I took off yesterday in the hopes of working on my van but the parts didn't get here until today. So I slept in a bit and then rode my bike. It hurt. Then I came home and worked in the garage in intervals. I started installing a Yakima rack on the roof of the van. I scored it from my buddy Adam. It's a raingutter mount (1A towers). It will NOT work. It's the easiest rack to install that man has ever made. There's a gap between the gutter and the clip. I tried spacers and it worked but then I couldn't use the damn doors. As a last ditch effort I decided to try customizing the clips. I broke the first one and gave up. I grabbed a chair and sat out in the sun. Heather came home from work and I was OUT.
Still trying to figure out a good system for carrying bikes.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
I don't know that I've ever had a vehicle that wasn't made anymore AND had the potential for hard to find parts. That white valve is a roll over valve for the expansion tank. The place I get my parts from in California still has these but not the seals. Since I had to replace both valves, I had to get the seals off the old ones and onto the new ones and then get them into the tanks. The first one went in beautifully. I put a bit of RTV around it for good measure. This one...not so much. The seal was trashed. I started by using a little less than a tube of RTV. That got messy. Then I went shopping. I found grommets for valve covers that are used to hold little filters/breathers. The inner diameter fit the valve pretty darn close but there was a little play between the seal and the tank. I met an old timer at the store and started talking to him. I usually don't enjoy talking to people all that much until I get to know them. For some reason...I like speaking with my elders. Anyway he was telling me about this stuff he sealed a gas tank with once and, low and behold, I found it a few aisles over. So I laid a pretty big bead of it on and I'm gonna let it sit over night and set up really well before I throw it back in the wheel well and attach a vent hose to the valve.
This sides all done.
This sides all done.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Swine Flu
We're keeping a hairy eyeball on this situation. We are about 4 weeks away from going on our honeymoon and that's pretty much the light at the end of the tunnel that's getting me through work each day. Now there's talk of not allowing any travel to that area. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. I will be one pissed off person if this trip gets cancelled. Maybe I should wait a bit longer before I go Speedo shopping? Maybe we'll be honeymooning at the house of Corbitt in beautiful St. Charles? They don't even have a bidde. But.......they do have a garden hose. I could just close my eyes.
Storm pics
Bodhi loves the snow. It's always fun to watch the dogs try to drop a deuce in 2+ feet of the stuff. He will NOT come in. Here he was soaked and it had been over an hour. Of course....fatso came running in for a snack though.
The look on my face in this picture is because Heather had just dropped the camera and it hit pavement. It appears to be fine though.
This is the tree that bit the dust. There was a split in the tree probably 6 feet up from the trunk and it looks like it was a bit rotted in there so that didn't help out. It took out the fence and laid across the rode. The city workers drug it across the road where it presently sits. I'm glad it did not fall the other way or it might have taken out the Jeep.
Look at that textbook lifting form. All legs baby. This is not the reason for the sore muscles. It was much too long ago. Those shoes DO NOT have functional lights. That is strictly special effects.
I never tire of watching the puppies play. Bodhi is still clumsy and it was advantage Dharma once she learned to lure him into the deeper stuff. I imagine this is what it's like to have young kids. They just don't wanna stop playing. Even if they can't keep their eyes open any longer. They get cranky and that's when little arguments break out where I have to say, "That's IT!!" Until that happens I'm ear to ear.
The look on my face in this picture is because Heather had just dropped the camera and it hit pavement. It appears to be fine though.
This is the tree that bit the dust. There was a split in the tree probably 6 feet up from the trunk and it looks like it was a bit rotted in there so that didn't help out. It took out the fence and laid across the rode. The city workers drug it across the road where it presently sits. I'm glad it did not fall the other way or it might have taken out the Jeep.
Look at that textbook lifting form. All legs baby. This is not the reason for the sore muscles. It was much too long ago. Those shoes DO NOT have functional lights. That is strictly special effects.
