TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1971 Deluxe

Wed May 21, 2008 9:02 am

looks good Anchovy!, sorry i have not sent the photos, ive taken them but my girl will download them today so i can send....sorry about the wait man. thumbs up!

Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:18 pm

I have made a lot of progress on the bus but have been lagging with photos. Today after work I began putting the dash back together. The instrument cluster glass was loose over the fuel gauge. The plastic tabs were broken that hold the bezel in place so I hot glued new "tabs" and glued the entire circumference for good measure. It seems like a solid fix even though it looks ratty from the inside. The outside looks perfect.

While I have the dash apart I have been cleaning up the non-factory wires and have everything in order with the exception of the brake check light and some mystery wires.

One mystery wire is white (or gray), the other is white (or gray) with black stripes, and another is brown and blue. Two of them have tape on the female spades from the PO. One is a male spade in the VW connector. All the wires lead into the main harness. Any ideas what these wires are for?

I also have three wires that go to the brake check light. One is brown (ground) one is red and one is black. The brake light button has a lamp with a prong and two other prongs on the side of the assembly. Which wires go where?

Tomorrow I am going to install the windshield with the deluxe aluminum trim. I will take photos of the install and other progress shots.

Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:24 am

Nice work on the gauge glass! My '70 was that way too until I got a whole new instrument cluster to fix my inaccurate speedo. I still have the old one, so I'll do that fix on it someday. Thanks for the write-up!

As for the wiring. Here are a couple of pics of the brake warning light on my '70. They changed a lot over the years, but I think '70 and '71 are the same.

Back to your wiring, I don't think the wires with the orange tape on the ends are original. To my knowledge, those colors weren't used by VW. The white with black traces might be part of the high/low beam circuit going between the headlight switch and the dimmer relay. Just a wild guess though.

Hope the pictures of the warning switch help. You're doing a great job on that bus!

Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:55 am

dtrumbo, thanks for the post. PERFECT! I have the wires hooked up correctly now.

I agree that the wire color does not match on the mystery wires, but then again many of the wire colors don't match the '71 diagram for my bus. My bus was built 10/70 according to the date stamps throughout the body and many of the parts. I am pretty sure, however that the mystery wires are original to the bus as they come out of the main loom and have VW style connectors.

A couple other notes:

To remove the fresh and heated air control knob levers you need to remove the plastic grommets. To do this, I put a size 7mm socket on a nut driver handle. Then I pressed the socket on the conical side of the grommet to compress the end enough to allow it to push out. I was able to reuse the grommets when I reassembled. This would probably be impossible unless you have the metal dash cover off.

I rebuilt the fresh air dampers. I unscrewed the plastic hinges and removed the rusted damper flaps. I then carefully removed the rectangular rubber seal, sand blasted the flaps, painted them and then glued the old seals back on. During the process I lost and broke a couple of the spring clips that hold the linkage. Turns out that the clips are the same for the accelerator pedal linkage so I was able to get some spares at a local VW shop.

Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:28 pm

My pleasure to help! Your attention to detail is inspiring! Post more pics when you can.

Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:22 pm

Spent a couple hours working on the windshield. I searched the forums to get an idea of the technique, here is how I did it.

I placed the tinted/no shade PPG glass on top of my Hazet assistent using the suction cup glass holder attachment. This platform worked great.

I worked the Wolfsburg West rubber onto the perimeter of the glass and used gorilla duct tape to hold it in place as I went.

With the rubber in place I inserted the aluminum trim. I used windex to lube the rubber as I went. Once again, I used the duct tape to keep the trim in place. The hint here is to fold the outer edge of the rubber down to allow the trim to slide into the groove.

I left about 6" of each trim section out to accept the center connector fitting. I had to open it a bit get it onto the trim. I used the end of two putty knives to spread the trim evenly just a bit. I slid the fitting in place and then worked each section of trim into the groove. Right before I slid the connector into the groove I gave it a soft pinch with pliers to tighten it up against the trim

When all the trim was in place, I removed the duct tape and lubed the outer edge with liquid hand soap and insert a vinyl coated electrical wire into the outer groove. I used two wires starting and finishing one at the bottom and one at the top.

I polished and waxed the windshield frame of the bus. I think this helped a lot. The smooth surface allowed the rubber to seat more easily I think. I used some contact cement on the upper lip to reattach the headliner on the frame edge. I did this before the wax job.

I sprayed the windshield rubber and the frame with soapy water and set it in place. I worked the windshield into the frame as much as I could being careful to make sure it was as centered as possible. I felt the right and left sides and gaged how centered it was with my fingers. I sprayed the inner frame a couple times to keep things lubed.

When I was satisfied the it was in center I had my helper (wife) pull the wire starting at the bottom. I pushed the window in and down as she pulled the wire out. I could feel the window trying to lift and pop out a the top so I kept even pressure on it.

