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Allright...kinda long, but it should be worth it..:)
(ps, credit given to all the original authors, etcetc, and i take no
responsibility, blah blah..:)
<start>
Rebuilders and Dizzys:
Next question for 1500/1600 rebuild concerns the distributor
drive shaft and, in particular, end play for the shaft. Tom
Wilson (_How_to_Rebuild...) advocates installing the shim(s),
shaft, and distributor (without the spring) and then measuring
end play between the case and the shoulder of the shaft. He
cites a range of .020-.050" with an emphasis on the *minimum
allowable* being .020.
Muir, OTOH, installs shim(s) and shaft after the case halves are
already mated and says nothing (that I can find) on distributor
shaft end play.
The VW Workshop Manual (pre-Bentley) also installs this shaft
after case mating. It also notes that since March 1996 (engine
number H0114794) a new distributor drive shaft was fitted
(113.105.231B) with two shims of .024" and longer length gears.
I have engine number H0755560 (a VERY late '67).
Enter my problem. Taking the Wilson approach, I installed shim,
shaft and distributor to check end play before mating the case
halves. As I see it, I have end play closer to .25" than .020"
and I'm befuddled. I've owned this bus since 1979 (a very long
body restoration project). The PO had the engine rebuilt in the
mid-70s by the local VW dealer. It has what appears to be the
231B shaft but only one shim and I could put 10 shims in there
before approaching Wilson's range.
My first suspicion was the distributor...maybe this dizzy is too
short. I had a 009 on while tracking a vacuum leak, but still
have, and installed, the original. No change. Still a big gap
between the drive shaft shoulder and the seat in the case.
So...what gives? If Messrs. Bubblehead and Muir aren't even
checking, why is Tom Wilson? And if Wilson is right, what
accounts for the large discrepancy?
I was gonna ask Some Other Transporter Owners, but I figured I
could only afford Cyber Type 2ers.
-Jim Bryant
As a follow-up on my Wednesday question about distributor
shaft end play, I'd like to thank:
Bob Whitby
Mike West
Bob Hoover
for their input on the matter. I drew several conclusions from
their comments, mostly that there *are* variations, but that the
rule of smashed thumb is
It should be tight but not too tight and it should be
loose but not too loose and it really matters and it
may not matter too much.
Two possible pieces of the puzzle I don't have. One, some
distributor drive shafts have a steel spacer about 1/4" thick
which goes on the end with the shim(s). Two, some cases had a
similar spacer pressed into the case where the drive shaft seats,
ostensibly to provide a better shoulder to cry on. In the latter
scenario, I would assume that the hole in the case where the
drive shaft seats would be of larger diameter to accommodate the
pressed-in spacer. Not so in my case (pun intended). By process
of elimination, I pursue the former.
If I should have the slip-on spacer, then I need to come up with
one. I didn't lose mine, the engine never left my *pristine* :)
workbench. Well, there's that "extra" engine over in the
corner...but I really don't want to crack another case tonight
and I don't have VW tool 228a, distributor drive shaft removal
tool or equivalent, so I take a new approach.
How far down from the distributor seat on top of the
case is the top of the distributor drive shaft?
Case 1 (bolted to the engine stand) 1.75"
Case 2 (Over in the corner of the basement) 1.66"
Case 3 (Sitting on the bench in the barn) 1.69"
Case 4 (In Situ in my '67 Deluxe) 1.75"
Awful lot of variation there, but somehow the teeth on the bottom
of the distributor are meshing with the slot on top of the drive
shaft, the shaft is meshing with the gear on the crankshaft and
the spring between the distributor and drive shaft is applying
some tension to hold the drive shaft down.
My conclusion is that the existing setup ran for years only to be
disrupted when #1 exhaust valve head entered the scene through #1
piston. Neither the gears on the drive shaft nor those on the
crankshaft are worn or damaged. So unless I get a NO, DON'T DO
IT I'm just putting it back together as it came apart. When I
crack case #2, 3, or 4 I may find an entirely different frame of
mind.
-Jim Bryant (EF0JPB1@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU)
[mm...i woulda swore more were posteed to the list, but maybe they got
weeded outta the archives...:( ]
....david
--
Mo.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.oM
Keeper Of The Light:
Pushing Back The Darkness at
http://www.armory.com/~y21cvb/west/darkness.html
The Turning 40 Nostalgic VW Service Tour,
and
Search for the Beginning of Wind
http://www,armory.com/~y21cvb/charlie/charlie.html
'75 Retired Westy-Canadian Model, Cody
'69 Westy, Itchigo xi8940@freenet.tlh.fl.us
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