Update on the Vanagon and the Legacy

I really do try to keep this blog up to date. I hasn't been easy, but I'll try and do better.

Anyhow, the project Legacy isn't as far along as I'd like at this point. I did finally finish cleaning the interior. I had both the front seats out in order to give the carpets a deep cleaning. From there, I turned my attention to the car's steering and suspension, and that's where things started to snowball on me.

In order to changed the shredded steering rack boots, I needed to remove the outer tie rod ends. Even though there was no noticeable play in the tie rod ends, I found the grease boot was torn on one side (I haven't gotten to the other side yet). Once I changed the steering rack boot, and placed an order for new tie rod ends (still waiting for them), I decided to change the lower ball joints, only to have the pinch bolt shear off on me. It looks like I'll be drilling that out once I pull the steering knuckle off the car.

The only part of the job that went relatively smoothly was changing out the front sway bar bushings and links. The car had a reasonably tired suspension. Although the front was serviceable (the rear suspension is desperate for some new parts), I decided to refurbish both the front and rear while I had the chance. I also have the right front strut out for replacement (left front still installed, but it's up next).

It took me a while to get to the Legacy because... I was finishing up the Vanagon. Guess what?... it's running:

It's re-registered, re-inspected, and back on the road. I've only driven it locally so far, but it's running pretty well with the new engine. Bonus - I even found an original tachometer gauge cluster in the junkyard last weekend and installed it. Completely plug-and-play:

So, before I move on to the Mercedes, which is now in the garage, I need to finish up the Legacy project. There's still a lot of work ahead, but as this car needs to be a daily driver in the near future, I'm not dragging my feet on the project.

As always, there's more to come. Stay tuned...

The projects continue... and multiply

As of my last post, I had just gotten my daily driver Legacy back on the road after a cylinder head replacement. All went well there, and the car has been back in daily service, seeing around 90 miles per day since then.

So, now that I had transportation again, I decided to get back to working on the Vanagon again. I spent the next few weekends working on it, starting with installing the flywheel on the new engine. Eventually, I got the engine bolted into place and installed.

Finally, last weekend, I got the engine to start, albeit briefly. It doesn't seem to be getting fuel, so I suspect that either the fuel pump went bad from sitting dry for six months (I drained the gas tank when I put the van into storage), or there's a blockage somewhere. I need to do further diagnosis.

But, here's a video of it starting on starting fluid (sounds pretty good for an engine that sat for at least a year and a half):

I would have done more diagnostics this weekend, but I was busy with something else... As you may remember from previous posts, I've been looking for a new car for my wife for quite some time now. I finally found it, and it's something familiar:

No, you're not looking at my 1995 Legacy. This is my wife's... 1995 Legacy. Actually, the only difference between the cars is that hers has an automatic transmission, fewer miles on it (115,000), and has a working air conditioner. I didn't buy the same exact car on purpose. It was just the first decent 2.2L Legacy I've seen in my price range in a while. I've been buying tune-up and repair parts all week and will be working on this car shortly. Once it's done, I'll be selling the 320,000 mile green Impreza.

Here's some video of the Legacy. Enjoy:

Delayed by a major breakdown...

Apologies to anyone who's been reading in the past six weeks looking for updates on my regular projects. I really haven't touched the Vanagon or the 240D since early April. I've been busy with the Legacy.

Right around the time of my last blog post, the Legacy started running poorly and throwing a P0302 trouble code. I threw a few parts at the car, hoping it would be a simple fix (spark plugs, wires, a new coil, and finally, a fuel injector). None of this changed how the car ran, and no matter how many times I reset it, the code kept coming back.

So, after throwing money down the drain on non-returnable parts I didn't need, I did what I should have done in the first place - I ran a compression test:

The results were conclusive, showing low compression in cylinder 2 as the cause of the misfire. From the specifics of the test, it looked like a burned exhaust valve or a worn valve guide was likely the cause of the problem. So, after some brief soul-searching, I decided to go ahead and repair the car. The clearest path to that goal was replacing the cylinder head. Learning how to do that was enough without having to learn how to rebuild it myself.

I ordered a rebuilt cylinder head from F&S Auto Parts in Roxbury, CT, who I found highly recommended on several Subaru message boards. They rebuild cylinder heads to order, so I had to wait a little over a week for the part. In that time, I did something I hate to do - I commuted to work by train. Frankly, it's crowded, overpriced, uncomfortable, and the schedule is horrible. But, at least I was able to get to work.

For a while, I felt like an urban redneck. I had three cars at home, none of which I could drive. Finally, my cylinder head arrived, but not without difficulty. Let me paint a picture for you...

It was a sunny Saturday morning, around 11 AM. I was home, and, anticipating the arrival of the cylinder head, I went to look out the front door to see if the local mail carrier was on our street yet. I saw no sign of the mail truck, but found the day's mail in the mailbox, along with an attempted delivery notice indicating for my cylinder head. I needed the part, and in a panic, tried calling the post office (I got no answer). Not knowing what else to do, I started searching the neighborhood in my wife's car, looking for the mail carrier. I found a succession of trucks and carriers, none of whom were my mail carrier, but who were all helpful. Finally, one of them directed me to a street around a half mile away from my house, where I found another truck. I waited like a madman (as politely as I could) for the carrier to return. When she did, I was happy to find that she had the cylinder head, and was happy to let me have it just so long as I signed the delivery notice.

