Quicky Belt Change

I think I'll keep my fingers and do it the old fashion way.

"Thanks Kelso, Rest In Peace."

Is it just me or does that line raise a question for you, too.

--Winston

Is it just me or did anyone else wonder about properly adjusting the belt tension after the belt was changed?

Jeff

Very same engine, 46 years ago, three fingers went around the top pulley, with belt on. Working at a gas station at the time, fiddling with the carburetor and not being careful. Right ring finger, second joint took the brunt of the ordeal. Got away with it for decades, until 30 years later it got arthritic. Now joint is about 20° out of alignment and does not match the spacing of the piano keys. My other passion.

Ivan Vegvary

(...)

Well yeah, but my first question was about the probable cause of Kelso's passing. Sounds like it might have been a spectacular mishap involving a rubber band. :)

My second concern was the damage incurred on the vee belt and generator by the stress of popping the belt on the pulleys like that.

To quote Adam: "That is just wrongity - wrong - wrong".

--Winston

You didn't adjust belt tension after the belt was changed. Belt tension was governed by shims in the two-piece generator pulley.

I'll try and remember that info, never having owned a Bug.

But, was it usual to not have to reset the number of shims in that pully when replacing a well used belt with a new one?

Jeff

I prefer the Greyhound bus scheme I saw. The triple belts are tensioned by an air cylinder with regulator pushing on the BIG alternator.

Shut off engine. Close air valve. Alternator slacks off, pull it further. Pop off old belts if not gone. Install new set on pulleys and crack valve, alternator seats them. Open valve, start bus.

About 2-3 minutes, maybe 5 to walk to front of bus and remove key, then replace after.

On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:36:12 -0400, the infamous jeff_wisnia scrawled the following:

Ayup, I did, immediately.

But...it's only a VubDubya.

Hell. I've seen the heads bouncing an inch off the barrels as they pop down the street, both blown-out mufflers screeching loud enough to drown out a Harpy in heat. Effin' things. I always did hate them.

-- The blind are not good trailblazers.

-- federal judge Frank Easterbrook

Usual, yes. The shims were set for a new belt in the first place, right? Nobody adjusted the shims as the belt aged because things usually kept working until the belt broke or tossed. You stop RFN, put on the spare, resume travel.

This book was invaluable to beetle owners who were even moderatly handy:

it and a few simple tools there wasn't much a rank amateur couldn't fix. Tranny rebuilt wasn't on the menu but engine rebuild was, and it could be done (and has been done) in parking lots and campgrounds.

A recalled excerpt, paraphrased but I'll bet pretty close:

"Crawl under the car until the oil drain plug is right over your nose. Now reach up with your 13 mm wrench and find a bolt that it fits. If it doesn't fit, keep looking. When you find the bolt, turn your head to the side so the crap falls into your ear instead of your eye and yank on the wrench..."

Muir may not have said "crap".

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Volkswagen Repair

Another very good book.

Best time for swapping out VW engines was 42 minutes. I was rather good at it at one time.

Gunner

"Lenin called them "useful idiots," those people living in liberal democracies who by giving moral and material support to a totalitarian ideology in effect were braiding the rope that would hang them. Why people who enjoyed freedom and prosperity worked passionately to destroy both is a fascinating question, one still with us today. Now the useful idiots can be found in the chorus of appeasement, reflexive anti-Americanism, and sentimental idealism trying to inhibit the necessary responses to another freedom-hating ideology, radical Islam"

Bruce C. Thornton, a professor of Classics at American University of Cal State Fresno

On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:21:04 -0700, the infamous Gunner Asch scrawled the following:

Y'know that little push-on hose between the fuel line and the carb? My favorite view of that was from the road, driving by a burning VW where that line had rotted and broken or just flat came off.

My 3 favorite views on the road: Rainbows, burning VWs (and there were a whole lot of those), and upside-down BMW "sports cars" (2 so far.)

-- The blind are not good trailblazers.

