Mental health? OK, I agree with the mental part.....
I've been very busy getting stuff done, but haven't posted any pictures. Too bad for you guys, all my work will be a surprise in Carlisle.
DannyP posted:Mental health? OK, I agree with the mental part.....
I've been very busy getting stuff done, but haven't posted any pictures. Too bad for you guys, all my work will be a surprise in Carlisle.
Danny,
I'll be locked up on the island. You can shoot those secret pictures directly to me :-)
Mike
I've counted all the 90° angles in the house.........and named them.
Been hunkered down wrenching the speedster build. Went ACE today for a misc. hardware (essential service) and they now assign an associate to the shopper to get what you need and on your way. Think positive for Carlisle we'll see where we are as the date approaches.
Your Hunker Down Theme Song:
Rained here all weekend guys. Sorry. I tidied up the shop some.
So I went to drive Bridget around to test the brakes and such yesterday and she would not start. Started tracing problems and found it was fuel (the pump sounded weird and the engine would start with a shot of starter fluid)....
Also swapped out the leaky return line I kludged up under the lift.
The newly teflon-taped stuff still leaked. So I tried a different thing. Will report back later. Very much hoping I can cure that persistent issue.
Got out to the FLAPS today and picked up a new in-line fuel filter AND a new fuel injection fuel pump. Installed the filter and Bridget started up and idled so pondering whether to return the $75 pump or keep as a spare. Will decide after a proper test drive.
Maybe a dozen punch-list items on the Spyder remain. Gotta check valve lash. The driver's side valve cover drips oil so we'll fix that. Also may have a drip from one of the pushrod tubes that got dented at some point when I was taking the engine out or putting it back. So gotta watch that.
Gotta set the timing for sure at 30 degrees at 3000. Then slowly cruise around the block to make sure that happens, and make sure the steering wheel is aligned just right before popping on the horn button. Then trace all the wires. Maybe fix that oil temp gauge.
And re-install the engine cover/back third of the body.
DMV is shuttered for now; they're installing drive-through COVID-19 testing stations there so...
I wouldn't use Teflon tape on fuel and oil fittings. I use a liquid thread sealer designed for water and all petroleum fluids. It may have Teflon in it, but I haven't had good luck with the tape.
On AN fittings(not the pipe threads) I use Jeg's fitting sealer, and their assembly lube when making the lines up.
Alan, our local ACE, liquor store, and sporting goods stores are all closed(same landlord).
Dude its on the lift, not the car. It works.
Ok Mr. Leaky Lift....sorry. Back to your regularly scheduled program.
Every damn thing leaks here. The pickup truck is toast; coolant leaks from somewhere under the intake manifold.
County guys showed up yesterday to "upgrade" my water meter and now that leaks.
The lift seems fixed tho.
Now to tackle the valve cover on the Spyder.
There are days, like you are having, when I feel that possessions are overrated.
The more you have, the more you have to take care of... and then you really feel that possessions are overated. 
Couple days ago I reprised the rear underpan build in too much detail on the blog.
Amazing Ed! Way to hang in there and get it done...
Pete
Pete
edsnova posted:Couple days ago I reprised the rear underpan build in too much detail on the blog.
What an accomplishment! I think you hit your goal of bespoke professionalism.
OK so it's been a minute since I touched the Spyder (lots of little emergencies cropped up in and around the house over the past couple weeks). I wrote about this on another thread but thought I should document it here for the record:
I drove the Spyder on the street today.
It was an illegal round-the-block trip, purely to make sure the shift linkage worked under power and the steering wheel was properly centered, which it did and it was.
Car ran good too: started easy and, after a little revving settled into a 800-900rpm idle.
Then I screwed up the horn button trying to jam it in the steering wheel. Ordered a new one.
After that I took a few pictures of my flywheel, such as to allow me to approximate TDC and 30 before with sharpie marks on the top of the pulley, so that I can double-check the timing. The way it's running, I doubt it's far from right. But ya gotta.
Also noticed the alternator pulley is running about 3/8 of an inch ahead of the crank pulley. The shroud is on right, no room to slide it back at all. I'm hoping against hope there's some kind of way to slide the alternator back, but kinda doubt it.
Very much wish I'd noticed this at some point over the past 3 years with the engine on a pallet outside the vehicle.
But whatever. It runs as is. I'll futz with it and see if I can straighten it out, and maybe buy a spare pulley or two in case it won't come straight.
Advice about this issue much welcomed.
