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Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:36 pm

I've removed the headliner and sunroof and started testing if water would drain out the bottom of the front sunroof drain holes, and of course on the drivers side it drains straight to the bus floor coming out from under the drivers side middle window and with little bit going outside. Tubes are in fair condition, and are inserted correctly into the metal tube that drains through the body. I have not had a chance to clean out the drivers side yet but will do so. However this leak is coming from midway down the metal tube, so....I assume there is a partial blockage in the metal tube, that from my searches, have determined is welded in during construction of the body and could be a challenge to repair.

Questions
- Is/was the metal portion of the drain tube sealed?
- Could a rubber hose be inserted inside of the metal tube?
- Any other ideas for a repair?

Link to pictures of my bus, most recent of sunroof and rust, if there are any pic requests feel free to ask bus is naked.

http://picasaweb.google.com/scottseattle2/1979VWBus#

Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:45 pm

I don;t have the sunroof in mine, but could you use a piece of stripped solid electrical wire to push it through the tube to clear it out. How about maybe shooting some liquid plumber down the tube and let it sit for a day?

Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:03 pm

scott_79bay wrote:
- Is/was the metal portion of the drain tube sealed?
- Could a rubber hose be inserted inside of the metal tube?
- Any other ideas for a repair?

From what I know, the tube is steel. IMHO this is not the greatest design, as of course it will rust. OTOH - I don't think the VW engineers expected the vehicle to be still used after 30 years so maybe steel was OK but without an endoscope, we have no idea how perforated that tube is now.

I tried unblocking mine with a metal cable from the hardware store. It didn't work. I then tried a clutch cable, jamming the metal end up the hole from the bottom. This has been recommended by others and worked for me. I think the metal head combined with the strong cable is what did it. If you just want to unblock, you can stop reading here.

I am painting my bus and wanted to do a lasting fix. What I decided upon is not for the purist. I decided that the metal tube would probably re-rust, get gunked up, possibly leak water inside the body panels causing more rust. I want a lasting solution AND I want to use my sunroof...

The best solution would be to cut open the body, insert new stainless or aluminum tubes and weld it up, but what a lot of work and how invasive!

So... I had a buddy weld up the holes on the bottom. I'm not going to use the metal drain tubes.

I am running small plastic tubes down and dumping them through a hole drilled through the area above the front tires. I had a rusty area here anyway, so now there's a nice POR-15'd hole for the tube to do through.

Mark
'78 Bus (sunroof)

Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:13 pm

Thanks for that idea Mark, I'm in the same boat as you in terms of situation. Have to discuss this with the person doing my painting.

How straight is the metal tube?

Are they any kind of spray or pore in coatings that if they happen to not clog the tube in the process, might work?

Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:11 pm

scott_79bay wrote: Thanks for that idea Mark, I'm in the same boat as you in terms of situation. Have to discuss this with the person doing my painting.

How straight is the metal tube?

Are they any kind of spray or pore in coatings that if they happen to not clog the tube in the process, might work?

I can't answer on the shape of the tube. I'd imagine it is mostly or completeloy straight. You'd have to cut the bus top to bottom to get at it, which I did not do.

You might be able to coat the sube with paint or something. I thought of this too, but I just couldn't think of any way to make sure it was 100% coated.

It's been a big project getting rid of all of the rust and I just don't wnat the possibility of a hole in the middle to the tube dripping water inside the panels. My plastic tubes wil run from under the sunroof to just behind the seatbelt bolt behind the seats, so they should be relatively inconspicuous..

Please post back on what you decide to do..

Good luck!

Mark

Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:29 pm

One mystery I found tonight is that the metal tube on the drivers side appears to be off center from the hole on the bottom, I made an attempt to bend it back with minimal results.

The tube was actually quite clogged, still some at the very top to get out. I actually don't think an insert tube will work, it feels like there is a fairly sharp bend where the tube starts down the side. I'm actually using my old kinked sunroof cable to run through it and can't get it all the way through on either side so still some work to do on this front first.

Sun Sep 07, 2008 2:13 pm

So should I be able to shove something from top to bottom, aka all the way through on the metal drain tube?

Thanks, in the process of cleaning these and still clogged on the drivers side although I already have a large pile of rust debris on the ground beneath.

Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:30 pm

scott_79bay wrote: So should I be able to shove something from top to bottom, aka all the way through on the metal drain tube?

Thanks, in the process of cleaning these and still clogged on the drivers side although I already have a large pile of rust debris on the ground beneath.

Not sure on that. I got the clutch cable to go aways up the tube (bottom to top). All of the blockage was near the bottom -- that gravity thing ;-)

I'd figure once the blockage is out, you should be able to run something flexible between the top and bottom. I'm not sure if the clutch cable will do it as it has that long metal piece at the end...

Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:50 pm

I was never able to get something all the way through, but working both from bottom to top and top to bottom was able to get it cleared out. Removed the rubber hose and put a longer one on to blow it out, which finally did the trick. Turns out no issues with the metal tube, just clogged and I didn't have a full understanding of how everything was connected at the time of this post.

Now I just have to work on some better condition rear sliders and cleaning up my plastic guide pieces and I'm set. Will replace the drain tubes after I get it back from the shop with new rubber and perhaps a clamp to make sure they never slide off.

Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:36 am

you might want to check the drains from time to time to make sure there are no blockages and to keep the inside dry.

Nothing like that first braking action in the morning and having a stream of cold water hit your back. :wink:

Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:01 pm

I just happen to have bought a middle panel for a 77 bus we are restoring and the cut was made right through the middle of that tube on the replacement piece. This was just a few days ago and I looked at the remnants of 1/2 that tube yesterday. It is a tube, about the ID of a small finger. I think one could push a lightly grease plastic tube from Home Depot up it from the bottom to the top and seal it with paintable latex caulk at the top. If that fails, I would try to push an electrician's fish through the tube from the top to the bottom and try to hook it in a way that one person could pull the plastic tube up while someone else pushed.