I've been a naughty boy...

I didn't in person MC, but have seen the you tube vids

 

today, a bit more diff wrestling but much more satisfying as it was all going back in.
Enlisted the help of my little bro for the lifting, as it's pretty heavy.

Tea Bitch


Sealant on flange


Refurb'd viscous coupling in nose cone

and tonight @Mrs Busmonkey has stolen Big G to drive to her shift at the pub!!

Tomorrow TNT deliver the prop back from GKN Driveline & 4wd will be reinstated.
I can't wait as it transforms the handling & turns a fun vehicle into a really fun vehicle

 

These have just been sent through from the engineering firm I used to rebuild the viscous coupling so I thought some of you may be interested in seeing some cool VW engineering from the 90's unwrapped

The case is split and the contents removed, the old fluid is allowed to drain out


The bits are meticulously cleaned


And then reassembled in the reverse order. The plates have to be inserted in order and the correct way round, with any damaged ones being replaced with the limited spares that have been hoarded by the specialists. Fortunately, Gorans' bits are in good order.


An exact amount of the correct viscosity silicon oil is added to the case. There's a lot of smoke and mirrors about this stage of the process and the exact procedures are closely guarded. The amount of silicon oil is calculated using the weight of the plates and the case volume. Historical tables gleaned from the Steyr factory which were built up over a period of time are referenced. There has to be a certain amount of air space left in the case to allow for expansion.


New seals are added and the case is resealed, hopefully good for another 60k to 100k miles.

 

Amazing thread and quite an insight for me thanks.

 

So the LPG system has been installed. We've got about 300 miles left to do before the first 1000 mile service & recalibration but so far so good.
The bus starts on the button, especially when hot & changes over in seconds onto gas. When cold the changeover is about 20 seconds but during the day after the first start it is instantaneous.

Dash mounted tell-tales. 4 green LEDs for tank capacity & a red for 'fill up soon'. Below are the yellow & red tell-tales for gas operation. Yellow only when on gas, red when on petrol. As you can see you can switch between the 2 systems, something I wanted to be able to do if we ever had a problem with the LPG.


Regulator & gubbins on the LHS of the engine bay


Gas feed into inlet just before air-flow meter


Sill mounted filler point (I didn't want body panels cutting & this is discrete & usually covered with a cap)


and finally 30 litre sill tanks either side. They would compromise ground clearance in extreme situations but are in practise barely lower than the prop shaft protection rails. It's unlikely we will take Big G to the Moab!

 

Here's the recon prop-shaft in situ. The speedo cable is the nice clean union you can see on the right of the front diff. A running repair was needed on this last week as the outer decided it didn't like the fitting it was swaged into!


A 'quick fix' on the rear washer. The water hose had split due to the tailgate opening & closing so rather than the rather irksome task of removing all the trim panels & having the grief of threading a new line through I used a 6mm microduct connector. We sell these to the telecoms industry for joining fibre optic networks. Rated to 25 bar it's just the job!


One of the water pipes was badly corroded so a new one has been bolted on. Looks like the exhaust may be next


and finally, the next project is the Eberspacher BL3 that's under the rear seat. It's never worked since we had G & today I managed to pop the power to the control panel doh. Anyway we've got a chap on the marina who has a rig to test these warm air combustion heaters. I bumped into him in the chandlery earlier & we're going to have a play when the weather gets a bit warmer.

 

The location of the Lpg switch is great!
Might have to get mine relocated

 

Thanks scooper.
The fog light switch is now top left on the dash which is a much more logical place to have it. Above the light switch and not obscured by the steering wheel. Hot stanley blade for the cut

 

A 2nd hand grab handle for the drivers door A post arrived today (it is tempting to grab the steering wheel to haul yourself in)!

This weekend saw us driving down to Kent from Derbyshire to start emptying my Grandma's house. Loads of tip trips and lots of other running around.

On the way down on Friday we had a bit of excitement on the M11 when the drivers side windscreen wiper decided to detach itself whilst overtaking a lorry in the outside lane in pouring rain!
A tense 10 minutes on the hard shoulder with the socket set put an end to that little drama!

On the way back we detoured via Cambridge to pick up the latest e-bay addition. 3 Thule roof bars which will support safari baskets slung between them and possibly a cheapo solar panel. It's added to the versatility in any case.
I was delighted with the win for £50 coz the Thule system would add up to about 300 quid new...

In the car park at work this morning before removal, fitted for transportation home yesterday

 

don't forget to put a height sticker on the dash when you've fitted the extra bits up top...

 

Oh how I laughed on Monday afternoon whilst changing the gearbox oil!

Firstly access is a joy. You only have to drop the engine and prop protection rails,wrestle with a drain plug that the exhaust fouls and then the real easy bit...fill the thing up again. The filler is in the most horrendous place VW could have imagined - let alone designed! #oilyarmpits

However the most enjoyable part of the whole experience has been trying to find out what this little gift that was stuck to the magnetic drain plug is


Now i don't know about you but it looks suspiciously like a bit of one of these to me...more specifically the inner bit.

...which it turns out is one of 6 shift rail guides. They have stainless balls in them. There were no stainless balls in the oil. They're not magnetic.
I'm driving with permanently clenched cheeks...:weak:

 

By way of consolation & to take my mind off the impending doom, I fitted a grab handle to the driver side A pillar this lunchtime at work.
It's black, coz brown ones are scarce, but now the holes are drilled if I ever do come across one the right colour.
At least there's no longer any pulling on the wheel to haul my bloated body in...

 

I know it's no consolation but I reckon any small stainless ball bearings will be chewed up and spat out without much damage

 

I do hope so vanners.
In my minds eye is a vision of rotating gears meeting hardened steel balls creating an apocalypse of mashed metal.
Always looking on the bright side

 

gears will be case hardened...I doubt rail guide stainless ball bearings will have been specced to the same shore hardness as they're designed for sliding rather than resisting compression....

just a semi-educated guess....I'm trying to make you feel better

 

You know what fella that did the trick! I felt better.
Thrashed it home after work, thrashed it round to finish off the loft job I'm doing locally, then thrashed it round to the pub to drop it off for Mrs BM to drive home in later when she finishes her shift.

So far so good. Still in one piece. MOT tomorrow

 

Good luck for mot! Hope all goes well. Cant see why it wouldnt!

 

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Put a high top on it and a scooby conversion. Slavver, drool .....

 

Mate, natural born worrier. Our first one with him. My only concern is wishbones, typically syncro & fixable.
They have to use a brake thing in the cab coz it can't go on the rollers. So that's good!
LHD lights I can tape up. So that's good.
12.30 he's in....