Due to arrive soon

[MiniDave]

I-70 to Salina, then straight south?

Good idea to wait till the cool(er) evening.....also storms will have moved east too, so should be clear sailing all the way home.

Glad you had a good vacay, you were due after what happened last time! 

[94touring]

I had some ptsd from last time, I kept waiting for catastrophic failure once we crossed into Colorado. 

Supposed to be in the 100s across the midwest peak of the day.  We did that once last year coming from Yellowstone and never again.

Yeah Salina and South

[94touring]

Couple pics.  We did two 10 mile hikes with 1500 feet of elevation change on the long hike days.  Then a couple short easy days.  Otherwise it was simply relaxing, drinking coffee or popping into one of the breweries for a drink or a winery for a tasting.

[94touring]

Just passed Denver.  The one mini that's in my shop, owner, lives in Denver. He just happened to be driving to the airport and passed me.  Gave each other a wave.  What are the odds!

[94touring]

Glad I drove through the night...

[MiniDave]

Are you home now?

[94touring]

Yeah I got home at 8am this morning.

[94touring]

In my never ending have to be tweaking things quest, I bought a fuel injection kit.  The goal being have perfect air fuel ratios, resulting in better power and better gas mileage on mountain trips.  Should be able to fine tune better mileage around town too. A guy that just starting making these kits had a deal too good to pass up.  Same guy put together the trigger wheel ignition kit I already bought, which comes on the Efi kit, so I got a rebate there as well.  Since I have the efi kit for the mini as well, I may end up talking with him about setting me up with an ecu for it as well. I can use the same software for both.  I think the coolest feature so far doing the research and studying on the software is he includes a built in wideband, which will allow it to auto tune the air fuel ratios I want in the mapping.  The barometric correction mapping will work for the mountains.

[94touring]

I was looking for a few hard to find parts from Brazil and was able to locate them.  Problem is you can't just buy parts from Brazil without some kind of special tax id number issued from the government.  What I did find was a company, or probably just some guy with a website, who you send your list of parts to, he sources them, charges a minimal fee, and ships them to you.  I have a small order of things as a test run to make sure I actually get parts and not ripped off.  On my bus to do list are these god forsaken front king pins.  These are the suspension parts that control steering the front spindle assembles are located on.  I bought a bushing kit last year but never got to them after the transaxle grenaded and I did all the additional engine and paint work.  The bushing kit requires that I fabricate special tooling, which I have diagrams and good instructions on how to do, and a specific reamer which I also have.  In my boredom however and having found a website that has a bunch of Brazilian parts, I found what looks like a better solution. 2 different solutions actually. One is very easy and involves paying for entire new assembles, spindle and all.  Which I really like the idea of because these spindles are unobtainable in the states for this specific bus variant but are available in the UK as they used the same parts there, but are spendy and would be my last resort.  Eventually I would imagine they'd become NLA from the UK.  The Brazilian assembles are very affordable with the exchange rates.  As a perk what I've discovered is they're also rebuilt differently. Instead of a long rod that goes through the various parts which rotates about a brass bushing, these newer versions use a ball bearing internal guts.  This would reduce wear significantly and from what little bit of information I can find makes steering easier.  So I do believe I'll be ordering a set soon.  The 2nd option, and one that's maybe more appealing are conversion kits that ditch the king/link pins all together, but incorporate a ball joint.  The kits do not cost much also.  I'm thinking what I may do is order both, and utilize my old spindles to try the ball joint style on.  There's nothing particularly difficult about taking the entire assembly off and swapping them out, so might be a fun experiment to compare. More importantly I'd have spares for when the day comes they wear out or something bad happens and they need replaced. One other cool find also associated with steering is the stock swing lever arm that I replaced shortly after buying the bus. It also is crude in design and is simply a big rod that turns about a brass bushing, so it wears out in time also, mine was very sloppy. Also a pita to replace and ream.  The kits in Brazil utilize ball bearings again, which in the description says less wear and less friction for easier steering.  Also very affordable and just slip right in. 2 different styles and I may try both. So I'm looking forward to trying those out as well.  Pics for illustration. 

First 3 are swing lever designs. Stock then the 2 aftermarket. 

Secondly are spindle styles.

[MiniDave]

Assuming the parts actually show up, it will be interesting to hear how it all works out. I never thought a bus had heavy steering since the motor and gearbox were all in the back, but I guess a camper could be different.