I never tire of watching the puppies play. Bodhi is still clumsy and it was advantage Dharma once she learned to lure him into the deeper stuff. I imagine this is what it's like to have young kids. They just don't wanna stop playing. Even if they can't keep their eyes open any longer. They get cranky and that's when little arguments break out where I have to say, "That's IT!!" Until that happens I'm ear to ear.
I haven't been able to fill up the van with a full tank because it just pours out from the drivers side so I decided to see what the problem was on Friday after work. Here you can see a plastic "T" that is busted. This is prt of the evaporative system but when the tank's full enough it allows an escape route on hard right handers.
This is the overly complex gas tank that VW decided would be a good idea to use. It consists of your typical supply line and return line. There are 2 lines that come off each side of the front of the tank and they both run to expansion tanks that are mounted in each wheel well. Then there's that crossover pipe (which is broken). It ties into the evap system as well. The tank itself is saddle shaped and the coolant lines are able to make their way from front to back in that depression in the middle. There's a lot going on. I replaced all of the grommets and the crossover pipe as well as the fuel lines running to the expansion tanks and small sections of supply and return line (those were about to crack). I also replaced the filler neck grommet but left the sending unit o-ring alone as it appeared to be ok. I did manage to break both of the valves at the top of each expansion tank (I thought they were simply caps with a hole in the top for a line to pass through). That will be a $70 mistake (for 2 of those). Pretty happy about that.
This is the overly complex gas tank that VW decided would be a good idea to use. It consists of your typical supply line and return line. There are 2 lines that come off each side of the front of the tank and they both run to expansion tanks that are mounted in each wheel well. Then there's that crossover pipe (which is broken). It ties into the evap system as well. The tank itself is saddle shaped and the coolant lines are able to make their way from front to back in that depression in the middle. There's a lot going on. I replaced all of the grommets and the crossover pipe as well as the fuel lines running to the expansion tanks and small sections of supply and return line (those were about to crack). I also replaced the filler neck grommet but left the sending unit o-ring alone as it appeared to be ok. I did manage to break both of the valves at the top of each expansion tank (I thought they were simply caps with a hole in the top for a line to pass through). That will be a $70 mistake (for 2 of those). Pretty happy about that.
After I had the tank back in place, I decided it might be a good idear to replace the fule lines in the engine bay. They make me nervous as they sit right above the exhaust manifold and I'm sure it wouldn't take much more than a drip for me to have a Van BQ. VW used a sheath that appears to serve as a heat shield on the fuel lines and it was good times getting the new lines through those but in the end, everything worked out fine. I will feel better about not having to sweat leaky fuel lines after I've been able to check all teh connections and make sure they're all tight. Too bad I won't be driving the van until I can get those expansion tanks fixed and re-installed and then button everything back up to the tank.
no riding
I have not been on a bike in 2 weeks now. There are some things going on that appear to be causing me some stress. I'm not sleeping well at all. One of the worst things is that my muscles ache. My quads feel like I've been doing squats, my back hurts, arms hurt, etc. It's not a pain where something is pulled but it's that pain you get 2 days after a tough workout in the gym. I also have some symptoms going on that I'm just not comfortable with broadcasting to the world but they have me pretty concerned. I'll be going to see a doctor this week and then, hopefylly, can get a referral to see a specialist about some of the other symptoms. I honestly don't think that I could even pedal up the pass right now. I suppose I could ride down and then have Heather shuttle me up to the top again? No biggie...we're supposed to get more snow today anyway. I would post some pictures for you entertainment but they'd just be laying on the couch with 2 dogs. One of which is right at 9 months now and towers above his sister.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
I love cars. I would love to have an Audi All Road or an A4 Avant with quattro. Maybe a Subaru Forester XT. However...I chose the wrong career path to drive really sweet cars. To be honest though...I'm not sure one of those would suit all of my needs. My dogs would trash a really nice car. I can't sleep comfortably in a wagon and I sure as hell can't change into my waders in one. These are some of the reasons why I really love the van. I can pick up whole sheets of drywall in it. Sleep in it with my wife and 2 mutts. Haul loads of gear and still have room to walk around. It even handles pretty well with the weight being below the floors and all. The only thing I worry about with it is the motor. 90 horse power aint much at this altitude and they typically leak oil and coolant pretty badly (although mines fine but it is only a matter of time). I see no reason to rebuild a motor that will still have the same power and weaknesses once it's done. Heather was not on board with the van until she had a few days to let things perculate. Now she loves the van but she's not on board about a motor swap. So I'm waiting it out patiently as it's only a matter of time.