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That's great news, Ed. A big step forward! If it's any use, I did a write-up on moving my alternator pulley closer to the engine. You can also get spacers for your crank pulley to move it out from CB Performance. I couldn't use the kit I bought so if you want them, PM your address to me. https://www.speedsterowners.co...towards-front-of-car
Mike
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edsnova posted:OK so it's been a minute since I touched the Spyder (lots of little emergencies cropped up in and around the house over the past couple weeks). I wrote about this on another thread but thought I should document it here for the record:
I drove the Spyder on the street today.
It was an illegal round-the-block trip, purely to make sure the shift linkage worked under power and the steering wheel was properly centered, which it did and it was.
Car ran good too: started easy and, after a little revving settled into a 800-900rpm idle.
Then I screwed up the horn button trying to jam it in the steering wheel. Ordered a new one.
After that I took a few pictures of my flywheel, such as to allow me to approximate TDC and 30 before with sharpie marks on the top of the pulley, so that I can double-check the timing. The way it's running, I doubt it's far from right. But ya gotta.
Also noticed the alternator pulley is running about 3/8 of an inch ahead of the crank pulley. The shroud is on right, no room to slide it back at all. I'm hoping against hope there's some kind of way to slide the alternator back, but kinda doubt it.
Very much wish I'd noticed this at some point over the past 3 years with the engine on a pallet outside the vehicle.
But whatever. It runs as is. I'll futz with it and see if I can straighten it out, and maybe buy a spare pulley or two in case it won't come straight.
Advice about this issue much welcomed.
Did you run a straight edge across one pulley to the next to make your 3/8" offset finding ? Is it possible that the alt pulley is adjusted with it's shim washers to the extent that the belt might be ok in line with the crank pulley but the front face of the alt pulley shows different ? Give a pic of the alt pulley . Can you eyeball the belt from one side or the other and really see some offset ? 3/8" I'm sure you could eyeball.
Atta' boy, Eddy!!!
Thanks, guys. Yeah, I tried to work my L-square in there to get a measurement but the way the Spyder's configured it's pretty hard to get any kind of straightedge right on it. It's a noticeable offset you can see if you sight across the front of the engine.
@Michael Pickett I read your thread. My backing plate is the cast aluminum CB style one so I can't use your hammer-it-right method directly. Thanks for your offer of the shims. I might take you up on that, depending on how this issue sorts out.
I'm gonna start by loosening the strap on the generator and seeing if it'll slide. Also loosen the bolts holding the shroud on. Then I'll look for shims on the alt pulley.
Getting a wrench on the crank pulley is almost impossible for me just now. I don't seem to have the right socket and my adjustable barely grabs.
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I'm gonna smack you if you use an adjustable wrench on your crank pulley!
Go to Harbor Freight(they're still open!) and get a 30mm combination wrench. They have straight and offset. Easy-peasy.
Do you have any thin steel stock leftover from all your fabrication? Use a piece of 1/2" flat or angle iron as a straightedge.
HAR! No, Danny, I wasn't planning on using the adjustable to try to get the crank pulley off! I DID use it to turn the engine over so I could find TDC and adjust the valves and such.
I have a 30mm socket but it's too long to fit in front of the torsion bar. I have a 1 3/8 that fits over the nut but it's a little loose so I don't want to crank on it and maybe round the points.
I'll buy a new box wrench and a shorter 30mm half-inch socket before trying to get the crank pulley off, don't worry!
Update: the alt won't move and neither will the shroud. Alt pulley has three shims in the middle (and none anywhere else) and was as tight on the alt as it could get--so much so that the little nub that sticks up from the alt body inside the pully was scratching on it.
It's a thick pulley so I might conscript a buddy to machine a little meat off the inside of it to make it set down on the shaft some. If I can get an eighth there and shim the crank pulley out that much (maybe?) then I think it'll be good enough.
I'm not understanding why these buggers don't line up better though. I kinda doubt Raby would've shipped it that way and kinda wonder why Carey wouldn't've noticed or at least mentioned it. I'd much rather have dealt with it on the pallet.
Seriously, it's a major pain and common enough that it should have an easier fix. I think your idea about taking a little off the back of the pulley is good. You could also thin down the little bearing spacer and get a 1/10th. Carefully taking a little material off of the face of the alternator for clearance is possible. I looked into some of the Type 4 discussions about taking apart the alt pulley and flipping the sides, but it didn't look like it would be useful on ours.
1- 3/16" is what you want in American, Ed. 1 3/8" is 1.375".
30mm is 1.181". 1 3/16" is 1.1875".