The bottom corners were a little tight so I pressed with an even pressure very close to were she was pulling out the wire. I never got too far ahead of the wire as not to break the glass. After she pulled the first wire out the window was basically in place. She pulled out the second wire as I pressed on window and it seemed to pull in a little tighter. When the window was in I pushed all around the edge and I could feel it seating even more. The rubber on the inner edge is completely in place and the window rubber is even and solid on the outside. Viola!

I also did a little work to match the patina on the lower section of the windshield frame. Here is original patina on the door. Here is my fake patina on the newly painted lower windshield frame. The trick here was to undercoat the white with the base color. I intentionally put a thicker layer of yellow down so the "thin" paint look of the front is really normal thickness.

Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:45 pm

Seats are all in place with the modified TMI covers. I cleaned up the old seat belts and installed them as well. I am sure I have the rear seat belts in properly. The NOS Z-bed I installed had instructions that showed the belts in place. The middle buckle strap uses a extender bushing to allow the strap to reach forward a bit so it is long enough.

I am not sure I have the middle seat belts in correctly but it seemed like a good idea to keep the long strap away from the sliding door. I installed a new interior panel on the non-slider side and replaced the headliner material just above the panel (below the window) which was water damaged. I used an old section of headliner from a local junk yard and glued it in place. You can't tell it was replaced because it is old looking like the rest.

The front seat belts work but I am pretty sure I don't have them in right. One of the buckle straps must be twisted 180 degrees to get it in the right orientation.

I have the rear seat kick panel which I am straightening out now and will recover. I am looking for the middle seat kick panel and one of the sponge door vent gaskets like the one pictured (anyone?).

Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:21 pm

I replaced the evil 009 distributor with a new aircooled vacuum advance unit outfitted with a Pertronix point unit.

Here is the old unit:

Rotate to TDC with your Hazet wrench:

Remove the dizzy bracket with your T-handle 13mm Hazet "fuel pump" tool:

After market dizzy bracket is not the same as OG VW, so the super cool timing light tool will not fit:

Bracket accepts the wrench now after a little grinding:

New dizzy in place:

Static timing light/distributor tool from Hazet. Fits on the bracket for an electrical ground, wire to distributor. Light is inside the handle that is also used to tighten the dizzy bracket:

Runs like a champ now without the 009 flat spot.

Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:45 pm

Anchovy wrote:

I am looking for the middle seat kick panel and one of the sponge door vent gaskets like the one pictured (anyone?).

glad you only need 1 sponge door vent gasket cause thats all i could find :? i will contact you by pm tomorrow

Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:50 am

That hazet timing light is astonishing! Is it part of those toolkits that were optional on bugs?

Oh, and nice work by the way!

Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:00 am

Fredster, the Hazet timing tool did not come in the kit. It was a separate tool that Hazet offered during the 60's / 70's and maybe early 80's. I will take a couple photos of the tool by itself tonight. It is really handy. Another Hazet tool that is great is the all-in-one valve adjustment tool. This one has a 13mm wrench with a screw driver built-in. From the gallery:

Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:41 am

i would love to have those 2 tools!!! do i have to look for OG ones from past? or is there some reproduction that works like them??

nice bus! my younger brother is doing the similar thing with his og paint 72 sunroof.

Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:32 pm

deadwesty wrote: i would love to have those 2 tools!!! do i have to look for OG ones from past? or is there some reproduction that works like them??

nice bus! my younger brother is doing the similar thing with his og paint 72 sunroof.

Thanks.

There are no reproductions of these tools that I know of. There is a valve adjustment tool that I have heard of that supposedly works. I think it is a chainsaw valve adjustment tool. I see them come up on ebay from time-to-time. Search for "valve adjust*" with the wildcard asterick. For the timing tool, I think you need to find old stock.

Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:04 pm

Here is a better photo of the timing tool (left on the top shelf). I don't have the wire installed in the top of the yellow handle in this shot.

Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:39 pm

Installed Hella H4 headlights this evening. They are a huge improvement over the stock sealed beam units.

Scored this slider bracket cover which cleaned up nice. Thanks Bob!

Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:55 am

Anchovy wrote: Installed Hella H4 headlights this evening. They are a huge improvement over the stock sealed beam units.

How easy was this. Do they just replace stock lights with same type wiring. Or do you have to re-wire?

Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:22 pm

panic_fan wrote: Anchovy wrote: Installed Hella H4 headlights this evening. They are a huge improvement over the stock sealed beam units.

How easy was this. Do they just replace stock lights with same type wiring. Or do you have to re-wire?

Very easy. It is the same as changing a sealed beam bulb. No wiring changes are required as long as you use a bulb that is not rated to draw too many amps.

The hardest part was getting the old rusted screws on the trim rings to break loose. I got my lights for "Rally Lights": http://www.rallylights.com/hella/7in.asp

Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:44 pm

here you go Anchovy.

Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:32 pm

awesome looking bay!

Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:55 pm

Looking good..

thought it was pretty dope that you simulated the patina below the windshield to match the rest of the car!