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Tue May 27, 2008 5:49 pm

the only mod on mine other than a 12v conversion that was in progress(and that is no big deal) would be the seat belt anchors put in at one time. Those aren't even bad. So i am happy that there are no crazy rewiring items in this one. the old 65'er 21 window, well that was a whole other story :roll:

Wed May 28, 2008 12:06 am

rusbus wrote: Merlin wrote: Major Woody wrote: I got one.

Previous/orig owner of my 67 SO-42 Westy decided that the Texas heat was just too much. Removed the left rearmost jalousie window and installed a residential air conditioner in the hole. To provide the 120 VAC to power it, he installed a gasoline powered generator in the left rear corner of the engine compartment with BIG BOLTS. A generator requires intake and exhaust air ports, so using what appears to have been a butter knife, he cut 6" diameter round holes above the left rear wheelwell and in the engine lid, to which he affixed little chrome air scoops. There must have been problems getting access to the generator when it was mounted, so then he cut another 10" diameter round hole in the left rear corner just above the tray and ahead of the seam AND he cut a huge "H" shaped area out of the left rear wheelwell that he later hammered back flat and fiberglassed over.

After a short time using this setup with the AC and generator running right next to his head and the AC pulling the fumes back into the bus all night, the PO decided that it was "like trying to sleep inside a turbine engine" and he removed all of it, filling all these big access holes with fiberglass covered with bondo and white house paint. Luckily he kept the westy window, but I'm still carefully trying to repair all these holes he cut in the bus.

Wow! :lol:

Any pics?

I don't know....he posted that three and a half years ago. Your reply might not be timely enough to expect pictures.

True, but one can hope. ;)

I'm a bit of a Hypochondriac with my rides, but after eading some of the threads here, I'm taking a new view...my rides (and in some cases, their mods) are really decent. :lol:

Wed May 28, 2008 7:00 pm

I've seen a few doozies before, but I gotta post my fav. I bought a blown motor 73 beetle from a kid in the mid 90's when undercar neons were still the rage. He showed me that the neons still worked when I picked it up and sure enough- purple neons.... or so I thought. When I got home, I looked under the package tray/subwoofer panel and there was a radio shack inverter and a power strip with 6 plugs in it. The wires ran through a rather neat hole in the floor (In fact, the whole install was surprisingly tidy with everything laid out and zip-tied). A quick look underneath (wasn't necessary at time of purchase b/c it was to be a parts car) revealed 6 roughly two foot long fluorescent-type blacklights zip-tied to the pan. Get this.... only 5 worked because the one mounted just in front of the steering had a busted case and a broken bulb.

By the way... engine tins, wheels, dash, and emblems were painted purple (white car). I wish I had pics but it was over 10 years ago and it got parted out. I still use the power strip in my garage though! :P

Wed May 28, 2008 7:29 pm

On the subject, I bought a wrecked beetle around the same time that had a weird homebuilt dual carb setup. I never ID'd the carbs (no markings, just numbers), but I really think they were from a boat motor or something. Pretty trick linkage though... Sort of a dual turnbuckle/pulley setup using cables. The PO I got it from said it was there when he bought the car and thought it was correct. Sorry, digital cameras cost as much as longblocks back then- no pics. :?

Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:03 pm

The PO of our bus decided to "slam" it as they described it. They took off the beam, replaced with a narrowed weedeater but then realised that they needed shortened shocks.....no, couldnt be bothered with that, so they left it without any shocks up front. They also dropped the splines in the rear so the wheels sat like / \ and some...
When I drove it home it was horendouse. The ride was so bad that my contact lenses popped out twice. I couldnt figure why it wouldnt stop too well, so when I got it home I lifted the front and adjusted the brakes. Drove it down the road, pressed brake pedal and nearly broke my arm as the 12" "sporty" steering wheel violently grabbed to the left and nearly had me off the road. It transpired that one of the brake cylinders were shot, so rather than sort it out, the PO wound the brakes off.
The PO obviously didnt like to do too much labour on the bus, but they found the energy to hack off the rear walkthrough panel on the drivers seat and just leave sharp metalwork :roll:
Got the front end sorted out though, raised the beam, dropped spindles, shocks and bigger tyres to replace the smart car rubber. Sorted out all the brakes, rear splines raised and although not stock height and still running RGB, the ride is sweet now.
The PO though, has the nerve to boast "thats my old bus"...not like this it aint!

Thu Jun 26, 2008 3:18 am

You guys are doing a great job getting me psyched about my project '64 again... it mostly just has rust.

