TheSamba.com :: View topic - Removing my engine for the 1st time..HELP!!

Mon Sep 20, 2004 11:25 am

hi everyone...i have a 67 deluxe and its not getting any gas cause the tank is clogged with varnished gas. I need to pull the engine to get it out to clean the tank but have never taken a motor out before :shock: . other than unbolting it what will i meed to do. will i need to jack it up like a bug? my rear bumper is off and i can take the apron off but will i still need to jack it up...any advise will be appreciated! Thanks :lol:

Mon Sep 20, 2004 11:44 am

I just removed my engine for like the 10th time this year although every time something was just alittle diff. The basics still applied. Make sure you plug/clamp your gas line. also dont forget to loosen the throttle cable and your Gen/Alt. wires. Get a nice floor jack preferably padded (get some rags or towels to pad) and raise/lower jack as needed and pull engine out. Keep an eye on your valve covers they tend to get caught on the apron mounting points. Two people is ideal (to help blance the engine on the floor jack)but I have done it by myself. Good luck.

Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:09 pm

Pulling a bus motor is pretty much the same as pulling a bug motor, except easier. They bolt in the same way (4-bolts) and you'll need to pull off your fuel line and plug it safely (I use a pencil and a hose clamp). You'll also need to disconnect the accelerator cable and the electrical connections (be sure to disconnect the battery ground wire FIRST!).

Remove the rear apron from the bus and then put a jack under the motor before final loosening of the 4 engine mount bolts. You might need some help with the upper two mouting bolts (one person underneath and another reaching behind the fan shroud) depending on what engine you have in there. Also, the mounting bolt on top of the starter is best reached by sending your arm in from the driver's side and reaching up over the transmission and starter to get to it.

Once everthing is disconnected then you just pull the motor straight back out. This is why it's easier on a bus, you don't have to worry about raising the car high enough to clear the motor. If you've done a bug motor, then you should have no trouble with the bus motor. It's the same motor after all.

If you have any doubts, then you might want a good manual handy, if you don't have one already.

-Stan

Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:11 pm

You don't have to jack up the bus.

1) unhook positive battery cable.
2) clamp gas line, unhook gas line, plug it w/ phillips head
3) unhook alternator/generator wires.
4) unhook wires to carb.
5) unhook throttle cable.
6) unhook heater boxes.
7) remove 4 engine bolts.
8) jack underneath engine, pull it out!

good luck

Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:57 pm

WOW..thanks for the quick help...im pretty sure i can do that...any idea how to clean the varnish out of a tank?? ive had the bus for 4 months and havent had time to do it so i still havent gotten to drive her...AGHHH!!!...LOL. :D

Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:07 pm

deluxekombi67 wrote: WOW..thanks for the quick help...im pretty sure i can do that...any idea how to clean the varnish out of a tank?? ive had the bus for 4 months and havent had time to do it so i still havent gotten to drive her...AGHHH!!!...LOL. :D

You mean your bus won't run on old gas? :lol: J/K I think everyone has covered how to remove the engine. Go to your local Auto store I'm sure they sell something to clean a varnished tank.

Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:08 pm

if you don't put the bus on jack stands, make sure you move the whole rear end up a little with the jack under the motor, because the motor is compressing the suspension and when it is removed, the bus moves up a bit (becasue it is unloaded of the engine weight) and can strip the ends of your mounting bolts (ask me how i know!)...

also be careful of your spark plug wires (might want to remove them from the spark plugs) because you can cut them on the edge of the body work when you give it that tug to release it from the tranny (school of hard knocks for me!)...

best of luck...

Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:57 pm

deluxekombi67 wrote: WOW..thanks for the quick help...im pretty sure i can do that...any idea how to clean the varnish out of a tank?? ive had the bus for 4 months and havent had time to do it so i still havent gotten to drive her...AGHHH!!!...LOL. :D

You can get a kit from Eastwood to clean and re-seal your gas tank. The last time I replaced a gas tank I took the good used one (that was relacing a rusted one) to a local radiator repair shop. They cleaned and re-sealed it for pretty short money and I didn't have to deal with any nasty chemicals, disposal of hazards, etc.

-Stan

Mon Sep 20, 2004 2:12 pm

I use a tranny jack that I got from harbor freight.
less than $50 and fits the bottom of the motor.
has 4 casters on it.
you can raise it up and down with a electric drill
or a racket.
works better than trying to balance a motor on a regular
floor jack.

Mon Sep 20, 2004 3:13 pm

DubStyle wrote: deluxekombi67 wrote: WOW..thanks for the quick help...im pretty sure i can do that...any idea how to clean the varnish out of a tank?? ive had the bus for 4 months and havent had time to do it so i still havent gotten to drive her...AGHHH!!!...LOL. :D

You mean your bus won't run on old gas? :lol: J/K I think everyone has covered how to remove the engine. Go to your local Auto store I'm sure they sell something to clean a varnished tank.
Not to hijack a thread, but i personally saw a 60 d.c with the O.G engine. not only start up, but i drove it! It sat for 15 yrs in the exact place. 8 of them i can vouch for... The guy told me afterword, "it runs a little skiddish, because the gas in it is 15 yrs old." I asked him if he put any stabilizer or additive in it, and he said no! I still cant beleive it!

Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:13 pm

Skip pulling the engine. Go get some gas additive and more gas and fire it up. Or even better get under the rear end with a container disconnect the gas line from the metal tube that goes thru the engine sheetmetal, drain out the old gas, add more gas and Magic mystery oil(or whatever its called) rock the van a bit drain again. then add more gas and fancy additives more magic mystery oil and run it through the carb. just running the engine with fancy additives will clean the carb. worth a try, I've done it this way a number of times. last time the gas was 19 years old.

Mon Sep 20, 2004 10:29 pm

I thought I would get away with just draining the bad gas. I disconnected the fuel line and got a dribble. Then I thought it must have evapporated already??

a month later I have a very strong chemical smell coming from my garage, being I left the line unhooked the gas started coming out. I put a pan under it and drained out the rest over the next few nights as the temp cooled more would come out almost 5 gallons.

Then a few months later I was changing it to 12 volt and put the engine back in and added some gas. No fuel was coming through at all. OK something was wrong so I put a fuel line in where you normally put gas in and I drove it that way until it ran almost dry.

I pulled the reserve switch to find it completely packed with what looked like fine sand. I dissasembled the reserve tap and cleaned it thouroughly and put it back in a no problems now and the filter doesn't seem to be getting any dirtier than from the first tank of gas.

Mon Sep 20, 2004 10:40 pm

When I first bought one of my things, My daily driver. The varnish was so bad I had to spend several hours jamming a wire down the fuel line and pulling out black goo. Then I did the fancy additive.

Tue Sep 21, 2004 12:25 pm

LOL
Reminds me of the bug Woody found in the cave in the movie sleeper.
it was covered with 1" of dust and they got in and started it up and drove
out of the cave.