[94touring]

It is a bit of a beast to turn sharply from a stop, or say backing into or maneuverering close to the wall at my garage downtown.  I just attribute it to no power steering, large diameter tires, and all of these steering linkages. It's definitely not like the mini in terms of easy steering.

[94touring]

The EFI kit came in today.  These are just a few items in the box.  All sorts of fittings and fuel related items. 

[94touring]

Got the appraisal report back a moment ago. 25 pages worth.  Couple highlights.

[94touring]

First small Brazilian parts order arrived, confirming it's a legit business.  I placed the big order today.  Even with shipping, taxes, and a commission I have to pay the guy to get the stuff for me, I'm still getting a good deal.  Speciality items tems in this next order will be rebuilt spindles with bearings not offered stateside, steering pivot/swing lever with bearings not offered stateside, correct sway bar for this year bus with upgraded mounts not available stateside, optional tach specific to the gauge cluster that's an arm and a leg stateside, various rear suspension bushings to rid of a clunk I'm getting, special order front carpet specific to the Brazilian model without heat duct cutout, and a few other random items.

[MiniDave]

Nice to be able to get the right parts for the car instead of having to adapt others.....

[94touring]

Yeah sure is.  I went ahead and ordered a new turn indicator/wiper stalk assembly too.  Mainly because they were so affordable and the symbols are worn off on  mine. Also one of those items if mine ever broke it will be impossible to replace.  The old will go in the spares box for a backup.

[94touring]

Well large parts order arrived but not really.  I got everything I wanted except for the built up spindles with the fancy bearings.  The one thing I actually needed. The guy thinks he sent them or he's just straight ripping me off.  I have decided to cut my losses. In an attempt to have a spare set of these unobtainable spindles in case something unfortunate ever happened, I hit the world wide web.  I found some NOS in the European market where they were also used, but they're pretty expensive.  I should mention a side bonus to having a spare set is the special tooling I need to fab to disassemble the old set won't be immediately required. I can set them aside and worry about them later.  So started googling and holy merry Xmas a NOS pair, stamped parts numbers and everything, showed up on ebay from a 99% satisfaction guaranteed seller in Egypt who sells VW odds and ends.  My impossible to find NOS steering box came from Croatia so I guess this isn't surprising.  The cost of these shipped (promptly and not 2 months) via fedex is about 3x less than the sets in Europe.  Buy now button pressed.  Next up was trying to figure out what these special bearing spindles in Brazil have in them.  An exhaustive amount of translations and Brazilian youtube later I found the part number to the 4 needle bearings that take the place of the brass bushings that would normally need reamed.  I have  the proper reamer for the job, but if I can add needle bearings, the king pins will surely turn easier and there will be less wear.  After all the reason why I need this done is steering play.  Anyone who's done rear swing arms can relate to this spindle/king pin job as it's brass bushings and needle bearings. Old minis used brass bushings on both sides but eventually went needle bearing on the outer end of the swing arm.  I sourced some NLA 28mm spacers that are required to build the new assembles and otherwise have everything else I need.  There are some phenolic thrust washers which the Brazilian bearing assembles have removed with some sort of metal bearing, but I was unable to figure out a part number for them. I can use the standard phenolic thrust spacers, or what I may do is spec them out and replace them with metal bearing thrust spacers. I figured lubed up metal bearings will be an upgrade to some cardboard type material. I know old spindles will get grooves cut in them over time because of failed spacers and all this metal on metal contact. Only other trick steering part I got was I did go with the bearing center arm pivot point. Which also eliminates brass bushings and therefore metal on metal friction and wear.  I've yet to find time to install them to see what incremental improvements they may have.

[94touring]

Those NOS spindles arrived the other day from Egypt.  They really shipped quick!  I was planning on pressing in needle bearings, however since these are NOS they already have the factory bushings pressed in and machined to accept the joints, as well as the bottom plugs pressed. So...gonna leave them alone and rebuild as stock.  I'll use the old spindles as the bearing experiment when I find time.  It will make a great comparison.

