Project: Resurrection (Image heavy)

RatCamper · Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 4:44 pm Post subject:

Well, It's been a long year. got lots done and now it's time for the end of year apocalypse, so I probably won't be doing much for the next couple of weeks. Might as well update now.

Here's where I'm at:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

The interior is currently propped up into place so I can identify fitting issues. That table is rotten. I rotated it so I could actually attach it well enough to see how the size interferes with the wooden "skirting board" which is replacing rotted chipboard.
I need to fill the gaps beside the bench at the belt line too because my bus lacks the ribs along there.

I was hoping to have it in registerable condition by the beginning of February but that is looking doubtful. My job list is too long, needed parts too many, registration too expensive and time too little. Then there's the whole issue of not being able to legally carry my children in it any more Sad

The problem that has plagued me and stopped me from registering it for the past six, no seven years has been sidestepped but in that time things have changed. It may now have a semi legal motor which runs, but now it seems as though my bay's very existence is an aberration.

My other half starts the practical part of her course at the beginning of February and I need to driver her there and back. A non-trivial 200km round trip so I'll be stuck there waiting and the kids will be looked after while I'm stuck waiting. It may be day or night. We don't know yet. This is why my push is so desperate. Day wouldn't be totally terrible, but it was night classes and may still be this year. If so that would be disastrous for me. What does one do over an hour away from home at night while they wait?
I've covered what I'd do in a previous post. Essentially a mobile office to work on software and a bed. I'm not a night person at all.

What I need to get / do includes the following before I can even consider getting it inspected and only getting a short fail list.

* Tyres. While not bad looking they are old. There are kids at high school younger than the rear tyres. that is so depressing Laughing

* Heater. I legally need a working heated demister. Probably a day or so of work but I need some parts Most notably another heater core and a fan, plus of course some hose and fittings. It will be plumbed in series with the rear heater as parallel cores do not work. It may either be in the stone cavity if it will fit (RHD vehicles the bits are spread out a lot more) or attach behind the beam where the tube is circular.

* Wires and fuel line tidied. It's a mess and kind of dangerous in the long run. Some tape and 10 minutes shifting the fuel line should fix that. I put the pump in what turned out to be a really bad place so I should fix that too.

* Finish the gauge cluster backlight wiring. Problems with wiring and finding light fittings have caused me to give up for a while. I think I'll just run the LEDs off the rheostat, stick some light fittings in with blu tac and call it good. Maybe some rear caps made from PVC pipe to hide my indiscretions.

* Replace burned rear seatbelt. Not that it matters. No one is allowed to ride in the back right now Sad

* make a cargo bay camper floor. Easy once I can get the board.

* Attach the cabinets properly once the floor is in. Don't really know how to do that but I'll give it my best.

* Do something with the kick panels. Just because it is a mess.

* make a plate for between the radiator and the rear crossmember to prevent cool air loss and hot air recirculation. Because my radiator setup is a top down one that uses the Bernoulli principle while in motion, sealing that gap is pretty important.

*Possibly indicators and tail lights. they faded in the past few years, Damn Brazilian crap.

*Radiator hoses. May need to re-route above the beam. Their current under slung position bugs the hell out of me. I need some P clips or something to keep them in a good position at very least.

*Visible signs of rust. I have to make sure there is none. If there are that's another fail point.

*The carburettor. It's non original. A Holley economaster. It may need to be emissions tested. I am not putting the old carb on again no matter what. It was a horrible, unreliable Hitachi and it had a manual choke. The only way I could connect that choke is to take the bus for a 200km round trip on a trailer to get a choke cable custom made. Thanks but no thanks.

* Tie down the batteries. Not sure where the brackets have gone. Might just have to buy another couple of sets.

I'm sure there are more things. Most of these items aren't bad, but they are costly and take a long time for post. Far more this time of year.
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 7:36 pm Post subject:

So... I just got around to checking my e-mail. Looks like I have been offered a fiberglass Swagman interior. The price is good but more than I can muster up right now. Especially because I just got an interior from a ??? It wasn't a Sunliner, Don't think it was a Sopru. I don't know!

Oh man... What do I do? I need to get every cent I can get for registration. As it is I'm looking for things of mine to sell off. It's BS. That's what it is. Sorry no photos of one of the Swagman interiors I mentioned, anywhere. Swagmans are nearly as rare as LCA these days.
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 5:52 pm Post subject:

I haven't done much recently, but I am still alive. Starting to get back into it as all the craziness of the xmas holidays has passed, the computer has been repaired, the floodwaters are stable and away from this town finally and things are starting to be semi-normal again.

Judging from the pictures I've missed a few things.

The LED gauge backlights are in, and they are controlled by a PWM controller. Well, most of them are. the OE backlights have green LED bulbs in them but are still controlled by the rheostat. It doesn't really matter because they will never, ever be too bright in a standard cluster.

