Any guesses what I have being shipped?
Dave and Jim can't answer.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say: Something from Brazil. ;D
Hmmmm... there are a lot of very cool Brazil-only VWs, Dodges, and Chevrolets, and other really cool cars. I'm assuming it's automotive related and that you have not purchased your very own Embraer 175 aircraft.
.
bout damn time.... 77.gif
Quote from: BruceK on August 07, 2020, 02:00:10 PM
I'm going to go out on a limb and say: Something from Brazil. ;D
Hmmmm... there are a lot of very cool Brazil-only VWs, Dodges, and Chevrolets, and other really cool cars. I'm assuming it's automotive related and that you have not purchased your very own Embraer 175 aircraft.
It is from Brazil. Not my own personal jet. Besides I'm a Boeing guy. ;D
Quote from: MiniDave on August 07, 2020, 02:24:26 PM
bout damn time.... 77.gif
Yeah emailed the customs guy today asking what the status is. Finally on the water.
So your ISF has been filed in time? (Hopefully).
Quote from: BruceK on August 07, 2020, 03:06:14 PM
So your ISF has been filed in time? (Hopefully).
Yeah customs guy requested a large amount of information from myself and seller, so I'm good there. The company I purchased through exports to the US frequently so the process has been easy. Aside from it being lengthy.
Any hints on your shipment?
Quote from: BruceK on August 07, 2020, 03:23:20 PM
Any hints on your shipment?
It falls into the cool Brazil VW category, but was manufactured elsewhere as well. Brazil kept the production going.
Type 2?
Split window or bay window?
T2 would encompass Camper, Bus, Panel Van, Single-cab, and Double-cab. The Brazilian ones came in both split window and bay window well into the 1970's. They also have a few sort of "unique" characteristics.
Well I've gotten Jen into camping, the new job offers a lot of time off in big stretches, and finally paid off the student loans, so we got one of these. Not sure if they're sending all the beach crap like surfboards and various interior decorations, but that stuff will be taken out if so. The rear window decals were supposed to be taken out and also the front bay window converted to a pop out safari window. I looked stateside for something like this but prices were out of my budget for something in this condition. The process was actually very easy and the company that I bought from has a large stock of cars. Basically said I'll take that one, they gave me a price delivered to my doorstep, talked to the credit union, and sent them a check. It's a 1983 so borrowing money was a little tricky at first. Pretty sure they thought they were loaning me money for a vanagon. Has a 1600cc motor and guessing that it won't do well going into the mountains, so perhaps turbo kit is in it's future.
That is so cool! I love it.
Have you driven one before?
Quote from: 94touring on August 07, 2020, 09:20:15 PM
Has a 1600cc motor and guessing that it won't do well going into the mountains, so perhaps turbo kit is in it's future.
Hmmmm... let's think about this. Dan goes on a quest to make his RX-7 faster by extensively modifying the engine and turbo to produce more power. Then Dan goes on a quest to make his Mini faster by radically losing weight and modifying the engine to produce more power. And Dan's job involves moving throttles so he can travel at 500+ mph.
I'm predicting a future engine swap with a Scoobie Doo... :D
nice! I dig the graphics and the plaid interior.
How does a bay window to splitty conversion work? Two different body styles I would think.
Bruce,
It stays a bay window like this ...
Ah. Very cool. I've never seen that before. Thanks Michael
I suggested the Subaru swap when he first told me about it, but he want's to live with it for a while first and see how it drives.
I suggested the first run to Colorado will answer all those questions! ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: MiniDave on August 08, 2020, 10:10:56 AM
I suggested the Subaru swap when he first told me about it, but he want's to live with it for a while first and see how it drives.
I suggested the first run to Colorado will answer all those questions! ;D ;D ;D
I bet it will. When I first got my flat front Toyota truck I thought it would be great to take on long trips. Then I found out how "adequately powered" it is. (1.8L engine making about 95hp). Driving my Toyota reminds me a lot of driving a VW Type 2. It's very fun sitting over the front wheels, right up at the windshield, and there is a whole thrill to the work involved in maintaining forward momentum.
I suspect it will be like my mini when it was a 998 on 3 cylinders. There's a company who offers a turbo kit that includes anything and everything you need for a very attractive price. Though it's suggested that the valves get double springs. I have 2 buddies who have or currently own busses. One was forever ago and I just remember it was beat to hell but he daily drove it. My other buddy, also a pilot, has a camper as well but with the bigger motor. Playle shows how they do the windows. There was another bus they had with that conversion that sold before I could get money, so they offered to convert this one. Communication was spotty so we'll see if they did. I figured it would provide a little extra air moving slowly through town or parked. Apparently at speed you risk cracking glass...and bugs to the face. Not sure how I feel about the white walls, but I'm fairly certain those are inserts that can be removed. I'd also like to add shore power and probably a large power inverter to run some various electrical equipment. That fridge I'm certain is just an ice chest, so a proper mini fridge would be ideal. I've seen where people add hitches and haul small boats or their vw bugs. That's also appealing provided it has enough power to pull and brakes to stop. Maybe I flat tow the mini?
The fridge does not look like an icebox. But what voltage/hertz does Brazil run and would it work here?
Looks like it could be loads of fun. My brother has had several vw campers. Still has a newer one now.
It just SCREAMS late 1960's :-\ (hope it doesn't smell like that)
Uber cool though man.
Quote from: Willie_B on August 08, 2020, 12:29:04 PM
The fridge does not look like an icebox. But what voltage/hertz does Brazil run and would it work here?
Looks like it could be loads of fun. My brother has had several vw campers. Still has a newer one now.
Good question, I'm not sure. I have my multi country power outlet adapter I carry for work and nothing Brazil/South America on it. Hopefully the fridge is electric though.
So I understand some of the Type 2s in Brazil had the later bay window front sheet metal but the earlier split window rear Type 2 sheet metal combined in a unique Brazil-only package. Is yours like that? What year is it?
I'm not too familiar with all the differences but here's the rear end. It's an 83.
Oh yeah. I'm not VW expert but that looks like a weird mix of older and newer. I see the bigger, later taillights but the narrower engine cover and hatch combined with the wraparound rear windows.
And the roof gutter looks really thick compared to the German ones.
It was my understanding they had the old tooling and parts and just made it all kind of come together on production.
This was another one of their cars that caught my eye, 1973 vw variant. 13.7k delivered.
That looks similar to the VW 412 (and 411) sold here in the early 1970s.
I think the Type 2 you're getting is a lot cooler.
Quote from: BruceK on August 08, 2020, 05:14:51 PM
That looks similar to the VW 412 (and 411) sold here in the early 1970s.
I think the Type 2 you're getting is a lot cooler.
Oh for sure. If I had unlimited money I'd be buying all this stuff lol. This is a 71 VW TL for 12.7k shipped, which looks very similar to that 412.
So much cool stuff never seen in the US.
Quote from: BruceK on August 08, 2020, 05:32:08 PM
So much cool stuff never seen in the US.
Here's the website. There's about 1000 cars to look over.
https://www.vwbusesnbugs.com/?v=1d20b5ff1ee9
Quote from: 94touring on August 08, 2020, 05:36:41 PM
Quote from: BruceK on August 08, 2020, 05:32:08 PM
So much cool stuff never seen in the US.
Here's the website. There's about 1000 cars to look over.
https://www.vwbusesnbugs.com/?v=1d20b5ff1ee9
You shouldn't have done that.
Pardon me. I'm going to disappear for a while...
Quote from: BruceK on August 08, 2020, 07:13:15 PM
Quote from: 94touring on August 08, 2020, 05:36:41 PM
Quote from: BruceK on August 08, 2020, 05:32:08 PM
So much cool stuff never seen in the US.
Here's the website. There's about 1000 cars to look over.
https://www.vwbusesnbugs.com/?v=1d20b5ff1ee9
You shouldn't have done that.
Pardon me. I'm going to disappear for a while...
I know, it's a problem. I'm like what if I don't stop painting cars so I can keep buying cars 20.gif 8.gif :-[
Way cool!
I spent some time with air cooled vw stuff mostly in dune buggies. Turbos work well The engines can hold up quite well if not better than a POS subaru I don't get that conversion at all. But then again I don't like vtec minis much either but at least you might be adding reliabily in the latter.
Hot rod that air cooler and it'll run at least as long as a timing belt and head gaskets last in a subaru. And just about equal amout of work and money to completey rebuild the VW engine as pulling maintance on a subaru.
We turbod a customers 74 bus about 15 years and 80k miles ago even kept the efi with a new ecm still running strong nothing but oil changes. You can do a lot naturally asperated as well.
Im sure there are parts suppliers everywhere but I have had great support from this place cool guy knows his stuff. https://www.doghouserepair.com/store/categories/
Cool thanks for the link. Keep comparing heads trying to decide to upgrade what I have or just add dual springs. Probably better to do the upgrade and be done with it.
Saw a great YouTube series on these guys.....lots to choose from on their website - worth a look.
https://www.cbperformance.com/category-s/352.htm (https://www.cbperformance.com/category-s/352.htm)
Another place.... https://www.mofoco.com/category/Engines/c46 (https://www.mofoco.com/category/Engines/c46)
This one's not far from you https://www.gex.com/content/index.htm (https://www.gex.com/content/index.htm)
VW camping is great. My wife and I have had a few over the years.
These are pictures from our honeymoon 37 years ago. We came close to recreating the trip in the Traveller last year.
That kind of camping is great when you're young, the heat doesn't bother you so much and it's fun.
When you get older, a shower and A/C become a lot more important! We're looking at motor homes, and on the "must have" list now is a bath and a half - imagine that?!?!?!?
Cbperformance is the company who makes the ignition kit that's similar to the aldon kit I just put on the mini. I should have bought 2 of them, 1 for the mini and one for the bus.
Regarding ac and showers. We don't camp anywhere without showers and if we don't have ac it has to be cool out. Adding shore power will allow for a small portable ac unit if we end up someplace hot.
Quote from: MiniDave on August 09, 2020, 09:37:20 AM
That kind of camping is great when you're young, the heat doesn't bother you so much and it's fun
So we seem to be downsizing the wrong direction. The heat can be a issue.
This is a picture my wife took in Wyoming at a KOA, something over 100, no trees, no shade in campsite, but a large community shaded area, definitely catered to the RV crowd...
Quote from: tmsmini on August 09, 2020, 08:12:28 AM
VW camping is great. My wife and I have had a few over the years.
These are pictures from our honeymoon 37 years ago. We came close to recreating the trip in the Traveller last year.
Cool pictures by the way!
I have that T-Shirt too! 77.gif
The documentation says just a few more days and it lands here. Is everything on schedule? Must be getting excited...
Yep then however long for the next guy to pick it up and bring it the rest of the way. I'm home till the end of the month then gone a week, but then back 2 weeks. Hopefully gets here before I leave.
Did it make it to port before the hurricane?
Quote from: BruceK on August 25, 2020, 04:59:52 PM
Did it make it to port before the hurricane?
You know I don't know. I should probably email the guy tomorrow.
Pushed back to the 29th looks like.
Sounds good. Now you won't have to worry about it riding out the hurricane either in port while still on board or in storage on land.
Tracking says it was unloaded the 29th.
So, it should be at your house when you get back? Can't wait to hear what you think when you drive it......you two will have so much fun in that!
In the home stretch! Very cool.
So..........?
Just sent an email asking about it. Probably waiting for the shipper now.
All of the cars I've imported have been ro-ro. But your new VW was shipped via container, so do they open it in port and take the car out there? Or do they transport the whole container to you and you get to un-box it?
There's another company that's delivering it to my door step. It was part of the deal with the shop in Brazil.
Sent an email to the guy doing all my paperwork...he no longer works in that department so I guess nothing has been done. 11.gif
You and Jen should jump in the truck and just go get it! :-[
Quote from: MiniDave on September 14, 2020, 09:16:47 AM
You and Jen should jump in the truck and just go get it! :-[
But the transportation has already been paid for as part of the purchase price.
Latest update is they are still trying to arrange the home delivery.
Sounds like they may have someone lined up by the end of the week. I'm hoping it shows up before I leave for a week or 3 for work.
Being picked up Monday and dropped off Tuesday. I go on call Monday for work and for sure leaving for Europe on Wednesday. Hopefully that all stays that way so I'm here for delivery to at least check it out before leaving.
Are they delivering to the house or the shop?
To the shop. The winch awaits it's arrival to pull it inside. I don't believe it has any fluids.
Fingers crossed it drives before you leave.
Bastard didn't show up.
It will roll in about 2 hours after you've left..... ::)
Flooding in Houston was the cause for delay. 1-2 days new eta. I have the winch hooked up and ready to go for Jen with diagrams and an explanation how to get it in the shop.
I hope she takes video, I want to see her running that winch and guiding the car into the shop! Should be epic!
(Not saying she can't do it - she absolutely can!)
I even pulled up underbody shots from the purchase contract and showed her where to hook up the chain. So long as she can steer it and click "IN" on the winch control she should be fine. I have the boot lid on the mini open and my battery charger hooked up. She just needs to disconnect the battery charger and hook up the winch power cables. Winch is unwound so she doesn't have to figure out how to do that and additional winching straps are beside it if she needs more length.
Well it arrived. Sent it to the wrong place, tried to charge me more money, Jen couldn't work the winch. Big cluster fuck. It's sitting outside the shop.
Glad it made it at last, sitting outside for a few days till you get home won't hurt it.
Was she at least able to inspect it for damage?
It's super cool apparently. So I'll see in 2 weeks
I realize delivery was all FUBAR, but any pics of it to share?
No pics but I'll post some up when I get home around the 4th.
Got it inside the shop. Seems as though my winch has some issues which I'll have to dive into another day. They also didn't send one damn piece of paperwork with it, but said that's coming separately...thanks for the heads up and dropping the ball on everything else. The lack being on the part of the import company and not bugs n buses.
Overall the bus is super cool. A few things I may change. It does have shore power but in Brazilian so I'll have to change the outlet. No big deal. I will probably remove the one overhead set of cabinets over the table along the windows as you can't sit on the bench seat behind the drivers seat.
Bus and babes. Whats not to like.
That is so cool! Very happy for you guys.
Hey you mentioned shore power and I was curious and just looked it up: part of Brazil runs on 127V (Not a typo) and the other part of Brazil runs on 220V. Wonder what your bus is set up for?
Good question. I'll dive into it and find out. Oh and it is a mini fridge. The pump for the sink runs off a internal battery.
Looks great, love the awning!
Where are you going on your first trip in the magic bus? 77.gif
Quote from: MiniDave on October 04, 2020, 08:42:44 AM
Where are you going on your first trip in the magic bus? 77.gif
Well, gotta get gas and oil in it and a battery. Probably tomorrow try to get it running. Overall it's very clean. We're pulling the 67 in the shop this week to tear apart so need to be able to drive the bus in and out.
Lot's done today. Oil change, new battery, and gas in it. Got it to fire up and drive, although very slowly. Couldn't get it over 60 and that was going downhill with the wind at my back. The dizzy is about as worn on the inside of the cap as you could get it. New dizzy will be ordered, which I need anyway if I hook up the amethyst or black box. Need to hook my wideband up and see what the fuel is doing. Tires are different sozes from front to rear so new rubber ordered. Brake lights don't work, which after sliding under found a prong broke off on the pressure sender off the master/servo. The master is leaking so new one of those ordered too. Steering wheel is huge. Lots of slop in the wheel which maybe that's normal? Took me awhile to figure out how to get it in reverse. Shifts smoothly. Took out the ceiling cabinetry as they really just get in the way. Now we can sit at the bench and not have it hitting our head. Those lights ran off the battery. The shore power just goes to the fridge and it's the 127v version. Behind the seats will be a great place to set up US shore power and add an outlet. Above the closet is a little shelf which may be another good spot for an outlet. Probably run some string lights along the top where it meets the headliner. Where the cabinets were screwed into metal will work good for screwing in some hooks for lights. Also removed all the beach crap and double sided tape holding it in.
Taking out the ceiling cabinetry really opens it up, makes it look a lot bigger I think and I am sure that it feels a lot bigger inside with it gone.
Camping/traveling in such a vehicle is all about minimalism anyway and the more places you have to cram stuff the more likely you are to fill it up with stuff. Probably stuff you could really live without anyway.
Very cool vehicle!
The roof rack will carry the bulk of extra crap we may need.
Quote from: cstudep on October 05, 2020, 12:59:02 PM
...the more places you have to cram stuff the more likely you are to fill it up with stuff. Probably stuff you could really live without anyway.
Truer words have never been spoken. Crap definitely expands to fill the available space. This applies to homes, garages, basements, storage units, etc.
On an entirely different subject totally unrelated to to the above, ;D I collect license plates as garage decoration and I would love to have one from Brazil. Do you want to sell one from the bus?
.
If you haven't yet, go check out VW Life on YouTube and Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/VWLifeVW/
https://www.youtube.com/Vwlifevw?fbclid=IwAR0e6dRo5Ru95eX5CXF5e9oVFgs1UTU_sW7W7jYay7rIn_mglzXyo6gIr2w
I don't even own a VW, but these guys have tons of experience and they are always doing upgrades and maintaining old buses and bugs. And they have fun doing it.
Also, get a couple of manuals for the old air-cooled VWs. If possible, get the John Muir book: "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive ..."
(Affectionately known as the "Idiot Manual"):
https://www.amazon.com/Keep-Volkswagen-Alive-Step-Step/dp/1566913101 (https://www.amazon.com/Keep-Volkswagen-Alive-Step-Step/dp/1566913101)
Quote from: 94touring on October 05, 2020, 12:37:53 PM
Lot's done today. Oil change, new battery, and gas in it. Got it to fire up and drive, although very slowly. Couldn't get it over 60 and that was going downhill with the wind at my back. The dizzy is about as worn on the inside of the cap as you could get it. New dizzy will be ordered, which I need anyway if I hook up the amethyst or black box. Need to hook my wideband up and see what the fuel is doing. Tires are different sozes from front to rear so new rubber ordered. Brake lights don't work, which after sliding under found a prong broke off on the pressure sender off the master/servo. The master is leaking so new one of those ordered too. Steering wheel is huge. Lots of slop in the wheel which maybe that's normal? Took me awhile to figure out how to get it in reverse. Shifts smoothly. Took out the ceiling cabinetry as they really just get in the way. Now we can sit at the bench and not have it hitting our head. Those lights ran off the battery. The shore power just goes to the fridge and it's the 127v version. Behind the seats will be a great place to set up US shore power and add an outlet. Above the closet is a little shelf which may be another good spot for an outlet. Probably run some string lights along the top where it meets the headliner. Where the cabinets were screwed into metal will work good for screwing in some hooks for lights. Also removed all the beach crap and double sided tape holding it in.
Cool Bus.
You may be able to adjust a lot of the free play out of the steering with a flat head screwdriver and a wrench, if the steering box is similar to the US ones of the 70's.
Tires, 3 prong brake switch, plugs, and electronic dizzy on the way. Need to verify where the brake master leak is coming from and which model master it is specifically. Lots of options to choose from online. Will see about getting that steering slop out.
Oh and shipping company sent paperwork!
Awesome Bus Content! 4.gif
I'm Colorado now , we stayed in a neighborhood in Golden ... I will guess a neighborhood of ~100 Homes... While most vehicles around are Subaru + 4 Runners + Tacomas and other SUV's
There are 3 houses within a 3 block radius with busses in the driveway or garage .. Ill say "Urban Hippies"
I had bud with a few VW busses... he always said the steering was 'wishful' . Brakes too. looking at parts diagrams. there are 6 Tie rod ends , bushings, a possible thing called a Rubber steering coupler. AKA Rag joint... all cool to learn about. im sure the combined wear among all those would keep steering 'vague"
We know youll be on it + fix it all up!
More done today. Also, I was mistaken about the 127v, it's a 220v fridge. So that came out and a bigger one going in. Will have to modify the cabinet it sits in. Took out the drawer and worthless woodwork on the inside of the knook under the rear bench seat. Added a real piece of wood that isn't flimsy and created more space by removing clutter. Behind the drivers seat is a void that can be used for something. Removed the top, added a real board and some hinges. Added trim over the closet and made a small shelf over the bed to the far rear of the bus. Still need to stain that but out of time for today.
Oh and I picked up little round wood knobs to remove the big surfer knobs with the pointy end that jabs you.
I was going to ask about those cabinet knobs. Looked like something I would constantly be hitting my head on 4.gif
They look like they're made to hang stuff off of to me.....like beach towels or something.
They're good for hitting your legs on with the two lower drawers by the forward bench seat! Got the fridge in place. Actually glad I upgraded because it holds so much more. Going to find a different profile sink here in a few to help with plumbing since the fridge sits higher. Won't bother putting a shelf and door back on above the fridge, just going to leave it an open void for random food storage.
Check out this product to eliminate the sink "P" trap.
https://drainmaster.com/rv/products/hepvo
You really do not need a trap in a situation like this. I assume the sink drain probably just ran straight out the side of the van to a place you can connect up a garden hose? That is generally how they work in the "RV" world when you do not have a grey water tank, which I would assume this does not. Our pop up camper does not even have "piping" for the drain, rather it's just a piece of hose that runs from the bottom of the sink straight over to the back side of the fitting to the outside.
I assume the problem is the sink is too deep and that it now hits the top of the fridge. If you can't find a more shallow style sink you could always just build a raised platform to sit that one in or even forgo that style of sink altogether and go with one designed to sit right on top of the cabinet which are pretty popular in bathrooms these days.
Yeah I'm going to try and run a hose right through the bottom of the floor. The sink clears, it's just the drain pipe that doesn't. I cut it back and should be able to make it work now.
I have shore power! Still have to wire up the one outlet but this is what I came up with. Took off the door that was held on by some clips that didn't work and put a new door on with actual hinges. Put in a 2 breaker 30amp box, ran 10-2 wire from the shore inlet which I mounted under the body on the frame. One outlet will be hidden behind the door to power the fridge and can run an extension cord from the available outlet if desired. Then the other outlet is where they had their shore power. Seemed to be the easiest spot. My breaker box is in a funky spot but I can slide the whole bench and fridge cabinet out and get to the thing if I need to do more than reach in and flip the breaker.
Electrical work is all done. I finished wiring the 2nd outlet and got the 2000 watt inverter installed. I wanted to mount it behind the fridge to plug right to it, however there wasn't enough space nor were the 6 foot 2 gauge cables long enough to reach the battery which is in the rear. I went with stuffing it in the closet which allowed me to run the cables down the side of the body and to a pre drilled hole just above the battery. It's also pretty close to the fridge that I can run a small extension to it if needed. The plan being use the inverter while driving and then switching to shore power once I reach a destination. Also got string lights installed.
I was surprised to see this van didn't have any provision for engine sourced heat....then I remembered where it came from!
Which makes me wonder if the Saveiro pickups I was looking at had heat either - I know they don't have A/C
I think a lot of these buses were stripped of heat because it was cheaper than replacing the heater exhaust. Nothing a Mr Buddy heater can't fix.
Got the sink sorted. Have it draining to the ground instead of a container. New tires on that aren't miss matched. I will be painting the rims white and doing chrome caps. Brake leak turned out to be a loose fitting off the master.
What do you think of the white hubcaps on the black wheels?
Chrome hubcaps on white wheels is classic VW and will look very cool.
Quote from: MiniDave on October 09, 2020, 02:07:47 PM
What do you think of the white hubcaps on the black wheels?
They're actually dark blue but may as well be black. Not a huge fan. This is more the look I want.
This is what my first bus was like.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1965-volkswagen-211-type-2-transporter-with-e-z-camper-upgrade/
Hard to believe 35K
I like how yours is hybrid of early features on a later body style with the side barn doors.
I am trying to remember how the heat got from the heater boxes to the front.
They certainly aren't cheap! It was far more affordable for me to import this one, and I like the hybrid features as well.
Heat exchangers over the exhaust and duct work.
Got it running much better. It will actually do 60-62mph on flat straights now vs my 45 mph the other day. Even hit 72 going downhill. Not bad considering how bad the dizzy cap and rotor look. I bet I'll be hitting 65 in no time lol. Sure would be nice to get the steering wheel more responsive, definitely not my mini in the handling department.
Messed with the power inverter last night testing out various loads. I have a good sized space heater rated at 1500 watts. Runs it just fine showing about 3/4th-7/8s full on the load meter on the inverter. However when the battery gets below about 11.5v it kicks off. Let the battery charge overnight and fired up the bus this morning to see how it would do with more than idle rpms running the alternator. Appears to keep up with it but I suspect a 75amp alternator vs the stock 60 may be a good upgrade.
I dunno, increase the alternator load and you'll lose speed! ;D ;D ;D
65 on the straights is probably about where it will top out, seems terrible to have to drive it flat out all the time but most were driven exactly that way - you need to get a tachometer on it and see what it's turning at 65 mph as they had portal gears on the rear axles.
