this is really good for a laugh.
The guy is building an AIRPLANE and he's not smart enough to store an engine
half properly ???? !
Makes a great story though.
Surprised it didn't use a little oil, or smoke some at least.
all fun though.
Scott

----- Original Message -----
From: "Angus Gordon" <birdworks@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 7:56 PM
Subject: Re: Frozen engine

> Here's the story of how I dealt with a similar situation many years ago -
>
> It all started when I gave my friend Dave the 1600 air-cooled out of my
> terminally biodegraded bug. It was a good, strong, low mileage rebuild, so
> I
> kind of expected he'd at least put some preservative oil in it and stash
> it
> away in his garage for future use in his own Beetle. Instead he apparently
> stored it under his front porch (he was building an airplane in the
> garage),
> where it sat.  For five brutal Canadian winters.
>
> When the connecting rod let go in his Tremclad orange bug we dug the
> engine
> out of the mud under his porch and hauled the car and my former engine out
> to the shop. The engine of course was locked solid with rust. We pulled
> the
> plugs and filled the cylinders and crankcase with a mixture of every type
> of
> penetrating oil and lube we could find on my shelf. After several days of
> soaking we could barely get a fraction of a turn using a breaker bar on
> the
> flywheel. A full week of soaking and we could just turn the engine over
> with
> a lot of muscle on said breaker bar.
>
> Leaving the plugs out we installed the engine and hitched a tow rope up to
> my Vanagon (mandatory vanagon content!). I pulled Dave's Beetle, in gear,
> all around the airport my shop was located on for a good thirty minutes.
> Then we added spark plugs, turned the key, and it fired right up! He drove
> the car for another two years before selling it and the only engine
> problem
> in that time was a broken valve spring. Replacing the spring I noticed the
> one that broke had a small spot of corrosion on it, right at the break.
>
> ...oh, and he got four hundred bucks for the Bug...with my engine.
>
>
> Angus
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 4:10 PM, Robert Keezer
> <warmerwagen@yahoo.com>wrote:
>
>> Well I finally soved one problem just to end up with another- isn't that
>> just the way it is with a Vanagon?
>> The battery went out in my other '82 Vanagon  inline-four engine. Not my
>> Westy, but one I got in '06 that has a Scirocco engine . It ran fine for
>> three days, then stopped running. I spent time here and time there trying
>> to
>> figure it out.
>> Finally, I gave up on the CIS system that was so hacked anyway by the PO
>> that I ripped it all out and replaced it with Digifant 2.
>>
>> Ok, so next ,the battery went out. I get a good battery. Now the starter
>> craps out. I get a good starter which took several months to accomplish.
>> Now the engine will not turn . Not even with a breaker bar and cheater
>> pipe.
>>
>> It's not hydro-locked, but it has sat for 2 years in the driveway. SO of
>> course this means the rings rusted to the cylinder walls.
>> So I sprayed LPS in every cylinder .
>> How long does that take to work- any better ideas?
>> We are normally 60-100% humidity here in the PNW so I am not surprised it
>> froze.
>> Just that on other engines that froze I was able to break them free with
>> a
>> breaker bar. This one seems that I would break the bar if I could stand
>> on
>> it.
>> Could I attach the towbar and break it free by towing? Anybody done that
>> before?
>>
>> Robert
>> 1982 Vanagon inline four
>>
>>
>>
>
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