) and some serious hours laid over the top the engine i can finally announce that......{vavaluza blast on}
the bus is running again!
{vavaluza blast off}
its making 28 volts running (better than the pathetic 18 volts the previous 'fully rebuilt' alternator managed), the exhaust doesnt blow, all the water pipes are now perfect, they are all able to be replaced in situ easily - and are all 'off the shelf' items, the gear lever feels like its got a fighting chance of selecting gears, rather than the luck dip method before, the fan belt is correct (and i have a spare), the fan belt adjusts ok, the alternator jackshaft runs parallel, the seat is now bolted to a frame so its easily removable in situ etc etc.
the costs have been horrific - 200 quid on silicon hoses, 50 quid on a 30 year old gasket set just to get one single gasket (which had shrunk and had to be 'grown' back to the correct size) are a few that spring to mind
the difficulty in finding parts is immense - it took six months to find a company who had a set of exhaust gaskets!
none of the 'specalists' (and i use this word very, very tounge in cheek) where unable to read a parts book - they needed the exact model the engine came from (er, i dont know...) or the engine number (which i eventually found on the engine by using a rag soaked in brasso on a two foot long stick and a endoscope camera to be able to get close enough to read the numbers. none of them where able to make the assumption that an engine made for 20 years would have some parts that remained the same........ it drove me round the bend, in the end i just got into the habit of ordering parts in the hope they where right, sometimes it worked, some times it didnt!!!!
the final sticking point was the ring that went between the manifold and the down pipe, i had no idea what size it was or the shape - i bought about 10 various shaped bedforf and leyland ones of ebay (average price a fiver) and none fitted, i then went to the local auto factors and rummaged through his rack - and lo and behold found a bmw that fitted - cost? - £1.60 - bargain!!!
big thanks to mark (for the gear lever bushes) and fishy for the help.
i might actually get some use out of it this summer!!!