So the big question is which motor would serve as a good substitute? There are quite a few options. A Porsche motor would be fun but far too expensive to maintain. A Ford Zetec motor fits very well and the fellas at Bostig Conversions have really done their homework with that 130hp swap. Anything that's inline 4 should fit fine and that leaves loads of options. A TDI would be really neat but it would mean having to regear the trans (although I wonder if you could make due with bigger/taller tires...although the headache associated with finding wheels that fit is incredibly hard). I've seen a 5 cylinder Audi motor installed but it's not interesting me. A 1.8T would get me in a lot of trouble but I'm not really sure I wanna deal with a turbo. I've never seen anyone do a Vetec conversion but I know that motor can handle buttloads of power. There's the 2 liter, 8 valve ABA motor from your Golfs/Jettas but it's only good for 118 hp. I've seen one guy do a 2 liter, 16 valve motor (one of my favorite motors) but......there's the Subaru motors. I could do a 2.2NA motor but why do that when there's the 2.5NA that'll give me about 175ish (depending on year)? Lot's of people go the Subie route and it fits like it was supposed to come that way from the factory. Plus I still get the cool factor of the horizontally opposed 4 cylinder (it's really interesting to me). A VR6 will work but you have to fabricate a new deck lid and lose a lot of space. Finally....an SVX Subaru motor fits nicely and gives stupid power but you pay for it and they're hard to find. I do know of one of those motors in St. Louis that my friend built that has 1000 horse power and I believe he just sold it for 27 grand.
Right now I'm leaning towards the 2.5. It's nothing that's gonna happen tomorrow. A conversion like that is gonna take some reading up on. I need to have all my ducks in a row before I do that and I've still got some things that are pretty big distractors to take care of.
So the big question is which motor would serve as a good substitute? There are quite a few options. A Porsche motor would be fun but far too expensive to maintain. A Ford Zetec motor fits very well and the fellas at Bostig Conversions have really done their homework with that 130hp swap. Anything that's inline 4 should fit fine and that leaves loads of options. A TDI would be really neat but it would mean having to regear the trans (although I wonder if you could make due with bigger/taller tires...although the headache associated with finding wheels that fit is incredibly hard). I've seen a 5 cylinder Audi motor installed but it's not interesting me. A 1.8T would get me in a lot of trouble but I'm not really sure I wanna deal with a turbo. I've never seen anyone do a Vetec conversion but I know that motor can handle buttloads of power. There's the 2 liter, 8 valve ABA motor from your Golfs/Jettas but it's only good for 118 hp. I've seen one guy do a 2 liter, 16 valve motor (one of my favorite motors) but......there's the Subaru motors. I could do a 2.2NA motor but why do that when there's the 2.5NA that'll give me about 175ish (depending on year)? Lot's of people go the Subie route and it fits like it was supposed to come that way from the factory. Plus I still get the cool factor of the horizontally opposed 4 cylinder (it's really interesting to me). A VR6 will work but you have to fabricate a new deck lid and lose a lot of space. Finally....an SVX Subaru motor fits nicely and gives stupid power but you pay for it and they're hard to find. I do know of one of those motors in St. Louis that my friend built that has 1000 horse power and I believe he just sold it for 27 grand.
Right now I'm leaning towards the 2.5. It's nothing that's gonna happen tomorrow. A conversion like that is gonna take some reading up on. I need to have all my ducks in a row before I do that and I've still got some things that are pretty big distractors to take care of.
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