And here I had been thinking you had invested in some autocorrect
technology : )

Jim

On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 4:02 PM, Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>wrote:

>  I have always been very speeling challenged !
>
>
>  On 10/24/2013 1:43 PM, Jim Felder wrote:
>
> No, "barring." Baring might get him arrested, especially if he were driving
> around doing it in a Vanagon.
>
> Jim
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 3:31 PM, Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>wrote:
>
>
>  HI Angus ..
> on the 'bar thing'..yeah, Angus turned me onto what you meant.
> The word you wanted was 'baring' .
>
> On the rings ..I find that compression rings go in fairly easily ..
> it's the oil rings that are a tight squeeze sometimes.
>
> One way to gauge piston ring and barrel wear is to remove an old ring
> from that piston,
> put it in the barrel and measure the end gap of the ring, then compare
> that to spec.
>
> You'll likely find pretty 'good' wear.
>
> I forget how many miles on your engine ..
> and it's always .."Do I just fix what's really broken or worn badly  ? ..
> or do I go further ?
>  And ....once you do 'this' ..then might as well do 'that' too ..
> and it just keeps growing that way.
>
> Need to draw the line somewhere ..
> it's tempting to do new rings and rod bearings ...
> but then you might as well do X too ...........etc. etc. etc.
>
> yes, the right forward cylinder is # 1 .
> VW has used that numbering pattern in their oppossed fours since about
> 1950, if not before that even.
>
> here's a neat trick ..
> when you are adjusting your valves, turn the engine backwards to get to
> each cylinder on compression in turn ...
> that it's 1, 2, 3 , 4  .   Confirm which cylinder you are on by dist
> rotor position .
>
> If anyone is interested in rebuildable 1.9 core waterboxer engines ....I
> have about 6 and don't want  much for an assembled short block.
> You can make a 1.9 DH code engine into 2.1 by putting a 2.1 crankshaft
> in it.
>
> Scott
>
>
>
>
>
> On 10/24/2013 8:08 AM, Tom Carchrae wrote:
>
>
>  @Scott:
>
> Thanks for confirming about the valves.  I'm not entirely sure which ring
> it is, I'll go and have a closer look today.  Btw, I didn't adjust
> anything
> with a bar - bar was meant as a synonym for 'except'.  I am pretty sure it
> is cylinder #1 (it is the closest to the passenger seat).
>
>
> @Dennis;
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 10:50 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
>
> **wrote:
>
>  Please take this as training.
>
>   I do take it that way - mistakes are the best teacher, so they say?....
> but
> still enjoying learning and working on it.
>
> I also very much appreciative of all the time and insight you, and others,
> on the list are so generous with.
>
>
>
>  At the point that compression test was taken
>
>  that engine should have been taken out of service and further evaluated.
> All
> the cylinders are down and the one with 60 psi indicates a failure. If
> you
> had an emissions test program it should have failed. The catalyst is most
> likely shot. More concerning is while that cylinder was down the
> remaining
> three had to work harder to compensate.
>
>
>  That is the strange part - it passed the emissions test fine, not even
> close to failing.  The mechanic who did the compression test also thought
> it would be a problem.  So, I don't understand how that works, except
> perhaps that Vancouver's AirCare is a farce - one that they are ceasing to
> operate next year.
>
>
>
>  This often translate to increased
>
>  wear on the rod bearings. The oil contamination from unburned fuel
> doesn't
> help things. Before taking the engine a part a leak down test would help
> to
> diagnose if you had a valve or a ring problem.
>
>  This is was my most expensive lesson.  I took it to a mechanic, and
>
>  asked
> him to do a leak down test, and to look at the compression problem.  He
> reported back that he had got the compression back up by adding racing
> lash
> caps.  I recall asking him about the leak down, and got back 'fine', and
> 'it holds pressure', and so on.  It is clear from what you're saying that
> I
> should replace the valve adjusting screws, not just pad them with lash
> caps.
>
> Shortly after that, he changed the expansion cap, and I started to get a
> really expensive series of coolant explosions.  Then I drove the van
> across
> western canada, with a few incidents, although after I changed the
> pressure
> cap to another one I didn't have any more explosions - just coolant backup
> behind the plate, and it was fine for an entire leg of the journey home.
>   Each experience made me want to fix it myself more - the last incident
> was
> taken care of while we stopped for lunch (the first involved a tow truck,
> waiting around for a day, and a crappy patch on a hose).
>
> Anyway, all that is now water under the... no, coolant under the van?  har
> har.  sorry, sorry... groan-worthy.
>
>
>
>  Now that the heads are off there are some easy checks you can make. Put
>
>  the
> spark plugs in and set the heads with the combustion chambers facing up.
> Fill the chambers with some light liquid like WD-40 or even carb cleaner.
> You will find leaking valves real fast.
>
>
>  Thanks.  I'll give that a shot before I dig further into the valves.  I
> saw
> a video of someone doing that, but it was on a different type of engine.
>
>
>
>  The exhausts should not be ground.
>
>  If the seat are cut or the valves ground the stems should be shortened
> and
> the springs shimmed to compensate.  This is to maintain spring pressure
> and
> rocker geometry. Adjusting screws should always be replaced. If the valve
> guides are worn it is likely time for new heads. These are a heat the
> head
> to 400 and cool the guides in liquid nitrogen fit. Otherwise they tend to
> go
> in off center and the seats will need a lot of cutting to compensate.
>
>
>  ...and I though the spring tool was going to be fiddly.
>
> They are newish AMC heads, no pitting (aside from some crowbar scratches).
>   I think they were done 5-10 years ago according to the receipts log, but
> I'm not sure both sides were done at the same time.  I've read the bit
> about the AMC valves being terrible.  I'll do some more reading up on how
> to check those (aside from WD-40 test)
>
>
> Back
>
>
>  when VW rebuilt these heads they almost always ended up drilled out and
> fitted with oversized guides. A lot of labor. Make sure the intakes get
> the
> oil seals. ETKA does not show them but they should be there. I have a
> bunch
> in stock. They will keep oil from getting sucked down the intake guides.
>
>  and that would help prevent the valves and cylinder getting filthier?
>
>
>
> You need to remove that carbon ridge at the top of the cylinder. The new
> top
>
>
>  ring can get broken hitting it. If honing the cylinders remove as little
> material as possible. A few more thousandths and you will have an engine
> with piston slap noises. With the cylinders out at least measure the rods
> for play and bearing wear. The rods and bearings can be replaced without
> splitting the case, (this sucks but do-able).
>
>  I've been reluctant to pull any more cylinders out until I try getting
>
>  one
> back on.
>
>
> Good luck,
>
>
>  Dennis
>
>
>  Thanks Dennis - very much appreciated.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>
>