The Brazilian buses may be different, but the others dropped the portal (reduction gear) rear hubs at the transition from split window to bay window styles (approximately 1968).
I found the adjustment for the steering box and tightened up the slop in the wheel. All the steering arms and joints are in good shape with no play at least.
"Vague" was the polite term for the steering on these..... ;D
Quote from: MPlayle on October 10, 2020, 10:20:06 AM
The Brazilian buses may be different, but the others dropped the portal (reduction gear) rear hubs at the transition from split window to bay window styles (approximately 1968).
Sounds like about the time they went from the 40 hp motors to the 50?
Quote from: MiniDave on October 10, 2020, 10:55:48 AM
"Vague" was the polite term for the steering on these..... ;D
It's more than vaguely sketchy when you have a couple inches travel either side lol. Should actually turn now when I move the wheel!
Quote from: 94touring on October 10, 2020, 09:44:52 AM
Got it running much better. It will actually do 60-62mph on flat straights now vs my 45 mph the other day. Even hit 72 going downhill. Not bad considering how bad the dizzy cap and rotor look. I bet I'll be hitting 65 in no time lol. Sure would be nice to get the steering wheel more responsive, definitely not my mini in the handling department.
Messed with the power inverter last night testing out various loads. I have a good sized space heater rated at 1500 watts. Runs it just fine showing about 3/4th-7/8s full on the load meter on the inverter. However when the battery gets below about 11.5v it kicks off. Let the battery charge overnight and fired up the bus this morning to see how it would do with more than idle rpms running the alternator. Appears to keep up with it but I suspect a 75amp alternator vs the stock 60 may be a good upgrade.
Quote
1500 watts at 12 volts is 125 amps. You wont be able to sustaine that kind of load for long nor will the stock alternator wiring. You need more like a 200 amp alternator they are not designed to run at 100% output for long.
The inverter should have minium 2ga cables to the battery fused at 150 amps.
Running stuff on inverters is not as simple as most think when you start looking at the load on the 12 volt side it doesn't take much to overwhelm the system.
Your heater is only a 12.5 amp load at 120 volts. but drop down to the 12 volt side and you are maxing out your 2 gauge feed cables at 125 amps.
You may want to consider a different heat source when driving and save the inverter for other stuff.
Dan, how do you like sitting over the front wheels to drive? Had you driven a VW bus previously?
Quote from: BruceK on October 10, 2020, 02:37:38 PM
Dan, how do you like sitting over the front wheels to drive? Had you driven a VW bus previously?
It's fun! First time driving one. Tightened up the steering a little more before leaving but haven't given it another test drive. Trying to find the sweet spot where it's not sloppy but not too hard to turn.
I would guess this one has the CV joints. I can't imagine they kept the reduction gears in other markets for very long.
Was 68 also the first year for the single front window? 67 was a transition year from 6 V to 12 V and I think kept the reduction gears, but not 100% sure.
In most markets, 1968 was the transition to the big single windshield - called the "bay-window".
Apparently Brazil was different in that they overlapped the two for several years into the mid-70's. They also kept the side barn doors on the bay-window vans when most other markets went to the sliding side doors.
Got new shocks on all 4 corners. After much researching the general consensus was using a stiff kyb gas adjust on the rear and a softer gas kyb on the fronts. The rears are definitely firmer compared to the fronts when out of the box. Anyways 3 out of the 4 shocks that came off the bus has 0 shock left to give. The fronts didn't even match. Test drive confirms it rides better. No longer sways left and right excessively and still feels smooth.
Quote from: 94touring on October 10, 2020, 03:22:11 PM
Quote from: BruceK on October 10, 2020, 02:37:38 PM
Dan, how do you like sitting over the front wheels to drive? Had you driven a VW bus previously?
It's fun! First time driving one. Tightened up the steering a little more before leaving but haven't given it another test drive. Trying to find the sweet spot where it's not sloppy but not too hard to turn.
They are fun to drive have a buddy with one we painted and put a good used engine in years ago. puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. Factory fuel injected yet still has points ignition. i think its a 74
Painted wheels and got the rear plates situated. I have chrome caps on the way but threw some silver on the old ones just to see how they'd look.
The white wheels with the temporary "silver" hubcaps/soon to be chrome hubcaps looks about a million times better in my opinion.
Makes a HUGE difference!
I like the white wheels much better than the dark blue.....chrome caps look good too.....
I agree with the others - white wheels and chrome look great!
Another thumbs up for the white wheels. Never have cared for black/dark colored wheels.
New exhaust arrives today. This will allow me to hook up my wideband. I also sized the exhaust for an eventual engine upgrade. Sized ok for the current engine but will be suited best for something bigger. Fedex was kind enough to lose the new alternator and pulley I ordered, so who knows if that will ever show up. Still waiting on the new dizzy, plugs, and wires so I can get this thing running tip top for now.
FedEx strikes again. Not sure what's worse, losing it or dropping it in what seamed like the ocean and still delivering it. On the other hand DHL left Australia Monday arrived at my door Friday.
Yeah, Fed Ex is not exactly living up to their reputation any more - remember when it used to be "when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight"?
Now its more like when it absolutely positively has to be there someday, maybe, if we don't lose it or trash it along the way.
DHL from England is definitely my first choice, but some of the suppliers won't use them, preferring FuckUp instead, or some third world carrier I've never heard of, bringing stuff in thru Egypt or Carjackistan or somewhere,
Quote from: 94touring on October 17, 2020, 08:06:13 AM
New exhaust arrives today. This will allow me to hook up my wideband. I also sized the exhaust for an eventual engine upgrade. Sized ok for the current engine but will be suited best for something bigger.
Where is the sensor going in that exhaust? Put up a pic?
4 to 1 header so right before the muffler where they all merge into the 1. The stock exhaust has a pipe feeding into the muffler from two spots, so it's not really suited for a sensor. This exhaust is also quieter than pretty much all other aftermarket exhaust available which is a plus. Found an article on dyno comparisons and it will add a few torques and ponies on a stock 1600. I'm sure my fueling is off so I'll gain a little extra there with the wideband.
Fedex :-[ Found my packages. Here at the condos we have "the hub" installed where packages are delivered, you get a notification, go to the hub, and retrieve your package. This prevents theft and makes it handy for when you aren't home to sign for or get a package. Well found the 2 lost packages in the office room where the building manager is. This picture is of my new inline sander. They set it by the hub and just walked away! Are you fucking kidding me!? A buddy of mine called and said hey, you have a fedex package just sitting on the floor down here. Complaints filed and pictures sent in. 50.gif. Anyways, here's the upgraded alternator and pulley kit. I did some researching and a popular mod is doing a Porsche 356 alternator pulley, which is smaller in diameter, and therefore increases fan speed a significant amount. This is ideal on a heavy bus where cooling can become an issue. I went ahead and ordered one and the proper shims to have on hand for when I toss the new motor in. The thing I'd want to do betore putting the 356 pulley on would be buy a stronger fan that's welded and balanced. The stockers can explode apart from the additional revs at higher engine rpms.
Those pulleys work well and yes you need the upgraded fan. It makes noticeable improvement in idle cooling and charging.
I really like your bus coming along nicely.
Quote from: jeff10049 on October 18, 2020, 09:24:17 PM
Those pulleys work well and yes you need the upgraded fan. It makes noticeable improvement in idle cooling and charging.
I really like your bus coming along nicely.
The plan is build up a 2110cc stroker motor for torque and reliability. Initially I was just going to throw a turbo kit on this 1600. By time I buy the turbo kit and do other necessary things, for a smidge more I can get a new motor that makes more power than the turbo 1600. I'm looking at 120-140 hp/tq range build over the 40-60ish hp I currently have, and the 110hp/tq the turbo 1600 kit was making. The 2110 being popular on heavy busses due to torque and the cylinder walls being thicker for strength and cooling. Pretty much have all the specs figured out for the build. A cam that's equivalent to a Kent 266 on a mini, aka street cam. Stock ratio rockers to keep the power band lower. High rev single valve springs that are easier on the cam vs the duals, but allow for a 5500rpm red line if I really need to get on it. 8:1 compression vs a lot of 7:5:1 street builds and with a bigger valve head, but not race sized valves. Dual webber carbs/velocity pipes which I was skeptical about but apparently in the VW world that's actually the proper thing to do for power and drivability. The end result should give me peak power/torque right where I want it in the 3k-3500k range where the fan is most efficient as well. You really only want to cruise around 70mph in a bus, which after doing 70 downhill I concur. The main goal being I want to be able to go up mountains in Colorado at 55mph instead of 15mph in 1st gear. I'll have a CHT gauge and wideband for monitoring and keeping things safe.
You lose 25% of your HP at 5K ft, more as you go higher - a turbo makes up for that......I'm sure you know this. Which means at 10K your 120hp is more like 60.....whereas with a turbo your 90 hp is still close to 90 hp.....
I dunno which way is better, there are plenty of people who drive in the mountains with normally aspirated engines and get along just fine - I usually pass them on the way up the hill, in my turbo charged MINI towing a classic Mini..... ;D ;D ;D
OTOH, neither my green Mini or Don's Honda Mini felt particularly doggy in Aspen, at 9500 ft, or the top of Independence Pass at 12,500.....
My truck does just fine in the mountains and it's not a turbo.
The altitude really only effects carburetors. Fuel injection adjusts to keep up the power. Now a well tuned carb and a motor with plenty of power you won't notice it.
When I moved to the co springs I had my 82 s10 carb tuned for altitude. It ran great all the way up to 10k ft. Never drove higher. It also really loved when I'd go back down to KS.
Good point. I lived in Colorado Springs and never thought my car was doggy, till I went back home to KC for a weekend - whoa! Where has all THAT power been? ;D
Benefits of a wideband is you can see your mixture getting too rich at altitude and adjust accordingly. It will be interesting to see how much it changes from 1k feet to 8k feet. From here to there would be a 25% decrease according to the world wide web and give me approximately 90hp vs 120hp. I was also told to kick up timing a couple degrees. We'll see.
Got the alternator in. Just buttoning up a few things. Thesamba had guys say drop the engine. Well that wasn't required. I tried to slide the alternator from the fan, but some Brazilian gorilla used too much torque on the 36mm nut and my impact doesn't reach back there. Ended up loosening up the fan tin and sliding the fan out with the alternator and then hitting it with the impact. Pics soon.
Well the crank pulley nearly did me in. It eventually broke from all the prying and pulling, leaving me a nub to deal with. I was able to carefully drill into the hub and not go into the casing, then dremel it free. It still took some time to pull it even after it was loose. I even ruined one of my pullers. Since I had to remove a lot from of the rear end tin it will be good for the exhaust which hopefully goes on easier then this tomorrow.
Pic showing how much hub goes up into the casing and what I had to drill out.
Grew up in southern colorado at 7500 ft. needed to go over 10,000 ft passes to get out. All vehicles were jetted for altitude but I didn't think to much about it. I just knew my 68 327 2bbl Camaro would only do 102mph at 7500 ft.
Getting the exhaust on. I can use the existing J tubes but technically they're the wrong size so have a matching set on the way. And the old air filter was in rough shape.
Made a modification to the tailpipe. The way it bolted up the exhaust tip was pointed directly into the rear bumper. Just being a few inches away that seemed like a good way to melt bumper paint as well as have exhaust fumes swirling around back there if I decide to crack the back open. Bus exhaust are supposed to exit to the side for this reason. Grabbed a piece of exhaust tubing and made myself a better exit. Wideband bung on too.
Looking good! I have more broken pullers than I have functioning pullers. Not sure what it is about a crank pulley and/or a wheel hub but they are almost always a problem it seems. That is also one nasty looking air filter.
On another note I sent a reply to your PM, but none of the messages I have ever sent show up in the sent area so I have no idea if it is actually working or not. Let me know and I can send you my email and phone number if need be. I know Dave has my email as well and he may still have my cell number as we have texted briefly in the past if he wants to pass them on to you.
Is there a provision for an oil filter on that motor? Or does it just have that little screen?
No filter stock, but the engine upgrade I will add one.
Pm received and replied.
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.
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.
I think the improvement from the dizzy will be incremental.....noticeable, but not earth shattering. 77.gif
Dan, you've really done a lot on the VW already in such a short time. Can't wait to see more.
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.
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? :-[
Quote from: 94touring on October 21, 2020, 04:02:29 PM
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.
Quote from: MPlayle on October 21, 2020, 06:38:08 PM
Quote from: 94touring on October 21, 2020, 04:02:29 PM
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.
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.
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.
Yeah, that dizzy was pretty nasty looking!
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.
Quote from: 94touring on October 22, 2020, 05:07:23 PM
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.
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.
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?
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
Those sides fold down to make a flat bed. They were used as work trucks believe it or not, much like mini pickups were.
I see several of these single cabs for sale. Anywhere from 14k to 30k delivered. This one is 30k.
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......
Here you go Dave:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2423383 (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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Saw this at Caffeine & Octane this morning.
Is the red car a new Vette?
There's a fellow who does a whole series on living in his van, in one I saw he got snowed in for the weekend but was able to get out again using those ramps.
Wow. Not your average Westfalia. Ready for the zombie apocalypse. Or, the election results. ;D
Yeah those are really popular for the ultimate off road guys.
Looks like they could be a little top heavy for serious off road stuff, but I have never seen one in person so perhaps it just looks that way. Still neat for sure, but just browsing some for sale, certainly not cheap.
Drove it home for the 1st time yesterday after doing the final tune up items like plugs, plug wires, proper J tubes, and the wideband installed to verify fuel delivery. Zooms right along doing 67-68mph on the flats. Manages 60 up some long uphill grades too. Got more thumbs up and attention than the mini does which was surprising to me.
Quote from: 94touring on August 07, 2020, 09:20:15 PM
...... It's a 1983 so borrowing money was a little tricky at first. Pretty sure they thought they were loaning me money for a vanagon. Has a 1600cc motor and guessing that it won't do well going into the mountains, so perhaps turbo kit is in it's future.
This is way cool.....wonderful choice!!
Quote from: 94touring on November 11, 2020, 02:47:24 AM
Drove it home for the 1st time yesterday after doing the final tune up items like plugs, plug wires, proper J tubes, and the wideband installed to verify fuel delivery. Zooms right along doing 67-68mph on the flats. Manages 60 up some long uphill grades too. Got more thumbs up and attention than the mini does which was surprising to me.
Not sure what it is about a VW van, but everyone seems to love them and you just do not see a ton of them around anymore. Here are a few pics of one that runs around up in the Black Hills that has been slightly modified.
(https://i.ibb.co/1ZnLqTy/20180705-110844.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/H7RBCpb/20180705-110835.jpg)
Wonder what that uses for an engine? I'm sure it's not a 50 hp VW motor! :-\
I wondered the same thing and "stalled" for almost an hour waiting for someone to show back up so I could ask. The rest of the family decided it wasn't that important so I was over ruled and we had to carry on with what were doing. When we got back from our hike it was gone.
I looked up where they were located so I could maybe drop by and talk with someone but never did end up having enough time to do it. I guess a guy could probably email them and ask, pretty sure they had a website. Now I am going to have to go look. I forgot I had these pictures and when I came across them while cleaning off my phone I thought they would fit in here.
Quote from: cstudep on November 11, 2020, 08:29:17 AM
I wondered the same thing and "stalled" for almost an hour waiting for someone to show back up so I could ask. The rest of the family decided it wasn't that important so I was over ruled and we had to carry on with what were doing. When we got back from our hike it was gone.
I looked up where they were located so I could maybe drop by and talk with someone but never did end up having enough time to do it. I guess a guy could probably email them and ask, pretty sure they had a website. Now I am going to have to go look. I forgot I had these pictures and when I came across them while cleaning off my phone I thought they would fit in here.
I was curious too = found this 'restoratoin' thread on their website...
One pic has a shot of engine in place = Looks like a Stocker VW engine too = IM sure it has some mods.. but still!!!
http://www.blackhillstourcompany.com/galleries/vw-restorations/ (http://www.blackhillstourcompany.com/galleries/vw-restorations/)
Can you imagine what that thing weighs? Sticking with a stock or even modified VW motor is the absolute definition of optimism.
that thing makes my brain hurt, but oddly enough I don't hate it.
Quote from: BruceK on November 11, 2020, 03:25:56 PM
Can you imagine what that thing weighs? Sticking with a stock or even modified VW motor is the absolute definition of optimism.
Don't forget the 12 passengers as well. I am amazed the thing even moves.
Got a few extra things done today. Swapped out mismatched headlight bulbs with h4's. The high beams wouldn't stay on when letting off the switch. You'd hear the clicking on the relay but you'd have to hold the switch to keep them on. Took the relay apart and cleaned things up and voila works perfectly. Wired up the fuse box and ran the gauges to it instead of piggy backing off the original fuse box. Wired up the tach and installed it into the dash blank. Last job of the day was changing out gear oil. Online some said it took 5 pints, 6 pints, and one person even said 8 pints. Mine took 5 pints. Have to awkwardly lay on your back and hold the bottle in just the right spot to fill it, till it pours out all over the place. Old gear oil was looking pretty rough. I'm sure it had never been changed.
Any plans for your first trip or have you not thought that far forward yet? Should be a lot of fun no matter where you end up.
We have a 2 day trip this Sunday planned. Should work out good now that everything is running smoothly.
Yesterday I successfully changed out the rear axle boots and regreased the bearings. Each side had one boot torn so replaced all four. Somewhat of a fiddly job getting the axles off. Easier than a mini but still time consuming. Went ahead and adjusted the rear drums while I was under there. Last thing I did for the day was investigate the shifter where it mounts into the floor. Seemed to be on the sloppy side and from reading there is a peg on the bottom of the shifter that wears and causes the slop. You have a cup with a slot that the shifter rod ball fits into and peg that's fitted through the ball that aligns with the slot in the cup. When you shift this moves another rod that then changes gears. Well sure enough the peg was worn. Found something in the shop that was the proper diameter, cut to length, removed old peg, and pressed in new peg. It really did tighten it up and improved shifting. I'm starting to run out of things to improve upon. Front sway bar came in so hoping I can tackle that today. Otherwise been driving it all over the past few days. The mini must be getting jealous by now.
Quote from: cstudep on November 11, 2020, 07:32:57 AM
Quote from: 94touring on November 11, 2020, 02:47:24 AM
Drove it home for the 1st time yesterday after doing the final tune up items like plugs, plug wires, proper J tubes, and the wideband installed to verify fuel delivery. Zooms right along doing 67-68mph on the flats. Manages 60 up some long uphill grades too. Got more thumbs up and attention than the mini does which was surprising to me.
Not sure what it is about a VW van, but everyone seems to love them and you just do not see a ton of them around anymore. Here are a few pics of one that runs around up in the Black Hills that has been slightly modified.
(https://i.ibb.co/1ZnLqTy/20180705-110844.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/H7RBCpb/20180705-110835.jpg)
So apparently in the 70s they (some company) did a few variations of these bus limo, tandem rear axle, concoction of cars put together to form something ridiculous. The other similar to this had a Chevy van front end and I'm assuming Chevy engine to move it along.
Quote from: 94touring on November 13, 2020, 03:01:04 AM
Yesterday I successfully changed out the rear axle boots and regreased the bearings. Each side had one boot torn so replaced all four. Somewhat of a fiddly job getting the axles off. Easier than a mini but still time consuming. Went ahead and adjusted the rear drums while I was under there. Last thing I did for the day was investigate the shifter where it mounts into the floor. Seemed to be on the sloppy side and from reading there is a peg on the bottom of the shifter that wears and causes the slop. You have a cup with a slot that the shifter rod ball fits into and peg that's fitted through the ball that aligns with the slot in the cup. When you shift this moves another rod that then changes gears. Well sure enough the peg was worn. Found something in the shop that was the proper diameter, cut to length, removed old peg, and pressed in new peg. It really did tighten it up and improved shifting. I'm starting to run out of things to improve upon. Front sway bar came in so hoping I can tackle that today. Otherwise been driving it all over the past few days. The mini must be getting jealous by now.
Running out of things to improve upon is always a good thing, that means you can hopefully enjoy just driving it! At least the Mini has good company with all the other mini projects you have going on.
Yesterday did the front sway bar. It was a pita. If it ever had a stock bar as most baywindow buses did, it was long gone. The new one was heavy duty and much thicker than a stock bar, which made stock bushings impossible to fit. To get it on good enough for now I sliced the bushings to get it over the bar, once the bushing brackets were clamped down it came together fine and is secure. At some point I may try to find proper inner diameter bushings. The other issue was the bar was maybe a half inch from aligning to both bolts. One would fit and then the other wouldn't reach. Took it outside to my trailer and used the metal frame to hold the sway bar to then push with all my might to bend the arm enough to reach. It's a big sprung bar so efforts seemed pointless but it gave me enough length that I was able to get a bolt started at an angle, and then hammer it through, which then aligned the bar once things were tightened up. It's snug that's for sure. Drives nicely in curves and seems to do better in gusty winds or when a semi goes by. That's what they said it would improve online too so guess the efforts were worth it.
2nd thing for the day was replaced the steering damper. Figured since the shocks were shot there was a good chance the damper was too. They're cheap and easy to get off and on. Took all of 5 minutes. Old damper was ok feeling but new one definitely firmer and without a dead zone in the center position like the old one. As a result steering is a little firmer, probably does better on bumpy roads is about it. Funny enough before all this my steering wheel was right of center. I had removed the wheel and centered it up. After the damper the wheel pointed left of center, so wheel back off and re centered to where it would have been to begin with.
Road trip planned tomorrow so checked toe. 1/16" out so at least it's aligned. Also yesterday it was in the mid 30s when I took it for a drive to the shop. Decided to try out the space heater and see if the alternator would keep up according to the volt meter I installed. This is a 1500 watt heater. Never tripped the power inverter in the 20 minutes or so that I ran it. Volts were down to about 11.5-12. May have gone lower over time but nevertheless it did keep me warm on the way to the shop. I just sat it on the seat beside me. Tried it on the floor for a bit too. I have a smaller heater we've used for camping that has a 750 watt selection that I'll test out. Might be the best solution and should sit on the dash should I need some defrost.
Getting ready for it's maiden voyage. Here's the new hub caps too.
Nice! Looks like you are ready to roll, enjoy your weekend with the new ride. 77.gif
I see you have a few brew's stashed strategically around the fridge! It's also pretty amazing just how much stuff that little shelf system on the door actually holds.
Not only that but the closet has a ton of stuff crammed in there with room to spare, and we haven't begun to put things on the shelf over the bed or in the other good sized knook behind the front seats I created. Still plenty of space in the fridge for more food. And a full roof rack if needed. Have a tool bag in the engine compartment and a few spare parts like the old coil and backup dizzy.
It's hard to believe there is that much storage space in there while still having room for a couple of humans. Sure makes a guy wonder why anyone needs one of those huge RV's. But I also like to "camp" when we go camping. I don't need a TV, etc... Just a camp fire, some grub, a few brews and the company of whoever came along.
Looking fine!
Have a great trip.
Quote from: cstudep on November 14, 2020, 04:46:20 PM
It's hard to believe there is that much storage space in there while still having room for a couple of humans. Sure makes a guy wonder why anyone needs one of those huge RV's. But I also like to "camp" when we go camping. I don't need a TV, etc... Just a camp fire, some grub, a few brews and the company of whoever came along.
It's surprisingly spacious. At some point when we do our long camping trips I will buy a side tent to spread out a little more.
Those side tents are extremely useful for things like getting dressed and undressed (you can actually stand up), leaving your shoes, eating/relaxing when the mosquitos are out to kill etc.. They have them for overland vehicle use that attach to the roof like an awning.
Another useful item when longer remote camping is in order is one of those solar shower bags and one of the little pop up tent like things for them.
Made the trip without any issues. Aside from being on the slow side going up hills!
How slow? Just a mild slowdown or being passed by bicycles? ;D
I had to shift down into 3rd a couple times, which is about 40mph in a 60mph zone. Granted we took back roads with little to no traffic for this reason. More scenic and fun though. Loaded up with all the gear it still did 60-65mph provided we weren't on an incline.
We are very popular at the campground. People keep stopping to check us out and one guy wanted to trade his Denali for the bus.
How cold is it supposed to get tonight? Are you plugged in to shore power? Got good sleeping bags?
Edit: Looks like mid 30's tonight
30 amp shore power plugged in with one big space heater and one smaller. I only brought the small one to test while driving, and it works perfectly on the power inverter maintaining 12.5-13 volts while driving (with the fridge running too) vs the big one that was as low as 11 volts. Should be low 30s tonight.
Very cool!! Enjoy your freezing cold camping trip with you snuggle buddy there.
I still think you should shop for a Porsche 3.2 liter engine and / transaxle to swap into it.
