TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:53 pm

Well I have two beetles in pieces being restored, but this bay came up for sale for a great price, so I snatched her up. It has a brand new 1776 engine, tapped for full flow. It came from Boise Idaho, so there's not the typical rust belt rot. There is a little rust here & there, but all in all a very solid bus, & she runs great!!! :D

Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:06 pm

very cool bus

Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:16 pm

Nice! What comes first?

Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:19 pm

Nice bus, and nice catch! I love '68's, as my first bus was a '68 transporter. Welcome to the club! 8)

Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:43 pm

Kirk wrote: Nice! What comes first?

Thanks! Well, the brakes leave a lot to be desired, and the "lost movement" in the steering seems very excessive. The window seals are dry rotted, so they will be replaced, and the passenger headlight is out/doesn't work. Shifting seems very loose, new bushings I assume? Again, buses are new to me so I've got a lot of reading to do. A number of little things, but I live for wrenching on cars so I'm looking forward to it. What I'm not going to do is restore it, lower it, paint it, put new wheels on it, or change anymore that I absolutely have to. I love her patina and I want to drive her, as much as I can.

Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:56 pm

Also take a look into some load rated tires. Looks like you got a very nice start to a project. Keep us posted!

Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:20 pm

Looks like a nice one... welcome to the other side :D .

Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:50 pm

You got any pics of the interior? Outside looks great!

Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:53 pm

Thanks everyone. Can't tell you how excited we are. Ok, here are a few more pics. Looks like it's a Sundial camper:

Here's the interior. Not sure how much (if any?) of this is original. The guy I bought it off of today said he bought it off the original owner's son, after the OP passed away. It came from Oregon. Then he drove it out here last year.

I love these tattered seats. Worn, but still usable. I'm not touching them.

Anybody know if these windows are original? (the screwed on aluminium ones)

Looks like my truck sits outside from now on 8)

A little crusty, but this is no east coast rot box.

And finally, the engine. 1776, new aluminum case, new heads, new carb, alternator, tapped for full flow, external oil filter, runs great. Yeah, that fuel filter has got to go. Buh-bye.

Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:29 pm

MrVWGuy wrote: Anybody know if these windows are original? (the screwed on aluminium ones)

Interesting- they look like the same ones I saw on a Bay Window in Costa Rica recently;

Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:29 pm

BusterBrown wrote: MrVWGuy wrote: Anybody know if these windows are original? (the screwed on aluminium ones)

Interesting- they look like the same ones I saw on a Bay Window in Costa Rica recently;

Alright, that's encouraging! Maybe, just maybe they were part of the original camper conversion. I read Sundials all started out as panels.

Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:42 pm

That's a nice looking bus, congratulations!
The windows are off the shelf units from the Hehr catalog that all the US OTW camper converters shopped from (same supplier for truck campers and travel trailers), you see them on lots of OTW's made from panels and window buses.

Sundial like others took what they could get from the dealers to use for thier conversions, commercials were cheap and panels the cheapest but if demand exceeded supply they'd use whatever they could get to fill an order.

Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:46 pm

busdaddy wrote: That's a nice looking bus, congratulations!
The windows are off the shelf units from the Hehr catalog that all the US OTW camper converters shopped from (same supplier for truck campers and travel trailers), you see them on lots of OTW's made from panels and window buses.

Sundial like others took what they could get from the dealers to use for thier conversions, commercials were cheap and panels the cheapest but if demand exceeded supply they'd use whatever they could get to fill an order.

Thank you! & thanks for the info! Guess I'll leave them be. I feel like Tim Tebow. I'm just so damn excited!

Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:52 am

Love that Sundial. Have you looked under the carpet yet? The last Sundial I helped a friend get had the original flooring and it was primo. You may want to put a condensate loop in your vacuum advance hose. Protect that diaphragm. I`m just saying. Congrats on a nice score.

Sun Apr 01, 2012 2:34 pm

ned wrote: Love that Sundial. Have you looked under the carpet yet? The last Sundial I helped a friend get had the original flooring and it was primo. You may want to put a condensate loop in your vacuum advance hose. Protect that diaphragm. I`m just saying. Congrats on a nice score.

Thanks! I have not looked under the carpet yet. I'm all ears if you want to tell me more about this "condensate loop" or point me towards a thread. I have not done a search for it yet, I will shortly.

What I have done is narrowed down why the steering feels so bad. Looks like the majority of the lost movement is from the steering box itself. Here's a poor quality blurry video:

From doing some reading, looks like these can be rebuilt and that it's covered in the Bentley manual. I don't have one yet for my bus, but it is on order. Can anyone tell me what parts I may need for the rebuild & where online I can find them? A few of the tie rod ends are also shot & will be replaced.

Upon closer inspection, it looks like the shop that built & installed the new engine actually had somewhat of a clue. I found the fuel line safety wired to the inlet on the carb, & they did use the proper cloth braided hose & hose clamps.

I also discovered the brake fluid fill reservoir is severely cracked (top & bottom). I was unable to locate a reproduction reservoir, does anyone know where they sell them?

I took the front drums off & they look great. The wheel cylinders & shoes look new, & the drums were OG and had been turned. So that's one good thing. However, I was not able to take the rear drums off because my 36mm torque meister isn't going to work on the 46mm nut :roll: .

I am particularly fond of this tool & did not realize these things had larger nuts. Doesn't look like a torquemeister is made for this size. It's weird working on something with ball joints, IRS in the back & wide 5 wheels!
Although that cotter pin looks very fresh & professionally installed, and there's a very good chance of finding fresh brakes inside, I would still like to see it for myself. I also took the spare tire bracket off of the front. I'm not a fan of those, and now I need an emblem.

Sun Apr 01, 2012 3:24 pm

The shop that installed your engine did NOT have a clue. The safety wire is the only good idea, the fuel filter in the engine bay, pos clamps on the wrong part of the filter (which should not be there) and cloth braided hose is a fire about to happen.

Sun Apr 01, 2012 3:51 pm

bsairhead wrote: The shop that installed your engine did NOT have a clue. The safety wire is the only good idea, the fuel filter in the engine bay, pos clamps on the wrong part of the filter (which should not be there) and cloth braided hose is a fire about to happen.
X2, nice try but fail on the line and filter (although not everyone is aware how German line can't resist US fuels). I though there was another attachment or a double sided wrench for those torque meister's, you can always weld on a socket to the back yourself.

The upper reservoir is an issue with early models, the 71-72 unit can be made to work with minimal mods on yours or ditch the entire setup (lower reservoir likely isn't much better) and install a late beetle reservoir behind the drivers seat with the associated hoses.

Sun Apr 01, 2012 4:07 pm

busdaddy wrote: bsairhead wrote: The shop that installed your engine did NOT have a clue. The safety wire is the only good idea, the fuel filter in the engine bay, pos clamps on the wrong part of the filter (which should not be there) and cloth braided hose is a fire about to happen.
X2, nice try but fail on the line and filter (although not everyone is aware how German line can't resist US fuels).

I'm familiar with why the fuel filter must go, but I did not realize that the cloth braided German line was a bad idea. I'm trying to read through the sticky on bus fires, but it seems like so far there is some back & forth on what fuel line to use. I'll keep reading. Thanks for the info guys.

Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:54 pm

So the guy I bought this off of said there's some kind of cover that's supposed to go under here? If so, what's it called any can somebody point me to a picture of one?

Sun Apr 01, 2012 7:29 pm

Looks like a pretty dry bus to start with. Nice.