1977 "Annie" Build

[PhallicFlash]

Hello! This is a thread just to document my progress on my new (and very first) 1977 Baywindow 7-Passenger MicroBus
I picked it up for $1,000 back in some shady area off of Gandy on the Saint Petersburg side.

(He also has a '75 SuperBeetle AutoStick for those interested)

The guys name is Henry, and he was using the van as a shed basically. This is all the shit he kept piled in there

When he bought it, someone backed into him making quite a nasty dent

It could probably be kicked out, but I'll do it right.

There's some pretty nasty rust under the windshield and on the A-pillar on the drivers side. It's probably going to be the most time consuming

It's a bit concerning but with the help of the internet, nothing is impossible.

The floor and belly pans don't show any structural compromise. A little lovin' and they'll probably be okay with minimal to no patchwork. Although both doglegs are pretty shot out (didnt get a clear photo of that)

[PhallicFlash]

Annie also has this overhead AC unit that I fell in love with when I first saw it. I didn't realize it had so many components to it there's a huge radiator underneath the belly and multiple lines going from it to the floor.

Does anybody know if parts are hard to find for that A/C unit? I have the compressor but pieces are coming apart and cracking to the touch

You can see the pieces that broke off there on the seat.
Speaking of the interior, it's pretty nice. Although, I don't know if the panels are original. They seem done nicely, though

The headliner is extremely taught and is actually becoming brittle and has some pretty big holes where the dome light sits. I have no clue if it's savable, but I'm thinking not. Any thoughts on it?

[PhallicFlash]

Bringing her home was hard because sitting dead still for a year isn't good for anything I reckon.
She was beginning to sink in the dirt but we caught it before things got bad.

We brought a 3 Ton jack, a VW Beetle dolly (which didn't work of course), an air tank and a sweet tow chain my dad held on to from his towing years.
The front left was blown to bits, and the left rear had a broken valve stem.
The spare still held air so we filled it up and went out to get the stem replaced

We got the wheels on and rolled it to the road and backed my truck onto it

It had no brakes but it had an E-Brake that wouldn't even pass on a slight incline.
Dad took the tow chain and looped it underneath the two front tow hoops.
Since we were using a chain, I had to ride in the van 3 miles back home.
And since we didn't have very good brakes on the van, this resulted in 3 or 4 collisions with my truck. No marks on either, but nerve-racking nonetheless.

[PhallicFlash]

Anyways, after getting it home, we parked it next to the garage and kinda cleaned out all the big stuff.
After about 30 minutes of cleaning, I couldn't help but try to see if the battery still held power... and she does!

Going to do some engine work and a little rust neutralization with Aspho tomorrow.

[Tcash]

Welcome to TheSamba!

[blackivory69]

Hi. Congrats on the Bus. Nice to see another bus being save😄.

Holy cow!! Did you charge the battery before testing it? How long does the bus sitting in that yard? And most of all, what BRAND of battery is that?
_________________
1970 Double Cab. Stock engine (1600 SP)
1973 Thing (Mexican Safari)
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible
1969 Buggy

[PhallicFlash]

[secretsubmariner]

Dude that thing is awesome! I love the colors, and is that The Lorax on your driver's side door?

Wild bus, looks like it's going to be a fun one!
_________________
-Tony
ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ
1978 Champagne Edition Bus FI
1970 Auto Fastback FI

[PhallicFlash]

Here's some more pics on the Dr. Suess theme the previous owner had going on

[Wasted youth]

Congratulations! Your bus was built with a nice two-liter, Type 4 fuel injected engine that will make driving a pleasure... but ONLY after it has been thoroughly serviced. The fuel injection system on these buses work great AFTER you have carefully read and followed all of the component test and troubleshooting procedures. The system will also really screw with your sunshiny day if there are ANY vacuum leaks.

Tcash has provided you with a great springboard of very useful information. Start there, and not back at the engine trying to make it turn over or run... yet.

Your air conditioning system was very likely dealer installed, and will be expensive to renovate. Can't speak for you, but were it me, my time and money would be spent on all those things Tcash linked you to. I also had a great running 1977 fuel injected bus, and learned a lot about it, (like it has to be given a lot of respect for engine management controls) but I sold it back to a fellow in Germany.

