The journey of a new 1970 Westfalia owner. The fixes begin.

[1967250s]

Much less weight on a Beetle front end, and the geometry is different. Lots of weight on Bus front, detent helps centering when aligning I think, though I bet you can't feel it when your driving with wheels on the ground.

[wcfvw69]

[1967250s]

I'm pretty sure your Bentley specifies how to adjust the pre-load, should only be a pound or so at the steering wheel.

[richparker]

[wcfvw69]

Nice job Rich!
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
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**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
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[wcfvw69]

All the weekend guests have departed and it's time to continue on with the bus. I finished putting it back together after inspecting the steering gear internal parts. Everything looked really good inside. I lubed up all the parts with the correct grease then I installed all new seals. I razor bladed the shims and all sealing surfaces till they were perfectly clean. I used Curil K-2 on those edges to seal them up. I followed the Bentley manual and Colin's excellent write up on going thru these boxes.

Once the box was reassembled, I went to Napa and bought this-

GULP $34 bucks for a gallon of gear oil? Holy cow. I'm getting old as I remember when it was 2 dollars a quart! I should of at least gotten a nice, warm hug from the gal behind the counter!!

I then cleaned it up squeaky clean and painted it.

It's sooo much fun cleaning all the years of 90 weight off the frame and other parts. It really mixed well with the factory undercoating for a nice, creamy, gooey, mess..

That's much better. Using a mixture of solvent, orange grease cleaner and patience, it cleaned up nicely.

The installation was straight forward though I double and triple checked that the gear was dead center before reinstalling the pitman arm and drag link.

Here it is fully installed. I'm looking forward to the first test drive as soon as my transmission is back from the rebuild shop.

In the mean time, I'm pulling the gas tank back out to trouble shoot why the gas gauge isn't working.
_________________
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[wcfvw69]

I'm continuing to knock off things on my list of this bus's mechanical overhaul/inspection. I had bought some front wheel bearing seals and wanted to clean and inspect the front wheel bearings. I had them off when I was fixing the brakes but didn't repack them and noticed the seals looked a bit worn.

I was happy to see all the bearing where in very good condition. Even better, they were all German or USA known good bearings.

After removing the old grease, cleaning and inspecting the bearings and races, I repacked them, installed new grease seals and adjusted them. I then adjusted the front brakes as well.
_________________
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[wcfvw69]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=611056&highlight=

Not much update wise other than I've been a bit lazy lately. I did get some parts in from Bus Depot. Included was a new fuel tank sender. The above link discusses this in detail. I also bought two new tie rod ends for the passenger side. I noticed the inner had a bit of play in it. The drivers side non-adjustable link was replaced already.

I plan to install the sender and tank back in the bus next week. I'm still waiting for my transmission overhaul to be finished at Arizona Transaxle. I checked on it last week and it was still a couple of weeks out..
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[wcfvw69]

I installed the new VDO (Brazilian made) fuel tank sender in the tank this am. I sanded all the corrosion off the wire connectors to insure a solid ground.

The freshly installed new sender back into the tank..

I hooked the tank lines back up and insured they were as far into the nipples as possible. I had to buy another small vent hose piece at the local flaps since the other one slightly tore when I removed it. I didn't even want to think about any possible vapor smells and a possibly going back into this compartment a third time.

Once the electrical was hooked back up, I went to the cab, turned the key on and watched the gas gauge needle move to just slightly to the left of empty. The gauge never moved last time I reinstalled the fuel tank due to the 44 year old original sender crapping out. Gurr... I hate doing work twice.

Once I knew the fuel gauge was working, I buttoned up the compartment by reinstalling the fuel tank compartment cover.

I keep hoping I'll get a call to come pick up my overhauled transmission.
_________________
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[Stuartzickefoose]

Did you take the old sender apart and clean and adjust it?
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[wcfvw69]

[Stuartzickefoose]

saw one used at a swap for 6 bucks last september...almost bought it as a spare for whatever i needed it for... so cheap!
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Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[wcfvw69]

[wcfvw69]

This thread is helpful for me in tracking what i've done and when I did it. I was trying to remember when I dropped my transmission off for the rebuild. I simply looked here and had a date.

I spoke to the shop yesterday. The said they "may" get it done and back to me today but I'm not getting my hopes up. So, in the mean time, I removed the R/S tie rod assembly to replace the tie rod ends. The inner was bad and had slop in it. The outter was the same age so I changed it too.

Ah, the good ole days of having true VW parts on our VW's. I'm quite certain these are the original tie rods. It's pretty remarkable that they lasted this long.

Oh thank goodness for PB blaster. I let them soak for 15 minutes and they unscrewed w/out having to vibrate them with a chatter gun to loosen the rust.
I bought the tie rods from Bus Depot. One side was Meyle with the box and tie rod marked "Germany" on it. Then, I looked closer at the box and saw... Wait for it...Made in China. The other tie rod was Federal Mogul.

