Mr. Rocket.

In your pics, I don't see a cable, but do (I think) see the mark where it
travelled.

Is a cable present on each set of arms? When top down, is each under
tension?

Neil.

On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 3:35 PM, Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@gmail.com
> wrote:

>  Thanks Mike S and Neil. I've been gone camping since Monday morning and
> just got back. Have some catching up to do.
>
> David B posted pictures of what a failing poptop hinge (pivot? pulley?)
> looks like. The pulley looks to be bulging out of its housing.  <
> https://picasaweb.google.com/dbeierl/VanagonPopTopHingeTroubles#>
>
> I can't tell if mine is undergoing the same failure. The poptop has gotten
> harder to move.
>
> Here are shots of mine:
> <https://picasaweb.google.com/j.michael.elliott/PoptopHinges?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXnpcK_gtDDuAE&feat=directlink<https://picasaweb.google.com/j.michael.elliott/PoptopHinges?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXnpcK_gtDDuAE&feat=directlink>
> >
>
>
>   --
> Rocky J Squirrel
>
>
>
>   On Mon, 2011-05-30 at 09:56 -0700, neil n wrote:
>
> You will likely see this during your inspection, but have a look at
> the cable where it passes over the upper arm.
> https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/PopTopStrutCableAndSpringEtc#5509195367211185330
>
> Top down, or most of the way down, exposes most of the cable. You can
> still see part of cable top up. Check if cables are frayed.
>
> Neil.
>
> On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 6:28 AM, Rocket J Squirrel
> <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Thanks. I wonder if anyone came up with an "everyman" solution. One not
> > requiring a lathe or Bronze Age metalworking skills. I'll eye the hinges in
> > Mellow Yellow this camping trip and if they look fishy I'll be needing to
> > fix 'em up. I'll raise the issue then.
> >
> > On Sun, 2011-05-29 at 22:02 -0700, neil n wrote:
> >
> > Oh.
> >
> > Maybe use PVC instead of copper? OD of that schedule (thickness) PVC
> > needed to be reduced or hole in arm embiggened much more so than for
> > the copper, but AFAIK, the ID wouldn't need to be altered. Personally
> > i would stick with metal. I just threw it out there.
> >
> > Neil.
> >
> > On Sun, May 29, 2011 at 9:56 PM, Rocket J Squirrel
> > <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Outstanding. There's another sentence maybe you could unpack:
> >>
> >> "Of note, a chunk of thicker wall 3/4" PVC found on bench fit bar OD
> >> nicely."
> >>
> >> Nice to hear, but I don't understand what this means.
> >>
> >> Would wearing 19th century deep sea diving equipment help?
> >>
> >> On Sun, 2011-05-29 at 21:48 -0700, neil n wrote:
> >>
> >> For annealing you will need:
> >>
> >> - Flux Capacitor
> >> - Box with window and gloves like Homer J has at work
> >> - 911 on speed dial
> >> - band-aids
> >>
> >> ;)
> >>
> >> I use a propane torch (like you use for plumbing at home) to heat the
> >> metal til it's red-orange in colour. It helps to have lower lighting
> >> to see the colour change though safety first right?
> >>
> >> With copper or brass, you can cool it down with water or air cool.
> >> Seems to make no difference. (other than any possible water spatter)
> >>
> >> Annealing = making metal softer. Working it will harden it.
> >>
> >> I don't recall exactly what I did to expand the piece but I either:
> >>
> >> used a socket on 1/2" extension in vice as mandrel, slipped piece on,
> >> hit it with a hammer making sure the mandrel was "backing it up" at
> >> all times. This spreads the metal. Or.....
> >>
> >> Pounded a suitably sized sockets through the pipe bit thus expanding it.
> >>
> >> Thinking now, maybe this isn't an evermans solution, but, well, there
> >> ya go. I've had some experience shaping brass (dent removal etc.) so
> >> this wasn't foreign to me. The ID is close so it didn't take much to
> >> get it to fit over the push arm.
> >>
> >> That 5 min. LePage epoxy didn't hold that great. But the piece is more
> >> or less held in place by the arms where they pivot.
> >>
> >> Neil.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sun, May 29, 2011 at 9:14 PM, Rocket J Squirrel
> >> <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> "Embiggen" is a perfectly cromulent word.
> >>>
> >>> On that page, you wrote, "Bushing: 3/4" pipe. Annealed, expanded a little
> >>> w/normal hand tools."
> >>>
> >>> What, pray tell, hand tools does one use to expand 3/4'' pipe? And
> >>> annealing
> >>> . . . this is a process involving a leather blacksmith apron, asbestos
> >>> gloves, goggles with smoked lenses, and a small boy pulling on a bellows
> >>> --
> >>> right?
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>

--
Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"

http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/

http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines