Fire in the Hole!

Before I started the van there were a couple of undocumented procedures.  The SmallCar header goes on with just a little bit of twisting and shouting.  I installed the power steering hose, also from SmallCar, but later replaced it.  That will be in another section.  Oxygen sensors need to be wired up per the "left" and "right" designations of the SVX, not the Vanagon.  No real problems there with a decent manual.

First starting attempt was total silence.  Oh dear!  Looked at the black junction box and found the white round connector was not connected.  D'oh!  Then  once again, no sound.  This time I found the yellow connector I had forgotten to plug in.

This time I turned the key, it spun for maybe a second and fired up like it was really happy to be running.  Kinda loud though. 

Next effort was to get some muffler action going.  I went to Exhaust Specialties in Beaverton, Oregon to get something rigged up so I could attach the muffler temporarily.  They have a Mandrel bending machine that produced a temporary exhaust pipe in a couple of minutes.  No charge for that, since I would be coming back for the final job.  The national muffler shop I went to would not touch anything that didn't include installing a catalytic converter.

My temporary muffler solution was good enough to drive it around the block and onto the street a few times.  "Yes indeed, it does seem to have a bit more power now".  The first-drive smile that everybody talks about, in my case, was a grimace.

The SmallCar cat/muffler installation was a bit tricky.  First go 'round they got the cat too close to the L-R wheel and about toasted the tire.  They got it reworked and I fabricated a heat shield that clamps onto the exhaust pipe and keeps the radiant heat off the tire.  I think this muffler is just a bit too loud and booming.  Brian at SmallCar even admits that it is a bit loud. 

Another goof was discovered when I brought the van back inside for some work then found that it turned over really slowly and was not so eager to start.  Charged the battery to no avail.  Turned out I had not installed the ground strap from the tranny to the chassis.  Fixed that and it spins like a top.

 

Power Steering Hose:

After getting it running and with the newness wearing off, something really annoying came up.  The power steering pump makes A LOT of noise.  Just a constant screaming.  Well, there were threads on the SubaruVanagon list about the noise and how to fix it.  SmallCar came out with a "quiet" hose that I bought and installed.  The optimist in me thought it was better, but not perfect.  Then, heck, admit it.  It still sounded like a police siren.  Others had success with the SmallCar hose, but this particular one did not work for me.

I wound up buying a second used VW P/S hose and using it to extend my original VW hose.  Premier Rubber in NE Portland joined the two hoses at the old pump fitting end and welded the Subie P/S pump fitting onto one of the other ends.  Of course that left the original fitting for the pressure side feed to the steering rack.  This makes the total hose a few inches too long, but the excess is easily routed.

The result is that it is totally quiet.

Note the oil dipstick is tied down.  Replacing the O-ring later solved the popping-out problem.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the P/S pump fitting end with the hose coming straight down and bending 90° to the pump.  I think that's about as tight a bend as one would want to make with that hose.  The coolant output hose, vacuum lines and the two power steering hoses make this a very busy part of the van.

The coolant hose is hard to photograph, but it comes across the back and into an iron pipe elbow with a two inch nipple.   After the down-bend there is an elbow cut out of a 1-1/2" radiator hose that fits to the engine.

Of course the hoses go right above the alternator belt and need to be tied up pretty well.  When I need to lower the engine, these ties are the only ones I need to cut.

 

 

 

Air Cleaner:

 

I have the original SVX air box, but will continue to use this FLAPS air cleaner until I get ambitious again.  This solution adapts well to the MAF sensor but the rubber neck on the filter has broken out a couple of times. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So maybe that's it for now.  I have some other projects to get documented here but for now I'll try to get what I have posted.

-o-