TheSamba.com :: View topic - Rescued a '76 Westy this weekend! *slowly reviving*

Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:28 am

That would be the temp sensor 1/thermo time switch.

The flaps are to prevent backflow from the booster fan when idling, if good defrost while sitting in traffic isn't important you can do without them.

As for the mystery part? better pics please.

Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:02 am

Thanks Busdaddy. I'll try and get better pics of it.

So, does it matter if I only have one flap? Should I remove the other one?

Mitch

Sat Oct 03, 2009 6:50 pm

OK, so it has been WAY too long since I updated my thread!

Basically, here is what I have done since my last post.

**I apologize in advance, these are crappy cell phone pictures & videos**

Worked on engine. Replaced all kinds of goodies, including pushrod tube seals, rear main seal, oil cooler seals, new clutch all of that good stuff. I also sandblasted and painted all of the tins and exhaust. Pulled the heads and checked for any issues, none were found and the cylinders looked good,
still had their cross hatches in them. Compression was good before pulled. A few pics:

Engine nearly done, shroud and tins painted

(I also painted the rest of the crappy looking stuff in this pic, including alternator pulley and other things)

Now, it was time to run it down to the body shop and get to work on the nose! Pics of damage:

Nose was cracked and SEVERLY warped from the weight of the tire. Don't put a mount on your nose if you don't have one there!

Got to work on the nose, Welded up the crack and did a LOT of pounding from the inside to get the nose back out to it's original position. You can see it all welded up in this pic.

And on to the smoothing. It's not a bondo condo, it was pretty hard to straighten out that nose and get the ridge right, especially since the crack in the nose went right through the ridge.

mmmm...virgin metal....

Slight rust under the windshield, took care of it with a little kitty hair (fiberglass filler). It really was not bad at all.

Primer:

Final Coat: The ridge looks screwy, it IS an illusion. It took a long ass time to get it straight.

SCHWEET! Installed the windshield with a new seal and she is good to go (for now). Before we put the windshield back in I painted around the wildshield area L20A so that I would not have to tape it off later on. Damn, it looks crazy bright. Sorry, no pics. :(

After I got the nose done, I contemplated just painting the nose L20A Yellow, and leaving the rest for now, but then I decided to have the whole Bus soda-blasted and just paint the whole thing at once. Pics: (I'm in the red, my cousin Wes is doing the blasting)

I had it blasted, bought it back to my dads shop and put the engine back in, along with new engine seal, vacuum lines, fuel lines, Pertronix, new coil, etc. etc..

Pics....self explanatory :)

My favorite pic thus far:

Crappy first start vids: (click on them)

Only has headers on in this vid, kind of loud

Full exhaust, NIICE

So now it's back at my dad's shop, in bare metal, waiting to head back down to the bodyshop for sealer. I'm a full time college student so the project is going a lot slower than it was this summer, but getting her in primer is at the top of my list at this point. I drove it around some, got it up to 30mph or so and it goes great! I put on new tires, too (Yes, they are the proper load rating, Westlake H160's) :)

Thanks for lookin,
Mitch

Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:15 am

I forgot to add, I have also gotten new zippers and all new foam for the bed and seat cushions. That makes a HUGE difference!

Mitch

Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:17 am

Got the rest of the paint stripped and got the Bus in sealer this weekend. Pics to come!

Mitch

Wed Oct 21, 2009 7:32 am

Very nice work.

Wed Oct 21, 2009 4:42 pm

You've done one heck of a job! Keep the pics coming I/we are enjoying your progress.

Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:43 pm

This may be the first time I've liked a repaint better than the original. That is such a badass color.

And the videos aren't working. :(

Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:29 am

thegoodfight7211 wrote: This may be the first time I've liked a repaint better than the original. That is such a badass color.

And the videos aren't working. :(

Fixed videos. I liked the repaint OK, too, but it was a really crappy job and had a bunch of filler under it. Plus, I think it just looks silly when the outside is green and all of the interior is yellow.

Thanks for all of the kind words everyone!

Mitch

Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:15 pm

**Edit: Added soda blasting pics in post above**

OK, got my dad to send me over the pictures from when I sprayed the sealer. Here they are, sorry some are kinda blurry.

Masked off:

You can see here all of the filler I had to grind out of the slider and side panel

My Dad brought me up a fajita, it was yummy.

After I shot the sealer:

Enjoy!

Mitch

Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:21 am

Found out today that it's only running on three cylinders. One cylinder is not getting any fuel. I pulled the spark plug and it's getting plenty of spark, but the spark plug looks brand new.

I noticed that one of the wires that comes out of the resistor block is broken off. You know, there is the four little "barrels" inside of the resistor block, and one of the wires coming out of one of the "barrels" is broken off. I'm assuming this probably has to do with my problem?

