Riviera Camper Project

[78Kombi]

oh and great job on the Riv man , might have been easier to put the top on the 'parts' bus, seeing how you took so much from it!!!!
Again excellent post and enjoy!

[BellePlaine]

Even though my bus is now running, I still have some issues to sort out. Over this past weekend, I checked a couple of things off of my list.

First off all my bus seems to not have very much power; it's all it can do to get up to 55-60 mph and while I know these vehicles aren't screamers it just doesn't seem right. Also, I was having some back firing problems so I'm sure that my Brosol H32/34 PDSI - 3 carbs needed adjustments. My buddy Chad thought that she just wasn't getting enough gas at the higher RPMs and would sputter and backfire. So Old-Timer Tom and me incrementally drilled out my 135 main jets until the engine had more power. Now she will go up a hill and make it to 65 with more ease however, I think I still need to do more adjusting because 60 is about the very top speed on flat roads.

Also, I had a problem getting the bus to hold reverse. It would pop out after a foot or so. Reverse worked fine when this engine/tranny was in the parts bus so I adjusted (and cleaned/lubed) the shifter plate and journaled my job in this thread.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=359638

My CHT gauge wasn't working and I heard that sometimes you have to switch the sender wires around on the back of the gauge which I did and now it works. I also wired the gauge light to the main light switch so the light works now and dims with the rest of the gauges.

I pry-ed off the dust cap from the door hinges using a box cutter blade and lubed the doors.

Finally, we went camping! Albeit, only in the backyard!

I still have some more issues to straighten out: passenger tail light doesn't work, I need to fit a breather hose from the breather to somewhere, and I need to install the heater blower in the engine compartment still. But sleeping the bus was great. My 2 year old daughter slept in the child's cot, my 4 year old boy was in the penthouse, and the wife, yellow lab, and I slept in the rear bed. We streamed old Pink Panther episodes from Netflix and had a campfire. Lots of fun!
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'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
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[BellePlaine]

I just got back from a 15 minute ride in the bus. Everything was going fine except that I noticed a "hiccup" or maybe it was a miss at about 10 minutes into the drive. I pulled over to take a look; nothing looked wrong so I turned around and headed back home. As I got closer to home and had to stop for some stop signs I noticed that the idle was racing. It's too dark and too late to do much about it now but it's go me worried. Perhaps my timing is off or my cheesy pivot arm linkage is holding the throttle open I don't know. If you think you have an idea of the promblem, I'll tell you that I also have an exhaust leak but I don't think that is it because this problem didn't happen yesterday and it's not the same kind of decel backfire you get going down a hill in gear.

Besides that news, I also finished installing my heater blower fan and I got my passenger tail lights working with some new bulbs.

I also adjusted my cooling flaps and tested them while warming up the engine. I adjusted the flaps while the engine was cold setting the flaps shut against the resistance of the spring. I then warmed up the engine and could tell that thermostat had opened because I could move the flap arm closed and then the spring would keep it open. For reference, I took a pic of my spring.

Finally, I got my rear side marker lights working again. I had to solder up one of the disconnects to one of the wires because it broke off. And while trying to put the light base back on the body of the bus I broke off the plastic tads that hold it on the bus. So I drilled out the remaining tabs and got some stainless steel fasteners and some rubber gaskets (to go against the bus body from the inside) and bolted that sucker on. You can see the SS bolts in this pic.

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'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
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[BellePlaine]

The water pump for my sink facet now works! I simply took out the old wiring from my parts bus and noted how it was ran from the fuse box to the pump and did it to the Riviera. I had to drill a couple of holes in the driver's side seat base to run the wire but that was the hardest part. I even painted the exposed metal and replaced the grommets. I borrowed my neighbor's wire stripper/crimper which I've discovered I can't live without!

There is some good information about wiring your sink's water pump on this thread.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=350486

Also, I've got my engine hiccup worked out. Turns out the my points were set too close. No, I don't have a dwell meter, just a feeler gauge. I set them to 0.020 and she has much more power now.
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'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/memberlist.php

[BellePlaine]

I've been suffering with really rough shifting issues shortly after I installed the engine and tranny. Getting into 1st was either impossible or it would "clunk". Reverse would grind and pop out after a few feet.

I first tried lubing and adjusting the shifter plate under the shifter. That didn't fix it. Then I got the shift rod bushing kit and replaced the front bushing under the shifter. Still wasn't shifting right. Then I got a shift rod coupler bushing and replaced that. Ta Da! Way better, although still not perfect, but at least my bus is now drivable without fearing having to stop at a stoplight and pray she goes into first.

Check out these worn bushings!

Other small accomplishments: the license plate light now works, as does the horn. I've become better at tuning my carbs. I had the idle set way too high and would sometimes get a backfire after shut down but not any more.

