on the road again....

​A big hit for Willie Nelson, and also a happy event to be on the road again with our 1977 Volkswagen Transporter/Bus!  We call her Lucy.
What started out as a repair (see the post directly before this one) turned mostly into a top end engine rebuild.  The work is now complete, with the engine back in its place.  The test drives have been strong and smooth.
Here is a brief description of what I did-

• Replaced all fuel lines
• Installed new German clamps on the fuel lines
• Cleaned the injectors
• Found good core VW heads and had them rebuilt with new valves
• All new German valve adjuster screws
• I cc'ed the heads
• Replaced the bad piston
• Replaced damaged rocker arm and push rod
• Cleaned all pistons (spotless) including landing rings
• Balanced the pistons within 1/10 of a gram of each other
• Honed the cylinders
• Measured deck height
• Set compression ratio to 8.0 with the proper base gasket/shim
• Replaced the thermostat
• Replaced thermostat pulley
• New NOS Leisteritz muffler and tailpipe
• Replaced muffler heat shield
• Removed the catalytic converter
• New motor mounts
• Installed all new exhaust gaskets, using new bolts and copper nuts
• Spent an insane amount of time cleaning and painting everything
• All new tune up components
• Cleaned up any bad electrical connections

I am sure there is more that I have forgotten to list.  This work took about 10 weeks, but the result is a smooth, strong engine.

After about 50 miles I will recheck valve clearances, and after something like 300 miles I'll change out the oil and filter.

Some photos and a video of the result are below.
Lucy is now On The Road Again!