Due to arrive soon

[94touring]

I managed to blow my wideband gauge when wiring so won't play with that till next time.  Seems to be a common theme with me and gauges.  But, test drive was a success.  It manages 65 on the flats now.  Almost made it up the steep short hill in 3rd, had to go into 2nd at the very end.  Exhaust is no louder than what came off.  Filter and exhaust must have woken up a few extra horse ponies.  The alternator charges and the battery light doesn't go on and off.  Came back from the short drive and had a full 14.4V on the battery and holding strong.  Went ahead and tested the space heater again.  On full bore it shoots down to 12v at idle and maintains low to mid 12v while giving it some revs.  I'd need to give it a proper drive to see if it would sustain itself.  On the other hand a hair dryer puts out good heat and fits nicely in the cup holder up front and the charging system did even better. 

[94touring]

Today ran the rest of the fuel lines from the tank to the pump and added a filter.  The old lines were questionable at best.  Also tossed in the 3ohm 60k volt coil off my mini I no longer use since I was able to go 1.5 ohms.  It's killing me the fresh dizzy isn't here yet to see how much improvement that will give over what I've already done.

[MiniDave]

I think the improvement from the dizzy will be incremental.....noticeable, but not earth shattering.  77.gif

[BruceK]

Dan, you've really done a lot on the VW already in such a short time.  Can't wait to see more.

[94touring]

Thanks Bruce.  Points dizzy just showed up. I'll get it in there tomorrow and perhaps the amethyst depending.  Also got a voltage gauge installed just under the dash to monitor loads when I'm running the inverter.  Took it for a drive and it maintains a steady 13V loaded up and with a hair dryer on full blast.  Should have taken a pic but the cup holder tray holds the dryer nicely.  I can see me using it as a defroster and I'm sure Jen will like it if we go somewhere when it's 0 degrees out. Just something to take the edge off.  I confirmed that this bus never had heat installed. 

Adjusted the clutch cable so the pedal engages at the proper distance according to VW while I was under there doing fuel lines. 

Have a tach, CHT, and the wideband gauge on the way. Took the factory dash out investigating and the tach will go nicely where the blank is that probably was some kind of tach option from the factory.  The CHT and wideband might go where the radio blanking plate is.

[ve9aa]

Restoration  4.gif VminiW 4.gif ! I love the Vdubs too.

Should've hung onto a nearly rust free 1974 Beetle I owned back in 1981.....hindsight is 20-20, right? :-[

[MPlayle]

Took the factory dash out investigating and the tach will go nicely where the blank is that probably was some kind of tach option from the factory.  The CHT and wideband might go where the radio blanking plate is.

That blank place sometimes had an analog clock.  I don't recall any of the air-cooled VWs having a factory tachometer until maybe the Vanagon.

[94touring]

Took the factory dash out investigating and the tach will go nicely where the blank is that probably was some kind of tach option from the factory.  The CHT and wideband might go where the radio blanking plate is.

That blank place sometimes had an analog clock.  I don't recall any of the air-cooled VWs having a factory tachometer until maybe the Vanagon.

I think you're right because I've seen factory clocks.

[cstudep]

I mean who doesn't find knowing what time it is useful and all but when it comes to prominently displayed gauges in a vehicle dash a clock would rank fairly low on the list useful feedback. I didn't live in the time period so can't really relate I guess but clocks seemed to be a pretty big deal in cars back in the day.

[94touring]

Finishing up the amethyst and distributor install.  The factory had some kind of bosch ignition box thing wired to the distributor. I ditched that and mounted the amethyst in it's spot.  Going back to my 74 mini thread with ignition box issues I had, the points distributor makes this work as it should per the installation instructions.  Maybe an electronic vw dizzy will work better than the mini one.  I did read that points will last a very long time with these systems as it doesn't send much power through the points.  Test drive shortly perhaps once I tidy things up.

[MiniDave]

Yeah, that dizzy was pretty nasty looking!

[94touring]

See where the fuel filter is?  That's a heat riser from the exhaust.  Needless to say I had a fuel leak after it melted the filter.  Oops! 

Amethyst is still a piece of shit.  New dizzy without the Amethyst runs really smooth.  New plug wires and my chrome wheel caps came in when I got home.  Have to leave tomorrow unfortunately for work.

[BruceK]

See where the fuel filter is?  That's a heat riser from the exhaust.  Needless to say I had a fuel leak after it melted the filter.  Oops! 

Amethyst is still a piece of shit.  New dizzy without the Amethyst runs really smooth.  New plug wires and my chrome wheel caps came in when I got home.  Have to leave tomorrow unfortunately for work.

Looks like vapor lock is also a possibility in that location.

[94touring]

I've been spending a lot of time reading on TheSamba forums.  I just found another guy who imported a bus from the same place. In fact our busses were ship mates and both arrived in Houston together.

[cstudep]

Nice, what is the arrangement of that thing, is it just a "truck bed"? Trying to figure out what the purpose of such a layout would have been. Doesn't seem like the payload available would make a truck bed very useful. Maybe as some sort of service truck or something perhaps?

[MiniDave]

Those are fantastic trucks....and that one is particularly good looking. The sides and tailgate fold down on those giving a flat floor, so they're very useful and easy to load - within the limits of what they can carry with 40hp, of course.  ;D

[94touring]

Those sides fold down to make a flat bed.  They were used as work trucks believe it or not, much like mini pickups were.

[94touring]

I see several of these single cabs for sale. Anywhere from 14k to 30k delivered. This one is 30k.

[MiniDave]

Wow, that one's nice for $30K!

Wouldn't work for me tho, no heaters, no A/C,  not near enough power to tow a Mini......easy to load or unload a motor off the back of one tho......

[MPlayle]

Here you go Dave:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2423383

It is in Austin, Texas, has a Subie conversion and a/c.

The Subie conversion should give plenty of power for towing a classic Mini.

[cstudep]

Those are sweet. It would be perfect as a residential AC service vehicle easy to haul and unload an outdoor unit for instance, or motor delivery van in your case Dave, or something of the like. Like you said, they are kind of limited due to the limited power, but very cool none the less.

[94touring]

I've decided since I'm adding so many additional gauges, wideband, perhaps amethyst if it ever works properly, and an electric fuel pump, that I'll add another fuse box.  Have a 6 fuse box, relay, and all the wiring required to do the job on the way.

[gr8kornholio]

What wide band do you run?  I've looked into them and it's your typical internet electronic review cycle.  For every one who loves one someone equally hates it.

[94touring]

I have an innovate in my rx7 and an aspx in my mini and now bus.  They're all about the same as far as I can tell.  Aspx use to be cheaper but apparently have gotten popular enough to raise prices.

[Willie_B]

Saw this at Caffeine & Octane this morning.