250HP would be very nice in that.* ;D
* - Edit - You know I am joking an air cooled 911 flat 6 swap would probably run over 20K to do right.
I think you mentioned turbo then decided on a built VW engine, I think that is the way to go.
I'm going to drop in a 2110 stroker motor. Should triple the power and increase the power band 1k rpms too if I really need to wind it out for some reason. Looked into other engine conversions but they were as you pointed out very expensive. Looked at turbo'ng this 1600 but by time I spend money doing that I can spend about the same on that 2110 long block that's brand new. What I'm hoping for is enough power to perhaps tow a mini around or someday a 356 speedster replica. I need to research if it's capable with the extra power.
Excellent, I like that fold out table. If that was featured in a previous pic I totally missed it 77.gif
We always take the "scenic route" when we go places if we have the time. It's much more leisurely and that's what "vacationing" is all about. Sometimes it actually ends up being faster. Anytime we head out to Denver we take Hwy 36 across Kansas, even being a lower speed limit and 2 lanes for most of it, we save about an hour off the trip vs going I-70 or I-80.....well except that one time I had to get out there quick for a family emergency I took the WRX across I-80 in Nebraska in the middle of the night. I averaged 95+mph across the state that time, but was extremely lucky I didn't get caught.
Space heater burning us out in here on high.
Research shows won't be a problem towing.
I love the night photo with the camper interior gently glowing.
So great you are enjoying it.
+1 that pic at night looks cozy.
Dan, if you ever need help spending your money, let me know that is what I am here for.
Quote from: cstudep on November 15, 2020, 04:31:00 PM
Excellent, I like that fold out table. If that was featured in a previous pic I totally missed it 77.gif
We always take the "scenic route" when we go places if we have the time. It's much more leisurely and that's what "vacationing" is all about. Sometimes it actually ends up being faster. Anytime we head out to Denver we take Hwy 36 across Kansas, even being a lower speed limit and 2 lanes for most of it, we save about an hour off the trip vs going I-70 or I-80.....well except that one time I had to get out there quick for a family emergency I took the WRX across I-80 in Nebraska in the middle of the night. I averaged 95+mph across the state that time, but was extremely lucky I didn't get caught.
We do the same, as a matter of fact we are working on a road trip to an Air BNB right now in early December, figure we may as well do a road trip before the Government forces us to sit at home again in January. The plan is to take mostly back roads up. If we took the interstate we could knock out the trip in 3 hours or so, the plan is to go on secondary roads the entire way up and do some exploring, as best we can all things considered.
I did a similar run in my old 1980 Porsche 911 hotrod. I had to make an unplanned run from my vacation home in NC to my office in Florida. I left at 0400 and rocketed down. Average moving speed according to my Garmin was 80 MPH IIRC including surface roads and 1 gas stop to make the 730 mile one way trip. I did the trip right at 9 hours in 30 minutes with the gas stop. That damn car would get 30 MPG cruising at 80 MPH and had a 18 gallon tank. IIRC. I stopped at the 400 mile mark topped it off and took back off. Not sure how I did not get a ticket that day. I arrived at my office at 1:30 in the afternoon, to take care of the problems then take care of some other business issues. I slept at my house, then went into the office for most of the next day. Taking back off at 3PM to go back.
Just made the trip back. Only issue was filling up the tank before the trip, I came out of the gas station to a puddle of fuel and what looked like a substantial leak. I just put new lines on so ruled that out pretty quickly. Come to find out there's 2 tank vents. One has a line on it and the other is a bit more hidden and had no line. Once I saw about where the fuel was coming from and reached my hand up there was able to feel the vent. Had a short length of hose on me and was able to get it on and raise it high enough to stop the fuel flow. Took a couple bottles of water and rinsed things down since it was basically all over the engine and the one exhaust pipe. I had been wondering what the strong fuel smell was since buying the bus and that explains it. Gas mileage wise I was anticipating about 15mpg all loaded up, which was precisely what I got on the way down. On the way back I got about 1/8th more on the fuel gauge than going there, which probably makes sense since it was more uphill going down.
I fixed a leaking fuel vent tube on an old jeep wrangler and ended up getting 2 mpg better gas mileage. Quite a lot can slosh out of a leaky vent sometimes I suppose.
Now that we knocked out a 5 hour round trip in this 1600cc powerhouse, I placed the 2110cc engine order with a company in California. Build is specific to the bus so will be geared more towards low end and mid range torque. The 2110 is stroked which was one advantage for more low end power. Other details will be larger valves in the heads but nothing radical, upgraded cam but nothing radical, stock ratio valves but high performance single springs vs dual springs so it's easier on lobes and I won't be revving the piss out of the engine. Dual weber idf 40s vs 44s for again low end/mid range power. The exhaust I have on there was also chosen for the build for low end power, bigger, better flowing, but nothing huge. 8:1 compression vs stock 7:7:1. Gave me the option to go to 9:1 but engine cooling and longevity are best with 8:1. Adding a 1.5qt oil sump as stock these things only hold about 3 quarts. Adding an oil filter and a full flow oil system, as well as new oil cooler. All chromely internals and some other beefier internals that give me the option to go turbo if I ever decide that for some reason. Should yield 120hp and 140tq at the crank vs current stock of about 55hp and 80tq. Bring on the hills. Upgraded clutch kit to handle it. I already have a 356 alternator pulley to increase fan speed for additional cooling but will need to upgrade the fan before installing to a welded and balanced unit as the stockers can grenade with the increased speed. The stock fan has some bent blades anyways.
Nice, That should certainly be a noticeable upgrade! Any time you can double HP and torques is a good time indeed.
Are going to do anything about the transmission?
Quote from: MPlayle on November 18, 2020, 09:15:40 AM
Are going to do anything about the transmission?
I keep going back and forth on doing a freeway flyer that would lower rpms a little in 4th. But reading online many don't like it. Then again they are mostly under powered. I may run it by the guy in California and see what he says. It's geared to do 65mph but would be nice if I could cruise at 70 doing the same rpms.
Who's the guy/shop building it? At some point our bug will be getting done and it will need engine work/more power.
His name is Jeff with Gemvw. His prices were good compared to many others and he got good reviews online. Free shipping too. I came out under budget going with him. The guy nearby had such bad reviews I didn't even bother.
Sounds like the ideal engine for your camper/bus. By the way camping pics were great! I'm sure it drew lots of attention on road and at the site.
Moar Pow'r !!
Quote from: MPlayle on November 18, 2020, 09:15:40 AM
Are going to do anything about the transmission?
Turns out I probably have some kind of unusual Brazilian gearing that was offered. Found available options online. Matching up my rpms to speeds it looks like it has a 5.86 final drive. Stock early type 2 buses had a 5.37 and a 4th gear of 0.82. This is with 1600cc motors barely able to move out of their own way. As it is right now doing 65mph I'm zinging along at 4200rpms. The 5.37 would give me 3800 rpms. The later type two buses had a 4.86 with 4th gear of 0.88 and eventually a 4.57. I'm kind of eyeballing the 4.86, which would put me at 3600 rpms at 65mph, or 70mph at 4k rpms. Freeway flyers are 4.12 and 3.88 usually, which is way too tall for a bus, even with a built motor.
Does it rock a lot when parked?
Asking for a friend who might want to buy one.
LMAO ..... Fairly narrow track width, and a little bit higher center of gravity..... It probably won't tip over at least.
You just need to orient activities to north south rather than east west? 77.gif
Quote from: Jims5543 on November 19, 2020, 01:27:26 PM
Does it rock a lot when parked?
Asking for a friend who might want to buy one.
Why do you think I upgraded the shocks and put a sway bar on? ;D
Quote from: 94touring on November 19, 2020, 05:13:47 PM
Quote from: Jims5543 on November 19, 2020, 01:27:26 PM
Does it rock a lot when parked?
Asking for a friend who might want to buy one.
Why do you think I upgraded the shocks and put a sway bar on? ;D
Cornering..... duh. Your other cars are a mini and an FD RX7.
Quote from: gr8kornholio on November 19, 2020, 07:43:13 PM
Quote from: 94touring on November 19, 2020, 05:13:47 PM
Quote from: Jims5543 on November 19, 2020, 01:27:26 PM
Does it rock a lot when parked?
Asking for a friend who might want to buy one.
Why do you think I upgraded the shocks and put a sway bar on? ;D
Cornering..... duh. Your other cars are a mini and an FD RX7.
So naturally I needed to buy the most unstable and slowest vehicle money can buy!
I guess once parked you could jack it and put some blocks under it to stabilize it.
I have a friend in Quebec (no really) he just purchased a Mercedes Sprinter converted into a camper.
Mrs5543 found a place that rents more modern VW Campers out, she wanted to rent one to try out on a short weekend to see if we would like it.
I like your all in approach better. ;D
I have a side tent on the way for it too. Measures 9.5x10.5 feet and can be opened up on all 4 sides and has awnings that extend. Plus can be zipped up on the bus side to drive away.
I finally figured out what the details on the transmission are since the serial numbers don't match anything stateside. Explains my screwy 4th gearing. Probably a 5.14 final drive with 1.04 4th. The 5.14 would actually work great, but with a 0.82 4th. Well, it's from this Brazilian truck...
Another factoid today was discovering my suspension is a early bus from a 55-67. I was trying to replace the steering lever arm bushings to further improve steering response when I ran into an issue of my replacement bushings being 1.5mm too small in outer diameter. So off the road till the new bushings arrive.
On Tyler marketplace.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/838716570036090 (https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/838716570036090)
Quote from: 94touring on November 21, 2020, 06:07:26 PM
I finally figured out what the details on the transmission are since the serial numbers don't match anything stateside. Explains my screwy 4th gearing. Probably a 5.14 final drive with 1.04 4th. The 5.14 would actually work great, but with a 0.82 4th. Well, it's from this Brazilian truck...
Another factoid today was discovering my suspension is a early bus from a 55-67. I was trying to replace the steering lever arm bushings to further improve steering response when I ran into an issue of my replacement bushings being 1.5mm too small in outer diameter. So off the road till the new bushings arrive.
Got to love mix and match vehicles. You just never know what you are going to find or what you really need to fix something. That is an interesting truck, I wonder what the little black things are on the front corners of the cab. Some sort of attempt to provide some sort of beneficial "aerodynamics" to that brick of a front end?
Yeah not sure 8.gif. Given it's aerodynamics, it might explain the gearing too.
That blue cab over pick up truck is from Mexico, right? I've seen it before and it's got a regular flat four air cooled Volkswagen engine but it's front wheel drive! I forget the model name but it's something that begins with an H I think.
Quote from: tsumini on November 21, 2020, 09:41:14 PM
On Tyler marketplace.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/838716570036090 (https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/838716570036090)
507,000 miles!!!!!!
Quote from: BruceK on November 22, 2020, 08:35:25 AM
That blue cab over pick up truck is from Mexico, right? I've seen it before and it's got a regular flat four air cooled Volkswagen engine but it's front wheel drive! I forget the model name but it's something that begins with an H I think.
It is a VW Hormiga. Brazil and Mexico had them. Wiki says they were built in Mexico. Top speed rated at 58 mph.
Quote from: MPlayle on November 22, 2020, 09:37:53 AM
Quote from: BruceK on November 22, 2020, 08:35:25 AM
That blue cab over pick up truck is from Mexico, right? I've seen it before and it's got a regular flat four air cooled Volkswagen engine but it's front wheel drive! I forget the model name but it's something that begins with an H I think.
It is a VW Hormiga. Brazil and Mexico had them. Wiki says they were built in Mexico. Top speed rated at 58 mph.
That is correct! Also used on some late model Brazilian kombis till end of production in 2013.
Talked with the transaxle guy today about redoing my gears and freshening up this one. Looking at pulling it out after new years and sending it out. I'm curious what he finds inside as far as gears go. He seems to think a 3.88 or 4.12 will work good, but I'm not so sure with mountain driving I intend to do in a heavy bus. Maybe I'll split the difference and do a 4.57 as the late bays came with that had bigger engines.
One thing great bout VW's, LOTS of aftermarket support in both parts and guys who know their stuff about them!
One more thing to consider, the new motor will have a lot of torque, that's what pushes you up the hills..... plus, if you need more....you can always add the turbo!
Yeah that turbo kit just keeps getting more tempting lol. I'll have to wait and see how the bus does in hills and pulling the blue mini. Can't remember if I posted it already but VW says a bus can pull a 1300lb trailer with no brakes or 2600lbs with brakes. Seeing how the mini is less than 1300 I should be good there.
I've been sitting in a hotel room in Baltimore all week on call. Gives me lots of time to research gears and buy car parts! Going to do the 4.12 ring and pinion. Keeping 1st through 3rd gear ratios the same. 4th gear he wanted me to do a bus 0.82, which is rather tall on an already tall 4.12. Great for bugs but I just don't see it happening in a bus. Using some online ratio calculators, factoring in tire diameters, knowing I have a brazilan 5.14 already, I've concluded I have a 0.93 bug 4th. Giving me 65mph on a 185/75/R14 tire at 4200 rpms as I've verified with my tach and GPS. Optimal fan speed is 3800rpms, more on that later. Anyways, the lowered split bus guys that do away with reduction gear boxes pretty much all run 3.88 or 4.12, and on much smaller motors than what I have. Some even do the 4th 0.82, why is beyond me...well they like doing 85mph in an unstable box I guess. 0.89 4th is recommended on a bus to keep 3rd and 4th closer than the 0.82 for hills, but these aren't the heavier camper buses either. The engine builder says I'll be at optimal power between 3200-3700rpms with a redline of 5k. It will actually go up to about 5500 but it's built for lower end power. Transaxle guy wanted to put my normal driving speeds of 60-70mph in the 2800rpm range. That sounds really dumb to me. I might do 75 on a calm day with wide pavement. Running the numbers with the 4.12 and just keeping the 0.93 4th gives me 60-70 between 3100 and 3600rpms. Perfect I say. 75mph I'm at about 3850rpms, coincidently at peak fan performance. Not only that but I can shift in 3rd at 4200rpms (4300 rpms is factory recommended on a slow stock motor) and it puts me in 4th at 3200rpms, right in the torque spot. So I feel happy about all that. Now, since fan speed is best slightly higher up the rpm band for most of my driving I have a porsche 356 alternator pulley which turns the fan at a higher speed. This offsets me driving at a lower rpm. But, stock fans are prone to exploding and taking out a lot of metal in it's path if you really wind up the motor with these 356 alternator pulleys. Taking advantage of some black friday sales I went ahead and ordered the new fan which is welded. My old fan as I pointed out earlier in this thread has bent fins and has seen better days. While I was at it I ordered some new engine tins to clean things up for the new engine and since I won't have heat risers, heater boxes, or the need for heater ducting. The new tins won't have all the unnecessary ducting and some fresh new paint to go with it.
You're really gearing up on your air cooled VW knowledge! 77.gif
I swear if I had a gear set and tools in my hotel room I could build one right now ;D
Quote from: 94touring on November 28, 2020, 04:07:04 PM
I swear if I had a gear set and tools in my hotel room I could build one right now ;D
Hummm, how much stuff can you pack for yourself? What no, of course, I didn't get gear oil on the hotel carpet how would I do that? >:D
Back to a few things on the bus. I managed to screw up one of my swing arm pin bushings that "didn't need reamed" but I won't go into that fiasco. Turns out Tulsa has a VW shop that carries a large supply of bus and bug parts, and it's about 5 minutes from my house. They had the bushings I needed and I'll probably be making other trips there in the future for random bits. They even had a couple old buses on their showroom floor. Made myself a press from rod and away I went. I should have the required reamer here tomorrow by lunch. Ordered that through a machinery company in town. While I was under the bus doing these bushings the shift linkage arms has to come off to do the work. I've had sloppy shifting which was somewhat remedied by redoing the shift pin as earlier posted. What was left were a couple plastic bushings on each end of the linkage. 5 dollars later in bushings and some cleaning and regreasing, I've got really nice shifting. Whoever owned it in Brazil had some fabbed up metal tube on the front end which wasn't doing me any favors.
LOOKS Very Clean underneath - kind of a joy to work on when they are that way!
Quote from: jedduh01 on December 03, 2020, 08:43:55 AM
LOOKS Very Clean underneath - kind of a joy to work on when they are that way!
That was one thing about it when I was initially buying, it's pretty immaculate underneath and everywhere else. No rust or previous patches. I figured even if the paint job was so so, which I'd rate it a 7 out of 10, it's an easy canvas for me to improve upon. Interior was the same way. All new stuff. Just needed a few tweaks to get things the way I want them.
Reamer arrived and the new link pin was successfully installed. Results are it's more responsive now. There was significant wear on the old pin and bushings were looser. I'm still a smidge off center on the steering box when I aligned the steering wheel to it, so game plan tomorrow is adjust link arm about 2 turns out and that should have it, which will improve response more but I'm not anticipating much. I had it too far to the right on the first test drive and now it's too far left. Cheap exhaust gaskets that came with the exhaust blew out so replaced those as well. Oh and shifting is butter now with the new bushings there.
One other thing I did. Drove with a 2 gallon can of gas till I ran out to determine tank capacity. 12.5 gallons. I believe there is a 14.5 and 16.5 which I will look to upgrade to.
Always good to know what your actual gas capacity is, and how accurate your gauge is, prior to being in the middle of nowhere. Used to have a car that stayed on full for quite some time, then slowly started going down until about the 1/2 tank mark over the span of about 150 miles or so. At which point you had about 30-40 miles to find a gas station. It was a load of fun to lend out to unaware friends.
Ha yeah. This gauge does the same. Takes awhile to get to half, then E quickly, then who knows till you run out.
Went and got 2 trees with the bus this evening.
Do they even do Christmas trees in Brazil? I'm guessing not. So probably the first time she's hauled one. Or two! ;D
Played with this bus tent. It's amazing for a tent. May as well be a transformer because it has so many configurations. Open all sides, don't open all sides, additional room or not, floors or don't bother. Drive away and zip up the door to bus.
Wow, that really adds a lot of extra room. Looks great.
It really does Brad. Should work out great for our week long trips when we need the extra room.
Back to steering play. The new bushings and link pin tightened it up but still outside of factory specs. I was able to get someone to turn the wheel in the dead zone while I was under to figure it out. Visually nothing looked off. Then I put my hand over the ball joints on the link arm and found the culprit. Both ends shift before they send motion to the arm that move the tie rods. Very easy fix at least.
Also I think I narrowed down the paint scheme I will eventually go with. The last edition 2013 Kombi in Brazil was a light blue over white. Exactly what I had in mind, but I think since the bus is Brazilian I may as well use the Brazilian color code. Took some research to find the code but was able to get it and saved for when I get around to it. They made 1200 of these final editions apparently. The very last one was sent to the VW museum in Germany where it sits among a fleet of other special buses.
Quote from: 94touring on December 07, 2020, 11:40:48 AM
Back to steering play. The new bushings and link pin tightened it up but still outside of factory specs. I was able to get someone to turn the wheel in the dead zone while I was under to figure it out. Visually nothing looked off. Then I put my hand over the ball joints on the link arm and found the culprit. Both ends shift before they send motion to the arm that move the tie rods. Very easy fix at least.
Same method I used to teach my students to find worn ball joints. Glad you found it, like you said - it's an easy enough fix.
You gonna do light blue over white, or white over light blue?
Gonna go with the whitewall tires too? ;D
The white wall inserts were the first things I tossed in the trash! ;D
Wiper blades and blingy new side mirrors went on today. Stopped by the vw shop and placed an order for the new drag link arm with fresh ball joints to finish off the steering. Going back to the gas tank situation to upgrade from the current 12 to 16 gallon I started pricing tanks. While the engine is out for the engine swap is really the only time to do it. Then I started researching and noticed some people have custom tanks or aux tanks under the floors. A new tank is somewhat pricey. Sheets of 16 gauge steel are not. Got out the tape measure and looked to see what will fit in the current tank void area. Looks like a 24 gallon custom tank will work to me. I could add another 6.5 gallons tucked underneath the body frame but not sure if I'll go that far with the custom work.
24 gallons is pretty heavy.....over 200lbs
Quote from: MiniDave on December 08, 2020, 03:35:53 PM
24 gallons is pretty heavy.....over 200lbs
Well, more like 72lbs more than what I currently carry.
Well, that's 200 on top of what you already are carrying if you're gonna add another tank.
Gas is only 6lbs a gallon so if I went with 30 gallons total that's 180lbs or 108lbs more than the stock small tank.
You're right, I was thinking of water at 8.34 lbs - gas is 6.3
I also don't have the very large propane tank setup that Westies came with. I know those are heavy. I don't have the camper pop top either but I do have the roof rack which negates that. Not exactly good for aerodynamics either. I went ahead and ordered sheet metal for the project. Once I get the tank out I can verify a few measurements before I go welding things up. I decided I may as well make the aux tank while I'm at it. One guy has a 900 mile range with custom extended range tanks! He must piss in a bottle or something. I'm just looking for more than a 150-200 mile range. A couple things I pondered was how to fill the aux tank easily and tranfer fuel. The factory propane tanks sit on the side of the bus, which would allow for a filler neck. But, I don't like the idea of a side impact with that setup. Dead center in the bus underside is probably best placement for safety and weight spread. A shallow tank keeps it tucked up without hanging below the frame as well. The easiest way to fill will be by making a T running from the tank filler neck near the tank which will gravity feed down to the aux tank. Probably just a 3/4" ID fuel line as those are easy to source, affordable, and should gravity feed at a decent rate. It will fill the aux tank while filling the main tank and as the main tank nears full it will then gravity feed at 100% to the aux tank if it isn't already full. Then to transfer fuel. Can't leave an electric pump running continously because it requires fuel to cool itself. Thought about leaving the mechanical pump hooked up and having it cycle continously but if the diaphragm on the mechanical failed I'd get a case full of fuel. Best option will probably be a 2nd electric fuel pump identical to the one the engine will be running off the main tank with, but with a toggle switch somewhere under the dash. I will need to time how long it takes to transfer however many gallons I end up with to shut the pump off to not burn up dry pumping. Most 3psi pumps are doing 30 gallons an hour so won't take long. Extra benefit is having a backup pump attached in case the main pump fails in BFE. I'm thinking I should be able to get a 500 mile range provided the new engine gives me a little extra gas mileage and depending if I'm flat towing or not. It would be nice to only have to stop once for fuel to Colorado verses 5 times I'd be required to stop now. Or worrying how far to the next gas station out in the panhandle.
Could you ran a 3/4" line from the low point of the aux tank into the main tank? No pump needed then to move fuel.
Quote from: Willie_B on December 09, 2020, 11:55:04 AM
Could you ran a 3/4" line from the low point of the aux tank into the main tank? No pump needed then to move fuel.
The main tank sits very high on a shelf in the engine bay so that's not an option. Even if I could gravity feed to the main, I'd need a shut-off valve because fuel would pour out the vents and filler cap... well depending I suppose. I thought about just gravity feeding from the main tank to aux tank and putting a fuel sender in the aux tank. But, it's too shallow to use the stock sender and if I went after market I end up having another fuel gauge I'd rather not have.
If you want to get fancy you could wire in a low fuel level warning sensor (the kind that turns the low fuel light on) that trips a relay so that the pump relay does not get power when that switch is activated.
The problem you will have with a large shallow tank like you describe is the sensitivity and position of the sensor. If the tank is only 5-6" deep you still have a lot of fuel available, if say you can accurately position the sensor 1" off of the bottom. The factory style sensors generally attach to the pump body that extends down into the tank.
If the tank was even slightly sloped toward the pump pickup, which I assume you would do, and you positioned the sensor somewhere opposite the pump pickup, say in the middle of the tank, I would think you could get it dialed in pretty well to only leave a minimal amount of fuel assuming the pickup was in the lowest part of the tank and you were using something like the external facet electric pump to do the transferring.
Seems like it would be easy enough to rig up. You can do a lot of cool stuff with a few relays.
Hmm that's a good idea. Can wire it to an idiot light. Yes the back end of the tank will be the low point. I figured I'd build it square but mount it high on the front. The ass end of the bus with all the weight sits a little lower as is, then figure momentum driving, and going up a hill too. Can always coast down empty but hard to do going up!
Don't forget some baffles, and maybe a sump for the pickup?
Thought about baffles and a sump too. The main tank will have a bit of a sump where the outlet feed mounts. The opening where the tank sits for the feed allows for a little sump area. The aux tank will just have a slope to it. Should suffice I think. The inlet to the main tank feeding from the aux tank I will run a hard line down to the floor of the tank so it's not aerating fuel. I could probably get fancy and run it right to the main tank sump.
Just looked up fuel pressure sensor warning kits. They have one that's 2psi that kicks on the light. If I do it with relays and such like suggested, it can just kick off the pump at that time. My only concern being these pumps do tend to fluctuate a little unless you use a rotary pump. Decisions 8.gif
Should be a pretty slick setup once you get it done! If you ever venture west of the Rockies the extended range will be quite welcome, you can go for a long way and never see a fuel stop. 77.gif
I would like to check out the far northwest. One of the only areas I haven't been. It will certainly be a stress relief not planning fuel stops in unknown territory.