My prize in hand, I sped back to the house and started tearing into the Legacy. By the end of the day, I had the intake manifold off. By the end of the weekend, the new cylinder head was installed, but the engine wasn't buttoned-up yet. By the middle of that week, I had the car back on the road, running better than it ever had since I bought it.

So, on top of that, another weekend that I was horribly sick, and this past weekend, when I replaced a CV axle on my wife's car:

...I haven't had any time for the Vanagon.

But, I've budgeted most of the upcoming long weekend to wrench on the van. I am still planning on having it back on the road for the summer.

The Vanagon... and the new project

It's hard to believe that it's been a month since I last posted. The Vanagon is coming along. I ended up taking a two week break, not so much by choice, but because I was busy with other stuff in my life. But, as of now, the old engine is OUT of the van and I'm swapping parts onto the new engine:

I've been a bit distracted these past two weeks. Remember that "itch" I was talking about in my last post? Well, I did it. I bought another Mercedes. The blog lives up to its name.

I was actually been in negotiation to buy this car for well over a month, for various reasons. I brought it home last week, and it needs some of everything. But, it's a one family car, and I can't wait to get it on the road.

Here's some before and after shots from before and after a good scrubbing:

I know the interior is in poor shape, but I've already picked up most of the needed parts, including replacement front seats and a new dashboard.

But, I won't be doing any real work on this until the Vanagon is rolling again.

The engine swap... and the "itch" is back

For the past few weekends, I've been working away at my engine swap in the Vanagon. I did as much as I could with the new engine for now. This past weekend I started work to pull the existing engine out of the van. So far, I've disconnected all the electrical items and fuel lines. I haven't had more than a few hours each of the past few weekends to get anything done.

This coming weekend I plan to pull the intake manifold and a few remaining items off the old engine to get some more clearance to pull the engine out from below the van. Once that's done, I'll block off and disconnect the cooling system. With any luck, I can unbolt and get the engine out this weekend.

One of the reasons I haven't had much time to work on the van is that I've started to look at project cars again. What, you ask? Old, Mercedes diesels, of course. I don't necessarily regret selling the 220D. If I knew that I was going to find a new engine for the van so soon, I would have held on to the Mercedes. But, such is life, and I'll be happier with a W123.

Not that I need another project - far from it. But, I'm at the point where I'm wired for this, and I feel like I almost need to have something to work on. Plus, I'm still looking for another Subaru to add to the fleet. I haven't committed to buying another Mercedes, but I've certainly got the itch for it again.

Updates on the Dahon and the Vanagon

It occurred to me the other day that I never updated the blog vis-a-vis my progress on the Dahon rebuild project. Well... it's done.

...more or less. Well, it's all reassembled, but it's been too cold and I've been too busy to do the final tuning and take it for a test ride. The biggest obstacle will be tuning the internally-geared 3-speed hub. But, I'll get to it soon.

I've been working on the van's new engine these past weekends. I cleaned it up this past weekend, after stripping off the intake manifold and accessories:

My first load of parts arrived this week, so I'll be doing more work this weekend. I'm waiting until I'm sure there won't be any more snow before I pull the old engine out of the van. The logic is this - aside from dealing with the cold... when it snows, I need to have all my cars off the street and in the driveway. The garage may not be tall enough for pulling the van's engine. I may need to do that outside. If so, and I need to wait for more parts, the van could be sitting outside on ramps for a week or more. It's been a warm winter (55-ish in Boston today), but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods. If the van is sitting outside, then there MAY not be enough room to park everything.

This weekend I'll be measuring my jackstands, the ceiling height in the garage, and the height of the engine. If I can, I'll pull the old engine with the van still in the garage, which will also speed the project up.

Also, I randomly picked up a new project last week. Now that the Dahon is "done," I found another folder - a 1990s Fuji Marlboro promo folding bike. I'm saving this project for when I have nothing else to do:

Coming soon to a road near you... again

Well, life has a way of surprising us sometimes, doesn't it?

As you know (if you've been reading along these past few months), the Vanagon died way back in October. The bottom end of the engine finally just got tired and wore out on me. That, or the oil pump went and took the bearings with it. Either way, the damage was done.

I contemplated what to do next. Eventually, I got my Mercedes 220D project running again, and put the Vanagon into the garage, presumably for long-term storage until I could afford an engine swap. I even sold the 220D and used the proceeds to start my "Save the Vanagon" fund. As best I could figure, it would be a few years before I could afford to swap in a Subaru EJ22 engine or a Bostig Ford Zetec.

Last week, somewhat randomly, I ran across a local ad on Craigslist... for a good-running VW Vanagon 2.1L waterboxer longblock... cheap. Apparently, it was a running takeout from an engine swap, and I knew the seller already. Well, 24 hours later (give or take a bit) that engine was loaded in the back of the Legacy and I was headed home.

I haven't done much yet, aside from moving the engine out of the Subaru and into the garage. I start this weekend.

The engine is out of an automatic, so I'll need to swap out the flexplate for my clutch and flywheel (from my engine, which is still very much mounted in my van), as well as some other ancillaries which are much newer on my engine. But, I should be rolling again long before the summer.

I know I swore up and down that I wouldn't be putting another VW engine back in, but I couldn't pass it up at this price. This keeps me rolling until I can afford a proper engine swap.