Timing Correct…almost

I recieved the new vacuum can yesterday and put it ont he distributor today.  It didn’t really fir as well as the 851, but it does fit.  I got everything installed and the timing will advance,  I only set it to 23 degrees at 3200 rpm.  Old Volks says 22-25 at 3800 RPM, so Ill check it next week when I tune it up.  I wanted to do it today but the rain got int he way.  I have some interior work to do too, which I’m not happy about.  The three screws holding the Z bed together pulled out along with two of my cabinet doors.  Poor quality workmanship. I know it was a rush job and that pisses me off too.  ALWAYS CONDUCT YOUR OWN BUSINESS . . .   then this would not have happened.

 

Dixie Bus

We finally made it to our first sanctioned bus event!  Dixie bus in Mt Vernon OH.  We stayed at the Rustic Knolls campground with 38 other buses.  It was a beautiful campground.  We even had water and electric hookup.

The trip down was rather exciting, 12 hrs in all.  Of course we were not without problems.  Right before we got to Ft. Wayne the oil light came on when we slowed to a stop light.  Of course I was paranoid.  This was the same thing the other motor did before it seized.  We stopped for a while to let it cool.  This had not happened on any other trip before, so I began thinking and the only thing I could think of is that Alex put the rong weight oil in when I changed it.  Not his fault either.  I didn’t specify.  We found a Wal-Mart and changed it to 30 weight.  The guy put locktight on the oil plug, which I wasn’t happy about.  The Oil didn’t work. It got hot again, so I felt if we could make it to our destination, I could get the help I needed.  I followed some others to the swap meet and Kermit began to over heat again and lose power.  I pulled over to give him a rest.  The fellow I was following gave me a thumbs and and I returned a thumbs down.  Before I could get out of the bus, Rick was looking at the motor.  He said the engine wasn’t hot just the cylinders and we were only 10 minutes away.  When we got to the show he mentioned a couple of things.

• My fuel filter in the engine compartment was a disaster waiting to happen and that I should get a piece of fuel line and put the filter under the bus where it belongs.
• Get a bigger jet for the carb. Since this is a bug motor, I may be jetted too small and that could cause the issue.

I did what I was told and spent $5.00.  I took the fuel filter out before we came back home.  The top was melted and compressed causing a fuel constriction.  This could have been the disaster if the pressure disconnected the fuel line.  It was hard to get to the jet so that will be chcked and replaced another time. Before we left on Sunday, I set the timing, which was a few degrees off and once again Rick came over to look over my shoulder.  Once I had it set he increased the RPM and noticed that I was not getting any advance.  Damn.  Cant fix that there.  So we slowly made it to Michigan to spend the night in Athens.  A storm was beginning to brew and we made it about 3 miles east of town and one of the bins blew off the bus.  The only thing we lost was the lantern that I melted on Friday…..  Needless to say I was a little distraught by the time we arrived Friday evening.  We got up early on Monday and drove 45mph all the way to Chicago.  Never overheated.  I pushed it a little to almost 60 in the city and still nothing.  It was somewhat cooler, but not significantly.  I found a new vacuum can on the samba.  I pulled the distributor today to see if a cleaning would help, but I think the can is shot.  The ground cable to the points is about shot too.  I should get the can next week and Ill out him back together and see if I can get it running.  Then I throw in a tuneup for the Bean Blossom Festival.