TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Sep 08, 2025 3:57 pm

Installed a new engine lid seal.

It went pleasantly quickly- the remaining OEM seal was about as pliable as wood. The metalwork is in good shape, so it was a breeze to tuck the seal in.

The entire bottom of the old seal was missing, so I swear the new seal has impacted sound and cooling. I'm driving the same break-in route, and while it was a lot warmer today, it sure seemed like the engine compartment was cooler when I got back home.

Tue Sep 09, 2025 4:14 pm

robbie discerned that my fan had been taken apart, and put back together (probably by me 20+ years ago) such that my timing mark was 180 degrees off. lucky my second mark (for valve adjusting) was close enough so it didn’t affect the engine negatively. and, luckily the fan was not horribly out of balance (something i knew nothing about 20+ years ago).

time for a new used fan.

naturally, when i was putting in the third bolt for the screen, it fell down onto the bottom tin, and slid under the fan.

it only took me five tries to fish it out with a small screw driver. often those things cost more time than that.

also time to replace the rusted tail pipe…..

…..with a new stainless-steel tail pipe.

cool, eh?

and, since the plastic grommet that holds the egr linkage to the arm on the throttle body has long since broken such that it no longer stays in the arm, it was time to try to fix that.

two possibilities to replace the og grommet (top). 1) a rubber grommet (middle). 2) a plastic plug (bottom).

the plug was just too big, and i didn’t want to drill the hole out to accommodate it, since there just wouldn’t be much metal left.

the rubber grommet was too tight so the linkage wouldn’t fit through the hole. so, a slight drill out (7/32) was performed, and the grommet fit like a glove.

a touch of grease to facilitate rotation, and…..

…..the linkage fit like a glove, too (i hope). there should be enough friction to hold it in (i hope).

Sun Sep 14, 2025 11:35 am

Replaced the very old steering damper on my ‘69. The old damper looked like a Sachs, but it’s a Cofap. Old fasteners came off like butter with an 18” ratchet and a few prior application of PB Blaster Seafoam. Smells like the Permian Basin- but it works. Also destroys plastics.

Replaced it with a new Sachs. It makes a difference. Do it if you haven’t yet.

Tue Sep 16, 2025 7:39 am

Replaced grease zerks on torsion bars tubes. 8mm was the correct size. Now no more sounding like Draculas hearse.

Tue Sep 16, 2025 8:52 pm

While laying in the treasure chest of my 65 pickup, contemplating life ( as one does), I realized the bay window mat I’d put in there was actually pretty nice and made much more sense than the post-72 camper mat I had in the 70. So I swapped em

Still need to add some holes for my full-width middle seat.

Bonus, the mat in the truck had been neatly trimmed by a PO for Zbed brackets… which I have!

Camper mat was flopped into the truck where it seemed happy

Thu Sep 18, 2025 8:31 am

I answered the question “why did a previous owner wire the rear dome light to an auxiliary battery?”

Because one of the spades on the rear dome switch broke off, long ago. And I’m pretty sure the Hella light has 3 10 watt bulbs in it, so that rivet took one for the team.

Tue Sep 23, 2025 10:03 am

I thought I had put a small tear in my gas filler rubber boot as I smelled gas fumes again recently so I took a few hours to "practise my yoga skills" removing the tank filler hose and rubber boot through the round access panel. What a PITA with the engine in!

Anyway, removed everything but didn't find a tear. Replaced the boot as the new one I bought was more flexible and I used a bit of light film sealant rated for gasoline on the hoses/joints and installed more robust bolt clamps that I could put a socket on and tighten without actually seeing it.

Used a powered remote video/scope with a light on the end to check all the vent hoses and the fuel level sender o ring but couldn't see any obvious wet areas or areas that looked to have been wet recently so I'm not sure where the fuel vapour smell was coming from.

Put everything back together and decided to take out the VW FI ECU and make up a plate to cover the rectangular hole where it mounts and attached a flexible duct hose which I ran down under the Bus to a small bilge fan mounted under the battery tray.

I'll experiment with running this at a low setting to see if I still notice the fuel fumes smell with the fan off and with it running. If it is noticeable, I may have to take a day to drop the engine and pull the tank and replace all the vent hoses and check the metal lines for cracks again as I did when I got the Bus back in 2017. At that time I did a short pressure test and it was fine but who knows with the poor quality of parts and materials these days.

I've driven the Bus a couple times since Saturday and haven't noticed the gas fume smell as before so maybe the hose and clamp refresh solved the problem. I'll know more at the weekend after filling the gas tank and taking it for a longer drive.

Update: After filling the tank and driving it all weekend, I'm happy to say that the gas fume smell is no longer present.

Sat Sep 27, 2025 7:09 pm

Swapped out rear dome light switches; you can guess which one had a terminal fail decades ago because of a corroded rivet.

Sun Sep 28, 2025 10:08 pm

Replaced the steering box that leaked at the output shaft with a rebuilt one from Jeff Gagnon. Already got it dirty. I’m pretty sure the steering is off by 1/4 from Jeff’s marked center point, so will need alignment and adjusting Pitman/drag link to return steering wheel to proper place. I am smart enough to get the German replacement steering coupler that won’t beep but not smart enough to know if it is a good one that doesn’t flex (Pacific imports part). It was what was available. Need to put one cotter pin in a coupler nut but it turns out none of them had one so am not too worried. LOL

Made sure the ground wire went to proper side of coupler ar least. Odd the old one was clam shelled a bit.

Sat Oct 04, 2025 10:10 am

Replaced all of my fuels lines using the German Supply dot com kit. Had to trim off a bit of their steel line on the end that terminates near the fuel pump to make threading it through easier, but it's a very tidy and secure install with that bit of steel line. The special firewall grommet is an odd one; has a slight metallic sparkle, and is fairly hard. Oetiker clamps on every connection.

Filled the tank this morning- no more gas smell. I didn't think the old lines were -that- bad, but there wasn't a single clamp on any of the lines when I bought the bus- including the tank spigot.

Thu Oct 09, 2025 6:54 pm

Karl turned 56 today and his presents were a new wiring job and an NOS turn signal switch. Everything works, he starts, runs nice. Could use some brake, tuning, and shifter adjustments… but who doesn’t at that age?