Exhausting

Today's post covers a few things. First, I ordered some more hose, and spent more cycles thinking on the cooling system. Then, today, I did some time under the rear end working on the exhaust. On to the post...

Cooling off on cooling
After dwelling on the radiator and other aspects of the cooling system for most of the Winter, I've grown tired of that part of the project. It's pretty close to done, but there are a few holes left.
First, I need to find a pair of 90* 1-1/4" elbows and a short (say 1') stretch of straight 1-1/4" coolant rubber. I'd like to get a more dramatic bend at the radiator, and those parts are needed for that. I haven't been able to find a local source for the 90* bends, so I may have to order online for those :(
Second, I have the cabin heat circuit. I'd going to punt that whole system into next Summer. So, in order to tie that off, I need to get some things done anyway. For example, I am running the ALH engine "without glow plug heater", so the hose that runs from that flange is different (hose p/n is 1C0121157A). For some reason, VW thought it would be a good idea to have the flange just a little fatter than the hoses, so you need a VW hose that has a fat end on it. There's a picture of it on the left here. That hose ties into a plastic "T" that routes to the cabin heater and to the fill bottle. I plan to do everything except the cabin heat, but I need a closed system.
Since I need those parts, I'm moving on from the cooling system for now. I'll get back to those later.

Not Exhausting
When I bought this engine, I got the old exhaust run with it. I was sent the catalytic converter, a long stretch of pipes, one of those flex things, etc. Handy stuff. I didn't get a muffler, but I found a guy that was unloading one of those soup-can mufflers on craigslist for $10. Love cl. It had a short stretch of bent pipe on it.
So, today, I got under the bus to think through how it route the exhaust. The section of pipe from the turbo was about 6" of bendy pipe connected to a flexi-pipe, and then another short section of pipe that was then connected to the cat. I cut-off and sold the cat a while back, but I kept the rest of it. I hung the remaining pipe onto the turbo and discovered that it ran straight under the driver-side frame. I put the rear bumper in its approximate location, and lined things up. I discovered that I had all the necessary pipe in-hand; I just needed to cut it into pieces, clean them up a bit and line it up. In the end, I was able to align things so the exhaust line will run from the turbo straight to the bottom of the left wall and turn to the rear. Immediately after the turn, it will enter the muffler. The tip will be just past the bottom edge of the bumper, and about an inch below. I should have taken a picture in-place, but the picture to the right, here, shows where we're at. I cut up the pipe, fitted it together, sharpie'd lines for alignment, and pulled it down. I was able to break out the welder and tack-weld the flexi-pipe to the bend, but I couldn't get the muffler to weld to the bend. Its probably user-error. I'm looking forward to Hal's next visit so this can be finished up. In the meantime, I know where the muffler and exhaust lines will be, so I can move on to other things.

I should have some more time tomorrow. So, I'm going to hit the induction / intake side. I have all of the old plastic tubing from the original install of this engine, so I may be able to just juggle those into a usable system. The exhaust is nearly done, the coolant system is nearly done, and, if all goes well tomorrow, the intake side will be well under way.

More next time...

Cabin Heat, flexible lines

Tonight, I'll cover some thoughts about how to heat the inside of the bus and the coolant line routing I did this afternoon. My wife took a quick week in Las Vegas, so I have an update on Marianne and Tom.

Cabin Fever
First, I thought about putting the heating unit under the main belly of the bus. I went through the trouble of reversing the heater core, and re-mounting it. But, once I got under the bus, I discovered that I couldn't put it where I wanted to as it would block 1/2 the entrance to the radiator. Oi. One more example of avoiding sliding under the bus and it costing me in wasted time.

Then, my thinking switched to putting the heater unit (rear heater unit from a vanagon) under the front belly pan. The front pan hangs over 8" below the floor of the bus, and there is sufficient space width-wise to fit the heating unit (needs 13"). Reference the picture to the right...The heater unit could sit with the square foam side pressed up against the floor. The original heater tube in this location will be removed so the air that is forced by the fan will go up through the tube into the bus cab. I had intended to connect the entry side of the fan to the original ducting. I realized that once the belly pan was re-attached with a sealing foam, I won't have to fit the ducting together. The vacuum created by the fan will be filled by the open ducting anyway. In the picture to the left, you can see a HVAC collar has been attached to the fan inlet. If necessary, I can hard-route the old ducting into the fan.

One bit to note in this picture would be the black section along the bottom of the pictures. That is from the original cowl and it forces all of the fan air through the core. If it is left off, air can easily flow around the core, and the heat would be incomplete. The opening is 4" by 9". That's almost the size of a standard floor vent (4x10), which has me questioning whether I should go with the housing-against-the-floor plan. I could get a floor register and connect a bend up to the floor. I think that would allow better flow into the cabin, and would allow me to hang the unit from the floor instead of from the front.