The PWM controlled ones have the adjuster knob on a little switch thingy under the dash next to the driving light switch. I modified the PWM controller to use the knob externally. I took my time to do it right, using heatshrink on the solder tabs and as a sleeve over the extension wires. Looks good. No photos right now, sorry.

yesterday I readjusted the drivetrain to stop the horrible "bang bang bang" of the exhaust bashing on the towbar. It should have also stopped the shift rod rubbing on the bottom of the shift tube. Admittedly my method was a bit crude. I had a chunk of wood jammed between the muffler and towbar. Loosened off the engine and nosecone brackets and it all shifted nicely. At that time I also discovered that one of the nosecone bushing to vehicle body nuts was undone. That may not have helped with the banging.

I'm thinking maybe I'll use recycled rubber mat squares under the commercial vinyl and just bolster the bottom of the cabinets a bit to compensate for the drop. Not 100% decided yet but it became apparent to me how easily water can get trapped between a floating floor and the cargo floor. Still not quite sure which direction to head.

Also still trying to work out a sane front heater / demister to knock one of the biggest hurdles to roadworthiness off the list. It's a bit of a sticky problem unfortunately.
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

brokengun · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:04 pm Post subject:

Sweet to see an oscilloscope in a bus, even if it's there just for storage. I always thought it would be sweet to setup a little work bench in my bus where the table is.

Another thought, if you need some fast cash throw that O-scope up on ebay if it's in working condition it'll fetch a few bucks.
_________________
1975 Beetle - Parked for a year
1973 Bus - A work in progress (my main focus)

RatCamper · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:17 pm Post subject:

RatCamper · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:12 pm Post subject:

I spent a decent part of the day trying to liberate the heater from the Mitsubishi to use in the VW. When I got the fan out I realised it wasn't going to happen. it's huge! So I focused my efforts elsewhere.

I decided to re-cover what's left of the front kick panels. That's what they are called, isn't it? The mushboard things that cover the moat, headlights and wiring.
Sorry things, they are. Cracked, chunks missing and all distorted.
I did the drivers' one yesterday. Wet it down, straightened it out and glued some crappy black vinyl to it. It bubbled a fair bit but it still looks way better than it did. I'll take a photo when I get both sides done.
While I was at it I pulled out the T vent bit for the leg vents to fix something that has bugged me for a long time. The heater control cables were in the wrong place. now they run along concealed behind it, where they should be instead of between the vent and the kickboard.

After I do these I''ll either be making a template for a plate to finish the cooling system or removing the amplifier. it's just too much grief for what it's worth.
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:12 pm Post subject:

Photos. Not much really to add.

I finished my rough reupholstering of the remnants of the kick panels. The vinyl was horrible, the clue was horrible and the mushboard was distorted, broken and crumbled. It's been patched together with glue, plastic bottle bits and a chunk of masonite.

I also removed the amplifier yesterday because of an electrical incompatibility with the tape player. Haven't tidied the wiring for that yet.
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Trying to figure out if i have the basis of some sort of front heater / demister in what I have. You can see the fully functioning recirculating under seat heater form a Toyota Land Cruiser under the back seat. It is using the current fan relay to drive it. Two wire install. How easy. But i do need a windscreen demister for it to be legal. A tough nut to crack for sure.
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_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:33 pm Post subject:

Due to demand, here's some photos.

How the roo bar is mounted to my bay. Those steel plates welded to the frame are maybe 6mm thick. There are four of them. no idea why the photo turned out green.
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The towbar and the hastily cut / welded tongue. It used to bolt on. Some of it had to be cut off to fit the exhaust as I needed to tow a trailer interstate in a hurry and towbars were $50 each. Now I'm looking at $200 or so to repair the damage. Crying or Very sad

That tab is where the trailer plug goes. I usually use the rectangular ones on vehicles / trailers. unfortunately the caravan uses the big round type and the wire gauge is too thick to wire in a rectangular one so I have to use an adapter.
the plug isn't there yet because I need a couple of long thin bolts but seem to be out of them so the plug is just chillin' near the aux battery.
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Side view of the towbar. That white chunk of metal with the bolts going through it is actually two chunks welded together. The second piece is hidden behind the bumper mount and goes all the way back to the back bolt. This didn't come with the towbar. it was on my bay when I got it. presumably as a brace to compensate for accident damage. The cuts in the side of the frame are a part of whatever was done.
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oh, apparently the cuts aren't visible in the photo. nevermind then. Oh hey you can see my modified 1600 t2b moustache bar in that pic!
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:03 pm Post subject:

Apparently the tab wasn't in the photo so I ziptied the connector on there and took a photo to make amends.
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Another shot of the roo bar from behind showing the spare tyre mount. It came from some sort of Datsun. The PCD is different but close enough for a spare mount.
Like everything else, the metal is nice and thick.
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_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

Stuartzickefoose · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:02 pm Post subject:

_________________
MINE - 1978 Westfalia ~ Maisy ~ FI, Hydraulic Valves, Electronic Points, 2.0 (NEED A SET OF HEADS, PM ME IF YOU HAVE A SET)

DAD's - 1972 Westfalia ~ Sticky ~ 1.7(?) 914 motor, allison electronic ignition, electric fuel pump, dual webers w/o choke.