Thu Jun 26, 2008 6:18 am

PaulyPaul wrote: The PO of our bus decided to "slam" it as they described it. They took off the beam, replaced with a narrowed weedeater but then realised that they needed shortened shocks.....no, couldnt be bothered with that, so they left it without any shocks up front. They also dropped the splines in the rear so the wheels sat like / \ and some...
When I drove it home it was horendouse. The ride was so bad that my contact lenses popped out twice. I couldnt figure why it wouldnt stop too well, so when I got it home I lifted the front and adjusted the brakes. Drove it down the road, pressed brake pedal and nearly broke my arm as the 12" "sporty" steering wheel violently grabbed to the left and nearly had me off the road. It transpired that one of the brake cylinders were shot, so rather than sort it out, the PO wound the brakes off.
The PO obviously didnt like to do too much labour on the bus, but they found the energy to hack off the rear walkthrough panel on the drivers seat and just leave sharp metalwork :roll:
Got the front end sorted out though, raised the beam, dropped spindles, shocks and bigger tyres to replace the smart car rubber. Sorted out all the brakes, rear splines raised and although not stock height and still running RGB, the ride is sweet now.
The PO though, has the nerve to boast "thats my old bus"...not like this it aint!

Yet you still bought it!?! :?

Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:35 pm

Been ignoring this thread for too long... I see why it's become popular.

Besides jacking up the small nut trans for alignment with the early split case forward tranny carrier... with a book shelf bracket...

the PO, also added an impressive tranny fluid "Topping Up" mod, whereby a hole was drilled in the rear bulkhead, and a tube was sent from the tranny fill hole up through the hole into the cargo compartment. Even though I used it to put a few quarts in it, it was the loudest trans I've ever driven. You can see the tube next to the gaping hole the PO also made in order to simplify putting in his "new" incorrect small-nut trans...

Here's how I got the book shelf bracket out...

Damn, ya'll seen these already... I need to find another junker now. Can someone post a picture of a 45RPM record player "grafted" into a dash? I think I heard someone had found one of those... wonder what M code that was?

Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:39 pm

kombisutra wrote:

Damn, ya'll seen these already... I need to find another junker now. Can someone post a picture of a 45RPM record player "grafted" into a dash? I think I heard someone had found one of those... wonder what M code that was?

I believe it was M-Code " 1337" :wink:

Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:52 pm

Well lets see. The only bus I have ever owned and still do........12v starter on 6v flywheel. 12v generator with no regulator. 6v choke element. Hole drilled in intake heat riser pipe(dont know why) Engine put together and used windshield sealant to seal case. Engine assembled with I guess used pistion wrist pin retainers. Noticed that the cylinderwalls had slots carved up and down them exactly where the retainers were flopping around. So Im not sure if the pins themselves or the pin retaining clips carved the slots where the pin would be in the direction of piston travel....Yes go figure laughing here, the po had somehow sealed a rod hole in the case. He didnt do it well either cause there was a crack in his patch job. Im not sue but Im guessing the rear tail light lenses were either stolen or the po just wanted the incorrect usa version of "all red" lenses.
What I really dont get is why would you drill a half inch hole in the left intake heat riser pipe? I threw out the engine. I didnt keep any parts of it I think. Maybe I should have because I never thought to check to see if it was the original engine or not.

Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:37 am

people known as "tweekers" also known as druggies do things like this....or they mess with pedal bikes. :lol:

Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:01 am

The previous owner of my 65 said he blew the engine in it, and he didnt know why, looking at the huge hole he cut out and welded a BARBQ GRILL GRATE OVER on the engine lid, it makes sense why it blew.

Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:20 am

You can't run a Bus on TV power either. DUH.

Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:29 am

EverettB wrote: You can't run a Bus on TV power either. DUH.

lol but I bet watching the BRADY BUNCH in it was cool! 8)

Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:36 am

Zed wrote: You guys are doing a great job getting me psyched about my project '64 again... it mostly just has rust.

Got pics?

Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:25 am

DeathBus wrote: The previous owner of my 65 said he blew the engine in it, and he didnt know why, looking at the huge hole he cut out and welded a BARBQ GRILL GRATE OVER on the engine lid, it makes sense why it blew.

The original pimp my ride with the big screen tv in the back

Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:38 am

splitpile wrote: DeathBus wrote: The previous owner of my 65 said he blew the engine in it, and he didnt know why, looking at the huge hole he cut out and welded a BARBQ GRILL GRATE OVER on the engine lid, it makes sense why it blew.

The original pimp my ride with the big screen tv in the back

It even has scoops installed...Well one anyway, the other one is still sitting in the swamp where the bus was... :lol:

Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:00 am

I saw this on a double cab in poor shape, crotch coolers for a bus:

Sat Jul 05, 2008 9:49 am

quartermilecamel wrote: What I really dont get is why would you drill a half inch hole in the left intake heat riser pipe?

Back in '67, or thereabouts, anytime a car sold in California it had to pass a "smog" inspection. VWs were mistakenly categorized as polluters but in fact where 1/2 or less of the V8s that were the baseline. Idiot expert mechanics began adding a regurgitator contraption or EGR called an STP device named after the builder of the unit. The contraptions had a 1/4 inch NPT pipe thread on the intake standoff. That is why there are so many manifolds with that hole. Later on when the "men" were taken out of the equation and the smog industry was standardized and "uncheatable" (har har) the "up to '68" vehicles were in-fact found to be exempt. Too little too late to save the ones that got trashed. Don't know about the Federal standards of that day but I believe they were voluntary but California was mandatory.

Sat Jul 05, 2008 7:20 pm

Then there is this-
-
and this-

Please notice the AWESOME skylights!