Take some off the pulley, and install a shim on the crank pulley. Crank shims are usually about an 1/8" thick. You might want to also get a longer crank bolt to make sure you've got enough thread engagement.
edsnova posted:
edsnova posted:
I'm not understanding why these buggers don't line up better though. I kinda doubt Raby would've shipped it that way and kinda wonder why Carey wouldn't've noticed or at least mentioned it. I'd much rather have dealt with it on the pallet.
If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain.
Try a different crank pulley. Yours is mashed in almost to the case. I've found that every one of them sits on the nose of the crankshaft differently, depending on how they were machined. Most all of them ride about 3/8" further out than yours.
Per Stan, yours looks inboard, do you have a stock steel OEM pulley on hand to compare with ? Also remove the large bolt, pull the crank pully out some to measure how far out you need to come to get it aligned with the alt. pulley . There are the crank pulley spacers and the longer bolt that are made to do just that fix.
Spacer is $7 and the 1" long crank bolt is $10 ( btw the stock crank bolt is 3/4")
Well that is nice of you Alan to Empi-thize with Ed and help him crank or rather pull that Spyder out there. I know I am trying too hard
Thanks, guys. Yes 1 3/16 is the SAE size I have. Fits pretty tight on a spare crank bolt I dug out of a coffee can. Slightly less tight on the on holding the crank to the engine. I'll get a 30mm 6-sided one.
It'll get done!
That's more like it, horn-wise.
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What did it finally take to the horn button to fit properly? First one was too big? Slowly filed/sanded away some metal? More lube? Softer hammer?
Dremel.
Made a pulley puller and shimmed the pulley today (thanks, @Michael Pickett for the shims). The pulley has the threads to work with the oil slinger so maybe setting it out a quarter inch will mess up my oil control. I'll check the timing in the next couple days and see if it drips.
Could still do with getting the alternator pulley back a smidge, but it's better than it was and probably good enough to run.
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Oy, not a lot of space in which to work.
Yeah, that torsion tube really cramps your style. No room.....
Ed, I made a similar pulley puller. Then I bought the Jaycee. After removing 8 small allen head screws, the pulley comes off. The hub remains, but that's OK. I need to remove the pulley just to change the belt. The dry sump pump is really that close to the pulley.
The things we do for love, Danny.
edsnova posted:That's more like it, horn-wise.
Nice to see you have the Golden Lady for a horn button, Ed. I had the same on my previous speedster. It's a nice touch - a classy touch... Very appropriate for a banjo steering wheel.
Small update: My wife and I set the clam back on the Spyder today so it's officially "assembled" and now we're fully in the "sorting" stage.
I checked my temp gauge by grounding the wire, and the gauge pinned at 140C when I did that so. Checked the sender (it was in the box from N. Hollywood when I got the gauges back from them) and it says 150C on the side of it. I figured I'd try the other one anyway and turned the nut to pull it out and that backed out the whole two-sender thingamajig and when I pulled that out of the case it had white goop on its bottom face and about three turns of case threads stuck to it. dang.
So I cleaned it up and researched re-threading oil sender ports on VWs and you can just imagine how that went. Everything from "I glued mine in with JB Weld and it's been fine for 300,000 miles" to "You must split the case to avoid getting chips in the oil passages. Some have pressurized their oil galleys with air but...". Anyway, M10/1 Helicoils exist so that's probably going to be something I get to sooner than later. For now I wrapped a dab of Ultra Grey around where the white goop had been and threaded it back in with the original sender that came on the engine (which looks different but is probably very similar?)
I'll let that set up and see if it leaks and/or if the bleeding thing works. If not I can ohm test the Hollywood sender to be sure I need a new one.
Really starting to think it was fine and the engine just wasn't coming up to op temp idling in my driveway in March.
Anyway, onward. I pressed the rubber dust seals on the bottom edge of the clam, installed the ratchet stay and got out my nifty leather strap hold downs.
Screws on the tub side are too short to get nuts on and I only had two extra long ones so I'll be putting four new SS oval heads, 3/4 inches long and whatever that little metric thread is, on my shopping list.
The clam side ones were perfect.
Set the spare tire in and tied it down. Also the clam pin receiver thingies. 
All-in-all, it ain't the worst I've seen.
The homemade Spyder-stylee turn latches work. The regular VW latches latches do as well, though the driver's side could do with a turn or two of adjustment.
Anyway, as soon as I hear the Maryland MVA is open I'll be making arrangements!
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Wow, coming together, Ed!
Very good sir! You would have made Carlisle's original date!