Regardless, I am going to suspend the work on cabin heat for now. The wish is Operable This Summer. I won't need cabin heat in July and August. I can deal with the heat after that.

Coolant Lines
I got the rubber hoses earlier this week. With the copper pipe stringing the rubber sections together, I was able to create 2 long lines. I threaded the lines, one at a time, from the engine bay, over the right-rear axle, under the rear beam to the radiator. I connected the ends to the radiator and the engine flanges, but I'm not sure it's "done". The hoses do bend and flex, but they don't seem to want to hold much of a bend. I think they are designed for a single bend that's not terribly complicated. The bend at the radiator isn't holding tight, making the hose the low-point. I'm going to add a 90* bend of copper pipe at the radiator. That will raise the hose so it is no longer the lowest point on the bus.

I am still concerned about the lack of a bleeder at the radiator high-point, but I'll worry about that later. Also, I'll abandon the cabin heat for now and button up the coolant system. For the lines that should route to/from the heater core, I'll just tie them together in the engine compartment for now.

Marianne and Tom
My wife got back from Las Vegas on Tuesday after spending the prior week helping her brother Tom and mom (Marianne) again. We learned that Tom had lost consciousness a week ago, and was going back into the hospital. My wife flew down the next day. While she was down there, she helped Tom get hospice care started, move into a new apartment, and get somewhat settled. Her mom had another CAT scan to gauge the growth of her tumors and got the results back from her biopsy - she has a multi-cell cancer that is somewhat aggressive. My wife was the emotional anchor while she was there, and really seemed to help life their spirits. It seemed very exhausting for her, though, so we're glad she's home.

I won't have time tomorrow, nor do I expect to have much time during the week next week. I had hoped to have more on the weekends in January, but that's how it goes. Anyway, the coolant system will be done soon enough. After that, I'll either be moving back to the electrical or the air induction system.

Another small step

Sleep-overs. Single-parenting. Play dates. That's been the bulk of my time for the last week. I have been able to get a few hours here and there around the helicopter parenting, though. I made a little headway on the main coolant lines to the radiator, but, first, some research on galvanization. Like much of my forward progress, I can't seem to move forward without first wasting a day or so with a wrong path. I think that's part of the process, but the distillation of the completed work never fully reflects the amount of time spent doing it wrong a few times first.

Galvanization / Electrolysis
I did some research on galvanization / electrolysis and what affects different metals pose within a cooling system. Basically, if there is an electrical charge within the cooling fluid the weakest metal will start to pit. The electrical charge could be caused by static charge build up within the radiator core because of passing charged particles passing through. Think of how a balloon increases its static charge just from rubbing against clothing. To offset this charge, it is a good idea to ground the radiator core. I'll be doing this. Another cause can be from a bad ground elsewhere in the system, but either case is aggravated with the use of tap water. When you reduce your coolant, use de-ionized water (best) or distilled water (better). Some folks use a lead fishing weight that is routed to ground as an anode - sacrificial metal so the rest of the cooling system isn't compromised due to a low electrical charge. The route to ground can be as simple as hanging the weight in the overflow tank with copper wire that passes through the cap to a good ground.

Coolant Lines
With the galvanization info, I hit Lowes and bought 24" of copper tubing. I brought the old coolant flange that I had cut up so I could size the pipe, and found a 1" pipe actually fit better than a 1-1/4". I thought that was a little strange. I guess I'll see how the rubber coolant lines fit when they arrive. I grabbed a dozen hose clamps while I was there. With the pipe in-hand, I slid under the bus and thought about the route.

Point "C" was the underside of a greased round beam, not the square-ish frame part I thought I remembered. This changed the plan a little bit. I lost some time trying to fabricate a hanger, but I decided that I could use a short section of copper pipe as a connector instead. I can run the lines over the top of the beam so I don't need a hanger to hold that connection in place. I cut 2 2-1/2" pieces of pipe (pictured) and moved on to focus on the firewall ("D")....

Point "D" is a curved section of frame that is between 2 and 3-1/2" thick with the thinnest part at the lowest point. Using 1" 2-hole pipe straps mounts and a stretch of flashing, I fab'd a basic hanger that can fit into the curve. The pipe lengths are 5-1/2" long. I'll have to trim it a little bit still, and I'd be happier with a stretch of rubber between the pipes and the straps to protect against rub-through. Of course, I haven't put the mount holes in yet, but that should be pretty easy once the rubber hose has arrived. I'll need to lay out the lines and see exactly where the hanger needs to be first.

That's all I have today. Next time, I'll flap about the cabin heater bits I've been working on.