Doing the moving, slow progress

At the moment I have made a temporarly storage in the new workshop, I still have a few things to move from the old place. There's just a small problem, the "few items" weigh a couple of hundred kilo's. Each...

Garage idea

I will have an expandable room for sanding, when I do big things I just - that's right - expand it.

The shelfs are running on wheels in a track. I have the same setup in the old garage and I can really store stuff in them, the storage volume becomes massive.

Another layer on the floor

Uge difference!

The paint kit says that I had less paint than needed, but if I should have been going with the recommendation I've could have painted the walls as well. The last layer was thick, and I mean really thick. 

Finally! New garage

Yehaa!

Started with floor painting yesterday. Really cold outside but the entire floor has integrated heating so I believe it will harden anyway.

MOT means rust fixing

I crawled under the pickup just to check a measurement and thought that the left side inner sill looked a little bit tired. I took a big screw driver and knocked it with the tip and *crack* straight through! Hmm... I hate rust. Need to do the MOT so I decided to fix it the easy way, and never-get-a-problem-with-sills-again way, that means I replaced the sill by double welded 2 mm 50x50 square tubes and 1 mm galvanized sheet.

Of course, when you start cutting there will be more. I ended up replacing pieces of the floor, a part of the torpedo wall, the outer sills, a piece of the wheel house and the vertical beam in front of the rear wheel. I actually ended up booking a new date for the MOT. I have to do an ugly fix for the hatch as well, I had to cut it open as the lock was totally rusted. I'm going to do some glass/carbon fibre parts for the pickup and new hatches are first in the list, so I'm not going to put any energy on these ugly bastards.

I also found out that the bed floor is damaged and that's probably why it has an extra layer of metal sheet on top. Some of the bed outriggers needs to be replaced as well. So the new plan is as following:

As soon we are in the new workshop, I'll cut the bed of totally.

Remove the engine and gearbox.

Replace everything that needs to be fixed, I'll get the material from a company nearby.

Rust protect everything and repaint.

New engine/gearbox in.

Totally new bed floor made out of galvanized sheets.

Burn out!

Oooh, I can't wait to have my workshop at home!!!

Very last mod on Peter's bus

I've done it before. Will do it again - the LED mod! :)

Exhaust mod

I had to test my resonance theory, my idea was that the noise came from a too short exhaust pipe and a worn out muffler. The muffler was also a "pyramid" and therefore was working as a noice enhancer instead now when all the wool was gone. So I bought a new "flow through" muffler to get a longer exhaust. Of course, it was too long and I had to cut it down and custom build the end pipe. I think that even if this one also is blown, the resonance will be kept away because the flow through design.

Result: Noise improved! :)

Now I can do some hard acceleration before there's any noise and when high speed cruising the noise is totally gone.

First test run

First run. It runs very smooth and accelerates really nice. There's a bit of resonance around 3000 RPM when flooring the pedal, which I believe is because the exhaust pipe is too short until the first dampener. On top of that, the dampener is more or less empty...
I'll make a test tonight I think. I'll replace the dampener with a pipe instead, I think that will lower the frequency for the resonance, but it might also raise the average noise. We'll see.

But in general, it runs really really nice! :)

New frame

I made a new frame around the engine this weekend. The old one was really tacky and was vibrating itself. Now I made one which is secured with deep screws and construction glue. I added a lot of isolation inside the frame and then a sheet of MDF on top. This one is sturdy, I tell you. :)

new exhaust - double noise reduction

Went to the spare parts place yesterday with my little son Valter (yep, he has VW as initials. His little brother as well...), he had a full time adventure and I was mostly busy keeping that adventure not-being-an-expensive-one-of-a-kind... That little piece of human being got energy for sure.

Anyway, we bought an extra muffler. I was 100 % sure it with kill a lot of the low end sound, We bought an end silencer from a Volvo 740 to keep everything simple. The existing big can is now pretty empty on steel wool, but it's too close to the down pipe so the gases are probably killing it, I simply left it as is. So tonight I turned the existing left-side exhaust towards the right side, welded a new bend and with an extension crossing the engine I connected the new silencer on the right side. The pipe is pretty close to the engine but I think it will not be hot there, the gases should be cooled down already. The setup turned out very nice. 

If there's a noise reduction?

Well, let me rephrase that: Does the bear shit in the woods?! It's now much much better than I ever could expect!

Now, I actually only have to rebuild the wooden frame on top of the compartment. On wednesday Peter is picking the bus up..:)

New ignition, wow!

I ordered a kit from Hotspark (http://www.hot-spark.eu/webshop/) for Peter's bus and replaced the old pieces tonight, and wow what a difference!

Now the engine starts super easy and the idle is smooth as never before. If you ever want to make an old engine better, don't hesitate to buy one of these kits.

I also covered the "box" and the compartment top cover with bitumen plates tonight. They are thick tarmac like plates with a tape side. The material itself is super dense and kills vibrations very good. Tomorrow I'll make the new surrounding. I'll fill it up with isolating material as well hoping for a quite bus. 

