Familiar scenario...

Yet again. I haven't been able to figure it out...well, not really. I often find myself in the exact position that I did, today. I wasted a full day.

It starts out like this:

- I wake up early, like around 6AM
- Roll back over and sleep another couple hours
- Get up and act like I am going to do something, today
- Throw on my lazy clothes and find my flip flops
- Grab some water, swallow some pills, and look for something to eat
- Flop down on the couch
- Grab the laptop and check emails, blogs, FB, Ebay, ect...
- Flip on the television and check out any news
- Walk to this room, that room, the garage, the kitchen, then flop back down on the couch
- Get up and get more food
- Look at the dirty dishes, and decide to wash them
- Go back out to the garage to look at some things on my bus
- Decide not to do anything with my bus, and go back in the house
- Change clothes so I can go out to do something
- Reunite with the couch and the laptop
- Insist on getting out of the house and then find more things to look up on the net 
- Get up and make food, yet again
- Realize that it is past bedtime and finish up on this blog entry

I don't know if I am going crazy, or if I am just that bored in life. I need to find something better to do with my time. I do how ever look forward to Mondays, that is when I go do pottery at a local studio. I may have to schedule at least two other weekly activities, but that ends up getting expensive. It's not that I am being a cheap bastard about things...it's just that I am tired of living check to check, and am trying to put some money in the bank.

                                  I would like a pet skunk = Random comment

Ready for the oil pump...

I have the motor just about buttoned up, yet I am still dealing with the oil pump. See, the problem with these VW type 4 engines is that the oil pumps go to crap if the engine isn't proficiently maintained. You will have idle shaft movement and then excess play in the gears, which causes low and erratic oil pressure. Not a good thing for an air cooled engine. One company, Melling, does make a new replacement oil pump, but at $300, I don't think so. You can have one "rebuilt", but the problem is finding a good core to use, which will cost you anywhere from $40-60. THEN, you have to send that core in, along with @$75 to get it fixed. So now you have between $115-135 into a new/used oil pump.

What most guys these days are doing is converting to a type 1 oil pump. In order to make it work, you have to change your case studs, they have to be @3/8" longer. Then you have to machine the two post on the rear of the oil pump, in order to clear the camshaft face and the camshaft attaching bolts. After you have done that, you have to press the drive gear further onto the shaft, so that you have proper clearance to the outer face of the pump. You then use a type 1 oil pump cover which you'll have to cut back the drivers side, upper corner, in order to clear a post in the case.

Here is where MY problem comes in. The oil pump of choice for they type 1 to type 4 conversion is a 26mm Schadek aluminum oil pump. Schadek pumps are now made in Brazil, and have been notorious for being machined too small. They pumps are designed to be a slight tension fit, so that the inlet/outlet ports are sealed tight against the case. My pump is one of the crap ones. It's outer diameter is @.006" smaller than the diameter of the bore in the case, meaning there is a clearance fit. That mean that the pump with suck air, along with oil...not good. I have been working with a couple of vendors in trying to find a good pump. What a pain in the ass. But, they have been good with helping me out.

After the oil pump fiasco, all that is left is attach the oil cooler, the engine tins, the heater boxes, plug wires, cooling fan/housing, and carb linkage. Woo hoo!

Here are a couple of picts to hold you over...

Building the heart of the Westy.

Yesterday I decided to get back out in the garage and get more of the 2.0L type 4 VW engine put together. I grabbed the heads and the cylinders and got into lapping the cylinders into the heads. I soon found out that the heads were causing a problem. I had the heads done at DRD and they had come back with more problems than I have ever had with a set of heads before. NOW, I find another problem. When they had opened the chamber in the 1.7L heads to accept the 94mm cylinders, they had cut too deep.

They had cut down .285", which is a problem, because the cylinder shoulder is set at .250".

I brought the heads into work today and ended up cutting the head down .045". Now I have a clearance of .010" between the head and the cylinder body.

I lapped the heads, which took a while, installed the cylinders/pistons, and then installed the heads.

I think I will leave it at that for the night. Tomorrow I will install the valve train, pushrods, and tubes. Then I will sit down and figure out my oil pump situation.

Another change...

  It all starts out with the fact that I can't keep my attention locked solid, towards anything. Then, you add the fact that I have joint damage in my right wrist, and you will get the new installment of change.

 See, I love building things that I see in my head. This time around, it was a 1977 Honda CB750.

I had a few visions of what I wanted, and after 3 years of this and that, I finally got the appearance that I wanted. Problem being, my Gout had developed in my throttle wrist and caused bone damage. I no longer have the ability to withstand the pain that comes with the vibration, bumps, and grip strength needed to ride safely. I had to make the unwanted decision to sell my bike. I guess the only upside, is the fact that it is going to Virginia and I don't have to see someone else riding it. Maybe someday I will be able to get my wrist surgically fixed and get build another bike, but in the meantime I will try and finish my VW camper, and enjoy that...for a while.