-- federal judge Frank Easterbrook

Larry Jaques wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

My two favorite roadside sights:

1) Driving on a major highway near Boston, saw some oil in the road, followed a little later by a piece of metal with more oil, followed by a gear. Then there were lots more gears & more oil, which slowly tapered off. Then a car by the side of the road. Plotted vs distance, there was a nice sort of gaussian distribution of transmission parts. 2) In California, they had been painting a yellow line down the middle of the highway. It was fine for a while, nice & smooth. Then it began to weave back & forth a bit, and then the weaving got really wild and the line went all over the place. It eventually veared off to the right hand shoulder, where there was a LOT of yellow paint in a big splodge.

Doug White

I can't view it. It *insists* that I register with youtube (something which I have not encountered on other videos there), and I refuse to do that.

Enjoy, DoN.

Ayup. Every time I pulled an engine...that got replaced. Every time. Same with replaceing the battery cover that protected the hot terminal from the rear seat springs. Toss a bunch of gear back there..or in a couple cases...f*ck back there and Poof!...."hey...whats that smell"?

I was Sr Engineer for an alarm company that had 160+ armed guards and patrolman in a second division. They drove VWs....lots of oilfield and off road patrols. It was actually pretty hard to beat the Bugs, particularly a hotrodded one with a driver who knew how to drive one. I think before they went over to trucks..we had something like 75 VWs on patrol. I built one that was 1900cc.....tricked out for off road. I took down a bunch of wire and mercury thieves using that one and a couple pot growers.

Id love to have another VW to kick around in. NO SUPER BEETLES!!!

(very weak front ends)

Gunner

"Lenin called them "useful idiots," those people living in liberal democracies who by giving moral and material support to a totalitarian ideology in effect were braiding the rope that would hang them. Why people who enjoyed freedom and prosperity worked passionately to destroy both is a fascinating question, one still with us today. Now the useful idiots can be found in the chorus of appeasement, reflexive anti-Americanism, and sentimental idealism trying to inhibit the necessary responses to another freedom-hating ideology, radical Islam"

Bruce C. Thornton, a professor of Classics at American University of Cal State Fresno

Didja spot this one? (Guiness World Record.)

(Though it looked to me like the bolts were only finger tightened.)

Jeff

I used to be pretty fast too. I had a '71 bus in Tucson and it burned the #3 cyl exhaust valve at least twice every summer. I could pull the engine, strip off the shit metal, yank the heads and be on my way to the machine shop in well under an hour. Solo.

I don't think I could swap engines in 42 minutes tho. Art

On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:26:43 GMT, the infamous Doug White scrawled the following:

Wow, that's one I've never seen. All I've ever seen are pieces of Pontiac GTO ring gear and hypoid gear lube on the ground after my buddy blew it with the built 389 sportin' a 6-pack. I warned him that the 2.70:1 wouldn't hold it. He later put in a 3.01:1 and it took us to San Diego from Vista in 17 minutes, about 39 miles. I think the high speed was 140, and we raced a California Highway Patrol officer at one point, just after getting on I-5 in Oceanside. It wasn't until about five minutes later that Phil told me that it had been a friend of his and they did that all the time. He hit 4th at 120 and we pulled away from the Chippie quickly and smoothly. My heart was in my throat only from the black and white, not the fun and speedy ride. Ah, the good old days...

Har! That'll teach him to light the Big Bambu spliff while driving, won't it, mon?

-- The blind are not good trailblazers.

-- federal judge Frank Easterbrook

They were already loose, not all of them were done (bellhousing bolt behind the back seat) and it took 3 guys with the car already up on ramps.

But it wasnt too bad.

Gunner

"Lenin called them "useful idiots," those people living in liberal democracies who by giving moral and material support to a totalitarian ideology in effect were braiding the rope that would hang them. Why people who enjoyed freedom and prosperity worked passionately to destroy both is a fascinating question, one still with us today. Now the useful idiots can be found in the chorus of appeasement, reflexive anti-Americanism, and sentimental idealism trying to inhibit the necessary responses to another freedom-hating ideology, radical Islam"

Bruce C. Thornton, a professor of Classics at American University of Cal State Fresno