What about something like this? I have replaced one like this before on a modern in tank fuel pump.
On the one I replaced the body of the sensor snapped into a little clip down low on the fuel pump body. This clip grounded the sensor body to the pump and the vehicle (verified by metering continuity between the sensor body and vehicle ground). The wire coming out of it was the "signal" wire.
I do not believe these work off of any sort of PSI but just sense when the fuel falls below the height of wherever the sensor resides in the tank. If you look at the pictures you can see the holes that let fuel pass through the sensor. I never put much thought into the one I replaced, perhaps there may even be a little float or something inside it.
https://www.stang-aholics.com/i-31642576-67-73-mustang-fuel-sending-unit-low-fuel-warning-sensor-mounts-on-fuel-sender.html (https://www.stang-aholics.com/i-31642576-67-73-mustang-fuel-sending-unit-low-fuel-warning-sensor-mounts-on-fuel-sender.html)
Saw some of those on ebay for bikes but couldn't figure out how it worked by the pics.
(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F_dKrAeypy4kc%2FS-2enAgQFMI%2FAAAAAAAAEh4%2FLQKlL7n-3h0%2Fs720%2FIMGP6255.JPG&f=1&nofb=1)
They are all a little different but you can see similar mounted on the bottom pump, just to the right of the float.
The one I replaced was a fairly deep tank on a SUV so the in tank pump/float was just straight down, the sender for the low fuel light just clipped on near the bottom of the pump bracket. It did not have the complicated offset bracket like that picture shows, I could not find a good pic of one like I replaced, but you get the idea I am sure.
I believe the only real requirement is that the sensor is vertical, so it can drain out. Well that and it has to be near the bottom of the tank to be of much use for a low fuel indicator LOL.
Leaving for work today and the tank metal gets in tomorrow. I'm ready to at least get the aux tank welded up till I drop the motor out to work on the main tank. I looked on the gauge cluster and I have a spot for a warning light that's not being used. I have spare bulb holders for the cluster so will probably use that for something. Perhaps a low fuel light for the main tank depending how accurate I can dial in the sender that's in there now. Otherwise it will be part of the aux tank low pressure/pump shutoff system.
Edit: sitting at the airport went ahead and ordered a 2.5 to 4psi pump and an adjustable fuel pressure warning kit that's adjustable from 2psi to 7. Figured at 2.5psi at its lowest the pump shouldn't trip the 2psi setting on the sensor.
Sounds like a plan at least, only one way to find out if it actually works 4.gif
I also just found adjustable height sending units in the correct ohms. If my sending unit doesn't work well with the new tank height that's an option.
Apparently I have an all metal European dash that the US baywindows did not get, rather they had a foam covered dash. I'm seeing where the metal dashes are painted the body color. Something to consider I suppose. Maybe a little more appealing than the dull faded black that's in there now.
That does look nice, I would definitely go "body color" if you plan to paint it. Being a lighter color could only help with interior temp as well in the summer sun.
But, it the horizontal portion is not black it will reflect light back up into the inside of windshield, right?
I'm not sure. The top piece in that photo is the black foam trim piece, then behind that is another metal piece which is also black, or faded black in my case. That could potentially make a glare on the glass. I'll likely respray it in a flat black to clean it up.
Not home but I had Jen take a pic to verify. FF pads came in. I think I found some GG pads too, but won't know till they get here if they match what was online. I'm thinking some 60-0 before and after test will have to be made.
Yes some 60-0 comparisons would be cool. Just to see what kind of difference, if any, it would make. Maybe shoot them with an infrared thermometer as well before and after to get an idea of any temp advantages/disadvantages between the two.
GG pads arrived. These I wasn't certain of looking online at the pics, so I'm happy they're what I wanted. So I'll have a variety to test to see if anything is noticeable.
Is there a big price difference between FE, FF and GG pads?
Lets see what I find here. These are semi metallic.
EE: $26-32 on average with one $39 for same part number
FE: $25-32 and somewhat harder to find
FF: Bosch $35 with $28-38 on average in various brands and a few in the $50s for same part numbers and Brembo. FF's are plentiful in comparison.
GG: Zimmerman from Germany $36 and only brand that appears to have them. Germany has more GG's for highway speeds I'm told.
Offbrand/knockoffs FF's $15-25
Several unknown coding with prices all over the map from $15-$50
I bought Zimmerman rotors for my last Audi, but ran Akebono ceramic pads....no idea what rating they had but they stopped well, didn't wear and did not leave nasty black dust on the front wheels like the originals did.
I don't know what pads the new(er) Audi is using but it leaves nasty brown dust all over the front wheels.
Not enough difference between those prices to be worthwhile....
Maybe it's just an organic pad?
They all cost about the same. I just want the ones that stop the best.
Looks like my xmas present is ready.
Did they send you a video of it running?
I'll be interested to see how they crate and ship it.
I might be sending the auto trans to California via Fastenal's company truck, it's usually about 1/2 the cost of regular LTL shipping, although the shipping time can vary.
No videos but whatever crate is going direct to my shop. Not sure how much these weigh as a long block, but the winch will lug it inside regardless. All the ancillary items in the photo stay with him, except for the twin IDF 40 carbs.
Today I was able to change out all the crusty black door handles for chrome with keys so they'd lock. I also bought a MPH speedo, which I meticulously rolled back to zero, cleaned up, positioned carefully into place, and then lost grip, juggled it, tried to catch with my foot, and busted onto the concrete floor. 50.gif 57.gif
Ouch! Just think how careful you're going to be with the next one! ;D
It was one of those shop moments I wanted to shed a tear. Ordered another for $80. I'll just try to forget it happened. The door handles are rather nice. I bought a new inner mechanism for the side barn doors, which didn't seem to function properly at first. So I disassembled the old and new to figure it out. The old one was very messed up internally, wouldn't lock, hard to close, internal springs all screwed up ,and turning the handle was difficult. After studying the internals it made more sense. They had affixed a latch on the adjoining door in such a way to accept the old messed up mechanism. Now I have a door that closes effortlessly and locks properly. Also on the list of small pointless items was a seat belt extension for the passenger side since the arrangement left it rather tight even for the skinniest of people. I added a shift rod extension since stock sits low and you tend to grind your knuckles into the hand brake. With that I installed an ivory knob that's small and perhaps more eye appealing than the stock knob. With the new shift linkage bushings and extra shift height it's improved tremendously over what it initially had. To top it all off I bought some vintage/retro stereo head to fill the stereo blank. I'll get around to wiring it up eventually. The dash has a spot for speakers come to find out.
Lugged the sheet metal for the tanks to the shop, only to discover they forgot a section of 2x4. They were easy to work with on the phone and sending out the piece they forgot. Got under the bus and took final measurements and looks like 36x16x4 will fit no problem. That's right at 10 gallons. Tried the amethyst again with a different dizzy but no dice.
Cb blackbox in and working. Setting up the map and will clean up the harness. Maybe the amethyst will work in the mini now since the electric module was creating interference issues and forced me to go back to a condenser and points. Otherwise I'll just buy a 2nd blackbox and cut my losses with Aldon.
The brake pads test will have to wait for another day. Weather has been crap. I did pull an old pad out of curiosity and they are a brand name and labeled F. Not sure if that's FF, EF, or FE. So I guess the battle will be between F's and G's. Something worth pointing out is the meat on the pads are about 1/3rd less with the bosch compared to the Zimmerman and drurid pads currently on there. The rotors are in need of replacement as they have a good size groove worn down. I went through a company called r1 concepts to buy some slotted and drilled rotors just for the heck of it, even though as I discussed in the brake coefficient thread they make little to no difference. They showed up the other day however they sent me vanagon rotors which will not work. Got off the phone with them a bit ago and had them send the dimensions for the rotors as I had schematics downloaded. Found the proper set, so hopefully they get here sometime next month.
Ok black box in, map created, test drive checks 100%. Even makes it up the one steep hill in 3rd, barely, whereas before I was shifting into second to crest the top.
Tank just needs metal for the lid and some inlet and outlet pipes. Leak test was also 100% on the first run. Phosphoric acid solution in the water. Made some baffles with what was leftover in scraps.
Nice! Looking good
Just saw this.
Why?
That's pretty bad.
At least the colors match... ::)
Quote from: BruceK on December 31, 2020, 08:59:13 PM
At least the colors match... ::)
however, the level of the white to blue transition line from the cab to the back portion does not appear to line up.
That could be because it skipped the whole Type 2 bay window generation front to back!
I have no doubt that is probably part of the problem, but they still could have lined it up properly. It's not like it's off a lot, maybe an inch or so?
I agree that the idea in general was ill advised, but if your going to go to the trouble at least attempt to get some of the little things right.
Yesterday after my torque wrench died I needed to pick up a 27mm socket for the spindle nuts. The objective was to take the hubs off and determine what year spindles and king pin assembles I have. Even though the bus is an 83 they used early bus parts as I earlier stated. I'd like to go ahead and do bearings and the link pins since I need to take thing apart. My camber is off significantly from factory specs, wearing my tires on the insides, and the only way to adjust camber is by shims in the link pins. Well I have 64-67 spindles. Here are the king pins and the link pins slid out from the assembly to see what the deal with the shimming is. Also a diagram explaining shims that correlate to camber.
Missing metal in the order arrived. The wrong disc brakes that were sent to me were exchanged and should be ready for me to fit when I get back next week.
This was as easy as the videos online made it look. 4 bolts and it slid right out. I spent more time getting the bumper off than it took to get the motor out.
I recall pulling the engine in my '67 bug when in high school. No fancy tools or such. When it was time to actually pull/drop it I was on a creeper with a board on my chest. Me and buddy pulled it and lowered on my chest. He then pulled both out from under the bug. Things you survived while young...
Yeah didn't drop it on my chest lol. Simply picked up the transaxle though. Cleaning it up to send out for new gears and seals.
If only all motors were so easily replaced.
No kidding!
Back to the fuel tank. Due to various body frame parts in the way I can only go 17 gallons on the main tank. There's a lip on the face of the floor that the tank sits on you have to get up and over which really limits height and then some frame work to go between to set the tank on the floor which limits width. But still will give me over 4 gallons more than what the tank was I pulled out. Combined with the aux tank that's approximately twice the volume it had. 13ish gallons to about 27 gallons. Also discovered the top of the tank had a leak where an overflow tube connects from the filler neck.
Got the tank shaped. Had to tweak it even more than planned to work with the curve in the panel it sits up against. It's very snug! Volume comes out to a little over 16 gallons all said and done.
Looks like it belongs there. What color is it going to be?
Oh I'll paint it black. I got the top welded on the aux tank. Have a few pesky pin holes I'm chasing, which is crazy considering how meticulous with the welding I was.
Couple side by side to the old.
Aux tank installed. Need to pull it and paint it. Made a little platform for the fuel pump to sit on, and lowered it slightly to 100% gravity feed to the pump. You can somewhat see it in the photo. If for some reason I hit it on something it will just bend up and not damage anything, though it all sits really high. Have a vent pipe that will need to be run to the main tank vent line. Filling the tank up is a slow process without the vent line when I was testing for leaks. I mounted the tank to the frame by making legs from square steel that extend from each corner, welding a face to them, which then bolt to the frame. I think on the main tank I will install a stand pipe in the tank 4.5 inches tall or 8 gallons deep to gravity fill the aux tank while filling. Even though it's a 3/4" ID line to the aux tank it's not going to be optimal for filling at the base of the filler neck as planned. I figure this way I can fill the tank up, let it gravity fill for a moment, then top it off. Otherwise I can see myself standing there slowly clicking the handle to the pump 100 times.
Just got the new sending unit in for the main tank. Made sure to get one with matching ohms of course. The sending unit on the old tank wouldn't transfer over, not easily anyways.
Moving along on the main tank today. Got the stand pipe installed, decided to go with 10 gallons depth instead of 8. The gravity feed lines are in place. Made some cuts to bend and create a low area to feed to the gravity pickup to the fuel pump. And the sender unit is in, just need to hook it up to verify it reads accurately. Next up is welding on the ends, vent pipe, feed in from aux tank, and filler neck.
Oh and it test fits still. It's tight clearing the sensor and the stand pipe outlet.
What is the star weld for on the bottom?
Quote from: MiniDave on January 18, 2021, 04:10:08 PM
What is the star weld for on the bottom?
"Made some cuts to bend and create a low area to feed to the gravity pickup to the fuel pump"
No baffles?
Didn't bother. Factory tank didn't have them and it's nearly the same dimensions. Put them in the aux tank due to the length to prevent weight shift.
All sides welded up. Ran out of time to weld on the filler neck Calibrating the fuel sender took longer than expected but it's dead perfect. I even made sure to measure the float in water to get the point at which it floats. Then it was a matter of hooking up the battery, wiring the sender, and taking readings to verify the gauge. Tomorrow will check for leaks after the filler neck is on and paint it.
Aux tank installed and main tank finished. Waiting for paint to dry before installing it. Leak test took a couple goes to get a half dozen or so pin holes welded up. The 3/4" line going to the aux tank rapidly gravity fills.
Engine builder got hung up but it's being shipped out this week. Transaxle guy tore it down this week and sent over all his findings. A few worn items like spider gears. Then a few oddball things like someone machined these special gears that hold your 1st through 4th in place. So we're replacing all that. The Brazilian differential has a different bolt pattern but as luck would have it he has a 4.12 brand new in the box with the correct bolt pattern. He said they're like finding hens teeth and he's never had a use for it till now. The other interesting thing was he said the case is heavier and way beefier than the standard issue bug or bus case. Weighs 95lbs vs the usual 70-75lbs. I did know they referred to them as rhino cases and are sought after. Has a 1.31 3rd instead of the normal 1.26 which I'll convert over to in order to keep the rpm drop reasonable. 4th was a 0.89 so I was off a little in my calculations using tire size to deduct the gear ratio. Had the 5.14 Brazilian which I expected.
Rebuilt the front left hub/spindle/link pins the other day. Some minor learning curves but nothing crazy. Wheel bearings were straight forward. The bearings themselves looked fine. The rubber dust ring was ridiculously old and brittle. I've read the bearing configuration is very strong on these so should last ages. Peace of mind having new bearings. The link pins were pretty nackered up. And with the new kit noticed not even installed correctly. Even had the wrong number of shims. So shimmed up according to the book, and got my camber back to within factory specs as well. The spindle itself was somewhat of a pita. To tighten down the hub they use these jam nuts that are made out of aluminum the softness of milk chocolate. Reading online they are a use once and trash kind of item. You tighten the first jam nut against the outer bearing with this washer in between that can be slightly moved to get proper bearing tightness/looseness sorta speak. It's somewhat tricky and fiddly to get right. Then the 2nd jam nut is tightened down to 50ft lbs. Which strips itself in no time. Got another jam nut, fiddled around, and stripped it too. These were left hand threads and apparently my torque wrench doesn't click in reverse, hence the stripping. Oops. Well reading and researching spindles online I discovered that late 73-79 busses as well as other vw and Porsche cars use a clamping nut on spindles. Pic attached. You install the clamp nut to proper bearing washer movement specs and tighten it down via the bolt, and voila. Got a pair ordered cause fuck these jam nuts. I have a die ordered to clean up my spindle threads as a precaution. Middle threads took a beating where that 2nd jam nut kept stripping. If the spindle nuts fail your whole wheel comes off. Although I think the disc configuration would help keep it mostly on. This brings up something else I discovered. Early 64-67 spindles, which this bus has, were drums. BUT my bus uses 73-79 disc. Scratching my head found out that the late European style buses used 64-67 spindles but with the bolt pattern for disc calipers the 73-79 buses used.
A real voyage of discovery this.....
I don't remember any lock mechanism other than the clamp and bolt arrangement......
Some years used those jam nuts. Which is inferior obviously. So long as you get the proper thread sized clamp nuts you're good to go. There was 18mm x1.5, 18mm x 1.0, and then a 19mm 1.5 configuration. Maybe some others but those seem to be the bulk of them.
I've been adding fuel every day to the tanks to test out the system. Gravity feed to the aux tank works as planned. Aux pump fills up the main tank in a matter of minutes. The pressure sensor light blinks as the pump runs then goes steady once the pressure drops. I'll have switch to flip that toggles that system. Fuel gauge verified accurate with just a few minor tweaks. Luckily there is a fuel panel in the back that I made sure to position the sender below which made pulling the sender and making adjustments easy.
How far out are the motor and gearbox?
Any day for the engine. Gearbox guy found the spider gears I need, so he shouldn't be too far behind.
Nice, should be sweet once you get it all going again. The added fuel capacity will be welcome for sure!
Reading the bus forums with this new engine, geared better, I can plan on 18mpg and maybe over 20 if I'm lucky. That's 468-520 miles on the tanks. Not that I plan to drive that long in one shot, but it's nice having it.
15 mpg going to Colorado, 25 coming back? ;D
Probably!
My EFI cars get better mileage at altitude, not sure carbs will do the same tho.....Green car ran fine, but was rich as hell in Aspen.
Bus group says increase timing a couple degrees at altitude, or go down a size on the jets. The jets are easy to change out so likely I'll just swap them out once my air fuel gauge says I'm running rich. I created some maps through the ignition box for a range of altitudes. 0-3000, 3000-7000, and 7000 to 11k. Since the box reads KPA for it's mapping I used an altitude chart to make the maps. Using the sea level map at 8000 feet would have me running too advanced.
Been trying to decide how to go about adding a tow hitch. A few different ways to go about it but looking like the easiest way will using the rear bumper brackets that bolt onto the frame. The brackets by themselves are too flimsy but adding some tube or plate steel would do the trick. Then it's a matter of just welding in a cross beam and hitch receiver. Pics to illustrate...
You may also have to reinforce where the bumper mounts attach to the bus?
I know the Mini is a light load, but it can exert considerable force in an accident or sudden manuver.....
My sister moved from Colorado to Miami, they towed her VW Beetle behind a Uhaul truck. partway there the bumper and mounts tore off the car and it passed them. Fortunately they were going around a corner from a stop sign when it broke - the truck turned and the car went straight - into a ditch.
Just make it strong and well supported. I think I remember the old Beetle tow hitches had a single bar that ran under the engine back to the transmission mounts - seems like it was fairly thick too.....
I was thinking of doing that just for added peace of mind. It's pretty beefy where those brackets bolt to this tube frame but adding a piece of plate vertically and adding another bolt or two into the tube frame wouldn't be a bad idea either.
Fresh bearings and brakes!
Discs in the rear? I had no idea they had those....
Those are the fronts. Rears are drums. Gave them a good cleaning on the rear.
Flushed the brake fluid and got them bled. Pedal has never felt better. The fluid that came out had a greenish tint to it. Also tested the $20 ebay Chinese vintage/retro stereo on the shop speakers. I was amazed at how good it sounded. I wasn't expecting much out of the thing and figured if nothing else it would block the stereo hole.
Quote from: 94touring on February 11, 2021, 03:13:16 PM
Also tested the $20 ebay Chinese vintage/retro stereo on the shop speakers. I was amazed at how good it sounded. I wasn't expecting much out of the thing and figured if nothing else it would block the stereo hole.
I have been curoius about these as my wife likes to have some tunes around town. We had a Retrosound stereo in one of the cars, but the remote broke and they don't make a replacement.
This is it installed. I stole a couple shop speakers that have been mounted on the walls I've never used and placed them under the dash. Just finished wiring it up and it sounds great. Has a USB plug for charging my phone too.
Is that a slot for an SD card? Never seen that before. You can put a lot of albums on a 256GB SD card.
Yeah it is oddly. It has Bluetooth which was all I wanted.
Nice style on that stereo! Look great for a vintage application.
Quote from: BruceK on February 12, 2021, 05:49:31 PM
Nice style on that stereo! Look great for a vintage application.
Went with a vintage cigarette lighter too! Seemed silly to put a modern style head unit in the dash. Those retrosound head units are really nice but I wasn't wanting to spend significant money on anything stereo related. This was a pretty good solution. Back to the cigarette lighter... the old one had broken tabs and needed replaced. Easy fix finding a new one and then the retro lighter. Granted I wired it wrong initially because black is positive and brown negative on this damn bus! Blew a few USB plugs as a result. For more USB charging I found a unit for the lighter which displays voltage and amps. Ironically it's more accurate than the bosch voltage gauge I installed under the lower dash area when comparing it with my battery charger. It's a dead match to the charger whereas the bosch always reads about a 0.5 low. Since I want to install a switch for the aux pump I elected to ditch the bosch gauge and put the aux tank switch plate in it's place. I'm trying to avoid clutter with all these extra gadgets like my wideband and cylinder head temp gauge. When I'm running the power inverter and monitoring voltage drop I can just toss in the voltage display cigarette USB plug.
Brown is ground on all German cars!
Quote from: MiniDave on February 13, 2021, 11:12:09 AM
Brown is ground on all German cars!
I learned the hard way! The cigarette lighter worked as it should. But kept blowing everything else. Luckily the voltage USB plug has an actual fuse inside. I ruined two other plugs before understanding what was happening!
Quote from: 94touring on February 12, 2021, 02:37:46 PM
Yeah it is oddly. It has Bluetooth which was all I wanted.
You can just dump all of your music onto an SD card and save the phone's battery.
Yeah, the wife's "new" Audi had a slot for an SD card, so she loaded one up and that's what she plays - I was hoping that meant she could drop the Sirius monthly cost, but so far she hasn't.
How much is Sirius? I pay 10 bucks a month for Spotify. It's free but the subscription let's me download music which is good for when I'm flying.
I think she pays $5/mo.....good for road trips but when's the last time we did that? She likes the music on when she drives - I don't - I prefer the quiet. To me the noise is a distraction and an irritant. If I'm driving late at night by myself I don't mind listening to a good murder mystery radio show thing tho....
You can use the account on your mobile devices too.....I think.
Gauge arrangements! The A-1 is my wideband, the one that says 71 is the cylinder head temp gauge, and down low to the right the green switch that's aluminated is the aux fuel pump switch turned on. Off it blacks out. For the CHT gauge I was having a hard time deciding where to place it. I almost made a plate to afix it within to then mount somewhere. I found the best solution was getting a thin piece of aluminum sheet, cutting a narrow strip, bending it strategically to fit on the dash lip between the gauge cluster and main dash panel. With the gauge cluster tightened down it secures the tab in place. Some heavy duty double sided tape holds the gauge to the aluminum strip.
The tach was something I installed way back in the beginning and I also have the MPH speedo in.
The cylinder head temperature is a great thing to know.
What kind of tires does your VW have? Are you sticking with what it came with from Brazil or equipping it with some type of 'Merican tires?
They had some assortment of tires on it that were all wrong. I put the proper diameter light truck tires on it. Made a huge difference in how it drove.
Speaking of engines being shipped. I finally got my March schedule to have this thing sent my way.
Now that I'm back in town the new engine was shipped out for me to be here to accept. They were supposed to drop it by today but had some delays locally so tomorrow is the new eta. In the meantime I've been tearing down the old engine to swap things over that I'll reuse. One upgrade I did was buy a new later doghouse to go with the later oil cooler. The old style has a smaller oil cooler and the air goes over the cylinders once it passes the cooler. The new style with bigger cooler has the hot air vented outside the engine. The newer fan is also slightly wider. My goal being keep temps under control for long drives in hot temps and up steep grades/pulling a mini. With that has been tons of research on how to most effectively cool the engine, both oil and cylinder head temps. To increase fan speed I went with a Porsche 356 alternator pulley. The aftermarket crank pulley I bought was also replaced with a true 7 inch pulley to spin the smaller 356 pulley faster and in turn increasing fan speed. Doing the arithmetical calculations says I went from a stock 1.75 fan ratio to 2.1. VW says that a stock fan (smaller at that) produces 1250cfm at 4k rpms. The new gearing will put me about 500 rpms on average lower. With the increased fan speed I get my 1250-1350 cfms at 500 rpms lower. But wait there's more! A company produces what is essentially a ram pipe "velocity ring" for the inlet to the fan. Lab tested gave 800 more cfm at 4k rpms. Reading all the forums online where people use it they all say it's a significant increase just by outlet airflow across the ground and the inlet suction noises. Jet engine like. Blows leaves under cars like a leaf blower. So that's part of it. The rest involves having all the proper engine tins, which I was missing several of. Another thing I discovered was the doghouse has these heater flaps that basically everyone removes. The problem is the flaps help direct air over the cylinders and heads a certain way. I bought a cheap used flap to get exact angles and figure out how it directs air exactly. The plan being weld in my own fixed position flaps that direct air as it's intended but without all the crap that fails. Last on the to do list is head casting passages. There's a few aftermarket heads that really have things cleaned up for maximum air flow through the heads. I will know more once I see mine but I do know they are G03 Brazilian casting style heads which are like the G01's on the engine I have here, but with bigger valves and mild port work. Downloaded a ton of pictures to figure out what I'm looking at in terms of drilling out passage ways, got a couple long drill bits, and practiced on a head to make sure I'm not going to ruin the new pair. Took all of about 10 minutes to do one head. Nothing fancy but this apparently make a big difference. Last picture is of a fancy head with the passages cleared out to perfection.