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

“Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.”

RatCamper · Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 6:27 pm Post subject:

I just had a look back through here and noticed a few photos missing.
Here they are, just plopped in for reference.

The PWM controller for the gauge backlight LEDs. Slightly modified so the pot is on a lead. it's mounted next to my driving light switch. out of the way and near the main dimmer / light knob.
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Crazy brackets! Agafshjagsjhagsahjsgaakah!
They are positioned the way they are for a reason. I was having some trouble with distortion between the wood and the chipboard. I also added extra strength because I accidentally snapped it off up the top too. The cabinet side is upside down in that photo.
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That's the rotten bit I cut out. By sheer luck the water damage stopped where the cabinets intersect the back seat. Also incredibly lucky was that the cabinets were the right width considering the back seat in the bus they came from was of a different design.
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_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:54 pm Post subject:

Hi everyone. Just fielding a question about something that has been bothering me. Do you think there are any changes I could make to the cabinetry so it doesn't kill me if someone bumps the rear end? The bench top is in two pieces because of its length but I don't like the thought of betting on it popping upward instead of being pushed forward.

I'm aching to do more to it, but an expensive few months combined with the current Easter holiday makes things a little hard.

After shifting the caravan around the exhaust is hitting the towbar. I'll have to investigate that. I think it was just that the towbar has moved a little. If you remember I made a couple of plates with flanged nuts welded on to replace the missing captive nuts. That could still be settling. There is also still the issue of the two missing rearmost nuts. I really don't want to buy a little arbor and cutoff wheels for the die grinder from the U.S. but no-one seems to even know they exist here. I just need to make a couple of holes large enough to get new nuts through.

Ideally with the exhaust I'd like to make a simple twin pipe setup. My engine is twice as single port as a VW single port. Each head has one port in at the top and one port out at the bottom. It'd be so simple to just make a bent pipe with a flange on one end and perhaps a muffler. If I thought I could get away with it I'd just shove a Supertrapp on the end of them and have each pipe sticking out a rear corner.
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:26 pm Post subject:

No photos right now, but I just did a semi test-fit of the P clips. I used a couple of big panel washers and a bolt to secure them in frame holes like the arch one above the diff, and the diagonal ones above the trailing arms. Did one of each while looking for optimal positioning and realised I need a total of four. Went and bought another two but honestly I'm tired, and want to procrastinate on one of them because the exhaust and the brake vacuum hose make it a massive nuisance.
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 12:59 am Post subject:

While I'm sure there is other stuff I've done, this is what I can remember and what is most important to everything. Sadly I did it all in the past week or so.

Here we can see the blockoff plate I fashioned from weird crinkly corrugated iron from an old shed or something to that effect. It has some thick strap steel running through the front of it and a bracket of sorts holding it to the front of the radiator. I made the bracket bits last. I was pleased that both brackets needed to be less than 0.5mm different so although crude at least it wasn't totally crooked.
It has sides that fold up between the frame rails to help block air. The back is held in place with tek screws in masonry plugs into pre-existing frame holes. Primitive but effective.
I also screwed that bracket on the coolant pipe to the crossmember finally. It's been bugging me for ages.
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Here we see the P clips that I had an utter bastard of a time getting. When I was halfway through installing them I found VulcoFlex hoses at a garage sale to my needs. I did what anyone would do and said "F*** it. It stays unless I have a damn good reason to change it.
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_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 2:31 pm Post subject:

So I was going to mount the Subaru fuel pump on the side of one of the cylinder heads towards the front of the motor and someone pointed out that it may be a stupid thing to do because of heat and the possibility of a failure getting fuel on the exhaust manifold. I guess that's a valid point? Pity because it would have neatened things up nicely.

I won one of those leg vent tube things that goes up front on eBay. I'm hoping the seller comes through on that because I may actually have a way of getting some heat up front. If anyone would like to chip in ideas on how to get heat into the front vents I'm very interested to hear, I mean see.
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 9:52 pm Post subject:

just keep telling myself that I'm not talking to myself.

Another update!

Here are the wood bits I made to fit in place beside the bench. The front one is a bit crooked because it's just propped up at the front with the bit of pine I'm temporarily using to hold the corner of the bench up.

I am going to say I'm happy with the rustic look. Not sure if I am, but I'm saying it!