I drove the bus to work today (20 minutes of mild rolling hills and highway driving) and she ran strong and cool. I now feel great about taking the bus and the family to the Big Wu Family Reunion music festival this weekend. It's almost a 2 hour drive each way. It will be a piece of cake.
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'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
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[BellePlaine]

It's been a while since I've updated my thread and that's because my family has been doing more camping and enjoying our bus then working on it. It's been awesome. My kids named the bus "Spiderman" and we've traveled over 800 miles so far this summer. Mostly local camping though.

Anyway, I'm worried that I hadn't replaced the steering coupler although I knew that it had some small cracks. Every time it gets windy, I think about my cracked steering coupler and pray for her to hold together.

So I ordered the German steering coupler from Bus Depot. It doesn't look or feel like my original so I have just inquired to them whether they sent me an aftermarket piece or not. But that's not why I'm updating my thread; I also have a question.

While putting in the new coupler, this spacer fell to the ground (circled in red) and I'm wondering if anyone knows a) if there should be two spacers and b) how does it install? I checked my Bentley, chapter 2 page 27 and I didn't see a spacer listed in the exploded view. HEre are the picks...

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'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
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[Pinetops]

Congratulations! You've really done a great job and your bus looks beautiful now. Enjoy!
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[Lindoom]

Bump for all the good work!
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73 ASI Riviera 2.0L

[BellePlaine]

You guys are so nice, thanks. BTW, Bus Depot got back to me and miss-shipped the wrong coupler. They are making it right.

But what about that spacer? It that important? It must be but I only found one spacer and I just don't know if it goes over or below the coupler?
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'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
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[BellePlaine]

Winter projects; here is my seat frame bottom after some time using a brass wire wheel to remove the crusty rust from the springs. I'll have to use a piece of sandpaper to get the parts that my wheel couldn't reach.
And maybe some soapy water or GooGone to clean the inside of the base.

_________________
'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
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[BellePlaine]

Well, here's another mod to check off of my list:

My wife hates it, my neighbor hates it, but I love it. I'll admit, cutting up my luggage rack took more chutzpah then I normally carry with me but I did it for two reasons: I feel spare tires mounted to nose is dangerous to my knees (I'm 6'7"), and I never was crazy about the appearance.

Because my bus is a Riviera conversion, its luggage rack is fairly deep. When the tire lays down flat inside, you can just barely notice that it is there.

It's mounted via stainless steel nuts that I JB Welded to the roof.

The nose mount needed some elevation so I found some new fuel line to act as bushings/spacers.

My OTHER neighbor had some of this U-Channel edging lying around which worked perfectly to dress up and protect the new shape of the luggage rack.

So now, I have a clean nose onto which I'll place a VW emblem.

Cheers!
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'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/memberlist.php

[busdaddy]

[BellePlaine]

I think that I was more optimistic about JB Weld then realistic. In hindsight, I agree that there are better options. I kind of like your strap idea. In the meantime, the tire is fitted moderately tight in its home.

Thanks, but don't worry about the steering coupler. I finished that job up long ago.
_________________
'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/memberlist.php

[barefootwestie]

Certainly a great looking install. My concern would be the weight of the tire on the roof in a central point, instead of spread out over a larger area...along with the JBWeld. But, it does look clean.
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My Bus Restoration Blog
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1973 Westfalia
"Getting better....one repair at a time."

Other VW's owned through the years, in no particular order:
'67 Beetle,
'67 Ghia Hardtop,
'72 Ghia Convertible,
'72 Westfalia

[Stuartzickefoose]

i like it! how much did you pay originaly for the busses each? how much have you spent?


Stuart
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Stuart Zickefoose

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[BellePlaine]

[chazz79]

that looks good overall. I've been trying to come up with some place to put a spare for my riviera conversion. I don't want to hang anything off the nose of my bus. The shape of your cut out is probobly enough to keep the tire secure. I'd find a cargo net out of an suv in the bone yard and cut it down to fit your footman loops in the rack.
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One day as a lion, or a lifetime as lamb

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[skid]

I really like that spare tire mod you did!
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'71 Westfalia

[kampalm]

I have been wanting to get my spare off of the front of my bus and I really like how it turned out for you though I think I would go with cargo straps hooked to re-inforced footman loops. That is a great inovation!
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74 Riviera, 1800 type IV, Weber Progressive (and proud of it), SVDA

[BellePlaine]

Thanks, but I can't take credit for the idea. If I was to do it again, I would not have cut out the base of the luggage rack but just the sides to the fit the tire. Holding it down with the footman loops would have probably worked just fine.

And hey, since I've dusted off this thread, let me show you what else I've been up to:

I cut out my passenger bulkhead and had a swivel seat base and the triangle gusset welded in. Over the winter I repadded a set of late Westy seats to install. Now I have a swivel seat and more importantly, extra seating room for my four-person family.

_________________
'75 Riviera

Whether you are a novice or know your way around an ACVW, a day with Amskeptic is money well spent. My mechanical ability/knowledge/bus is always better after Colin visits.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/memberlist.php