Just those few small holes, or will you remove more of the web?
It just needs some holes to let air flow through they say. I could get in there with my dremel and make it look pretty but once it's all buttoned up you'll never see it. One guy on the samba was having temp problems. Swapped in a better head that had the passages opened up and his cylinder temp gauge was showing 65f cooler. The center area is probably most important as that's where the fan is pushing air to the other side, where a piece of tin is placed to disperse airflow to the bottom fins. The holes around the exhaust ports help keep exhaust heat from soaking through the head they say. Pic showing the bottom tin that directs air through that center area. This engine didn't even have that! There's a plate on the cylinders as well that's required. This one has a slot for the flap system, mine won't have that slot since I'm not using the entire system.
It's here! The head has all the castings cleaned out too!
Like a Mini motor, once you get all the bits swapped over, you can fire it up right on the floor! 77.gif
Nice!
I got one of those BAT updates a few days ago, it had a 59 window van listed.
I looked at the final price and it was 79K. I am not sure what was special about it, it was Ok but not great.
Hard to beleive they sold for around $1000 50 years ago and in very good shape.
Terry
Yep prices are nuts. I actually prefer this Brazilian with all the European styling even if they don't sell for 100k. Specifically like the windows although a split front would be cool.
All put together and not without some fighting. Now just waiting on the transaxle...
Cool. It's all coming together. Can't wait to hear how it drives with the changes.
Hopefully good! I got those carbs all buttoned up and then realized I need to tap the one for the brake booster vacuum line. I went through considerable effort to get all the tins correct. One little intricate block off plate to fill a gap on the oil cooler to doghouse and two curved pieces that sit on the top of the heads between the plugs that direct air towards those exhaust area passageways more effectively...at least I'm assuming that's what they do. Since the heater boxes are gone I found a guy who makes the tins that block the exhaust J pipes from the heads that's supposed to help with exhaust heat. Once everything was screwed down and secured I took HVAC high temp tape and went around seams and gaps to make it all air tight as possible.
Manifold metal was thick enough to be able to tap a port for the brake booster rather than having to get the proper aluminum gas for my spool gun. Had a hell of a time finding a fitting that was acceptable for inside and outside diameter. Ended up using a fitting I had laying around for an air tool. Not exactly what I had in mind but it will match up to the brake booster hose as required and the threads matched the tap. Good enough. Next up was finding a vacuum source for ignition timing. Up until now I knew nothing about webers so was fiddling around with them learning what all the bits and pieces are. There are very tiny screws that once removed give access to manifold vacuum but good luck finding anything with a port that small that will screw in. Was about to just tap and die on the manifold again but then discovered each carb has another miniature screw off a port looking tube that once unscrewed gives ported vacuum. I'd prefer manifold vacuum for idle advance but really it doesn't matter since I can just program the mapable ignition and fool it. Aside from that project I pin pointed where the jets are located and what's involved to swap them out. Should be a painless process when it's in the car assuming I'll need to change jets. I ordered a jet kit that gives me a pretty big range to be within.
Did the engine builder run it in some, to check for oil pressure, leaks etc?
Seems like he would know what jets you should run, since he's somewhat local?
He's in California so not exactly local. It's been run in and he gave a sheet of instructions to follow the first 2500 miles and checks thereafter. When I put in the order for the engine he was going to set the jets for sea level/Tulsa. He had called me before shipping it out and said he was installing velocity stacks since the 40s don't come with them like the 44s do. When I opened them up they were installed as he said they'd be, so I'm assuming the jets are setup as well. Doesn't look like these carbs were the one's used on the test stand as the packaging was all new. He did install those stacks so he did something to them. The 115 mains in there seem lean to me and the 175 air corrections rich, but they overlap so maybe that's about right. Online seems like a lot of 130/220 combos but with various cams and larger venturis for high rpm applications. I have small vents for low rpm driving so the 115 might be right. I'd call him but his communication skills are so bad I am just done dealing with him. I did text when it arrived to say it was packaged nicely and asked a question about the mechanical fuel pump removal since his instruction sheet had a warning about turning the motor over without the pump installed. His text had gramatical errors to the point I don't know what he was trying to say, so enough of him. It was clear a 2-4psi pump will work so the block off plate went on and the mechanical pump rod that sits on the drive gear came out. The jet kit has mains one leaner than what's in and several richer up to 130, with all the air corrections leaner. I figured if 115 is close then I can run a 110 when I'm in the mountains. Or if 115 is crazy lean I'll have a window to play with. The idle jet which effects idle to 2500-3000 rpms is a 55 which from reading is about what everyone runs. I got a 52 and 57 to have some wiggle room there too.
So, I'm confused....it's the transmission guy that's local?
Transaxle guy is in Tennessee.
Yeah, see? Local! ;D
Usually don't work on Sundays out there but got bored and went out to put that carb back on. Fiddled for a good while getting the linkages all synced up. The left side wasn't opening the throttle bodies all the way. Should be good now unless the idle adjustment is off, then I've got to tweak things again. Seems easy enough to do and luckily I have my synchronizer once it's running. Figured I'd go ahead and setup the distributor per the black box instructions by starting at TDC, twist dizzy pointing to plug 1, mark, turn to 70 past TDC, twist dizzy to match the mark. Pulled the plugs to see how well the cylinder head temp sender would fit. Well, to the head easy as could be because the head doesn't have the countersunk plugs that require dremeling to fit the sender. However the plugs the head takes are a much smaller diameter and the sending unit fitting is too big to fit around the plug to form a seal. I'll have to figure out a way to get the sender to touch the head around the plug area. The plugs were sooty black when I pulled them so he had it running on the rich side.
The end result for getting the CHT sender to work under #3 spark plug was removing the crush washer on the plug, drilling out a washer to fit snuggly around the plug, then welding the sender to the washer. Went ahead and found a place to mount my oil filter since I had that option added to the engine with the full flow oil upgrade. It's going behind the wheel well and behind a metal mud flap so it's safe from debris but easy to get to. The oil lines go between the exhaust so I've got some exhaust wrap to protect the lines from melting accidentally. Will probably rig up something that holds them in place too, perhaps some kind of hanger from the exhaust studs. The stock oil system holds 2.5 quarts unfiltered. I added a 1.5 quart deep sump and the oil filter, which I went ahead and added oil and holds about a half quart. So I should be right at 4.5 quarts now, maybe pushing 5 quarts once the oil lines pressurize. The deep sump was fairly straightforward to install however being a noob to these engines and no instructions being provided I got to do it twice. Old sump plate came right off, along with the pickup tube screen filter. Old studs came out easy, except for 1 that was a real bitch. New longer studs went in easily, pickup tube extension on without much of an issue, and things bolted up as you'd expect. Added oil and sat there wondering why the kit had this one extra lock nut. Came home and decided to look up what I might be missing. Turns out the oil pickup tube has a tab inside the case that this lock nut goes on the new studs I just installed. The one stud that was difficult had a locknut and washer on it. I was unaware of this and surprised it even came out. Without the tab secured down the pickup tube could vibrate loose from the case to the oil pump and grenade the motor. Well shit. Drain oil into a clean container, using a fine strainer which I'm glad I used because I flushed out all sorts of fine metallic debri. Took everything back off, fished out old nut and washer with a magnet, ruined the new gaskets of course so got to make a new set by hand, and got the new little washer and lock nut on the stud to secure the tab. Everyone on the vw forum made it sound impossible without a special tool to reach this nut but I must be better than them or something because I did it without any problems in about 2 minutes flat. A pic to illustrate...
Also on this sump it has fins which I'm thinking I'll utilize to keep oil temps in check. I can easily add an extra oil cooler which many to most camper bus guys with bigger motors do. Bugs are light enough heat isn't as of a concern than the weight and aerodynamics of the bus. Since the sump sits somewhat out of airflow I think I'll mimic what one guy did which was create an air deflector to it. He said it really made a difference. We'll see. General consensus was busses benefit going up hills with the extra oil capacity either way. I have a sensor and warning light setup to go off at 235°F. Pic to illustrate...
Going back to fan cfm. The uprated fan which is wider puts out 300 more cfm than the early narrow fan. Redoing the math with the upgrades I have should kick me into the 2500cfm range at top cruise speed. Just about double what I would get with the early stock setup. Now if the gearbox would get here so I can put it all to test.
So, that pic of the deflector isn't your car?
Are you sure about those oil quantities? I thought sure a VW motor held 3 quarts, drop sump added a quart?
I would def invest in a thermostatically controlled oil cooler.....especially pulling the Mini in summer temps. You can always block it off in the winter - if you use the bus then....like to go skiing.
That's not my bus in the pic.
Yep 2.5 quarts. The sump is a 1.5 but they have some that go up to 3.5 quarts. If I add an oil cooler it will only open up past 180 degrees so no need to block off or remove it in that case. I'm going to see how it does before I add more things to it. The new doghouse cooler on it might be just fine with all this extra airflow.
Oh and another thing on the dual twin weber 40s. I've been through them on the bench, read everything I could find on them, and scoured the vw forum seeing what people do with them. Firstly I think the jets the engine builder put in will work. Turns out CB Performance who sells kits and has weber jet recommendations have them ridiculously rich. The reasoning being it's safe, runs good enough, and apparently no one gives a shit. Another interesting thing is it seems set in stone on the forums to leave the air bypass screws fully closed. But why? No one knows and they get pissy if anyone ask. What do they even do? Well they synch the carbs to each other! I guess vw people enjoy having 4 barrels out of synch. It's been interesting reading thesamba forums gathering information. 100+ page threads on oil or jetting where the one "guru" with 45k post bashes and insults anyone who dares ask the same question twice. I think it took me 12 hours of reading just to get through the one thread. Want to ask about oil? Better read the 175 page thread you imbeciles!
When I had my bus I found the signal to noise ratio on thesamba too low. I ended up finding a smaller online community of bus owners (type2.com) that matched my disposition. Sort of like restorationmini. ;D It looks like type2.com isn't as active as it once was.
Thesamba is generally crap and I won't be posting or asking questions. I do lots of research and reading however. The one guy owns a vw business and is a total jerk half the time, but people kiss his butt for some odd reason. I don't get it. Let me be extra rude to you guys and see how many paint jobs I get.
Was supposed to go back to work today but my flight canceled so trying again tomorrow. But I did get my Uni foam filter wraps in the mail along with the velocity ring. Looking forward to the peace of mind the filters will filter all dust and dirt yet still flow well. The K&N style on there now you can literally see through to the velocity stacks. The fan velocity ring is a nicely made little unit. Smaller in person than I visualized but then again the fan opening isn't exactly big either.
Well nothing new. Still waiting on the transmission. I did get the uni filter wraps on, finished header wrap by the oil lines, and added an angled oil filler since the orignal slanted one sucked.
Here's my solution to over priced oil breather boxes for VW's. Rather than have some big can or box that cost in excess of $230 I simply used a $5 aluminum salt shaker. I can tuck it up high and out of the way behind the one post.
That's pretty funny!
Did you put a Chore Boy in it to catch the oil mist and vapors and drain them back?
Not yet but when I go to the hardware store this afternoon it's on the list.
Good news, the damn transaxle is finally done! Turns out there was a lot to repair/replace on it. Even the holes where the bolts go that mount it to the engine needed machine work. I'm sure the bill will be extraordinary.
If they found something as simple as the mounting holes needing machine work, that's generally not a good sign for the state of the rest of it for sure.
At some point in it's life those bolts were loose and it wallowed around opening the holes.
Transaxle arrived. Well let me explain. I landed somewhere in the middle east and got text from the guy who built it and some guy named Ken who lives in the next town over. UPS took it upon themselves to deliver it to some random guy 30 minutes away. My name and address clearly on the shipping label and not remotely the same as his. Anyways the guy was extremely nice and hung onto it till I got home. Spent some time talking once I got to his place about fly fishing and my travels. Got to the shop today and started to get things installed. Well UPS also dropped the transaxle, creating a crack where it mounts to the engine. Transaxle guy filed a claim so maybe it will end up not costing me anything. He said it should hold up fine and to drill out the crack, which I had already done and said F it I'll just install the damn thing and roll the dice. It's magnesium so my alloy welding I attempted didn't hold up. Otherwise I got it all in, the engine was a PITA with the twin carbs in the way. Tomorrow I'm hoping to button it up and get it running. We'll see.
Looks good, well all except the crack.
What kind of drivers work for UPS? How can they screw up like that?
Quote from: Willie_B on May 06, 2021, 06:15:10 PM
Looks good, well all except the crack.
It was one of those days I hated everything car related. I really hope everything works out. The transaxle Stabilizer kit I bought doesn't fit exactly right either. Cause Brazilian cross over years are just a hodge podge. Good thing I can fabricate.
Quote from: BruceK on May 06, 2021, 11:01:34 PM
What kind of drivers work for UPS? How can they screw up like that?
The same kind that mess up my minisport order and try to change me $500 in warehouse fees.
I use DHL for MiniSport orders too, at least I only have one carrier to yell at if things go south - but so far they've only messed up one delivery and it was a minor thing.
I got it running. I got no reverse. Pulling it back out tomorrow.
Finally got this !%&!.?#. Here's what we concluded. Ups must have done a real number on it cause the reverse shift gate was basically stuck. In order to get to the shift gates the nose cone comes off, which means pulling it all out. I decided to shift everything back about 6 inches, take the nose cone off, inspect the gates and see wtf is up. Well, they were all set to neutral like they should be for the hockey stick to select and push-pull them. I manually went through them with a little pry bar and reverse took a lot of force. Finally got it to engage and a good chunk of metal shaving came out. After working it in and out for awhile I decided to button everything up and see if the shifter would do it. Well it engaged it but wouldn't de select reverse. So back to cycling the reverse gate till the son of a motherless goat worked with the shifter. Then it was adding gear fluid again, ect ect ect. Only took me 8 hours! Backed it out of the shop under it's own power and went for a spin. The carbs are pig rich so good thing I got some various needles. Gearing wise it's exactly what I wanted. Cruises effortlessly at a much lower rpm. Tomorrow I'll begin tuning and adding the bumper back on. Oh it also runs very cool. All my tin work must have paid off.
Wideband for the win today. Was able to adjust the air correction jets and idle jets to get things near perfect. Main jet was fine, a tad rich, but the next one down was too lean. I can buy a set in between and try those. I started off extremely rich so noticed big improvements in performance. Cruises 75mph effortlessly up the rolling hills. The back road by the shop with the steep grades is no longer a 2nd gear 25mph battle.
Dang, glad to hear you finally got it going. A guy ought to be able to charge these careless shipping companies for the time/parts/hassle that comes from situations like this. For the last 6 months or so the shape of packages from the likes of UPS and Fedex has been horrible. We have gotten some really rough looking packages lately. My wife got some cleaning supplies "reshipped" to her 4 times before it finally all showed up in one piece. One of the packages had actually been completely re-boxed by UPS at some point and it still looked like it was ran over a few times.
Yeah, the bride ordered some new shelves for the new fridge, box had been re-taped at least twice - Fed Ex - looked like they used it for soccer practice. good thing the parts were plastic and tough enough to be undamaged. They weren't packed well either.....
DHL still seems to do a pretty good job on parts I get from England.
time to take the bus on a short camping trip to check out all the systems
No joke. I'd like to send them a bill for about 1000 bucks. Been driving it all over today to make sure everything works and work out any gremlins, which there's been a few but nothing crazy. It drives so much stinking better with this new motor and taller gearing. My auxiliary tank is also pretty slick now that I've gotten to use it. Drive till my main tank gets low and flip on the auxiliary tank and watch it fill the main back up. Just a couple hundred more miles before I can change the oil and she's all broken in.
Did a little quick math on gas mileage on the first tank. Considering I had it idling for lengthy periods of time fiddling with carbs and the reverse problem, as well as way rich jets, several WOT pulls and hill pulls, it still got the same mileage as the old engine. Next tank I'll drive it normally and see where I stand.
Dan, sounds like you are working your butt off, overcoming hurdles thrown at you, and making good progress. Good on ya!
Quote from: BruceK on May 11, 2021, 12:38:42 PM
Dan, sounds like you are working your butt off, overcoming hurdles thrown at you, and making good progress. Good on ya!
I was almost defeated! Got its first oil change and valve adjustment today. Since the front wheel bearings were new I went ahead and reset the lash on the axle nuts now that it has some miles. All minimal adjustments required. I did find a loose lower link pin where the sway bar pinches all together. One last adjustment on the steering box and she's pretty steady now.
Never give up, never surrender! ;D
Well the tow bar frame is done. Need to clean it up and throw some paint on it. Took all day to fabricate, mainly cause there's several things to work around. Hopefully it holds up! I tried to make it as beefy as possible with several attachment points on the frame. Just pulling a mini with it. I know once it's on it's not coming off!
Mucho attachment points and cross bracing. 4.gif
Quote from: BruceK on May 18, 2021, 06:07:04 PM
Mucho attachment points and cross bracing. 4.gif
Ha yes! Those arms that go upward have a sleave they fit in which is what holds the bumper onto the frame.
You're going to dress those welds, right? ;D
A little paint and some grade 8 bolts and you're good to go.
Can't wait for the report on how it hauls the Mini up the hill behind the shop - think you'll be able to get into 3rd?
Ha, the ugly welds stay! They're strong, I do know that. Should know tomorrow how it does. That one stretch I may need to take in 2nd because while it zooms up it in 3rd, it's a handful due to the curves. Not sure I want to take it that fast pulling the mini. There's a couple other long steep grades that aren't setup like Watkins Glen that will be a better indicator.
Got it painted and on. Went for a spin and it does pretty well. Still does 70-75mph on a flat stretch or slight incline. Moderate hills slows down to 55mph and steep hills is a 2nd gear 35mph pull. Stops about like my pickup when I'm pulling a trailer with a mini on it.
Looks good pulling it too! One thing is for sure though, pulling the mini behind it makes that little VW look HUGE! 77.gif
Quote from: cstudep on May 19, 2021, 08:34:19 PM
Looks good pulling it too! One thing is for sure though, pulling the mini behind it makes that little VW look HUGE! 77.gif
Yes it does! It does weigh a solid 2.5x my mini at least. Curious if it feels unstable in windy conditions. It was raining pretty hard yesterday during the test run and didn't try to crash me on any of the curves. The bus already feels iffy on twisties and it didn't feel any worse with the mini attached at least. I can't imagine how poor my fuel mileage will be lol. I've seen about a 3mpg improvement with the new motor and that's been running rich. New main jets came in yesterday so I'm hoping to squeeze out maybe another 2mpg and gain a little more pulling oomph. On the to do list tomorrow is oil cooler lines to the cooler.
Since your flat towing the mini with all 4 wheels on the ground I wouldn't expect it to affect the handling of the bus much at all (aside from braking obviously). It's basically just following behind. If you were towing it on a dolly or trailer that would be a whole different deal.
Good thing you added that Aux tank, that is for sure. Hopefully your hit on mileage won't be any greater than the gains you were able to make so you at least break even.
Either way it sure looks good, and it will be nice once you get to a campsite to have something you can drive around in without having to "break camp". That's why everyone in an RV is flat towing a Jeep around. 4.gif
It was a lot of time and effort but the aux tank is a really nice addition even without towing. Getting low on gas? Aux switch!
The dark blue stripe on the bus is nearly the same color as the mini (at least it appears to be in that picture) it's almost like you did it intentionally.
Yeah it is! Eventually though those vinyl stripes will come off and it will be light blue from the windows down and white on top. For now it looks good enough as is.
What a day. Got this oil cooler on. Of course I had to drive all over town to find appropriate hose. Took some time pondering where to mount it, which took some doing. Then I also moved the oil filter to a more suitable spot. Then it was finding where to run all the lines. Once it was all in I let it run a few minutes to make sure I didn't have any leaks, and of course I did off the thermostat 180 degree oil bypass junction, which was buried deep behind as much crap as possible. Had to take it back out, which meant spilling oil all over myself when I popped the lines off to redo the problematic fitting. All back on and no leaks. I bought some kind of household duct work at the hardware store to fashion a duct to the oil cooler rather than run a fan. I forgot to get a picture but it fit perfectly and hangs down a few inches into the air flow. Put some rubber around the edges to make sure it doesn't saw through the cooler and a little racing tape later (gorrila tape) I had a perfectly sealed little vent box. Later on in the day I got it up to 88 mph and not only did I not time travel but the duct stayed on.
My main jets came in that were a smidge smaller than the 115 jets in there. Easy to swap in but damned if it wasn't lean as hell. Confused I figured I'd pair it with a richer idle jet, which are a royal bitch to get the rear jets out and in. It was richer in transition but still lean. Suddenly a light bulb went off and I took the 115s out and compared them to my box of jets I bought. Well the 115s eye balling them had been drilled out to the 130s in my box!! SUPER happy I took out the perfect idle jets. Tossed in some 125 main jets and let her rip and right in the upper 12 air fuel range at wot...till the air correction jets come in at 4k rpms and now I'm lean up top. But those are easy to swap. Part throttle low rpms is now rich since the idle jets are rich. Mid range cruise is better and should improve with the idles back. Should be a matter of going back to the idles I had in, keeping the 125 mains, and probably going from the current 205 air correction down to a 190.
Oil cooler test on the drive home was good. My little hot warning light that has consistently come on at 225 degrees and stayed out never flickered at all.
Whew! A lot of work!
But you almost have it all dialed in, right? what's left to do?
Quote from: MiniDave on May 21, 2021, 08:20:36 PM
Whew! A lot of work!
But you almost have it all dialed in, right? what's left to do?
Well just fine tune and I'd like to adjust the tow hitch, but that's low priority. Oh....new shift mechanism without worn pin and new beefy upgraded urethane shift coupling will be here soon for improved shifting. I have a proper sized cylinder head temp sensor for these smaller spark plugs to swap in. That won't be easy unfortunately but I need to do it because the way I have it now it reads low. It gives me a good idea of what's normal but I'm hoping for accurate.
Snapped a pic of the air scoop.
The bus saga continues. ::) Oil temps are great and I got things fine tuned and air fuel is nuts on. However I sprung an oil leak. At first a few drops, then a waterfall. Narrowed it down to the doghouse oil cooler above #3 cylinder. Pulled the engine out to inspect and assumed it was the o rings type seals that mate to the oil cooler. Reading online they give a lot of problems. Tighten things down, inspected various other things, got it back in, and still leaking badly. Called the engine builder and I've gotta pull it back out and pressure test the oil cooler. The positive is I can pull the motor in about 30 minutes and I don't even need to undo oil or fuel lines. Work is sending me off tonight so this mess will have to wait till June.
Thats a bummer, at least pulling the motor is pretty straight forward. As frustrating as it is, it can always be worse I suppose.
My garage floors have never been messier lol. Puddles of oil everywhere trying to track down this leak. I was able to get my arm behind the doghouse with my phone and video the oil coming down from the bottom of the cooler. It did make swapping the idle jets back easier and the proper sized sensor under #3 plug would have been impossible with the engine in. Final tune ended up with 47 idles, 125 mains, and 190 air correction. I don't know how or why I read about 55 idles being the right size. Unless you like pouring gas and fouling plugs.
This oil leak turned out to be a real headache. Swapped oil coolers and seals with zero luck. I did however buy a block off plate to remove the oil cooler adapter and cooler itself. Well after pulling the motor for the 2nd time today (in 15 minutes flat!) I blocked everything off and sure enough no more leaks! Tomorrow I'll button everything up with the hopes for a weekend road trip.
Took a weekend trip to the lake and put a couple hundred miles on it. Ambient temps were 96 degrees on the way there and 90 by time we arrived home today. No more oil leaks and the oil temps never came close to setting off my 225 degree warning light, which I was happy with considering I was driving it as hard as you're going to drive it in temps as hot as you're going to tolerate. Cylinder head temps stayed very stable and it was interesting to see how load and rpms effect the cooling. I'll need to pull the mini this week to see if I'll need to slow things down to keep it cool in 90+ degree weather. Only mishap on the drive home was some random ignition breakup for a 5-10 minute period of time. Got home and popped the engine compartment and found the coil had come loose and fell down on the bottom shelf.
You mean the coil?
Err duh typo! Now that would be something if the dizzy popped out!