I do know that a second muffler will change the sound as well. Must to that I think.

Cable fire

When I did the first test runs with the engine, a cable suddenly started burning. Well, it was not just a cable, it was the alternator cable! I found a shortage point when I removed the old engine and I did fix that. But I found out the hard way that the cable was in such a poor condition it was just luck it didn't catch fire when Peter drove the bus to me. I dropped a bucket with coolant in the compartment and I tell you I have never been removing a battery that fast...

Now the cable is just a piece of melted copper, so I made a new one with all connections to other electric parts as well. I'm not a fan of those squeeze couplings, they tend to "unsqueeze" so I solder cables. These are really thick, they are not super easy to solder. Anything goes with fire though. :)

Running!

First start in 10 years. The engine has been stored in a barn since year 2000. Cranked it first without spark plugs to build up oil pressure. Then plugged them in and tadaa!
Did a longer run later on with idle and higher RPM's. The engine works perfect even though it hasn't been in use for ten years.

Night working

Had a couple of days of to work with Peter's bus and didn't reach the goal to have it running friday night. It's all because a friend of mine and his car. We decided to fix his car as well and a "minor thing" ended up with 9 hours anger management. I tend to hate that brand from now on. And no, it is not a VW...

Anyway, I installed the new engine during sunday afternoon and the gearbox was leaning like crazy. Something was wrong, I couldn't at the moment figure out what the problem was but yesterday I got a struck of lightning. The old Volvo engine series B18/B20 and the predecessor B19/21/23/230 share the same bolt pattern except that the newer family is rotated 15 degrees. The adapter plate was of course made for both engine families! So, I dropped the engine once again last night, removed the gearbox bolts and rotated it anti-clockwise and tadaa - new holes for the bolts appeared!
Bolted it together again and new lift into in the compartment was an easy task. I do this procedure in less than 40 minutes on my own with the Volvo engine. With a VW engine it's even quicker.

One problem is the length of the Volvo block. It actually touches the rear beam as is and with the rear untouched the lift procedure is sort of a zig-zag movement. Up with the engine nose very high, lift the gearbox, down with the nose, bolt the gearbox, up with the engine again and bolt the engine support. I did a cut out in the rear beam, removed about 1½ centimeter and that made a uge difference when the engine was lifted. Still tight like crazy on the way up, but a lot better when it's in place. Now a belt change will be much much easier.

New oil and filter, new cam belt and tensioner, new gearbox oil and regreased CV joints. Now it's time for coolant pipes and all cables and then a start!
I'll go for a gear shaft service as the shift stick is super sloppy, and a new exhaust system to get the noise reduced is planned. I'll remake the rear cover as well with dampening plates and isolation added. Might have a look at the starter motor too, it's pretty tired.

More to come...

Engine flippin' time

Gaah! My idea with a picture publishing application was nice, but my mobile internet connection isn't working so the whole project failed. :(

At least I know it's working, so I'll make a new try when I switch the engine in the pickup. :)

We're on the way. The engine is out and before I left the garage yesterday I started to replace the parts that need to be replaced. Today I'll put a new cam belt on, hook the gearbox up and hopefully get the engine back in again. More pictures to come...

Workshop camera update 2010-10-21 11:23:01

My snapshot robot is running, image taken 2010-10-21 11:23:01 in the workshop when working with Peter's bus.

This is simply a test! I'm now going to the workshop to take care of Peter's bus. And I made a setup with a camera shooting pictures with an interval, a file poller that checks if there are new images and a mail server. If there are new images (ie if the camera app is running) there will be a new image every 30 minute.
Enjoy! :)

Let's rock'n'roll!

Wednesday evening Peter is passing by, leaving the bus in the garage. I have taken thursday and friday of from work so I'll do some crazy workshopping for sure. I went to the spare parts store today and bought a set of new gearbox oil and CV joint grease. When the crap is out anyway, lets make a real service!

Oh BTW, ordered a solid state replacement for the ignition, coming in a mailbox near me very soon...

The IC caught on camera

Sturdy. :)

Garage neighbours are good to have

Told my garage buddy that the small intercooler I have taken from the TDI donor was leaking, he started to dig around in his boxes and - tada!

A super rigid alu IC is now mine. He thought it was made for a Porsche but he wasn't sure. It's at least a German brand, that's for sure.

SHEEEEEEE's BAAAACK!!!

It's totally insane...
But she's back!

A guy from the Swedish vanagon club called me this afternoon and said: "Your bus is parked behind the MC store downtown, I recognized your rims". I told him to not move and drove like crazy down town and at the same time a friend that lives nearby biked to the place and jacked a bike lock in the front rim.

Broken ignition key. That's it. They've tried to take the wheels but failed! 

Now alarm, steering blocker and a electrical fence driver in the chassi...

Mind ache and anxiety

The pickup is gone, and I still believe she's gone forever.
Shall I get a Caravelle instead?..

Can't believe it - she's stolen!