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The rotten remains of the table should go too. I've found two options. try to cut down the remains of an old laminated world map student desk top to size, which could be problematic because of the laminate, or cut down an old wood board door that used to be on one of the outbuildings, strip the paint, sand it and laquer it or something. The total depth may not work with the special table hinges.
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 4:26 pm Post subject:

Thought I should update my thread.

Received the mirrors. Here they are sitting on the bench. Each mirror has roughly twice the surface area of a stock one.

Pulled the fan and the radio housing from a wrecked Toyota camper at the wreckers.
The housing is thick welded steel and has a pressed metal mesh cover. The hole at the front has a bit of MDF across the bottom to change it to standard radio size, or that's my guess anyway.
There is also some fiberglass resin and catalyst there that I will be using to fill pinholes in the pop top. I've used epoxy for this in the past without issue so the right stuff will probably be better. Not going the body filler route because that stuff isn't flexible at all.

_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

RatCamper · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 4:50 pm Post subject:

This may sound silly but I just need a bit of encouragement right now. Bad purchases, mistakes, money and parts availability are getting me down right now.

Once again I'm stuck. The heater I bought may be next to useless because it seems to be a 24 volt unit. Add that to the pile of other bits and pieces that are piling up and it's not a happy experience.

I can't progress with the interior because I need sheets like ply and have no way of transporting them. I need to get those brake hoses but can't right now.

I'd like to keep going but I'm at a bit of a loss at what I can do right now.

If the heater can turn with 12v I may have to do something I was actively trying to avoid and mount it in the stone guard area if it fits. What concerns me is environmental hazards for it like submersion, and for us like low hanging pollutants. I don't know. maybe it'll do like that for now, but I don't know how to remove the front bit of heater tube non destructively anyway.

Alternately if the coolant pipes on the heater core could be shifted that would open up a few more options. I suppose if the pipes are a common size (unlikely) some copper pipe fittings, solder, flux and a hacksaw could take care of that. Just thinking aloud here.

On the bright side I'm reasonably happy with how the one tonner mirrors are. They are old and have a few minor issues but the extra visibility is worth it. I think I would like to get a couple of the really small stick on convex mirrors to put on a corner of the mirrors though to maximise my FOV. Given that the mirrors have nearly twice the area of the OE ones losing a few cm^2 to another mirror stuck to it doesn't bother me.

Not really related but I dragged the MIG out yesterday to fix a broken rocker recliner chair. Because I'm using flux core wire at the moment the welds were ugly but I'm reasonably happy with how they turned out. A small confidence booster for the next time I attack the VW with it.

I was hoping to start saving for the deposit for rental on a bottle of Argoshield but instead that money will be going into saving for a hard drive, or rather an SSD for this PC. I think it's the dust that keeps killing them. As it is I have to attack the computer with compressed air every month or so.
The cars are full of dust too. It's everywhere and makes painting a pain.
Speaking of which when I was touching up where I did the repair on the chair I also painted the areas on the mirror brackets which lost their paint and plastic coating when I was doing my rather aggressive adjustment to fit. I also toughed up a couple of other black bits which had been chipped / scraped off. I guess that's one of the benefits of having something with terrible paint. A few more patches don't matter a lick.

It's still running fine. The coolant level is low rather mysteriously.

The oil isn't contaminated but it is the colour of a good strong black coffee. Oh well. I suspect part of that is old crusties built up in the case from its tuning issues before I got it. The Hitachi carburettor that was on it had some very interesting malfunctions which caused billowing exhaust smoke at random and occasional erratic running. The Holley sorted that.

Oh hey that reminds me. The step drill which I'm waiting on to relocate a rear seatbelt mount to where it should be could also be used to help me fabricate a Holley airhorn pattern plate to adapt a Subaru air cleaner to the motor which is also a list item. Because hole saw blades are like $20 each and the arbors are at least that again I've been trying to avoid buying a small blade and arbor to help me with the Holley diamond shape.

I'll take a better picture later of the mirrors and of the new, potentially useless heater. I'm hoping it'll spin with 12v. Don't care if it's just a nice breeze as long as it blows. It'll be on par with the OE heater at least.
_________________
Vehicle: 1975 Special order delivery walkthrough panel based pop-top camper (LCA / Sunliner). Motor: Nippon 1.8L Single port Wasserboxer, Transmission: 3 rib 002.

Stuartzickefoose · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:08 pm Post subject:

keep up the good work! your bus will thank you later with the good memories Smile

_________________
MINE - 1978 Westfalia ~ Maisy ~ FI, Hydraulic Valves, Electronic Points, 2.0 (NEED A SET OF HEADS, PM ME IF YOU HAVE A SET)

DAD's - 1972 Westfalia ~ Sticky ~ 1.7(?) 914 motor, allison electronic ignition, electric fuel pump, dual webers w/o choke.

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

“Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.”

RatCamper · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 3:25 pm Post subject:

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