New 82 Vanagon Diesel, ran out of fuel.. issues arised.

[steevz]

Yes, this is a learning process for me. I've never tangled with the inners of a head or block..just pulled the entire assembly. I made a big mistake cranking the start rather then turning by hand.. and it crossed my mind before I did it but from lack of time and success doing the same process a few minutes before I skipped it, which I won't be doing again. I have the head off my other engine, going to pull the head off the vanagon shortly and then go from there.

[ORCoaster]

Toby,  I have to agree with Luckypabst,  a bit more friendly approach and lighten up would go a long way on this forum.  When I read most of your posts I get this visual image of a shop foreman leaning over the shoulder of the young mechanic chewing his ear off about the work he sees going on.  You win when you provide good guidance, which you do, without the bark.  

I don't like to see metal shredded any more than the next guy, most of all these big parts that seem to be getting messed up.  But it is obvious to me that we have folks here on the thread that don't have the manual, don't have a lot of skills or experience and have the wrong tools for these engines.  But what they do have is the willingness to do something, even if it is wrong.  Hell I would break more than my knuckles when I was in my teens all the time.  When the wrenches hit the floor with the uttering of Gods' name I could just about count on the door opening and seeing my dad walking out.  His first question was generally "So what ya learning now?"  then the followup "How you trying to do it?"  He never said that was a stupid thing or how dumb an idea it was.  He taught me to take a minute to plan not to just rip into it.  And if I got in a hurry I would pay for it somehow later.  

I think Steevz is on a power learning curve, and it is costing him in time, dollars and pride.  Good to fess up on the procedural foopa, locking the IP and getting it in time is just part of that process.  Cranking by hand is in there too.  But you know that, at least now.  So build your experience and keep us informed.  I and others will support you, and if we bark it is out of character.

We eventually want to see that link that shows the van starting and running like a champ.  Good that you got it for cheap, more capital to buy upgrades, or replacement parts.  

And to you VanBCguy, Way to go, an extremely unselfish move on your part.  I have done similar jaunts to friends needing a mechanical hand but as yet have used this forum to hook up and help another.  To you- KUDOS-

[steevz]

vanbcguy came out to help today. Thanks again!

We discovered my other engine had an 11mm head and the 12mm bolt washers for the block don't fit. Going to grind them down at work tomorrow and try and get it all back together.

[vanbcguy]

No problem!!

So yeah, his spare head turns out to be an 11mm so a little "modification" will be required to get it to fit.  It appears to be in good shape though, the usual cracks are barely there at all.  Engine looks in good shape too - bores are nice and clean, not much or a ridge or anything.  Had one bad GP in the new head which we swapped while it was all still apart - much easier that way!

[steevz]

The 12mm bolts fit into the head in all the holes except the two corners on the manifold side of the head. Those holes are too small to fit the bolt. If I drill out those 2 holes, can I use the 11mm bolts washers, either doubled up or else cut the 12mm washers off the bolt?

[Toby]

How do you plan to get 11mm hardened washers over 12mm bolts? It is much easier/better to just grind the OD of the washers on a bench grinder. You do this by holding the bolt at an angle to the axis of the centerline of the grinder spindle. That way the washers will not just spin, but still turn fast enough to stay round. You have to play around with the angle that you hold the bolts to get everything right, so practice with some old bolts first. When you have the technique down THEN move on to the new bolts. This is kind of hard on soft grinding wheels, but not overly so. You could probably do it with a hand held 41/2" grinder but I expect it will be harder to get a nice job.

[steevz]

Sounds good. I did use a round file and ground out the inside of the washers a tiny bit and they all slide right on the 12mm bolts.

Also, for drilling the 2 small holes in the head.. should I use a 29/64" or 15/32" bit, then a 31/64" in a drill press?

[Toby]

No. Go right to your finish size and be sure to clamp the head securely. The alloy is soft and has a tendency to screw the drill into the hole instead of cutting when you are taking small cuts and the feed gets too high. Much better to go with a slightly higher speed and very light feeds with some lube. Soluable oil is good, but WD40 works.

[steevz]

Alright, well I'll take the head with me to work tomorrow. We got a large standing drill press and all the bits I could need. Thanks.

[Toby]

Did you see the thread about head bolt hole and block prep?

[vanbcguy]

Hey Toby, we cleaned the block / head well with brake cleaner and made sure there's no trace of old gasket material or anything else on either surface.  All the block bolt holes have been chased with a used bolt with a slot cut in it until the bolt would bottom out without issue and came out of the holes clean.

A razor blade was necessary to remove some head gasket bits from the head, used extremely carefully so as not to damage the soft aluminum.

[Toby]

Head gasket life is also improved by cleaning the block and head surfaces with 200 grit sand paper until everything is shiny.

BTW a razor blade is way too flexible to make a good gasket scraper, except in a pinch. Try a carbide scraper and you will never go back. (I am NOT talking about the Horror Fright carbide paint scrapers.)

[steevz]

Got the holes bored out a bit. Going to install the head tomorrow, and try the beast running again.

[vanbcguy]

We have a running engine...

[steevz]

Yes we do! Fantastic!

Timing was so retarded.. Alright..

Everything is pretty much good to go.. except the pump has a bit of a hanging idle. Also the max fuel screw was leaking.

So I took the max fuel screw out of the other pump that I have and swapped em. It still has the clip on the end, the other pump has never been modified. Screwed it in and when I tried starting the van it just rev'd like redlining (probably if I had a tach), turned it off right away. Backed the max fuel screw and idle screw both back. Fired it back up, same result.

Ideas?