TDI into '78 Bus Build Thread

[vwwestyman]

I went ahead and applied the foam and screwed it back down with the 4 screws. I imagine that the screws will hold it in place enough, along with the top being down that it should be more or less secure, but I don't plan on using it until I have a new one or have repaired this one.

The damage is hard to see with the top down, so at least it looks "ok." In fact, one of my kid's friends came over just as I was finishing putting it back up there. He asked if I had installed a new top and when I told him I just painted it he said it looked good!

The foam didn't stick to the rubber real well, but now that the top is back up I think it will stay in place.

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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[tristessa]

I'll get ahold of people and see what I can come up with. Is there a Greyhound station near you? I've had good luck shipping bulky lightweight things that way in the past...

[vwwestyman]

[danfromsyr]

No, you don't have to be there then. they have a special back dock/office for the GH shipping.
they'll call the provided # on the shipment and you can pick it up in business hours..

I've shipped twice via GH shipping.. and both times were uneventful with my receivers. once was a small vintage fiberglass trailer body to the KC, MO location.
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[vwwestyman]

Some thoughts on my radiator scoop, written as a response to http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=663878

In that thread, it was commented that a recommendation is for the scoop's opening to be roughly 25% of the surface area of the radiator core. I don't know who came up with that recommendation, or how much science was involved, but my experience does seem to bear that out.

My radiator core is 19" wide by 18" "tall" (said that way because it is mounted horizontally).

I've tried two scoops that I would say "worked." Both are as wide as the core, have the same basic shape/design, with the main difference being the depth.

My original scoop that worked was 4" deep. I say it worked because at 97 degrees out (hottest day I had a chance to drive it, but I flogged the bus doing that). Using the Torque app, I could observe the engine temp essentially following the opening and closing temps of the thermostat I had in at that time, 187-194 degrees. The only way I got it to get hotter was after racing up a hill as fast as I could and stopping at the top with the bus facing away from the wind.

With the 4 inch scoop, my opening is a touch over 22% of the core size.

This summer, I decided to try a 3" deep scoop. I wanted this to work primarily for ground clearance. It didn't overheat, but did get hotter than I'd have liked, which is defined by me as hotter than the thermostat cycling.*

I guess it mostly worked, if I kept things a little more slow.

This summer on a trip I took, it was about 105 degrees out and the engine was running at 205-215. When I slowed down to a little less than 65 MPH, it did run a bit cooler.

So I think what I will do is put the 4 inch scoop back on the Bus. I should be fine with this setup. I'll keep the 3 inch scoop for any time that I anticipate going more off road. They are built so they can be swapped in a few minutes. Probably the only time I would change it would be if I went on the off-road trip with the Colorado Bus guys next summer like I was hoping to do this year. Something like that.

*I mention the thermostat cycling. I've done a lot of reading about thermostats recently as I was curious about how a FLAPS-procured thermostat was actually working. It seemed to have a strange cycle, so I ordered an OEM stat. This stat seems to be cycling at a hotter than rated temp. I've since read that it really isn't uncommon for 1) the stat to sometimes be a few degrees higher than the "rating" and 2) for it to open at lower and lower temps than rating over time. The current thermostat seems to be a little higher, with being fully open at about 205 degrees.

If this same motor were installed in my Golf, the temp gauge would read 190 at every temp between something like 170-225ish. So anything in that range seems to be what VW would think was "normal."
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Ride_On]

Ub-oh... lots of wheel and tire questions follow... thanks in advance! How are you liking your wheels? Still all good? Did you ever swap the tires? So no rubbing issues? Our 14" Michelin's are in need of replacement and the New Beetle wheels look great... And seem to gain the approval of my wife! We have a 77 Westy, not yet swapped , but will be in near future (torn between TDI and SubaruGears Subie). How's the ride on the 17's? Significantly rougher? What shocks are you running? There are some Mercedes rims locally, and the Heritave find seen very hard to come by up north of the border, so that may be a deciding factor too, though easy enough to duck down to the border from here.

Thanks in advance!
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1977 Westfalia 2.0 FI Skills EJ25 w SubaruGears 5sp
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687254
2018 Golf Sportwagen 4MO DSG (Dieselgated 2013 Golf Wagon TDI DSG)

[vwwestyman]

I mostly like the Heritage rims. If you go looking through this thread, you'll find details on the tires I used and how I modified them to fit. I think around page 9 or so.

I don't really remember what pressure I was running them at, but did find that when I bumped them up to the max pressure I liked them better.

I still think that the '73 (with stock wheels and tires) drives a little easier than the '78 (with the Heritage rims) at low speeds, like parking and such. If I could find some tires that were the same diameter and load rated, but less wide, I'd for sure get those. I just haven't found any tires that meet that.

The only rubbing I get is at a full lock, and primarily when backing up.

No concerns while driving, not too harsh or whatever. I just have stock shocks from the FLAPS on there.

I did not feel it necessary to change the wheel studs, though new nuts were necessary. I carry a set of factory nuts in case I need the spare.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Hikelite]

[Ride_On]

Great, thanks for the info. I realized the posts were from 2 years ago, but sounds like you've stuck with the same tires, etc. Good to know.

Good luck sorting the luggage rack! Bummer...
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1977 Westfalia 2.0 FI Skills EJ25 w SubaruGears 5sp
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687254
2018 Golf Sportwagen 4MO DSG (Dieselgated 2013 Golf Wagon TDI DSG)

[vwwestyman]

I heard the tires rub a little while driving forward this morning, I believe I commented earlier that it seemed to only be backing up. Again, it only happens when at the edge of full steering lock. I expect that if a small spacer were used up front it would take care of that issue. However then you'd have to get longer studs up front, and I do not know if that would create any rubbing issues on the *outside* of the tire with the corners of the wheel well or not. I don't think it would but wouldn't want to guarantee such.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[reithi]

[vwwestyman]

[reithi]

That sucks.