Parked at home saturday evening after getting material for the terrace. Sunday morning a neighbour did see a van stopped by it and they investigated my pickup and then took it. :(
It was too planned to be a ugly-theft. I think I've seen the pickup for the last time. Could be in Poland already, or on the way to Africa...

R.I.P. my dear.

Water pump removal without removing timing belt...

...is possible. :)

Relubricating bearings

Haven't done much lately, we had another VW last week. Namely a new kid. :)
I was in the workshop this night and while waiting for some clear coat on a bike frame to harden I relubricated the belt tensioners. It's really easy and they last a long time this way. Actually, a Subaru mechanic nearby told me he never change them, and no one has come back with a broken tensioner. 

Clean the outside of the bearing really well, don't have dirt left on the front side. Take a small screwdriver and gently press the edge in under the rubber sealing. Make this happen at the inner edge of the seal. Then carefully pull and the rubber will pop out. The big tensioner is easy, but the small roller on top of the diesel pump wheel is a little more difficult as the rubber is deep down. If the sealing bends, be gentle and bend it back to a flat again. Refill the bearing with grease, clean the sealing and press it back. Be sure it really jumps back into its position.
The same goes with the water pump/alternator tensioner, rubber of and grease in.

Of course, this procedure is a lot easier when the cam belt is off and then the bearings can be flushed with spray as well AND refilled from both sides. But this time I did it afterwards from the front side only and it worked too.

Now I'm thinking - again - that the water pump might need a replacement. It feels "dry" when rotating. But then I have to remove the cam belt one more time...

Pump position after tweaking

As promised in previous posts, this is what I ended up with. The pump is now timed perfectly and the engine starts easy and runs smooth.

Now, time for some baby delivery. Then engine swappin' time!

EDIT: Please read the updated timing setting here.

It's running! :)

Back att http://www.vwkd.co.uk the member "13 Window deluxe" came with the idea to check that I might have the pump 180 degrees of. And guess what - he was so right!
How the heck could I miss that simple problem?! I had the solution in front of me all the time. First try after the adjustment and it started right away!

 

Now, the image I posted the other day with the pump position was wrong, I removed it so it's not fooling anyone. I'll take a new picture with correct info tomorrow.

Trying to get the thing running!

Hooked the engine up with the pickup battery outside the garage. Tried to fire it and - nope! 

The engine cranks and starts on starter gas, but I have only tried a small spray every time (not continuously).
The pump is pushing fuel to the first cylinder on TDC.
...which means that the stop solenoid is working as well.
Timing set according to Land Rover spec, 1.54 mm.
When the fuel lines are loosened at the injectores they spit fuel.

I see fuel in the return lines between the injectors.
I see no fuel in the main return line (but the fuel lines do spray).

It might be that there's still air in the nossles. I've read from other people that their engines got started after testing the injectors, and then they are filled with fuel. There might also still be air in the lines or in the injectors.  I'll open up the glow plugs and bleed one injector at the time to see if there's any difference.
More crankin' tomorrow...

Timing time!

Lately I've been assembling everything back onto the engine. It required some detective work to get the timing on the pump right. I mounted the belt wheel from the 1Z on the Landy pump and thought that the timing position would be the same. Oh no...

The timing was terrible and when I went back home to eat some late night dinner I did some googleing and then I found some clips on a very-known-tube-site when a guy changed timing belt on a Landy, the angle of the pump was really weird and got my attention. Back in the garage I checked the Landy wheel mount disc (the LR has a movable wheel for timing, the VW has a fixed wheel and a moveable pump instead) and there was a clear sign where the woodruff key had been and it was totally different from the VW.

 It all ended up with the timing being 180 degrees off from the VW pump. The woodruff key is now pointing straight towards the old VW timing hole on the bracket, and the timing hole in the belt wheel is totally opposite.

EDIT 27/7: This was all wrong, the pump was 180 degrees of! See later posts for correct info! 

I did a temporarly timing tool with a long soldering pin and my electronic calliper. Worked like a charm!

Turbo rebuild last night

I had to wait for some paint to dry on a surfboard so I took a break from the board shop and decided to start the turbo rebuild - which ended up in a complete rebuild. Once started it's really easy to service them, they have a clever design and with some patience, the right tools and optionally a guide it doesn't take much time. From that I started to disassemble the turbo from the engine until it was complete again was about 2 hours including coffee break.
So, go for it if you need a better turbo! I bought a repair kit on eBay for a very good price that included all parts needed, and even more. The kit is delivered with all parts needed for any GT15 turbo so there will be heaps of pieces left.
I used following tools:
 12 and 10 mm 12-star sockets.
 10 and 8 mm wrenches.
 Torx size 30 and 25.
 A flat screw driver.
 A small screw driver for rinsing the internals.

I printed a guide from the Internet on a turbo rebuild, it was not the same turbo as I did but was good enough as a reminder. Then, go!

I found a crack in the exhaust turbine housing. It could have happened when I punched the housing of but I don't think so. Anyway, after some investigation I decided to use the housing. The crack is not critical and if pieces will come off they will not damage the engine, only the turbine.


Next exercise will be investigation of crank and cam positions.