Next story:  a month or so ago backing out of my downtown garage into the alley, I'm always getting hard turning due to ruts. The steering is already a handful from a stop but the poor surface makes it worse.  After getting out realized my steering wheel was about 90 degrees out.  I thought the force trying to turn that maybe my steering wheel had skipped some teeth. But it did not. I inspected the steering box and arm underneath and adjusted the end of the steering arm to move everything back to center. What I noted was the end of the arm was fatigued where it clamps together.  Started to bend the hollow end. I ordered a new arm to replace it.  Unfortunately these arms for a Brazilian bus don't match the angles of German arms, so cutting the ends off and welding new on is required, which is no big deal and what I did about 3 years ago.  So yesterday set off to the shop to do that job.  BUT...backing out of the garage, wheel hit a rut, steering loss occurred!  Got under the bus and sure as shit the steering arm end had cracked and bent badly.  Thank God it didn't occur going down the road on a curve.  Although forces driving on the highway are relatively low.  So, I had to separate the ball joints and drive the old arm to my shop, cut and weld the new end on.  The new arm I bought had a much beefier design as opposed to a split end with clamp.  The old ends showed signs of bending prior to the split end where it clamps, but failure occurred at the split. Pics to illustrate...

[94touring]

One king pin down.  The old one was very loose.  Tomorrow will finish the other side.  Here's how I pressed things apart to get the spacers out, aligned the link pins, and pressed it back together.

[94touring]

Finished up the right side yesterday.  One of the factory bushings had a separation issue when I was test fitting pins.  So I pressed it out, installed new, then reamed to size using an adjustable reamer just for this job.  Today I checked the toe. Previously I had it set to 1/8" toe in pn the front.  After redoing everything, getting rid of all the slop, and setting the camber back to what factory specs were, I was 1/4" toe out.  Big difference!  Reset it to 1/8" in and then worked on centering the steering box.  I still had some play to the right at the wheel, which indicated I wasn't on the center high spot on the steering box.  Numerous adjustments and tweaks later, I got it centered and virtually all the play removed. It has what the factory said it should have anyway.  Driving it home was a huge improvement. No more fighting the thing with big steering motions to make small corrections.

[MiniDave]

That should make the trip to Estes Park next summer (or MMEMW if you decide to go) a lot less fatiguing a drive.

[94touring]

It sure will!  The summer drive to Colorado is always very wearing.  The wind is always blowing like crazy and there's tons of semi trucks.  You really feel the effects of turbulence passing or getting passed by trucks in the bus. 

[MiniDave]

Is it any better towing a trailer instead of having the rack on top?

The only really windy day I had towing my green Mini behind the Blue MINI was going to your shop one time - and I was into the wind the whole way. Didn't bother the cars at all, but really killed my fuel mileage!

[94touring]

The trailer works way better than the rack.  For two reasons.  First, it's a hell of a lot easier to load.  I don't have to carry a ladder and be on the roof strapping things down.  Second, there's a noticeable difference in wind resistance. The roof rack when loaded really took a performance hit.  The trailer just has some rolling road resistance, but it's minimal in comparison. In fact, I carry a few hundred more pounds now when you factor in the vespa, and it still performs better than the rack. It's hard to back up with how short it is and you can't see it unless the vespa is on it. If it's empty the only way to do it is unhook and move by hand.  I've used it for some smaller jobs around town too, rather than get out the 16 foot trailer.  2 thumbs up for the small trailer 

[94touring]

The bus saga continues.  Earlier in the week I thought I'd try a bearing style swivel arm pivot point kit I got from Brazil.  The idea was it would make steering even lighter.  Well it probably did a little but also got steering play back.  Today I pulled it out and investigated what's going on.  I took the swing lever portion out as well, which clamps to the center pin.  On my bench I could get a look at it better. Used an adjustable reamer to lightly hone the clamping part after I viced it snug to the pin, then knocked the pin out and ran the reamer. It showed some highs and lows, various defects, but didn't appear wallowed out.  Didn't take anything significant off it with the reamer.  Put the pin back in and gorilla tightened down the clamp and then with it viced into position, gave it some pulls and pushes and to my unfortunate dismay it spun about the pin.  So not good. I fashioned up a shim using a very thin feeler gauge and clamped it, then  gave it the rotation test and it wouldn't budge.  Also tried this special bearing loctite that's some strong stuff and it also held it tight as can be.  But, I found a reproduction arm online so pressed buy now.  Shims and loctite will work in a pinch but not really worth the risk. Pics...