that each can produce that explain the cost difference. I know Jake has been experimenting with higher output engines and trying to build with near-stock longevity. As I understand Boston Bob's approach its: building engines that are closer to stock that last nearly forever. Bob can build more powerful engines just as Jake can build less powerful engines. They have different approaches. Regardless, Boston Bob should have been in the choice list as he offers an improved engine at just above BusDepot prices.
That's really all I have for today. Because of a family reunion event that is warming up in CA, the bus may not make that Lake Shasta trip. That may be for the best if his engine is in questionable condition and his replacement is not yet ready for install. I'll have to figure out a way of explaining it to Hapy....
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