RVEECO, grampa's company need info

[rtroy]

[rveeco]

i sent him an email, thanks richard.

[firebug]

I'm here! I'm here! Glen(RVEECO) was able to get ahold of my by email. I'm looking forward to learning more about my grandfather and the company. Thanks guys for all of the interest in trying to get a hold of me. Just to let you folks know, I'm keeping the VW genes going. I just got my bug back on the road. It’s got a 2234cc with dual Weber idf 48s and a rancho transaxle. My Westy is not air cooled, but its still a VW. Thanks again folks. I'll let you know about info I get from Glen and Howard.
P.S. Hey Static, sorry your experience with RVEECO was less than great. I have some extra oil hose you can have if interested. By the way, VWs don’t leak oil, they mark their spot.
Thanks again folks
_________________
Firebug AAC
www.aircoolers.org
'72 Super w/ (2234w/48s)
'86 Westy w/ (18s)

[firebug]

Well, I thought I should follow up. After reading my original post, I think I need to clarify a couple of things. My grandfather was Karl Hudson, not Carl Hudson. Also, my dad’s history wasn't "secretive" I just didn't know as much about it as I wanted. That was one of the main reasons for the post in the first place. I now know quite a bit thanks to Howard Palmer and Glenn, finding me. I have learned a lot from Howard and my dad in these last few days. My grandfather Karl, was one of the founders of RVEECO. He and Howard started the business from scratch and built it to eventually be the largest VW engine rebuilder in the U.S. in those days. Howard had the mechanic background, and Karl was a precision machinist. They put their talents together, and created some great things. Howard explained the concept of his patented oil cooler system, how it differed from others, and how it worked to solve the problems of VW engines overheating. He also told me the story of the VW Single cab truck that I had seen in the old Hot VWs magazine. This has been a great experience for me, and I am still learning a lot. I want to thank all of you for the information you have been able to provide, as well as for helping Glenn “RVEECO” with ideas on how to track me down.
_________________
Firebug AAC
www.aircoolers.org
'72 Super w/ (2234w/48s)
'86 Westy w/ (18s)

[ned]

I have a oill cooler on a bus from that company.Want It?

[rveeco]

awesome ! glad it worked out

glenn

[D Clymer]

[videopalitalia]

I am writing this from Southern Italy as I dream about my old VW repair shop, Uptown Motors in Berkeley, often. RVECCO was down the street from me in West Berkeley. I knew your Grandfather, Carl Hudson, and Howard Palmer, very well as they were way ahead of their time in terms of rebuilding VW engines with that external oil cooler. The #3 exhaust valve would always burn prematurely so .006" was a better valve adjustment and 1500 miles was a good time to do this. My friend Lou was a parts manager there and they were like family to me.

RVEECO also figured out how to "line-bore" the engine cases and install case stud inserts. They also repaired the end of the crankshafts when the pins sheared off. Your Grandfather was an excellent machinist and an honest man. Howard Palmer had a great personality and would give you his time and information when you needed help. I forget the name of the author of the "VW Idiot's Guide" but he used to come over from Santa Fe, New Mexico, with a colourful exotic bird on his shoulder and visit with Howard. They were quite a pair together as Barbara Palmer was his dignified wife who was the officer manager. RVEECO, again, was like a family to me and please be proud of your family, especially your Grandfather...Wayne Kurtz.

[70 140]

Cool Story.

[static]

Wayne (videopalitalia) used to work on my VW out of a storage space off of Frontage Road back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth.

[JimB2]

RVEECO was my VW shop of choice in the 1970s and 1980s, even though there was a closer one to home in central Contra Costa County (over the hill from Berkeley.) Never had bad service or advice from RVEECO, unlike the CC Co. shop. Lou the parts counterman had the patience of a saint and knew so much about VWs. I had a Type 3 Ghia at the time that I was getting back on the road and my Dad had a Super Beetle.

There were two different cooler kits, one designed as an add-on and the other that required tapping into the case, that one was practical only if the engine was going to be apart anyway since they did drill and tap the oil galleys at the left rear of the engine for the fittings. Mostly buses had the cooler mounted on one of the rear quarters, Type 1 and 3s typically had them mounted underneath the engine, secured to the heater boxes with large worm-screw type clamps (like oversized radiator hose clamps) that looped through the oil cooler frame and went around the boxes. I seem to recall seeing one Fastback with a rear quarter panel mounted cooler, it might have been Howard's.

My Type 3 had the add-on, it really made a difference with this model, as they sort of ran hot anyway due to the air intake system. Also had the big black lettered rear window decal that said "Engine Oil Cooled by RVEECO".

Dad's Super Beetle got the tapped case fitting cooler when we took it to RVEECO in '85 for a rebuild, it is still going strong to this day with nearly 90k on the rebuild, which should speak to the quality of the work that RVEECO did.

While the rebuilt engine is still going strong, the RVEECO cooler met its demise years later when my Dad hit a huge chunk of tire rubber on the Bay Bridge, fortunately he was just exiting off the bridge when the red oil light came on, he shut the engine off and coasted into a gas station at the bottom of the ramp. No damage to the engine, but one of the aluminum tubes on the cooler was sheared off. Just to show how long ago this was, the service station removed the cooler and lines and just ran a tube from case fitting to case fitting and bypassed it. There was wisdom in RVEECO leaving the stock cooler unaltered! A couple of quarts of oil added, and back on the road. A real service station. By this time, RVEECO had closed, so no possibility of getting another cooler.

Thanks for stirring up memories of a great VW parts and repair shop. And memories of a time when air-cooled VW parts were pretty much all German, quality, and in stock now. I miss RVEECO.

[ned]

After reading this topic, it makes me wonder if the bus I have would have been rebuilt bye Rveeco. It does have the full flow fittings on the case. Maybe its worth keeping? I was wondering about Rveeco. Is it an anacronym? It is an odd way to spell reevco.

[vwluver74]

back on the first page of this post it said that RVEECO stands for Rebuilt Volkswagen Engine Exchange Co.

[i_am_cool_fred]

[KTPhil]

[ned]

Thanks Man, Its been awhile since reading the first page and I missed it when I did.

[gregmerritt_type3]

[norcalmike]

I had a 72 bus that came from the bay area. it had a RVEECO external oil cooler just like that one^^^. i chucked it

[crofty]

My '65 from Castro Valley had one as well.
_________________
Your Vanagon sucks, Stop waving at me.

[bigralphie]

hey im big ralphie and been into bugs and buses for ever,funny you should mention reevco,because my buddy who is building me a motor for my bus as we speak,just heard it run on the engine stand5 minutes ago,his name is max palmer,howards little brother and former head mechanic from the berkeley shop.that shop was one of the the first to import a ghia to the states in the sixtes my number is 707 816 9180 i can hook you up with max and so on