Be ready to shell out a lot of money on your engine... both interior mechanical parts like cylinder heads and camshaft/followers and machine shop work, and also all the exterior components like exhaust, engine management, etc. Not saying you will need to, just saying be prepared. I still have two air cooled buses and the truck, and now two air cooled Vanagons, but all of them need expensive mechanical work to make them truly dependable. This is old technology without a great amount of readily available quality parts and service. This is something I hope you will take to heart: You can make it run for cheap, but you can ruin it that way to. Better to take it slow and really read up on this subject. I have learned an incredible amount of solid information from very knowledgeable people right here on the Samba.

[nodrenim]

Unless you REALLY NEED an AC, I would strip the guts out of the overhead console and make it into a killer sound system. Use your imagination and enjoy.

[PhallicFlash]

[Wasted youth]

[PhallicFlash]

So we got Annie running today!
Mostly thanks to dad and his extensive mechanical knowledge with his previous vans.
We took out this old beat up coil that had a few dents in it to fit in the bracket

Dad said it was a pretty good coil because he has one on his Mustang supposedly.
But I took it out and replaced it with a Bosch coil that dad had saved because "They last forever." I'll take his word for it

After that, we drained 3 gallons from the tank and turned over the engine a few times to shoot the rest out.

I wish I had paid more attention to my dad tinkering with his his bus over for the past few years because I was lost when we got to the wiring. The guy before us left some of the wiring from the fuel injection stuff that was in there and it was a mess. That shit is coming out when we drop the engine (Annie has been converted to a carburetor set up by the way)

I popped the distributor out and adjusted the points just to get it started up.
Dad said it's a Bosch distributor with new American/Japanese rotor, cap and condenser. So it looks like the seller tried to get it started when we showed interest (with old gas too!)

Annie also has some tenants that don't pay rent!

Here's a video of Annie's cold start old start!
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=845683772165294

I'm going to replace all the lines, seals and filters and whatever else needs changing back there when we drop the engine. So don't worry, I don't plan on driving it like this.

Also, I put in some old (rather period correct ) seat covers while we work on it so we don't ruin the interior

[PhallicFlash]

We've decided today that our main focus will begin in the rear with the engine and the engine bay/hatch and electrical. Working on the most expensive bits first.
Looks like I got some major studying to do!

[PhallicFlash]

GOD DAMMIT, DAD

It was too brittle anyways I guess. It probably needed to be replaced

[secretsubmariner]

I can't wait to see where this bus takes you. What a bitching ride. The seat covers are a good idea, too. Greasy dirty hands don't go well with old bus seats. I wish I had frowny face seat covers lol
_________________
-Tony
ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ
1978 Champagne Edition Bus FI
1970 Auto Fastback FI

[PhallicFlash]

[PhallicFlash]

Not much time to mess around today. It starts right up but the condenser is bad, so it stalls after a minute or two of running.
I decided to take the dash apart to find the M-Code plate today.
As I was doing that, I fucked up the 4-Way Hazards.
Here's a picture after I got it all back together

The black piece is held on by 4 little indents on the aluminum piece. Inside, there's a little circuit with a tiny ball. The little ball sits on the spring in the circuit. The ball rolls the circuit back and forth on two indents in the aluminum, giving the clunk of the "on" and "off" position.
I thought it was pretty neat.
Except they don't work.

I ripped out the indicator thing and lone behold, it was some shotty Korean part

Though I don't know if the indicators are directly related to the hazards working, but it makes sense because the indicator don't work either.

I got to the M-Code plate and decoded it off of TCash's link for M-Code decoding. I wiped the plate down with lacquer thinner and got my camera out. (It was still almost impossible to read)
It took a bit to shove my camera in there but I think I got a good shot.

Here's it decoded

[/i]

I don't know if I got all the numbers correct because my paint code isn't popping up. (Unless it's supposed to be like that) But I believe the Sage Green/White is original considering the jambs and interior are done so precisely.

September 27th of 1976 matches the sticker in the jamb, so I'll trust the date. (09/27 is my parents anniversary -- It was meant to be!)

[PhallicFlash]

Look what dad found in the garage!

An old 1968 dash with an aftermarket Altimeter. That's cool but we live in Florida, so it's useless

Edit: With closer inspection, I have realized that the 3rd gauge is not an Alitimeter.. But an RPM gauge (I never looked at it, I assumed my dad knew what it was)
I may use it