Gave the mini a 30 minute tow in 90s ambient temps. Seems to like 60-65mph to keep head temps stable amongst the rolling hills here. I did fashion up a cool air ram pipe to the engine fan after the fact, which testing yesterday in 97 degree temps kept head temps down a little more. It ran cooler at 97 than the week before to the lake at 90 degrees. The engine bay when I pop the lid after a drive is cooler as well. Currently fiddling with vacuum advance which I knew ahead of time would be finicky with twin weber 40s. It just doesn't want to pull steady or enough. Since I run timing from a blackbox and can monitor from my laptop it shows it dancing up and down the map. I bought a recommended pulsation damper which did stabilize it, but also reduced vacuum so much it's too close to WOT advance for me to safely trust it. I can create a block of advance and keep it stable, but I need a little buffer so I don't go from 28 degrees WOT to 38 degrees if it should creep into the vacuum advance cells while flooring it.
I think it's pretty impressive that your VW - which isn't exactly aerodynamic - is able move itself down the road quite well but also have enough grunt to pull a Mini along. 4.gif
Quote from: BruceK on June 18, 2021, 07:31:44 PM
I think it's pretty impressive that your VW - which isn't exactly aerodynamic - is able move itself down the road quite well but also have enough grunt to pull a Mini along. 4.gif
True! I wasn't sure how it would do. My mini is a little lighter than standard which helps I'm sure. I'd say the bus is comparable to the stock 1600 in performance with a little more oomph when towing.
Just passed 1500 miles on the new motor so gave it the final break in oil change and valve adjustment. Of course nothing is ever easy so I ran into some problems. Upon taking the 3-4 side valve cover off the one nut and stud that holds the rocker assembly on, which the valve cover also bolts to, backed itself off. Took the rocker off to thread the stud back into the head. The rockers themselves are fiddly because the tips have to sit just right for this flat part which rolls around to hit the valves. They're like roller rockers but not. This is done on your back under the bus of course. Once everything was aligned it was time to torque the rockers to the head, but since I had no idea of torque specs I checked the 1-2 side and matched the torque to that. Well I broke one of the studs on the 3-4 side as a result. 50.gif. Since my old engine is laying around I took the studs off it and did some research on what the torque values should be and finally got it all back together, and adjusted the 1-2 side to what the specs should be. Fast forward a couple hundred miles of driving to find any more gremlins before the big Colorado trip in the end of July and I developed a small oil drip off the one rocker cover which conveniently hits the exhaust, so you smell burning oil. Managed to re seat the cork gasket to stop that. Then I was doing a drive and ran into a fuel starvation scenario. Managed to limp back to the shop using light throttle and going slow. After verifying the jets weren't clogged I crawled under to look at the fuel filter. I had made these tanks but cleaned them extensively. Apparently not good enough as the filter had a fair amount of debris and one big hunk of rubber that lodged itself into the filter inlet. I could barely blow air through the thing. Hopefully that was the last of whatever junk is in the tanks. Runs great with a new filter. Last but not least is the drivers door has always been difficult to close. Something with the latch is funky. Tried adjusting the striker but no dice. After investigating and looking at the passenger side came to the conclusion it's simply worn out and needs replaced. It's so bad that it will open on it's own taking turns too fast. Should have the replacement in before the big trip and I won't have to hang on to the door when turning right!
I'm glad you're getting all this fettling done well in advance of the trip, so you travel with peace of mind. Nothing more stressful than doing repairs on the side of the road or wondering if you can make it to the next town.
I have a pretty good sized bag of tools and some additional parts for basic emergency repairs too. At first I wondered if my fuel pump crapped out, but it's a good piece of mind having the 2nd pump if that should ever happen 77.gif. Might go for an afternoon drive later on. At least the weather has been nice.
What a nice bus this is turning out to be. Love to see a picture of it all set up towing the mini.
Just something cool about a classic bus towing a mini. I world full of 45-foot RV's towing full-size trucks, jeeps, etc.
Quote from: jeff10049 on July 02, 2021, 04:31:09 PM
What a nice bus this is turning out to be. Love to see a picture of it all set up towing the mini.
Just something cool about a classic bus towing a mini. I world full of 45-foot RV's towing full-size trucks, jeeps, etc.
I'll be sure to take several. The roof rack will be loaded up too. Should look pretty cool. Oh one thing on the tow lights... I had to buy a 4 wire to 5 wire adapter thingy to have driving lights and brake lights functional at the same time. Then had to buy led tow lights as the harbor freight ones wouldn't work with the adapter. One last thing I did was buy a portable ac unit to sit on the passenger seat, venting out the drivers window. Found the smallest one available that will work perfectly and will make camping cool in heat should we ever need it.
Giving it a test today parked out in the sun. A cool 70 degrees inside and a muggy 88 outside.
Those portable AC units do work quite well. We have one we use in our popup camper if we plan to go somewhere we may need it. Not as convenient as a roof mount unit, but we can also use it for other things if need be and since we generally camp at elevation we don't usually need it so it stays at home which allows me to put the kayak on the roof of the popup instead.
Looking good!
Let's see where did I leave off in here 2 months ago before the crash... well I did a few things like exhaust work and taller velocity stacks. Prior to the mods I did some speed test between points in 3rd gear, doing 30-60mph pulls and some 60mph 4th gear full throttle pulls up a steep hill. The exhaust situation that I probably posted about was me modifying the current exhaust and adding a 2nd muffler for a dual exhaust setup. They sell twin exhaust but in a smaller pipe/flange than what my headers are. I put my welder to work and made a twin large flange. End results are I had to rejet the carbs because it runs a good bit leaner up top on my wideband. The taller velocity stacks also made a difference as I tested them separately and then together. The end results are I'm consistently 4-5mph faster between markers on the 30-60mph pulls in 3rd and the hill climb a smidge faster. Granted the hill climb I'm below the fat part of the powerband at around 3000 rpms. All my torque is around 3500-4000 rpms which is also best for fan cooling anyways. By time I hit 64-65mph in 3rd I'm done at 5k rpms which is the redline. Speaking of fans I did comparison runs with that Andrig fan that just hit the market and well it's junk. 3600rpms steady state 70mph back to back test comparing the stock style fan and the Andrig fan on a 6 mile loop showed about 20 degrees hotter with the Andrig. And when I used the stock fan it was actually 3 degrees hotter outside.
2nd Colorado trip underway. Only hiccups on the drive were I got a nail in the tire and the one carb throttle body started sticking on me, requiring an additional spring until I get home to most likely just having to realign the throttle plate. It's always been sticky on that side and apparently it's a common problem on these. Otherwise drove great. Had one section where it struggled but it was about 45 minutes of slight uphill grades, 90 degrees out, and 35 gusting 50 knots! The wind was a royal bitch. I was creeping along at 55mph to keep head temps within my normal operating range. Maybe it can run hotter but I don't want to accidentally find out where it drops valves. Anyways the tent is a major win for camping. Got down to 30 last night and we didn't even close the bus doors to the tent. With a couple space heaters going the whole setup was toasty. Makes it nice in the morning to sit inside and make breakfast, drink coffee, and relax. In the afternoon when it warms up the walls all go up.
Looks like a great time!
Made the trip back! Weather was nice and cool too so it was easy driving without head temps being an issue on any long uphill grades. Kept it at 3800-4000rpms and that seems to be the sweet spot for pulling hills. A few things to address now that I'm back such as my window crank handle broke, the speedo needle is sticking yet the odometer works, the horn stopped working (tried beeping at an old bug) and I need a catch can for fuel spill over when filling the tanks to max capacity. If I overfill it it's pouring gas out the vent like a garden hose. I'm thinking a 2 gallon fuel can inside below the vent to feed into will suffice for when I accidentally overfill it. Otherwise it now has 6k miles on the new engine and due for another oil change which will be full synthetic.
Got the oil changed and valves adjusted per every oil change as required. It's no mini where you set it and forget it. Had the left carbs off to see what was sticking and found absolutely nothing. In fact they work better than ever and the additional springs were removed. Gave it a good cleaning and lube job anyways and kept the return spring that I have on the center pedestal for a safety measurement should it ever decide to stick again. Taking the additional springs off the left carb definitely improves pedal feel. While I was in there I installed the half inch phenolic spacers I bought that are supposed to reduce heat to the carb body. Well they work! After a drive and parking it for several minutes the intake manifolds are about too hot to touch but the carbs are cold. Should make restarts after a drive much easier. The horn that stopped working was a bad relay. I ended up bypassing it, which looked dodgy at best by some previous wiring job and tied the horns into the additional circuit breaker I had installed with its own relay. In addition to the factory horn I put on an aftermarket loud horn. It sounds mad when you hit the horns now!
Fuel leakages! I've tracked gas mileage since buying this thing. The old motor and fuel tank got a consistent 15mpg and that was it. The new motor and tank has been oddly all over. I attributed some of this to a heavy foot and going over 65-70 mph and wind resistance. I've seen as high as 18 but also as low as 14.5mpg. Lately I've been taking the curvey scenic road to the shop which allows a steady 60mph cruise for a large portion of my drive, the first portion I do about 68mph. Going slower for the bulk of the drive and being able to get the air fuel leaner at that throttle position I expected a good bump in mileage. Instead I hit an all time low of that 14.5mpg. What the deuce. Checked all my lines and noted no leaks so began investigating further. Turns out my vented gas cap was broken internally and I got a glimpse in my side mirror in a left turn of fuel a flowing out into the abyss. Not only that but my fuel catch can I recently added for accidental fuel overfills was also catching fuel in right hand turns. About a quarter gallon worth, at least on a full tank in this curvey road section. So the reason why fuel mileage went down on this curvey road was it was sloshing out of the tank. Once I blocked the gas cap (new one ordered) and poured the catch can back into the tank on fillup my mileage on this same stretch of road was just shy of 19mpg.
I knew buses have gone up in value and I always wanted a 67, 12 volt with old body style, but this cannot be real:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234307893728 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/234307893728)
I guess $50K is the price range looking at other listings...
Yeah prices have gone up considerably. Split windows in particular.
Ironically a guy who lives here at the condos that loves my bus said a buddy of his back in California with a 64 was offered 85k for his this week. He turned the offer down.
Just saw this on the samba. Custom built new shells for 35k.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2510609
Or this one for 150k
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2480308
Still driving the bus non stop. This past week I played with the twin webers by changing the venturies from 28mm to 30mm. Actually woke the engine up a bit and required a jet change as a result. After I take it on a few trips this summer I'll pull the heads and upgrade those along with some ratio rockers that I think will really liven it up more. Few other odds and ends to do and of course a respray is planned also. Back on topic of summer trips. One of them is to Yellowstone where my shore power will be of no use because they don't have electricity available. I do have my 2000 watt low decibel inverter generator to use during allowed hours and purchased a 200ah lithium battery for night ops. Something to give us lights, heated blankets, and important stuff like a coffee pot. I have an appropriate LiFePO4 charger for it as well. ALSO I've added a couple other toys to the stable recently. This battery when not used for off grid bus camping will live on a 1973 Pearson 26 foot sailboat that we were given. I just have a slip fee at the lake that's 25 minutes from our house. And of course the boat needs a remodel which I'm planning on this year, to hopefully have it ready by next summer. But wait there's more.... Being that I've been into air cooled vehicles lately, I found a 1971 bug nearby that's a running project. Pretty sure nothing worked on it when I got it but it's finally about ready for it's maiden voyage on the road.
Looks like a pretty decent bug!
So I guess the question now is, do you know how to sail? lol Must be a pretty good sized lake.
Most boring time I ever had was a whole day of sailing on the bay in Sandy Eggo......might be different to just go and park in a cove and enjoy the day, but unless I'm on a cat or something fast, it's not for me.
The bug is a 10-20 footer. Not totally rotten but needs some patches.
Yes the lake is big! We're definitely not speed boat people. When we go to grande lake with our friends on their yacht it's a quick blast to party cove, tie up, and begin drinking. Our plan with the sailboat is cruise out and park it. Sleeps 4, has a sink, dining table, little bathroom area, ect... I'd say it's comparable to bus camping.
Oh and no I don't know how to sail. But since I'm aerodynamically smart I can't imagine it's that hard. I talked with a fellow pilot who has a 42 foot sailboat and he said I'd probably figure it out in about an hour.
Based on what the bugs usually look like around here 10-20 feet would be a huge improvement!
"camping" on the water, sounds like a good plan to me but I like to do some fishing too so that helps.
Fishing might be on the agenda as well. And long term we had already planned on building a house on the lake, coincidentally in the same residential area this marina is located.
Sounds like it was meant to be I guess, nice!
"Oh and no I don't know how to sail. But since I'm aerodynamically smart I can't imagine it's that hard. I talked with a fellow pilot who has a 42 foot sailboat and he said I'd probably figure it out in about an hour."
Anyone can sail, but there's a big difference from "sailing" to being a sailor. If the sail is up you're a sailor, if the motor is on you're not. When you sail out of the slip you're a sailor. You may consider a lesson just so you know what all the lines do.
We "race" a 60 yr old 18' Cape Cod Knockabout, race in quotations because my results are like Williams or Haas, and I've been sailing most of my life. I learn every time I get in the boat.
Remember BOAT = bust out another thousand. ;D
It's that time of year again for camping trips. This year as well as going to the Rockies I have a Yellowstone trip planned. By planned I mean a year in advance to get anything booked. As you may be aware they had some flooding recently that almost nixed this trip, but the south loop where I'll be camping has been open. In fact the North loop of Yellowstone is opening the 2nd of July now too. We're set to arrive July 6th and depart the 13th. I get home from work the 3rd and plan to load up that evening with all the gear to leave early the 4th to beat the 100 degree weather that day. Total mileage to get there is about 1300 miles so I'm breaking it down with an overnight in North Platte Nebraska and one in Pinedale Wyoming. This gives about 8.5 hours driving each day, with the final leg to Yellowstone about 3 hours to leisurely check in after 1pm on the 6th. I should get into North Platte before the high heat hits mid day there and leave early enough to get up into the mountains the next day where heat won't be an issue. The bus can handle it, I prefer not to endure it for 8 hours at a time. I'll have the roof rack packed with the side tent and some other gear. The tow hitch will have the cargo carrier I bought for it. I built a wooden box a month or two ago to match the cargo carrier which will store the small low decibel generator inverter, gas can, 200ah lithium ion battery, and spare propane tank specifically for this trip. Maybe a few other odds and ends too. Here's a picture of the flight plan. I'll have more pics of the trip to post up when I get back.
I posted about this generator in the tools section, but here it is again to keep it within the bus/camping talk. This is the box I built to haul it and supplies. What I decided to do was cut a few holes on the intake side of the generator to run extension cords out as well as provide air to the intake which is on that side facing the holes. The sides of the box has slots for ventilation, and I'll bring my fiberglass welding blanket for the exhaust side to catch heat, exhaust noise, as well as to prop the top a bit for more ventilation. The generator running on high is only 53db up close and the goal here is to keep it as quiet as possible. Standing 20 feet away you really don't notice it at all. I didn't run a decibel app testing it in the box but the box definitely knocks the noise down further when I set it in to see how it would do. Since I'll be at 8k feet I even bought a high altitude kit for it which just involved changing out the main jet to the carb. I tested a window ac unit to see how the generator would hold up and it runs one without any problems, though no ac required on this trip. Some pics...
Wow, pop that window A/C in one of the back windows, fire up the genny and have air conditioning all the way there and back! 77.gif
Quote from: MiniDave on July 01, 2022, 12:07:32 PM
Wow, pop that window A/C in one of the back windows, fire up the genny and have air conditioning all the way there and back! 77.gif
That did cross my mind!
For sure, you could get one of those carry all type things that go into the hitch https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-deluxe-cargo-carrier-66983.html (https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-deluxe-cargo-carrier-66983.html), strap your wooden generator box down on it and run the cord into the van.
Quote from: cstudep on July 01, 2022, 02:06:39 PM
For sure, you could get one of those carry all type things that go into the hitch https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-deluxe-cargo-carrier-66983.html (https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-deluxe-cargo-carrier-66983.html), strap your wooden generator box down on it and run the cord into the van.
This is the one I have. For an ATV but it's angled up which is what I needed. https://www.harborfreight.com/300-lb-capacity-atv-cargo-carrier-69858.html?_br_psugg_q=atv+cargo+carrier
So what you are saying is, the van is already pretty much "AC ready" in a sense ;D Nice!
Way back in the day working for my parents we used to do a lot of over the road traveling for their business. They had an old Chevy box truck, with no AC of course, and the dog house inside the cab area like the old full size vans. It was like a furnace in that thing in the summer. We had a generator on board for other things, and eventually even my dad got tired of no AC when driving across the middle of south Dakota in the middle of July. We put a window AC in the access between the cab and the box truck and ran it off the generator. Pretty sure you could use it as a meat locker after that, you almost couldn't turn it down low enough to prevent frostbite.
Day 1 complete. Hit the road around 445am, it was 82 in Tulsa. As we drove north it dipped to 75, then got as high as 93, then back into the upper 80s as we crossed into Nebraska, with the last hour hitting 94. All in all beat most of the heat. Supposed to be 100s all week in Tulsa with 106 for several days, so I'm glad we're going to be in the mountains this week.
Most definitely a good week to be at higher elevations!
Do you open the bay window or leave it closed?
I'll open it if going slow but definitely not at highway speeds.
Day 2 completed. Highest temp today was 82. Went from about 2500 feet up to 7100. Some areas 55mph was all she had.
So, where are you tonight? Do you hotel it on your travel nights so you can get a shower and a cool night's sleep?
Staying in Pinedale Wyoming tonight. Could have easily made it the whole way to Yellowstone today but didn't want to feel rushed. We can take our time getting up there in the morning. Using hotel points since I collect them at work.
Just got home after 3500 maintenance free miles! Well one maintenance item, the left rear driving bulb needed twisted a smidge to make contact. Today was an ass kicker at about 13 hours driving time with about 9 of that in 100-105 degree weather. Stopped into Longmont Colorado for a mini door for this one customer car at my shop, then swung down to Aurora to get flares for Dave. This was the first big trip with accurate cylinder head temp gauge hooked up under #2 plug while the other was left in #3 for comparison purposes. Engine runs cool, real cool for a bus. 325-335 was it most of the trip loaded up hauling butt. Today at 105 degrees into wind and rolling hills was the test. With a tailwind 335-345 was normal. Into the wind 355-365 at 65mph was all she had in her, before oil temps began to run 230ish. Head temps can run 350-375 all day long so the vw experts say. I'll probably toss a small oil cooler on for the next trek across the midwest in the summer to keep oil temps under 220-230. What did help was drafting behind semis. 65mph chugging along at 355 degrees on the head, then getting behind a truck passing me, I'd get up to 71-75mph and head temps would come down to 335 again with oil temps hanging in that 230 range. If the truck took an exit with those headwinds in this heat it was back to 65mph. I was severely loaded up with gear though too. Gas mileage wise once I got to the mountains I averaged 20.5mpg. Headed west to the mountains was an abysmal 13mpg and east 15mpg.
Wow, I had no idea aircooled VW head temperatures went that high. Good quality oil must be a great engine saver.
Quote from: BruceK on July 14, 2022, 09:02:29 PM
Wow, I had no idea aircooled VW head temperatures went that high. Good quality oil must be a great engine saver.
They say 400 is peak for minimal spurts and beyond that your valves start to drop. Running vr1 synthetic! So I wasn't too concerned with 230 temps.
Also, the 200ah lithium battery was a real beast! The routine was wake up relatively early, make coffee with the 1500 watt electric tea kettle, maybe run a toaster depending what I was cooking, charge phones, run interior rope lights if it was still dark, and at 8am when generators were allowed, begin to charge the battery. Usually charged it for about an hour in the morning before heading out for the day, and then again for 2-3 hours in the evening. Running the fridge with it about 20 hours a day except for when the generator was going. Additional string lights would be going in the evening after 8pm when generators weren't allowed. So the battery really did a lot of work. Charge time math revealed most days the battery used 30% of it's capacity. Occasionally 35% if I got ambitious with the tea kettle. It ran the fridge for two days on the way home without being charged up.
Did a few random things on the bus today. First on the list was removing the electric signal unit to the electric speedometer. It picks up it's signal from the mechanical line that runs off the front left wheel. The problem has been the needle bounces even after changing cables and something funky is up with the sender where I never could get it to read consistently. One day fast next day slow. So after much aggravation bought a gps sensor to wire into the electric speedometer. End result is it works perfectly! I had 4 wires to choose from on the old sending unit and 3 on the gps unit depending on what pulse per mile you go with. I managed to guess the right combination on the first attemp so it went quickly.
Next was remove the old cylinder head temp gauge that wasn't accurate and move the air fuel gauge into it's spot. After that was move the new accurate cylinder temp gauge from the bottom of the dash to the top, using a gauge holder that sticks to the dash. Now it's right there for me to watch without looking down between the steering wheel and turn indicator.
Final thing for the day was went ahead and installed the extra small oil cooler. Took some looking around for the best location and ended up beside the other oil cooler, which meant it was at least easy to run lines between the two. It was 101 degrees on the way home. It took me doing 80mph into wind, camping gear still on the roof rack for next months trip, for a period of time before it would start to come up on 220 degrees.
What a great trip the head and oil temps make me think (you too I'm sure) of small airplanes either waiting on it to get hot enough or pulling power/richen mixture and waiting on it to get cool.
What was your favorite part of Yellowstone? Its such a cool place with so much to see it takes more than one trip I think. I really like the grand canyon of Yellowstone and I think it's the mammoth area where the minerals look like a staircase. And of course, the wildlife is great.
Mammoth was really cool. My favorite spot was grand prismatic springs. We hit the entire place hard for a whole week and saw what felt like 500 geysers and springs. With the floods the previous few weeks closing it down, and then days before we were scheduled to stay there they opened it all back up. Which meant a lot less tourist, easy parking, short lines, little traffic. I did see a number of vw vanagons and one split window bus. They all waved and were excited to see another bus on the road. In the afternoon drives back to camp when it was hot outside, I'd open the safari front baywindow. Doing 45-50mph with wind in the face felt pretty good.
Well sad day in VW bus world. Left Tulsa this morning around 5am headed to our annual camping trip in Estes Colorado and the transaxle cut loose in Burlington Colorado. Locked up pretty good. Was able to probably burn my clutch up getting it off the road where I'm waiting for a tow to Hays Kansas to get a rental car to then go get my truck and trailer.
That blows and that's a long tow. I know that route well. Driving from Winfield Ks to colo springs in college.
Rental cars seems to be scarce. And since we're in BFE no sign of the tow driver either. Jen took a pic of me looking things over, but really I was just down there lightly sobbing.
I have family in the Goodland area. I could hit them up and see if they have any suggestions maybe? There used to be a dealership in Goodland you could rent a car at, not sure if its still there or not.
Right now I'm offering 500 bucks plus gas to anyone that can get me to Tulsa. The tow fell through and there aren't rental cars here.
I'll hit up my cousin and see if he has any suggestions. Is there a way to get a uhaul truck and tow dolly or something maybe?
We found a person to come get us. I looked at a u haul but it's a little on the pricey side. Just a triple A tow 175 miles was going to be over 1k, and that's with the first 100 miles free! Then I still have to get a hotel and a rental car. Yeah so this sucks.
Meanwhile this is where we're at and we found this bowling alley. Looks pretty sketchy from the outside!
Dang that is high! So you have someone coming to get you to take you back to Tulsa? That is a whole lot of driving and that totally sucks for sure.
I have a cousin in Colby that has a few small planes although I think most of them are crop dusters so that doesn't help much either LOL.
They put in a prison there in Burlington a few years back, that town was always a little sketchy when I was growing up and my cousin says it's not gotten better with the addition of the prison.
He did say there is a place called The Dish Room, good food and cold beer.
Yeah the prison closed down. They went from a population of 4500ndown to 2500.
I reached out to a friend with a plane but he's out in his RV somewhere out west.
From what I understand from my cousin most of the boost in population was due to prisoner family members moving in, so it wasn't exactly an ideal growth model. But I am sure a lot of it was jobs being lost too which always sucks.
Just wish I was close enough I could help you out more. But it's probably about as far from me to you as it is from you to Tulsa. Only familiar with the area since I spent most of the summers of my youth at my grandparents place in Goodland. I don't get out that way much anymore.
Man, this sucks.......old cars are just no damn good, as Clancy says! ::)
Geez. That sucks. Sorry that happened.
I'm going to log 30 hours of driving in the past 48 hours.
BTDT, got the T-shirt............ and it is not fun!
You'll feel better once it's back at the shop tho.....
Got the engine and transaxle pulled. Drained the gear oil and tooknoff the nose cone to find tons of metal, bearings floating around, and bits of gear teath. Will be surprised if anything internally will be salvageable when he pulls it apart.
Ouch!
No warning other than it just felt like it lost power? No crazy noises?
That's a complete mess, I agree about there probably not being anything salvageable inside - maybe the final drive escaped the carnage....