I figured that if I stripped off the wire and reconnected it (simply by holding it there), it would make the engine run differently (i.e. hopefully make that cylinders injector fire), but I did not hear a difference. So I am assuming it is either the resistor block or the fuel injector itself is causing the problem. Any thoughts?

Mitch

Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:47 am

dubluvv wrote: **Edit: Added soda blasting pics in post above**

OK, got my dad to send me over the pictures from when I sprayed the sealer. Here they are, sorry some are kinda blurry.

Masked off:

Mitch -
Are you telling me that after all that hard work you are not even removing the door handles? C'mon, man! You need to take off that stuff and get the finish underneath them. That's door handles, engine lid and back hatch latch, rear light housings, and any other stuff bolted on. Don't wimp out now!

Great work, by the way. Keep it up.

Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:51 am

jtauxe wrote:
Are you telling me that after all that hard work you are not even removing the door handles? C'mon, man! You need to take off that stuff and get the finish underneath them. That's door handles, engine lid and back hatch latch, rear light housings, and any other stuff bolted on. Don't wimp out now!

Great work, by the way. Keep it up.

Don't worry :)
Everything will be coming off when it comes time for paint and bodywork. For now, they need to stay on because I need to move the bus around a fair bit. I just needed to get it in sealer quick because I only come home from school about once a month, and it was starting to rust a little.

Mitch

Tue Nov 03, 2009 4:51 pm

wow! what a nice find! I cant belive you scored that for 500$. that is truly magnificent.

I'm not too far from you, over in Lewiston, when I get my motor rebuilt we should have a Maine bus GTG :)

Tue Nov 03, 2009 5:10 pm

Nice job!

Let me know if I can be of any help. I am down here in OOB.

Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:04 pm

Thanks guys!

Randy- I will definitely be running down to see you sometime once I get it on the road. I have been testing the FI components and such but it's always better to do it when someone else has experience with it, which I know you do!

I was hoping to have it on the road last summer, but we all know how that goes :oops: It's better to be safe than sorry.

Jon, you should start a thread with your build on here. There is so many people here that have unlimited knowledge of these vehicles.

Mitch

Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:34 pm

dubluvv wrote: Found out today that it's only running on three cylinders. One cylinder is not getting any fuel. I pulled the spark plug and it's getting plenty of spark, but the spark plug looks brand new.

I noticed that one of the wires that comes out of the resistor block is broken off. You know, there is the four little "barrels" inside of the resistor block, and one of the wires coming out of one of the "barrels" is broken off. I'm assuming this probably has to do with my problem?

I figured that if I stripped off the wire and reconnected it (simply by holding it there), it would make the engine run differently (i.e. hopefully make that cylinders injector fire), but I did not hear a difference. So I am assuming it is either the resistor block or the fuel injector itself is causing the problem. Any thoughts?

Mitch

You are correct, the injectors will not work correctly with the resistor wires not connected. I managed to reattach some before, but it was very difficult- I don't think I'd trust it to be reliable, but it did work. I haven't driven it much since. You could have other issues as well, but this will certainly cause a problem.

Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:26 pm

amazing, and for 500 bucks good find!!!!!!

Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:19 am

ubercrap wrote: dubluvv wrote: Found out today that it's only running on three cylinders. One cylinder is not getting any fuel. I pulled the spark plug and it's getting plenty of spark, but the spark plug looks brand new.

I noticed that one of the wires that comes out of the resistor block is broken off. You know, there is the four little "barrels" inside of the resistor block, and one of the wires coming out of one of the "barrels" is broken off. I'm assuming this probably has to do with my problem?

I figured that if I stripped off the wire and reconnected it (simply by holding it there), it would make the engine run differently (i.e. hopefully make that cylinders injector fire), but I did not hear a difference. So I am assuming it is either the resistor block or the fuel injector itself is causing the problem. Any thoughts?

Mitch

You are correct, the injectors will not work correctly with the resistor wires not connected. I managed to reattach some before, but it was very difficult- I don't think I'd trust it to be reliable, but it did work. I haven't driven it much since. You could have other issues as well, but this will certainly cause a problem.

Thanks for the info. I also tried to re-solder it on, but it broke off quickly. Looks like i'll be shopping for a new/used one. I have found them used in the Classifieds for $25-100 each, or $100 new from Bus Depot. Any input? If used is OK i'd just assume get one of those.

Wed Nov 04, 2009 7:12 am

Great job on the resto and I'm impressed with your wisdom/skill at such an early age (i.e. taking your time to make it safe before rushing it, then regretting it). Anyway I wasn't sure whether you were pricing the resistor block or the fuel injectors themselves. If it's the injectors, your can get new Bosche for about $80 bucks each or rebuilt for half that price.
http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=380114