I reinstalled the tie rod assembly. The bus now has all new tie rods, steering damper, drag link, resealed steering box and the pivot bushing look tight.

Good news! The shop called as I was typing this and my transmission is done!
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[wcfvw69]

I just picked up my transmission. Wow, I was shocked at all the bad parts this thing had in it. Bill the owner of Arizona Transaxle had all the bad parts in a box to show me. Carrier bearing was bad. He replaced it with a new German made one. My housing for the carrier bearing was wobbled out and had to be re-sleeved. A couple of other bad bearings, some shafts, all the syncro's, the 4th gear and many other parts were changed with new.

I'm now so glad I took it in for a rebuild. I can't stress enough how great Bill and his team were to work with. Everyone there is extremely nice and take plenty of time to talk to you and walk you thru everything. Bill must of spent 20 minutes walking me thru everything that was done to my transmission when I picked it up.

A couple of side notes. Bill has been rebuilding transmission for over 30 years. I know the GL4 or GL5 topic is often a hot one here on The Samba. I asked him about this. He said he's NEVER seen any brass failures due to GL5 and recommends it in a synthetic. He says GL4 is fine as well but runs what he recommends in his VW's.

The other interesting comment he made was "how hot Bay's are right now".. He said a buddy bought a nice camper one recently for $7500 and sold it a couple of days later for $12,500. He said both of them have seen the prices really rise the past few years and expect them to continue to climb, especially the campers with good interiors.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[wcfvw69]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful day with their families and eats 10,000 calories!

So, I snuck into the garage this am and re-installed the transmission into the bus. I hooked everything up to it. I then ran a new throttle cable since I wasn't sharp enough to un-hook the other new one before dropping the engine! DOH! I filled the new trans up with GL4 and will use it during break in then probably try the synthetic GL5. Just as I finished installing the new throttle cable, the GF nudged me back into the house.

_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[Stuartzickefoose]

I need to install my transmission soon....
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[wcfvw69]

I installed the engine back in the bus today. I had to have the GF help hold it up as I maneuvered it into place. She was a champ and was a great help. I hooked everything back up then couldn't find my fuel hose that had the fitting that screwed into the gas tank. I tore my garage apart and never found it! Luckily, I kept the old fitting and ran new fuel line with the fuel filter above the transmission.

The bus fired up after the fuel pump refilled the fuel bowl though it ran like it had some crud in the carb. Luckily, it cleared out.

I had installed a new VDO Brazilian fuel sender into the tank and it was working before i installed the engine. I poured two gallons into the tank and the needle didn't move. I figured it might not with only two gallons since it's a long tank.

I went to the cab and couldn't find any gears with the shifter. My catastrophic thinking kicked in with an OH CRAP, I'm going to have to pull it out again because the tranny shop screwed up. I farted around with the shifter for 15 minutes, removed it, double checked that I had the plate orientated the correct way and reinstalled it. NO CHANGE.. My mind was REALLY playing a solid negative track in my brain. I went and got the GF and had her sit in the bus as I crawled under it to check the rubber shift coupler at the rear of the trans to see if anything looked out of place. The first thing I noticed as she moved the shifter was how much slop was in the brand new, Wolfsburg West rubber couplings. I couldn't believe how much play and how soft the rubber was. I then noticed the coupler cage looked distorted and not straight. I got my hammer and a chisel and bent it back up which tightened some of the slop up in the rubbers. A few more love taps and suddenly the transmission started to go into gear. I got my big pliers and squeezed the cage to take up more of the slop in the cage and suddenly, she could find all four gears.
The bus was in the air and I got into it and ran it through the gears including reverse. I played with the shifter assembly position some more and followed the Bentley book.

Finally, I double checked everything one last time and lowered the bus to the ground. I fired it up and checked for leaks and everything appeared to be ok.
I drove it around the block. I got all the gears but they are tight to go into like Bill at Arizona Transaxle said they would be. No whining noise and no popping out of gear. It was tough still to find some of the gears, first gear in particular so I'm going to to play with the shifter adjustment some more. I'm also going to un-hook the coupler cage and spin it to see if I can make sure it's straight.

I put 8 gallons of fuel in the tank and was happy to see the fuel gauge read past 1/2 tank. The new sender works! Super happy in fact. I couldn't drive a car w/out the fuel gauge working.

The other test was the steering gear. I yanked it out and went through it to clean it up and reseal it. The peg was a bit tight and I re-adjusted it before greasing the bearings and re-assembly. The steering felt GREAT. Along with the new tie rods, the steering was very tight, returned to center and had no slop in the steering wheel.

Bill at Arizona Transaxle offered to help adjust the linkage and if I can't get it dialed in more, I'm going to take him up on it and learn from his years of experience.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc

Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[Tcash]

You may want to go to a HD shift coupler.
Shifter parts

[wcfvw69]