I sure would want to know just what caused the issue - a gear that simply failed or what exactly.
Initially I smelled what I thought was propane/natural gas, which I'm thinking was plastic bearing cage being finely ground up. Those chunks in the one photo are parts of the cage. Then a loss of power soon occurred. It all happened in under a mile.
Well I guess there was maybe one other indication. As everything was nashing together in there the gear oil heats up and begins to expand out a weep hole. When I popped my head under after this catastrophe there was a lot of gear oil dripping down. Before the trip I do an inspection and check oil lines, fuel filters, ect.. well I did notice some oil under where that weep hole is which I didn't think much about since it wasn't an amount that was alarming. But it was probably beginning to create enough friction in there to cause the expansion.
Another thing I was planning to do after this trip was pull the motor and redo the heads to something more sporty and add ratio rockers. I pulled a head yesterday to do some calculations and see what all I had going on in there. Well I can't say I'm impressed with the engine builder because I was told I was getting 8:3:1 compression but got more like a stock 7:1. Having read countless amounts of material on engine builds for these I am also aware of ideal deck height for max performance. With the head off and a cylinder jug torqued down I was getting about 1.15mm which is damn near perfect. 1.0mm being the smallest amount you should go to account for things stretching. 1.5mm being the big end in the best deck height zone. Well he added copper spacers that spec at 1.3mm, giving me 2.45mm. The heads when I roughly CC'd them using a measuring cup with ML's came to be entirely too large for combustion volume. Nor was the step machined out. He basically just slapped on some bigger valve heads and called it good. This would explain why my webber jetting is so much smaller than what other 2110cc engine guys are running. It still hauls but it's not nearly as efficient as it should be. Running the dubdyno app I'm down a fair amount on what type of power I will achieve once I bump the compression up, get those rockers on, and use better flowing heads. Showing about a 25% increase on average.
I'm doing this from waaaayyyyy back memories, but it seems there was a paper gasket under the jugs and supposed to be a copper gasket between the head and jug? Are you saying they should have been thinner copper gaskets? Maybe a phone call to him to ask?
Paper gaskets were used on the type 4 engines I'm fairly certain but not on type 1 like I have. The copper gaskets are only used for spacing if the deck height is too short/negative or you need to alter compression ratios. Otherwise you shouldn't run them. There's also barrel shims between the jug and block you can use to set deck height. Those can be bought in smaller shim thicknesses whereas the copper head shims are only available in 1mm and 1.5mm.
I looked up the paper gaskets Dave, VW discontinued them in 73 looks like. Prone to failure. Usually what people do is take a cylinder jug and some lapping paste and lap the heads to the cylinders to ensure a perfect seal. But then again most guys don't even do that.
Still no word on the damage to the transaxle. The guy was sick last week but also I'm not in a huge hurry. In the meantime I've been cleaning things up and tinkering with some minor improvements. One thing on the list was yet another exhaust. The one I've been running, while it was sized properly and sounded good, the metal itself was crap. As in so bad it started falling apart. I had read empi exhaust were junk and they weren't joking. So, decided to fork out some money on a quality USA made stainless exhaust, and boy is she pretty. The welds are also a thing of beauty compared to the empi exhaust that had big globs hanging out into the flow of exhaust at the flanges. Just bought the header only and will be fabbing up a couple dynomax mufflers that will be much quieter compared to the muffler options that came with this header.
Read an interesting thread on GRM about a guy that put a Subaru 5 speed in his bus, maybe an option? Stronger box and you get more gears, and I doubt it's more expensive than fixing this one. I can post the link if you want to read about it?
Those welds were Tig'd, I'd bet on it! And clearly, by someone who knew what they were doing! 77.gif
Quote from: MiniDave on September 19, 2022, 05:38:05 PM
Read an interesting thread on GRM about a guy that put a Subaru 5 speed in his bus, maybe an option? Stronger box and you get more gears, and I doubt it's more expensive than fixing this one. I can post the link if you want to read about it?
Those welds were Tig'd, I'd bet on it! And clearly, by someone who knew what they were doing! 77.gif
The whole engine swap or just tranny? Cause the entire engine swap from what I've read is rather pricey. 20k neighborhood.
Found a pic of the previous header failer. Plus I had welded several cracks where the collector meets and pipes to muffler.
Just the transmichigan......
Here's the build thread...... https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/subaru-transmission-into-a-vanagon/190155/page1/ (https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/subaru-transmission-into-a-vanagon/190155/page1/)
But you're right - his Vanagon already had a Subie motor in it.....my bad.
Yeah pretty common on vanagons. Not so much on kombis.
Still, if someone makes an adaptor, a 5 speed would be nice to have. I suppose you could put a Porsche 5 speed in there too?
I find Subie 5 speeds for as little as $500, but who knows what shape the synchros are in at that price. Still, Japanese transmissions are pretty robust.
Here's a company that does a conversion kit for Type 2 Kombis, no cost mentioned in their ad
https://ranchotransaxles.com/rancho-subaru-5-speed-conversion-for-type-1-2-and-vanagon/ (https://ranchotransaxles.com/rancho-subaru-5-speed-conversion-for-type-1-2-and-vanagon/)
Yeah those are 4600 bucks. They have to reverse gear it and then there's adapter plates. They actually get those parts from outfit in Australia that came up with it for type1 and 2s.
That's where the guy in the GRM article got his - down unda!
Maybe someday when I'm able to blow 4600 on a transmission. There really isn't a reason why mine should blow up, other than when UPS dropped it, it pinched that end of the case where the bearing failure started. Hindsight and all when I had issues with a pinched bushing not allowing the hockey puck to select gears, I should have just shipped it back to have it gone over to fix what got mushed up internally. It did last 13k miles before failing.
What does it take to modify a four cylinder Porsche/VW 914 5 speed transmission to fit? Not that there are alot of those to be found.
You'd have to flip the ring gear, might not be possible in those gearboxes, then design a shift linkage as the VW box the shifter comes in the back and on the 914 it's in the side....
It has to be reversed and a bunch of fiddly mods. There's some berg 5 speeds out there occasionally too, but all these options set a guy back about 5k. Really nothing wrong with the 4 speeds I have, 71mph is turning 3600rpms. The stock gearing had a bus rated for max cruising at 68mph at 4000rpms.
Hell the stock Brazilian gearing had me doing 4400 rpms at 65mph!
I remember hearing about the Berg units along time ago when we had Type IIs.
http://www.geneberg.com/cat.php?cPath=13_387 (http://www.geneberg.com/cat.php?cPath=13_387)
I almost mentioned what was in that article, which is you begin to run hot with the lower rpms. Not to mention I'd be shifting down into 4th to pull slight hills if I had a 5th overdrive. Or a headwind for that matter! 3300-3800 is the sweet spot for power and cooling on my setup to do 65-75mph. And I can cruise slower in 4th but because the wind resistance and power required drops off it runs nice and cool there too. Typically I'm doing 68-71mph to and from the shop. Some of these cross country trips I'd do 75mph just to keep up with traffic. The transaxle guy always wants to push a 3.88 or an .82 4th, but this 4.12 and .89 4th combo really is the sweet spot. It will be interesting to see if temperatures maintain within safe limits with the bump in compression after it's all back together. After getting a proper CC tool the old setup came out to just shy of 7:5:1. The new heads calculate out to 8:9:1. They will flow better and they claim to run cooler being a proprietary blend of metal made in the USA vs China. They're heavier and have some nice looking fins so we'll see. The bump in compression will run hotter of course, however getting rid of that huge deck height allegedly will cool things down. Maybe it all offsets.
A few goodies came in. Fancy gaskets that won't fail and are reusable. They'll get a spray of copper coat too to ensure no leaks. Have a matching flange for the exhaust when I'm able to weld up the exhaust.
Played around with this exhaust stuff a little. The piping I'll be using slips snuggly into the flanges. As a way to form a tight seal as well as align the two perfectly together, the end I'm fabbing will extend beyond the flange to slide into the header flange.
Here's some damaged gears and bearings pitted up.
That looks awful. And expensive.
Yeah I'm expecting a large bill. :( I am getting a new case at cost in the deal at least. We're having to get an all new gear set. The surviving parts were the ring and pinion and differential. A new alloy gear carrier will be going on and it will be machined for a larger bearing. The carrier is the end that initially failed which can be seen in one of the pics I posted. Apparently that bearing deals with a lot of engine torque. Other thing I'm looking into is going to a 1.21 3rd gear vs the 1.26 for a little taller 3rd gear mountain pulling when 4th can't do it.
I got the roof rack off with the plans to paint the roof white. Holy smokes is it heavy. Not sure it's going back on heavy. Not to mention it's a behemoth and will be nearly impossible to get on by myself without major paint damage. I'm thinking if I do use it again that I'll chop it down into 3rds and use what I need. I've never had to use the whole rack when we go camping with all the gear. Another option I'm starting to ponder is having the ability to haul a vespa/vespa-esk scooter. We're moving our office downtown where we live and it's about 6 blocks over from the house. Jen's thinking scoot to work. If we brought it with the bus we wouldn't have to detach from camp every time we wanted to go somewhere. And next time we break down in the middle of nowhere I'd have a way to get to a rental car place or airport! So was pondering ways to haul a scooter and found some neat ideas online using 40x48 mini trailers. Then I started to think well if this roof rack doesn't go back on what about a 4x8 folding trailer, and in aluminum. Northern tools sells one that weighs under 200lbs minus whatever flooring you use. Still have some thinking to do which combo would be best. Smaller trailer with 3rd roof rack or no roof rack and 8 foot trailer. 8.gif
Personally I would lean going all trailer if you plan to pull one at all. I hate loading things into/on a roof rack of any sort and they are a huge wind drag. Not that the bus is all that aerodynamic anyway but still.
Not only would dealing with a trailer be easier all around since everything would be at ground level, but I would have to think it would have less wind resistance as well.
I didn't talk about wind resistance but it's a big perk. They say that these full length racks by themselves cost up to 5mpg. I know that when I load it up for our trips I can feel the difference due to wind resistance. Plus like you say it's a pain in the butt to load it up. I have to carry a small ladder. The box with the tent has to be 75lbs.
Found a 4x6 trailer at tractor supply that's just at 200lbs. That should fit a scooter and gear just fine without any modifications, yet small enough to not be a pain. Figured I'd be around 600lbs all in with about everything I normally carry if we added the scooter. I suppose deduct 75lbs or so for the roof rack and whatever wind resistance is over 2 tires rolling.
White roof day. Well white primer now and white paint tomorrow.
Well here they are. The new top on the bus is so much nicer than the paint around the glass that I'll end up just doing it too.
Oh on the transaxle build, he sent me a picture of the upgraded bearing he's going with. A bit larger and an extra ball. Maybe it makes a difference?
Man, the cut and polish on the bus will seem endless!
Quote from: MiniDave on October 25, 2022, 05:51:40 PM
Man, the cut and polish on the bus will seem endless!
Ha. Yeah, the roof will only get the first foot or so along the perimeter that's visible! The rest layed out better than what was on there so good enough for me, plus unless you're on a ladder or 7 feet tall can't see it. The body on the other hand will be hell. Hopefully lays out well enough I can make it quick and easy. Definitely need to plan it out to cut and buff the very next day while it's still soft. Hitting these tomorrow for that reason.
Here's the difference between the Brazil finish and my finish.
Got some new stage 1 ported heads in the mail today with port matched manifolds and some upgraded 92mm cylinders from the 90.5s I was running. Pics to compare ports. Last 2 are the exhaust ports. Pretty big ridge on the old exhaust ports just past the valve. The old intake ports also have all sorts of bumps and ridges as you might be able to see in the pics. The intake runner volume on the old heads are around 55cc, the new heads 65cc. Didn't want to go bigger, or above say 70cc to keep intake velocity up for low end torque.
Those look purdy!
Now all you need is a rebuilt gearbox to show up, then you'll be back in bidness.....
I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, at least they look good anyway! Combustion chambers CC'd to 60 to give me 9:1 compression. The old setup was supposed to be 8:3:1 but it spec'd more to about 8:1. Going from a 2110cc engine to 2180cc, upping compression, 1.0 ratio rockers to 1.25, and high flow heads should make a noticeable difference in go power. Now for the transaxle! Waiting on a new case last I heard. Will check back towards the end of January.
Not exciting really but I did take the time to clean up casting flash between the fins where the castings come together. Airflow being critical to cooling of course I want these things to breath as air is pushed down and through the other side.
Was wanting to upgrade the venturies in the carbs to take advantage of the additional flow available. Started with 28mm when it was all new, then went to 30mm which I did notice a difference and required a main jet change. Thought I'd bump up to a 32mm but also don't want to loose any low end. Got talking with an engine builder and was pointed towards some grooved venturies. The way they work is there's a minor and major diameter and according to all the test give you the best of both worlds. If I want to retain the bottom end of a 30 but have top end of a 34 then I'd choose a 30/34 venturi. So, that's what I went with. A dyno comparison on some 48 webers on a larger, more aggressive setup started with 190hp on a 42 vent. Actually it made 160tq/122hp @4k rpms, 165tq/142hp @4500rpms, 169tq/178hp @5500rpms and top of 160tq/190hp @ 6250rpms. A 40/44 grooved venturi made 168/128 @ 4k, 171/147 @4500, 188/196 @5500, and 185/211 @6k.
Took today as a work on the bus day. I've been wanting to go through the brakes and replace the rubber lines. Simultaneously I've been at a crossroads trying to decide if I want to tap into these brand new ported manifolds for the brake booster. I decided that I really don't want to do that, so onto figuring out a solution. My research revealed a few things. Unlike minis where I remove the booster and it's no big deal, there's those in the VW scene that think you're going to kill yourself and everyone around you. Couple things I learned are brake masters for a booster have a larger diameter piston and shorter stroke. Those designed for no booster are smaller in diameter on the piston and a longer stroke. Seems those in the VW community that say it doesn't work is because they use the wrong master on a booster that's not hooked up, thus creating a very stiff pedal with less braking action. A very quick parts search outside the US found bus brake masters for no booster and the smaller diameter piston even listed in the description. Specifically for disc on the front and drums on the rear, this also matters. This setup was more common in the Europe and South America markets. I got a nice deal on a new master and bought a new fluid reservoir that mounts atop the master. Mine were old looking and I wanted new rubber and plastic anyways. There's a top reservoir that sits in the cab behind the drivers seat that feeds to the master reservoir. Anyways that all being said, dimensionally I needed to figure some stuff out on how and where to mount the new master. The booster has a 4 stud pattern and mounts to a flange welded to the bus. The brake pedal rod attaches to the push rod going into the booster from this end. The backside of the booster has a 2 stud flange for the master. Early buses without the booster have the master mounted forward about a foot, but due to different paneling and the way the masters and the top reservoirs are designed wouldn't work, at least not easily. I pondered leaving the booster in place and just bolting the new master to it, but upon investigation determined there would be a lot of slop in the pedal due to the internal springs of the booster. I came to the conclusion this is where people said you'd kill yourself. So, cut the booster apart and stole some parts to begin a fabrication. Used the front 4 stud mount, the rear 2 stud mount, and 2 parts of the push rods. The rod that enters the booster and the rod that exits the booster. There's internal guts between those rods that needed to be bypassed. Welded the mounts together, which work nicely because the inner hole is meant for the master to fit snugly within. After mounting this fabbed bracket, took the old master since the new hasn't arrived yet, and used it to mock up the push rod lengths. Both ends are adjustable on the push rod so just needed to make it close enough. Once that length was determined, I beveled down the sections of rod to weld together and welded them up. Ground them down and as an additional precaution put a sleeve where they meet and welded that too! Aint nothing breaking this push rod. So here's what these bits and pieces look like.
Do you need to machine down the outer diameter of the sleeve to fit inside the circlip like the original shaft does?
Quote from: MiniDave on January 07, 2023, 09:48:10 PMDo you need to machine down the outer diameter of the sleeve to fit inside the circlip like the original shaft does?
Oh, no it fits just fine. The sleeve I added (think that's what you're referring to) is just very close to the shaft where you see the circlip on the master. I screwed in the bolt that fits within that shaft to see how much thread was used before the shaft hits the sleeve in that photo. Another thing not shown is the new master will have a boot that fits over the sleeve.
I've converted a bus to non power did the same with the booster I think we used a master off of a dodge d-50 pickup if I remember correctly. It stopped fine and would lock up the brakes with ease if needed.
I plan to make some time to get the master and brakes done when I get home from this trip. The transaxle guy said the new case arrived, so now it's just him making time to put it all back together. I have some other misc things to sort out in the meantime as well. Jug spacers are in so I can button up the motor and do my rocker geometry. I upgraded the oil cooler from a 16 row to 34 row, so need to fabricate the mounts and air scoop for that.
In anticipation for the scooter to haul along with the bus, I went ahead and ordered the trailer. Marathon 4x6 galvanized frame with 8 inch wheels. Should be perfect for camping gear too. The roof rack is staying off so won't need to lug around the ladder and all the straps, tarp, and netting. I ordered appropriate C class tires and will use one of the current wheels as a spare. Only 50 bucks for 2 tires!
Looks like you'll need a deck of some kind.....I used pressure treated plywood on mine, but I don't see much for cross bracing that would be under the deck. Are those stake pockets I see around the edges?
Looks like you'll need some D rings to bolt on for tie downs too? And a front wind up jack?
I believe the framing is close enough that cross bracing isn't going to be an issue. Not like I'm carrying any heavy loads. I'll slap on some half inch plywood and call it good. Has stake pockets but I'm not sure I intend to make any rails. I do have some D rings for my big trailer I never used I may install though.
Oh and it sits so low and is so light that I don't need a front jack.
Except when it's loaded?
Quote from: MiniDave on January 22, 2023, 10:27:38 AMExcept when it's loaded?
For a front jack? Just hitched to the bus or a block of wood will suffice.
Got the brake master on. Feels good! Now of course the front lines I ordered were wrong, so I get to bleed the fronts again, but went ahead and bled them now just to see how the pedal feels. Had to make a few custom lines to the master to make things reach and to tie the 2nd pressure sensor into it.
Also the new oil cooler arrived. Photos shortly...signal bad at the shop.
...
What I thought would take a couple days is turning into 5! The rockers on a vw type 1 engine are a lot of work. First you have to mount them umpteen times to get the shims on the rocker shaft within spec, and slightly offset so the rocker doesn't hit dead center on the valve. Then it's setting up the geometry so at half lift the rocker is in line with the valve. This reduces valve guide wear. Simultaneously you're adjusting a variable length push rod to determine what length the rods need to be cut down to. If that's not enough the face of the rockers need trimmed back to screw the tip further in, which allows for less shims on the stands the rockers bolt to. Eventually you run out of stud or hit the rocker cover otherwise. There was a learning curve involved but should be good to go now. The engine builder didn't do any of this when I checked his geometry to wrap my head around things. Luckily the internet exist.
Aren't the ends of the rocker studs supposed to be curved? Or rounded?
Edit: I forgot they have those little wobble ends on them.....
The ends you cut off fit into the lifters, right?
Quote from: MiniDave on January 26, 2023, 07:59:46 PMAren't the ends of the rocker studs supposed to be curved? Or rounded?
Edit: I forgot they have those little wobble ends on them.....
The ends you cut off fit into the lifters, right?
Yep push rods go through the push rod tubes to the lifters. I went with oversized mouths on the tubes to prevent any chance of the rods rubbing with the ratio rockers. Some do and some don't depending. The rocker studs in the picture are as they come. They clear the rocker cover anyways. Pic of the adjustable push rod tool and of the tubes in place right before I did the final assembly on the 1-2 side. That block bolted to the cylinder jug is for checking deck height (added half a MM of shims to get the proper deck), but it's bolted up here to compress the cylinder to the block since I had just put sealant on that cylinder base.
Edit to your edit: yeah wasn't sure what you meant at first. Those are courier style tips, but I swapped those to some elephant feet tips.
Courier vs elephant feet. The elephant foot covers the valve better and I was able to attain better clearance too. Good up to 500 lift, and after getting my dial lined up better determined I am around 475, which matches my cam plus 1.25 ratio rockers. Showed about 420 with the 1.1 rockers bolted up.
Most of the performance v8's I work on have the incorrect pushrod length, incorrect valve spring installed height, and wrong stud length always built by the best builder of course.
Even a relatively mild-performance small block can have 350 pounds of open valve spring pressure with a roller cam.
What you did is a great setup for your engine.
If your ever this far again consider Pauter roller tip rockers when set up correct like you did valve guide wear would be almost non existent with rollers.
Oh I looked at those, but boy are they expensive!
I thought doing a valve adjustment on my 3.4L Toyota with the bucket/shim style was bad enough, this sounds about 10 times worse. The Toyota isn't super hard or anything but damn if it isn't time consuming as hell.
And like jeff10049 said, I have seen a few "rebuilt" heads for said motor that were completely out of spec for valve clearance. Like so far out of spec that compression went from 90ish in a few cylinders to over 200 after adjusting to the proper shims.
I feel confident I could do another engine in about half the time now. The 3-4 side went quickly today. Need to put the tins back on and then just waiting on the transaxle to arrive.
I'm sure having the motor sitting outside of the vehicle on the floor helps too.
Spending hours bent over a fender under a hood certainly doesn't please my back any these days.
Part way into it I wish I had mounted it to my engine stand. But yeah it would be pretty awful in the car.
Yeah when I saw it sitting there like that, my first thought was, another great reason to have one of those hydraulic lift table things like Dave has!
Yes I could have used his lift for this thing! I do intend to build a motor from start to finish at some point and have a list of items like that to purchase.
Another thing is this engine has become significantly harder to turn over, between the bump in compression, dual springs, and the not yet broken in rings, it's takes some effort on this dolly. Even with the plugs removed.
Another cool thing about the lift table is that you can have the motor on it and roll it under the car, then lift it right into place - easy peasy way to install or remove a Mini engine/gearbox too. Of course you need the car up high enough to get under it whether going in or out.
I wish my floor was un-cracked enough that I could buy a Max Jack lift - it would be nice to be able to get completely under a car with nothing in the way. $10K to replace the floor and another $10K to replace the driveway means it's probably never going to happen.....
Got this trailer yesterday in 3 boxes. Put it together today. Relatively easy. For the bed I got some plywood, but they either had too thick (heavy) or kinda thin. I found some 15/32", which felt a little flimsy but I thought I'd see how it would do. It's actually just fine since the cross braces are close together. However, the top of the frame has a bunch of bolts that I didn't want to bolt through the plywood. I wanted them directly to the frame without any wood to squish or rot out in between. So I counter sunk the plywood where all these bolts are, and tomorrow will grab a piece of 1/4" to overlay to cover up all the holes I drilled into the 15/32" sheet. I think it will look better and give it a little extra rigity. Then I'll add some screws and can call it good. The sucker is lightweight! Standing in the middle bolting things together I could just pick it up. Putting the wheels on was just a matter of lifting with one hand and putting the wheel on with the other.
Edit: stopped by the homedepot by my house on the way home and snagged a 3mm piece of nice looking overlay and some water based stain. Plan to give it a little layer of epoxy for esthetics and water proofing.
Another thing is once I got the lights officially wired up after my initial post, the turn signals barely flicker with the driving lights on. I think this might be bus wire related as I used a set of tow lights for the mini and they acted funky also. Once I swapped to an upgraded LED pair everything worked properly. I did have to buy an adapter for the wiring harness due to how the bus is wired. Can't remember the details of that now, but it was very screwy before the adapter. I found a pair of the same style LEDs that bolt to a trailer that I'll probably buy. If I had a way to bolt up the magnetic pair I'd just do that.
Trailer build coming to an end. That top sheet ended up being 5mm, not sure why I was thinking 3. Everything is nice and secure and firm feeling. Skipped the stain and just gave it a little expoxy for a sealer and look. On the lights, Harbor Freight had leds for 15 bucks cheaper than the exact same pair from Home Depot. Upgraded to those and as luck would have it my turn indicator with driving lights on problem went away. This is because they have an additional ground right from the light assemblies. I also moved the light assemblies up higher on the mounts. The way it was designed, if you happened to bottom out the back end transitioning to a steep grade, the lights can take a hit and are liable to break off. Tossed a toolbox on and secured it down. Aside from some essential tools for trips, it's going to have things like a spare set of wheel bearings for the trailer, the old rear lights, straps, and the legs I welded up that screw to the front and rear of the trailer. Only thing left to do is fab up a wheel chock for the scooter, but that will need to wait until I get the scooter and determine what dimensions are going to be. Oh, and the spare rims are on the way for those tires sitting where I intend to mount the spares.
Motor and accessories all buttoned up. You'd think it would go quickly but it just doesn't.
