Slowly But Surely

Sorry about the huge gap in posts.  I have been slowly getting things done.  My family was here for the weekend and I picked up a box of sheet metal cooling parts for the engine.  It was gifted to me by another Vw enthusiast, so I picked through this pile.

I did not need nearly as much as I thought.  I re posted these on Craigslist locally for anyone that needs them totally free.  I used 2 or 3 of the sheet metal pieces, and cut a tab off of another.  I then went about scrubbing with a toothbrush, and some degreaser these tin parts.  I let them sit in the sun to dry, and sprayed them with a flat black high temperature engine spray paint.  I am super excited.  I think they look fantastic, and I can not wait to see how the motor looks in the freshly white painted engine bay!  Here is a shot of a few sheet metal parts painted.  The largest one is not painted, notice the difference.  It looks clean.  I am happy with clean.  You will understand as I get further.  

So you get the idea, this main piece here is how it looked before painting.  Just old and rough.  The rest is painted with flat black. It is not perfect, but it is matching.  Below is the large piece pictured above, however painted.

I LOVE IT!  I see a problem brewing, all this pretty stuff is going to make the dirty old stuff look even worse! Now I have all the sheet metal cooling parts I think.  Just have to finish the motor to install tin.

Motor Building

I did not finish my engine yet.  On Tuesday I got the old pistons and cylinders off, cleaned the cylinder gaskets, because they are made of metal and I can reuse them.  I started cleaning and wiping down the engine block.  It was a complete mess, grease and grime and years of sludge from oil leaks and who knows what else.  The engine is as far torn down as I will take it at this moment I think.  I am not totally certain.  I have been having this nightmare lately.  When I get the bus done we go for the maiden voyage only to be towed home.  It is a concern of mine obviously that parts I have not checked for damage and or replaced in the bottom of the engine could fail causing me time and money to fix.  I do not want to pull the engine later to rebuild again!  It is a minor concern of mine at the moment.  I am pretty sure Ruby will be so pleased with the freshly rebuilt top end, New brakes, tires, shocks, floors, owners and puppy that nothing will ever go wrong again.  Plus I found that bad luck white lighter and sent it away.  This weekend my brother and sister are visiting.  Hopefully we can find the time to get a few things done.  I am taking it slow with the motor making certain I get everything together properly and I personally do not mess up any important parts along the way.  I should have the motor together by the time they get here.  Maybe we will put it back in.  I guess we will see.....

I got my parts!

So on April 2nd, Lynn and I drove to Youngstown to get our engine parts.  I got new pulleys, clutch, spark plugs, spark plug wires, pistons, cylinders, rings, push rod tubes, clutch, and heads.  Plus all the necessary gaskets.  So here is a picture of my engine as it sits now.  Ugly Dirty Greasy Broken. I have not yet started working on the motor.  I have had all the nice new parts sitting here waiting for me.  Last week I worked everyday, and we went to Hoopla In the Hills.  A music festival in Athens Ohio.  So we were getting ready to camp, and never got anything done.  So we came home from the festival, and cleaned out the car.  Monday consisted of setting the parts out so they looked awesome, and were ready for me to start the rebuilding of the engine.  Here they are.

 I plan to degrease the block today, and if everything goes smoothly, have a motor this evening.  I would really really like to start and tune the bus.  No driving yet, Still need brakes and shocks.  So with fingers crossed I will be building my beautiful new engine.  Wish me luck.  I will post up a picture of my work later this afternoon.

 






                         

 

HAPPY EASTER!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  Lynn, Luna and I went to NJ and hung out with the family it was awesome.  We had an amazing weekend and got to see our family.  It was wonderful!  We drove back in the middle of Sunday night.  I had to sleep in the car because I had to work at 7 this morning.  So Lynn had a visit with the Easter bunny today and this is what I got!  I could not believe the Easter Bunny knew exactly how much money I needed to get my engine parts from Rich, and new brakes! 

SUPER EASTER!  I am so excited to get the motor back together.  BUT I have to be patient, If I have a ready to run nice new motor on the bench I will certainly want to get driving..  Time to use my patients!  Thanks Lynn for the bestest Easter basket ever!