[Vwdiesel] More missing parts!

[Robert Downes]

firstoff, to all US-based listers, happy independence day! i was surprise!-d
at work by a surprise!-ingly good fireworks display at midnight here in
Seward, AK. man, i love big fireworks. beautiful.

second, sorry--i get long-winded when i get tired here's a...
*TL;DR*--did my timing yesterday, set the valve timing etc, then discovered
my pump has no backside mounting bracket and the dial reading is super
low(0.61mm). the van ran 'pretty OK' before. i think i did everything right,
except neglecting to redundantly check the reading before i started. many
questions and queries ensue, anyone who reads all this and takes time to
help me think is a SAINT.

fyi: motor: 1.6TD (cy) from an '83 Quantum wedged into an '83 diesel vanagon

So, with rebuilt injectors and geared up to solve my IP issues, i put in a
new valve cover gasket and timing belt/tensioner yestarday and thought,
heck, while i'm at it, i may as well check my timing! this is my first VW
diesel but i've been reading up in this fantastic community spread over the
web for months now and i'm feeling pretty confident. the valve timing was
off just a couple of degrees, not too bad(not that i really know), no
problem, that's set in a jiffy, valve cover back on, pop over to the IP
timing and...oh my.

i have 2 issues:
-dial reading waay low (0.61mm)
-no 4th mounting bolt bracket/cold start cable stop

as for the missing mount, this is another little gift from the 'mechanic'
who put this motor in, 2 owners before me. i drove this van for months
before i ever learned that there was such thing as a cold start cable, didnt
spring to life but it started fine, so when i discovered the lever on the
back of the pump and what it was for, i figured maybe down the road i'd make
a bracket and connect the cable. had no idea that the missing bracket also
meant a missing IP mounting bolt. i just never had a reason to check that
the pump was attached with all 4 bolts. at this point i've driven...maybe 8k
miles personally without it, and there were many more on the engine when i
got it. how worried should i be? i will call a dealership on tuesday but i
dont hold out much hope for the availability of that piece. any ideas for
me? if i find one, is there a chance i'll need longer bolts for the
distributor head?

and the dial reading...i'm just not sure. there are so many factors here. i
really wish i had had the foresight to check the reading before i started
resetting other things. i checked and rechecked my work: definitely had the
right TDC, definitely put the new belt on the same teeth, the pump locking
pin went in fine, all IP alignment marks line up, turned the crank several
times with the new belt.(i have a bentley's and stared for hours at Vince
Waldon's excellent
how-to<http://vincewaldon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=28>)
the
van didn't purr before but it didn't smoke, and it was no powerhouse but it
did just get me from florida to alaska, fully loaded. does this make sense?
what else can i check? should i be wary of cranking it with the timing this
retarded? should i just advance it to 1.00 and start from there? i'll figure
it out on my own eventually but if there's one thing i'm good at, it's
graciously accepting sage advice.

here's more history on the pump for those interested:
the manifold pressure compensator (LDA/spaceship) has, seemingly, never been
connected to the manifold. the top adjuster screw is cranked all the way in,
flush with its locknut. this is on my shortlist, once i get the advance
working. when the PO, a friend of mine, got the van(, the the IP leaked fuel
from the LDA breather. he needed to use the van, is not super into research.
he opened the pump looking for a bad gasket, did not find the o-ring around
the pin separating the pump body from the LDA, determined that there was
too-high pressure in there, found the 'weird' restricted out bolt hole,
opened this hole up a bit(luckily not too much), van still ran, no more
leak, he was happy. from the looks of it, sometime before this, someone (he
says it wasnt him) tried to adjust the internal pressure by banging the lift
pump pressure regulator piston allllltheway down. this is the condition the
pump was in until yesterday, including the aforementioned
trans-caddy-corner-continental-mega-trek i got me hands on a new o-ring, out
bolt, reset the pressure regulator, and rigged a pretty nice internal
pressure guage attachment so once i get the thing running, i should be able
to set it right lickety-split. just need to get a handle on my terror at
this dial reading. i'm making way too big a deal out of a measly .4mm,
aren't i?

i'm going to bed. if you've made it this far, you probably feel the same.

thanks for listing!
-bob