Today was get the engine roughly into place to start mocking up this custom exhaust that will wrap around the front side of the motor. Once that was in place I started to fab up a different tow hitch. The one a made a year or so ago worked, although with some flaws. Plus with the new exhaust setup it wouldn't work regardless. Part of the issue with it was on the way back from Yellowstone carrying the cargo carrier loaded to the gills, it did begin to bend. Another issue was due to the previous exhaust it hung a tad low and would occasionally drag. Anyway I came up with a better solution that's definitely stronger. Even feels lighter. Got some quarter inch plate steel in a 12x24 inch section and some angle iron. Need a 2 foot section of angle iron to finish it off tomorrow. Here's what I came up with... the metal arms that hold the bumper onto the frame overhang about a quarter inch. I wanted to mount hitch arms to that section of frame, so doubled up plate steel in that section so the hitch brackets sit on the ledge created by the bumper brackets. It fits snugly between those brackets and the floor. The only way to get the hitch on and off is by removing the bumper. 3 bolts on each side through the frame hold the hitch on. It's really sturdy! Pics of what I accomplished tonight.
Good photo showing the difference in height. Didn't run the ball that low, had it flipped for a rise when I used it to haul the cargo carrier.
All finished up. Jacked the rear end up to see if it flexes at all, but it doesn't seem to budge. Makes for a great jacking point that's for sure.
Getting some color on. Vw marina blue.
What kind of tape do you use between the colors to keep from having bleed thru?
Just painters tape.
Back at it today. Have to mask the body tomorrow, but I have a good bit of prep done and a few dings filled. On the rear bumper I tended to some cracking and found where it had been hit at some point, but rather than hammer it back out, they just filled it heavily. I got it pretty straight and reduced the amount of filler required dramatically.
Moving along. Just a little more sanding to do and a couple things to mask and it's ready for paint.
Everything below that tape line will be that VW Blue, right?
I image sanding those louvers might be hard on the fingers?
Blue below the line, correct. The louvers just get hit with some scotch bright for adhesion.
12 hour day but got it done! Well almost...have to paint a bumper and a side door needs a color correction where there was a mistake.
That does look good. Almost makes me miss my bus. Is that one panel all the way from the B pillar to the rear corner? On mine it was two, I assume so they could use the same panels for LHD and RHD.
Yep one big panel. Although I suppose depending on the model, they could have made it 2 panels. Some of these had cargo doors on the left side, which would use the separated panels.
Beautiful color combo!
Did one side today. I'll tackle more tomorrow.
Ooooh, shiny!!!! :grin:
Yeah buffed up nice. The wavey-ness of the long side panel shows better now that the old orange peeled to hell white is gone. I suppose you could spend forever filling and sanding to make it dead straight, but the meticulous bus people expect it to have subtle imperfections.
Tried to get a before and after shot of pre and post color sanding.
Looks great, Those bus side panels always have waves even if you spend forever they will wave at different temperatures, and depending on how it's parked they're just too big and thin of a panel to stay straight.
I like the colors the blue looks a little like the speedwell blue on my mini but that could just be how it comes through the picture and monitor.
Actually here is Marina blue vs Speedwell. Marina is on the can.
Marina looks better but Speedwell is a cooler name!
They are certainly different when next to each other Im with Bruce the marina looks better. On the bus anyway I can't picture the bus in speedwell but I can't picture my mini in the marina.
Depending on the light and angles, they overlap in appearance. I was initially going to paint the bus Speedwell with leftover mini paint, but it was running low. Then I bought the bug in Marina blue that needs a restore so that pretty much sold me on marina blue for the bus. Keep it in the VW paint family and paint both vehicles with the same gallon of paint.
Went back and hit the side again where it wasn't quit perfect. Took a shot of old white on one of the pillars too.
New rear brakes.
Got the front back together. Ended up replacing the turn signal assemblies. The old were so brittle they were falling apart on me. Have a spare pair of new lenses now as a result. The black plastic bug screen thing behind the white grill was also replaced. Old one was also brittle and falling apart.
Looks really nice!!!
Bumper painted and drying.
Well I just need a transaxle. Any day now... I feel like I did a full restore over the past few months lol
Still buffing on this thing. Went ahead and mounted the rear bumper temporarily to give it a little buff as well and see how it all looks.
So which transaxle do you think will arrive first, the new one or the rebuilt one? :great:
Quote from: MiniDave on March 09, 2023, 09:33:09 AMSo which transaxle do you think will arrive first, the new one or the rebuilt one? :great:
Jesus I don't know but I'm at the 3 week mark with the 2nd guy and nothing yet. I was told 2-3 weeks. I need spares on hand just to bypass the year long wait to rebuild one in the future. It's maddening.
Holy smokes :cheer:
The painted bumpers really look great on those Baywindows. So much better than if they were chrome.
I should have emphasized to the builder this is going in a bus, because the drive flanges are the wrong size. Easy to swap out at least. Tomorrow I'm going to temporarily fit it in place to temporarily mount the motor. This will allow me to finish off the custom exhaust routing and determine how the new oil lines and cooler will be mounted. The drive flange job I'll probably want to do with it on the bench as opposed to in the bus. Only takes me about 20 minutes to swap it all out either way.
Back to the brake job. After replacing literally everything and then making adjustments on the rear shoes, realized that with the brake pedal pressed all the way down I could still rotate the wheels with my hands. There was minimal friction. Only thing left was the proportioning valve. Pulled it apart and it was all muddy and filthy, but all I got was a firmer pedal on reassembly and still no brakes. Ordered an adjustable proportioning valves, some fittings, and T fitting to give it a new shot. Well the damn new proportioning valve wasn't allowing any fluid to pass by at all. So zero brakes in the rear. Confused by what was wrong I took it out and went to just the T fitting. Low and behold the rear brakes finally brake. Of course it wasn't until after that I opened up this new proportion valve to discover it needed some grease or blob of whatever they assemble it with cleaned out. Figured I'll do some hard braking to see how the bias is and if I will need to yet again dump fluid everywhere to put the new proportioning valve back in. For now just happy I caught the fact the rears weren't really working. Not even sure they ever did since I've owned it!
Cool, now you'll have both more go and more stop!
Yesterday was full of fabrication. I got the new transaxle in to mount the engine so I could fab up the exhaust. Except that turned into fabbing up a custom bracket to mount the new transaxle. What I learned was Brazil used a different nose cone than everyone else. The nose cone is the front part of the transaxle that has the "hockey stick" that shifts the gears. The end of the hockey stick that protrudes from the nose cone attaches to the shift linkage that runs under the floor and then works it way up to the shifter in the cab. Bugs and busses use different nose cones, but they can interchange because the bolt patterns are the same on the transaxle. 67 and earlier busses (the style that matches my engine) have the hockey stick part sitting lower, which in my case wouldn't align with the shift rod because brazil decided to make it like the post 67 year busses that used a different transaxle and mount. A bug nose cone does align with the shift rod. But neither of those will work because the mounting bracket doesn't align. A bug nose cone can be fabricated to work and was what I ultimately did, as a temporary solution or if I ever get in a bind and can't find a Brazilian nose cone. Now, the Brazilian nose cone has the hockey stick part even further up, which allows the mounting bracket to line up. This is something the internet doesn't explain, and when you call the transaxle guy he has no clue either. Also finding one of these nose cones was difficult. I finally found one and ordered it. Temporarily have the cobbled together mounting bracket in place for the bug style to work using some quarter inch plate I had leftover from fabbing the tow hitch. Another issue I had prior to all this was the hockey sticks are apparently different from Brazil as well. Brazil must be longer. A standard bus hockey stick, which also differs from a bug in that the angle of the selector end is different, is about an inch shorter than Brazil. What this creates is a 1st and 3rd gear throw that is farther forward than you'd want. 2nd and 4th are more in the middle where you'd expect nuetral to be. Now being the time to correct all this, I put the bus in 2nd, which puts the shifter at it's furthest throw back, and disconnected the one coupling that joins the shift linkages under the bus. Once the coupling was disconnected, I then went back into the bus and put the shifter where I wanted it. Then it was back under the bus to measure the new distance between the linkages that the coupling connect. Cut the coupling in half and welded up an extension and voila I have a shifter that isn't throwing my knuckles into the dash. THEN I got this exhaust put together. Very tight fit but this is it in progress. I will need to adjust the exit once the bumper is on.
Pics to illustrate what I'm talking about starting with a nosecone.
With two mufflers the exhaust should be quiet at least....
Quote from: MiniDave on March 16, 2023, 09:14:43 AMWith two mufflers the exhaust should be quiet at least....
That's the goal anyways.
Didn't get out to the shop today but had worked on a few things a couple days ago. I added a 10lb residual valve to the rear brake circuit to help the cylinders respond quicker. Pedal feels a little better I suppose. I got the Brazilian nose cone in and everything lined up perfectly between the mounts and shift linkages. Except the hocky stick doesn't reach to shift the gears now. 🙄 always something. So I messaged the guy with my original transaxle about getting me a pic and description of the stick that came out. You can't just but them of course. I ordered a bug stick to potentially modify/lengthen that gets here next week. He also indicated he's almost caught up and will have my transaxle done. Go figure. If that's the case I'll have 2 transaxles that will work and a hockey stick that goes with this transaxle too. In the meantime I was able to swap out the bug drive flanges in this transaxle and put in the bus style and got the throw out bearing installed. Small wins. I think I'll go ahead and install it all on the modified mount so I can at least break in the motor, tune it up, and change all the fluids thoroughly. Then when I get the hockey stick situation figured out yank it all back out and swap in the correct parts. Luckily I can have it in and out in no time, literally 30 minutes. Here's a few pics. I took one of the nose cones beside each other showing how the alignment is different too. You'll see how the proper one aligns higher. Last pic was from the transaxle guy showing the stick I need.
Hockey stick is arriving today instead of next week, so rather than install everything today I suppose I'll wait till tomorrow when I can weld on the extension. Or at least make the attempt.
As luck would have it the bug hockey stick came in way ahead of schedule so I went ahead and modified it to use the proper nose cone configuration. Well it was a royal pain! After a few tweaks was able to get the length right. But, there was also the angle and width, and grub screw location. All highly important for it to shift smoothly and get the correct gears. 4 hours later and about 15 times removing and installing the transaxle I had success. 3rd and 4th were the easy gears, 1st and 2nd not so much. It kept hanging on something going into first, so it took some searching to make it in. Whereas 2nd would go to reverse. In order to verify this meant selecting the gear I wanted, unhooking everything, pulling the transaxle out, opening up the nose cone and visually verifying the gear. The final piece of the puzzle was moving the grub screw location over as little as 1/16", which doesn't sound like much but that was the ticket. After getting the engine back in I started on buttoning things up and did the final tweaks to the exhaust exit. I ran out of steam redoing the oil line configuration since I'm adding a bigger cooler and fan.
The blue paint really pops now! :great:
Quote from: MiniDave on April 07, 2023, 09:04:17 PMThe blue paint really pops now! :great:
I'm surprised considering the rear end has my greasy hand prints all over it!
Discovered something interesting. That nosecone I had bought that goes with the Brazilian transaxle was from a farm equipment supplier. Thought it was odd that a farm supplier would have a vw bus transaxle part. Did some sleuthing and found that there was an agriculture sprayer made in the US that used Vw parts in their equipment. It used the same transaxle from Brazil. I searched among various farm equipment suppliers to see what they have for parts, but they're old sprayers at this point so it's all mainly NLA. Although I see a bunch of standard bug/bus parts that crossover. Pretty wild.
That is wild, My brother in law had one of those old Spra-Coupes. Never would have guessed it had VW parts in it.
Quote from: cstudep on April 09, 2023, 06:35:23 PMThat is wild, My brother in law had one of those old Spra-Coupes. Never would have guessed it had VW parts in it.
Yeah surprised me too. I just went down the rabbit hole of parts and ran across it.
Finally on the road! Had to make a few tweaks to the grub screw again, as 2nd, 4th, and reverse weren't hitting. Apparently after everything was in and tighten fully up it made a difference :017: Reverse is a little tempemental to get into still, and I may be able to adjust from the shifter itself to help tweak it slightly. 1st through 4th are butter at least. First drive out I managed to bust an oil line off a barb. I caught it quickly, pulled over, tightened it up, added oil, and carried on. After some other minor tweaks the 2nd drive was much better. It pulls really nicely and zings up these hills without any worries. Noticeable difference actually. Not popping wheelies but it's got more oomph. Light throttle maintains 70mph pretty easily. Main jets were perfect right out of the box too. I need to richen up the idle jets and keep breaking it in. Head temps are a little higher than before but seem to be coming down as the rings bed in.
Oh and the brakes work! The pedal has a stiffer feel that took a little getting use to but isn't horrible. If I really stand on them it comes to a rapid stop. Nose drops, forward Gs felt. Better than before actually, which leads me to believe those rears weren't really doing much before.
2nd edit: the exhaust sounds good. Definitely quieter.
That is one crazy looking sprayer!
This has been a long haul of a project, glad to see you have it back on the road and even better, now all you need to do is get some air to that oil cooler and you should be good for another run at the mountains this summer. :13:
Oh, and fix the damn front end! :grin:
Put about 100 miles on it so far. Needed to move the coil away from the plug wires, it was getting interference and causing some skips that showed on my tach. Was able to adjust the shifter and have all 5 gears working easily. Checked the valves and got the oil cooler fan wired up. I will still fab up a little scoop for it. Engine runs a bit hotter than before which may be an issue dead of summer. I have my cylinder head temp gauge under #3 plug vs #2 before. 3 is supposed to run hotter so I may try my other sensor under 2 to get a better comparison from before and after. It is higher compression so that may be the issue. Took it out on the highway blasting into the gusty winds today. Before going up hills at 70-75mph into the wind it would bog down a bit. Well not anymore.
The hotter temp reading is going to be the combination you already suspect: sensor under #3 and higher compression.
Way back in my air-cooled VW days, I was taught that #3 is always the hottest cylinder and thus was the recommended place for putting a temperature sensor. The #3 cyclinder always runs a bit hotter as the factory oil cooler usually sits right above that cylinder and reduces the air flow aound #3 some.
Quote from: MPlayle on April 12, 2023, 03:38:48 PMThe hotter temp reading is going to be the combination you already suspect: sensor under #3 and higher compression.
Way back in my air-cooled VW days, I was taught that #3 is always the hottest cylinder and thus was the recommended place for putting a temperature sensor. The #3 cyclinder always runs a bit hotter as the factory oil cooler usually sits right above that cylinder and reduces the air flow aound #3 some.
Yep, only thing on my setup is I deleted that oil cooler and went with a big external cooler. We shall see how it does once summer really hits
Thinking things over this morning, and unfortunately I'm back on the road for 2-3 weeks, but I need to modify the industrial tins that block the J tubes from the heads. The way the new exhaust headers fit the tins don't fully cover the J tubes which allow direct heat from the exhaust to radiate under where the plugs and sensor is located. There's an unshielded gap about 1.5 inches. The J tubes are tucked tighter towards the block which pull the tins I have over leaving the gap. Perhaps that is enough to cause a rise in the sensor temps as well. Pic of what it should look like to illustrate..
Another thing I'm going to do is go back to a stock diameter tire on the rear. I'm running the standard 185r14 on the front but went with a 195r14 on the rear. This lowered my rpms 100-150. Going back to the 185r14 will keep my fan speed up for cooling. Optimum cooling tends to be around 3800 rpms for me, but that's me doing 75mph. I prefer to stick around 70mph for lack of aerodynamics and engine loading. My thought is if I can gain some fan speed without increasing aerodynamic loading then that should be a win for cooling too.
The black, flat tin is sized and shaped for when the factory heat exchangers are around the 'J' tube header. The combination of the heat exchanger and tin channel the air across the underside of the cylinders.
Without the curved piece, the air will just blow out the gap instead.
I realize the Brazilian market cars often did not have the heat exchangers from new, but I have a hard time understanding why some many folks in the US remove them when "upgrading" their engines since they also seem to leave out the cooling tin as well. It means no heater in the car and reduced engine cooling.
I think you might be thinking of this little piece that sits under the fins and directs air. The sleds just direct the hot air out the back instead of straight down. That curved piece around the exhaust keeps the push rod tubes from being exposed to exhaust heat, and helps reduce oil temps .
When people upgrade to 1.5 inch headers the options available for properly sized heat exchangers go down. Running the factory 1 3/8 exchangers on a built motor keeps too much heat in the heads, which is why they're typically deleted.
Edit: example pic showing the gap I have.
The "sleds" are what I was referring to.
I was unaware of the issue regarding the heat exchangers and larger diameter 'J' tubes not being compatible.
On my first car - a 1973 T-3 Squareback, it still had the foactory exchangers, 'sleds' & 'J' tubes. I was cautioned not to remove the exchangers without something to close the sides of the 'sleds'. I kept the exchangers and replaced the connections to the body channels in order to retain winter heating. I was always toasty in the winters, although it was a dry heat.
Ah. Your T3 would have different tins that wrap around the bottom of the heads. The T1 bug/bus engines had different deflectors. Some people even use the t3 deflectors on the T1s.
Playle, here is an example of the t3 deflectors vs the t1. The t1 in the pic doesn't have the piece that sits under the head that I showed in the earlier pic, which the t3 does have installed.
Gave the initial ring break-in oil change today and have put a couple hundred miles on it the past 2 days. Even started driving it home again. Head and oil temps seem to have stabilized. It's running an easy 20 degrees cooler if not more, giving me a comfortable margin for safety. I also added a couple scoops a company in Europe make which don't screw on and are nearly invisible. I did a back to back test run and they did make a slight difference on peak head temps on a particular stretch of highway with a long uphill grade. 8 degrees lower at peak temp with them installed. They also keep the engine bay considerably cooler which makes restarts easier if I stop at a gas station. I was initially getting what I assume was vapor lock with all the heat generated. I still have a few tweaks to my tune to dial the whole power band in a little tighter, but it's 90% there. The torque has been vastly improved and really kicks in around 3500 rpms, pulling strong all the way till you decide to let off. I can't help but think the v tec kicks in at 3500 lol. The exhaust has been so much quieter that a few times coming to a stop I think it's stalled out.
I towed the vespa home. Zings right along 70mph, up hills, into the wind....ain't no problem. Head and oil temps stayed in the safety zone.
Nice.
Oh I forgot to say I gave the transaxle gear oil It's 300 mile change. No big chunks of metal came out this time! :grin: Definitely needed that initial oil change however. Very black unlike the motor oil change that looked pristine. Another thing I decided to do, which I can't recall if I mentioned it, was I have another set of 185R14 wheels and tires as an option for the rear end. I have been running 195R14s on the rear for awhile now, but figured in the summer time and when I'm towing, the stock 185s might be a better choice. It raises my tach about 125rpms which keeps my fan speed higher for cooling and it's cruising in the fatter part of my torque curve where it's got gobs more power available.
I'm surprised 125 rpm makes that much difference?
The fan speed is multipled by 2.x times per 100 rpms. I say X because I have the smaller alternator pulley so it's increased further. It adds a good bit more CFM going by charts and graphs some VW brainiacs made. Power wise the difference between 3450-3500 and 3600rpms is actually fairly noticeable too. 3800 is probably peak torque going by seat of the pants. Back with the old 2110 setup there were times I'd slow at speed depending on load and wind if I was cruising around 3500rpms. But if I got the rpms up to 3800rpms it would maintain speed under high load conditions. 3800 rpms with the 195s was 75mph. The 185s lower it 2-3mph at 3800. A little less wind resistance.
Quote from: 94touring on May 10, 2023, 01:24:57 PMI towed the vespa home. Zings right along 70mph, up hills, into the wind....ain't no problem. Head and oil temps stayed in the safety zone.
So what's the over/under on how long it takes before we see the Vespa stripped down for matching paint?
Quote from: cstudep on May 10, 2023, 03:36:11 PMQuote from: 94touring on May 10, 2023, 01:24:57 PMI towed the vespa home. Zings right along 70mph, up hills, into the wind....ain't no problem. Head and oil temps stayed in the safety zone.
So what's the over/under on how long it takes before we see the Vespa stripped down for matching paint?
Definitely not happening!
Towed the mini home today. Aside from very gusty winds that had me swerving a little it drove without issues. 70mph into the wind with head temps at a safe temperature.
200 miles towing the mini and got better gas mileage towing with this new setup than I was getting before just driving normally! As I got closer to the campsite noted that I was still showing a quarter tank, which I wasn't expecting for towing. Topped it off and sure enough it got 1 mpg more than I used to get.
Gas mileage comparison in without towing. Getting an easy 4mpg more now. Basically at 20mpg from 16mpg on a good day. If I drove 60mph and stayed off the interstate I'd bet I could squeeze several more out of it. I have light throttle lean cruise hanging in the 16s air fuel ratio. Plugs right along no problems.
Found a Brazilian site, which needs translated, that has information on my bus. 25,087 were made in 1983, and disc brakes were added that year in Brazil. Weighing in at 2733lbs with a payload of 1600lbs. 7:2:1 compression, oof that's low!
Have a new toy to fiddle around with. Will be replacing the black box ecu, which eventually will go either on the mini for it's turbo conversion or the bug whenever I build it up. I had ran the black box on the mini for awhile with good success, well after I went back to a points/condenser distributor that was locked out. I'm having similar issues, though milder, on the bus of startup kick back which is annoying :rolleyes: I am guessing it's due to the electronic distributor. I could toss in a non electronic but instead have different plans. The issue with dual webers on a type 1 motor, particularly with a bigger cam, is lack of vacuum signal. This means my timing at cruise is lower than I'd like it to be. I have my air fuel ratios at light throttle cruise nicely in the 16s, I just need timing around 40 degrees to go with it. I can adjust my map to dip into higher timing, except that since it's manifold pressure based and when I do mountain trips at high altitude, I'd need to adjust the maps or I'd be advanced too much for WOT driving. Anyways, this trigger wheel setup with ecu also comes with a throttle position sensor. So it won't matter if my vacuum signal is poor, I can use throttle position and get a happier tune, without the kickback issues I get half the time.
I've done a couple local area camp weekends on the lake since summer has hit. The ac unit keeps the interior down in the low to mid 60s! I love it, Jen not so much. Since this one RV spot is a 5 minute hike to the bathroom at the marina, I also added a portable toilet for late night pee breaks. Tent has only really been used as a changing room in this summer heat.
Is that where the boat is kept? Have you spent any nights on the boat yet?
This isn't the sailboat, this is friends yacht. We let them stay on their boat and we stay in the bus. While it sleeps 4, it's a little crowded and we like privacy.
800 miles to the rockies yesterday.
No issues? Temps stayed good? Able to make good speed without the box on top?
Quote from: MiniDave on July 23, 2023, 09:34:22 AMNo issues? Temps stayed good? Able to make good speed without the box on top?
Ran like a champ the whole way. Head temps weren't an issue at all. Took a non interstate route that had 65mph speed zones instead of 75. I did 68-70 pretty much the whole way. Added a little more time to the drive, but there was virtually no traffic and it was more scenic as far as scenic goes in the midwest. Fewer gas stations and the aux tank came in handy.
Nice! Made it past western Kansas so that is always a plus.
We almost always travel the back roads when we go "vacation traveling" rather than the interstate. It almost got me in trouble one time up in NW Nebraska when I had vehicle problems in the middle of nowhere but I always carry tools and the issue wasn't serious enough I could not resolve it on the side of the road. Good thing to because in the 100 or so miles we traveled this back road I think we saw 1 other vehicle and there were no houses or towns to speak of. I think death valley has more inhabitants than this particular area of NW Nebraska. It was peaceful and scenic though.
Pretty sure my parents were part Gypsy or something because we drove all over the US when I was a kid and we didn't exactly have new and reliable vehicles either. I have never been afraid to hop in a car and take off for somewhere though so I guess it served me well.
Pics of the setup.
We'll be starting the drive back today, but not leaving the mountains till around 4pm to avoid midwest 100+ temps. I'll drive the redeye back along the regular I-70 route.
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! :13:
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
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.
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!
Glad I drove through the night...
Are you home now?
Yeah I got home at 8am this morning.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The EFI kit came in today. These are just a few items in the box. All sorts of fittings and fuel related items.
Got the appraisal report back a moment ago. 25 pages worth. Couple highlights.
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.
Nice to be able to get the right parts for the car instead of having to adapt others.....
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
That should make the trip to Estes Park next summer (or MMEMW if you decide to go) a lot less fatiguing a drive.
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.
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!
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 :13:
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...
Got the correct hockey stick installed into the nose cone to the transaxle today. I had to fabricate/cobble together one to get me back on the road after the transaxle debacle last year. 1st to 4th shifted great but reverse has always been temperamental. So detached everything to move the transaxle and motor back 4-6 inches to get the nosecone off to make the swap. Took all day and wasn't fun. I flushed the gear oil while I was in there. End result is 1st to 4th is still great and now I have a reverse that goes in gear and actually stays in gear! Side by side of what I made compared to what it should have been. I had the profile pretty close.