I would probably put it down to the new thermostat since it's the only variable from the last time you had it on. Do you have the old thermostat? If it is still OK, you can pop it back in to see how it works out. If not, get one with a different rating.

Back on the scoop design, it boils down to a width that is exactly the same size as the radiator core, chamfered back to direct air to the core and totally airtight.

Mureithi

[vwwestyman]

Well I don't quite get it, with the temps and thermostat and all that.

Yesterday I went to the FLAPS and got two thermostats, one was what they said was the rated temp for the engine (rated 195) and one that was rated 180.

Threw them all (along with the OEM one I had in there) in hot water and cranked up the heat to see what would happen.

First observation was that the 180 one certainly did open a lot earlier. Second was that the 195 stat seemed to open more fully at a given temp than the OEM one.
Third, even when the water got up to 210, neither high temp stat seemed to be open as far as the 180 stat could open.

Because the FLAPS 195 stat opened further than the OEM, I installed it last night. I drove it a bit to get the stat to open and topped off the coolant this morning. I went on about an hour total drive, and kept seeing temps up to 210-212, with a spike of 215 at one point.

I don't understand this because last year (with hotter temps) with the same radiator and scoop setup I never saw temps that high. I'm sure that I had used an OEM thermostat but maybe I'm mistaken. Unfortunately the one that was in there was tossed after the head meltdown this summer.

So I just got back and cleaned up after installing the 180 stat. During the test drive, I saw temps of 185-195, but primarily staying closer to 190 I guess.

I will have opportunity to drive it on the interstate for a longer time tomorrow, so I'll be able to test a little more.

For the winter, I may decide to put the smaller scoop and/or the higher temp stat in and see what happens. Luckily it isn't too terribly difficult to swap them out.

I'm planning on a camping trip at the end of October with a couple friends. (Actually, it is the same trip to a football game where the transmission finally died on the way back two years ago...) So I will very likely not play with anything if I can keep the temps in the range I saw today, just to help avoid any potential problems/breakdowns (or just having to go slower due to heat) on that trip.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[vwwestyman]

Good golly. Can stupid crap please stop happening?!?

This morning driving to church in the '78.

As I was driving along, it suddenly lost power and sounded weird, and was idling very unevenly. So I turned around in a parking lot to head back home.

Engine died on the side of a busy road, right next to where a 5K was happening. I was pretty embarrassed, but as it turned out a friend was running so she and her friend helped me push the bus up into a nearby driveway (the driveway to a new high-security federal research facility that is being built at K-State...). It was an uphill push to get into the driveway and just as the three of us were running out of ability to push it, a couple other guys in the race stopped to help. So I guess the location could have been worse overall.

A K-State PD officer gave me a ride home, where I was able to retrieve my tow dolly, and he went back to watch the Bus. (He told me that due to the nature of where the driveway goes, they get real antsy about cars being there.)

By this time, my friend had completed the race, so she came back and helped the officer and me push the Bus onto the tow dolly, and I was able to get it home. Her fiance then came and the three of us got it pushed into the driveway, where it currently sits.

Thankfully the timing belt looks intact, so unless it stripped at the crank pulley that is OK.

Before we went to get the tow dolly, I was able to restart the engine for a few seconds (long enough for me to get out and get ready to ask the officer to just follow me home) before dying pretty abruptly.

There was diesel fuel running down the block but not from an obvious source/leak.

I pulled the timing belt cover and it seems intact, so that is a good sign. (Barring, I guess, the belt stripping down at the crank.)

However, it didn't want to crank at all when I tried to start it to load on the tow dolly.

So I think the best case scenario is something went wrong with one of the fuel injectors and it was injecting loads of extra fuel and hydrolocked the cylinder. I'm hopeful that me trying to start it didn't damage anything further. Going out now to diagnose.

The Wild Westerner was the rescue vehicle this time.

_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[vwwestyman]

Well I was partially right, but it's worse than I hoped/guessed.

I don't yet know why, but the tip of the injector is damaged, and I can see a chunk of something in the injector hole.

Engine is still locked.

Off with it's head! I guess. Ugh.

I guess now I have to hope that whatever caused the damage is relatively small and relatively easily repaired.

_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[vwwestyman]

Got most of the stuff off to remove the head this afternoon, but not quite everything just yet. I had to quit to do family stuff, so hopefully tomorrow evening I'll get it off and be able to assess the damage.

I think maybe my best hope (cost wise) is that the problem was due to something with the head that is warranty-able. Otherwise, Ugh. I guess it's just money, right?
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[captincanuck]

Crap that really sucks. Hope it's a inexpensive fix
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1979 Westfalia "FireFly" Subaru 2.2 with Subaru gears 5spd.
Build Thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=634777&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[skills@eurocarsplus]

you're giving this conversion a bad name broski....
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[vwwestyman]

Ha! I know, I thought about that earlier as I was pissed off working on it. I'm just hoping this isn't somehow my fault. I don't know why I've had such bad luck with this engine in this Bus; I've done all this type of work on my Golf, a New Beetle I bought with a busted belt, my friend's Jetta, another Jetta and I haven't screwed any of those up. So I feel like it shouldn't be because I'm an idiot... Just so frustrating all around.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing