TheSamba.com :: View topic - Getting to know you.. getting to know all about you.

Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:11 pm

Hey everyone. First post!

I bought a 72 Westy for $500 in Vancouver BC last week. At that price you KNOW it's rusty and full of gremlins.

As I slay gremlins I keep running into the same thing... I know nothing about aircooled vw's.

I don't have access to a manual for a few days so I need to ask some dumb Q's.

I've just read the owners manual (posted on this site) but it didn't tell me what all the thingamajiggies on the dashboard do and a few other things I'm curious about.

What are the green knobs with the swirly sign do?
What do the slider levers do? I'm assuming that's heat or something.

There's a potentiometer swinging under the dash near the keys. It's hanging from 6 or 8 wires and looks original. What would you guess it does? I see a heater back there... maybe it controls the temp or something.

I see a fan with two big flex hoses going to each tin on the block. Is that to cool the engine or to heat something?

I see (what looks like) a tiny air pump right next to that fan. What is that supposed to do?

If you have any references you could link me to It'd be a great help.

Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:35 pm

Oh boy, lol. The fan is the booster fan for the bus' stock heat. Stock heat comes from heater boxes in which those tubes tun into.
Sounds like you could have an auxiliary gas heater. Don't use it even if it works considering you paid $500 for the bus and you don't know anything about them yet as you could burn it to the ground.

And at this stage, just read this forum. Pick any thread and start reading.

'72 is a interesting year because it's a crossover year borrowing looks from both ends(no pun intended) but in reality having a lot of one year only parts.

Did you buy that stickered up '72 that was on CL??

Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:48 pm

That sticker bus was kinda creepy.

As Batman said, read up on these forums, and become a big sponge. If you have no knowledge of AC VW's, there isn't much that we can tell you here that is going to be truly helpful. Dig, dig, read, read, pick a project with Bentley in hand, and then come back for tips, etc. Read up on fuel lines, and valve adjustments, as they will be high on your list of "To Do's". Welcome to the Samba; let's see some pics of your bus.

Here's some '72 stuff for you to read during the morning constitutional:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php?search..._chars=200

Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:56 pm

Here is the owners manual if that will help.....

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/72bus.php

If it were me, I would first do a valve adjustment and then do a proper compression test as described here.....

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/FAQ/FAQContent.html#0101

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/FAQ/FAQContent.html#0105

Key words are:

Warm engine
Wide Open Throttle
Fully charged battery
Do it and then give it that squirt of oil to figure out if it is valve guides or the rings.

Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:01 pm

Pancake_Repairman wrote:

What are the green knobs with the swirly sign do?
What do the slider levers do? I'm assuming that's heat or something.

The knob with the green swirly sign has probably done nothing at all since the bus was driven off the dealers lot. I think it may have had something to do with the rear window defroster, but I don't think I have ever seen a vehicle that the defroster worked on. A lot of times the power to the defroster gets used to power a stereo. You might be able to use it to power those heated seats you are going to be wanting next week.

Heat is a concept more than a reality. The so called heater ducts make nice cozy places for you local mice to spend the winter.

Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:11 pm

Yeah. I bought the sticker bus. It was my friend Bricin's and felt like I needed to save it. It's got a lot of history and been in a lot of magazines.

I wasn't planning on driving it. I bought it for a project I dreamt up years ago. I expected it to be way worse that this though. I don't care about rust. Now that I see it runs, drives and all the lights work... I'm thinking of showing it a road or two.

The valve adjust sounds like a must. It blows blue though so I'm not sure how much time and money will be spent on that engine.

This forum rules!

Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:26 pm

Pancake_Repairman wrote: Yeah. I bought the sticker bus. It was my friend Bricin's and felt like I needed to save it. It's got a lot of history and been in a lot of magazines.

I wasn't planning on driving it. I bought it for a project I dreamt up years ago. I expected it to be way worse that this though. I don't care about rust. Now that I see it runs, drives and all the lights work... I'm thinking of showing it a road or two.

The valve adjust sounds like a must. It blows blue though so I'm not sure how much time and money will be spent on that engine.

This forum rules!

Well, if it helps, general on-throttle blue smoke is rings, off-throttle is valve guides/seals. Post pics!

Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:27 pm

How high is your oil level and is your crankcase ventilation all there and clear? Assuming that someone has installed some from of aftermarket carb(s), there is a strong likely hood that they left you with a badly bastardized crankcase ventilation system.

Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:45 pm

Yeah I've been reading the manual and it looks like my air cleaners aren't orig. so I'll poke around.

That little air pump next to the blower is vacuum advance?? hahahaha

The aux blower from the tins doesn't go anywhere after the blower so I must be missing the exit pipe that plumbs it through the body to the front. With all the rust I bet the ducts wont even carry air to the windshield (all I car about really).

The green knobs look like they're for the rear defrost and gas heater.

I'll be hanging around the van over the next week or so. I've got a parking spot right near Science World in Vancouver if you want to come down to share info or just have a laugh at this thing.

Just send me an email rkdeon(at)gmail dot com

Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:48 pm

:shock: Not the sticker bus?!? :shock:

The pump near the fan was for air injection into the exhaust for smog compliance, you can leave the belt off if you like.

Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:50 pm

If you take good photos of everything, you can save yourself a lot of work. Guys around here will be able to pick it apart on photos alone. That, and people like looking at pics. :wink:

Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:09 pm

Sticker bus? Need some pics...

Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:39 pm

Wildthings wrote: Pancake_Repairman wrote:

What are the green knobs with the swirly sign do?
What do the slider levers do? I'm assuming that's heat or something.

The knob with the green swirly sign has probably done nothing at all since the bus was driven off the dealers lot. I think it may have had something to do with the rear window defroster, but I don't think I have ever seen a vehicle that the defroster worked on. A lot of times the power to the defroster gets used to power a stereo. You might be able to use it to power those heated seats you are going to be wanting next week.

Heat is a concept more than a reality. The so called heater ducts make nice cozy places for you local mice to spend the winter.

Yep, that green knob is for the rear defrost. A few years ago I bought a really nice '77 bus that had been parked inside since '86 and the rear defroster worked perfectly. That was the only one I ever seen that worked. I have since sold it because somebody came along that REALLY wanted it and was willing to pay the right price. I probably should have kept that one, but it's not everyday you can come out money ahead. I took about 1/3 of the selling price and bought 3 more buses, so it all worked out in the end.

Tue Oct 16, 2012 9:52 pm

Whoa. This thing runs great!

I've got 5 days of permit on it starting today. Could I ask a couple questions?

What is that pan in the center and below the front bumper? If you know the name it'd help me search posts.

I see a hose from the heater fan (it was cold tonight) coming into the bus VIA under the bench/bed. It looks like everything is missing. Ever seen any links of ducting photos? I'd like to get the heat to the windshield.... eventually.

I've having a hard time posting photos. You can facebook kelley deon if you want to see a photo I guess.

Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:41 pm

Batan wrote: Oh boy, lol. The fan is the booster fan for the bus' stock heat. Stock heat comes from heater boxes in which those tubes tun into.
Sounds like you could have an auxiliary gas heater. Don't use it even if it works considering you paid $500 for the bus and you don't know anything about them yet as you could burn it to the ground.

And at this stage, just read this forum. Pick any thread and start reading.

'72 is a interesting year because it's a crossover year borrowing looks from both ends(no pun intended) but in reality having a lot of one year only parts.

Did you buy that stickered up '72 that was on CL??

IMO the best year as well...1972. You have the early nose, first year for T-4 engine, rounded bumpers, early heater box set up, no smog needed in most if not all states/countries.

Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:39 am

Pancake_Repairman wrote: I see a hose from the heater fan (it was cold tonight) coming into the bus VIA under the bench/bed. It looks like everything is missing. Ever seen any links of ducting photos? I'd like to get the heat to the windshield.... eventually.

I've having a hard time posting photos. You can facebook kelley deon if you want to see a photo I guess.
The pan under the front is commonly called the pedal pan.
Here's some reading on heat: http://www.ratwell.com/technical/Heating.html
That added hose from under the bench sounds odd, I don't do Facebook so unless you are willing to read this: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6 and post some pics I can't help.

BTW here's the pics from the ad:

Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:29 am

Hey I just wanted to say that it's not blowing smoke anymore. I put some seafoam in an almost empty tank. Drove it around for about 10 minutes and then suddenly ran smooth and stopped smoking. I think it must have been a dirty carb/carbs. I'm just glad it's gone. Has a fair bit of power now... LOL.

I read the ratwell heating stuff but it doesn't talk about my setup. That flap box halfway to the front scares me. I now understand that the fan is just there for idling heat and the real heat is coming from exchangers.

I'll take the heat thing to another thread after more searches.

Thanks for the pedal pan feed, too.

Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:43 am

Pancake_Repairman wrote: Whoa. This thing runs great!

I've got 5 days of permit on it starting today. Could I ask a couple questions?

What is that pan in the center and below the front bumper? If you know the name it'd help me search posts.

I see a hose from the heater fan (it was cold tonight) coming into the bus VIA under the bench/bed. It looks like everything is missing. Ever seen any links of ducting photos? I'd like to get the heat to the windshield.... eventually.

I've having a hard time posting photos. You can facebook kelley deon if you want to see a photo I guess.

Your bus probably started with two hoses underneath that brought air up through the cabin floor. What you want to do for now is make sure the diverter valve which directed air through these hoses is closed off. I just remove the cable and wire mine as the cable is a source of trouble and on most buses no longer functions. Actually disconnecting the cable front and rear is the way to go and then fixing the cable from the control lever down to the defrost diverter on the heat/defrost tree under the dash.

You also might as well pull down the center tube and look for mice nest. I am pretty sure I must have some mice debris in mine this year as the air volume is down.

Wed Oct 17, 2012 5:47 pm

In your original poll you had listed "valve seals". If you were refering to rubber Oring valve stem seals, well, we don't use them. ACVW's have a horizontal engine, not like all other engines.

Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:02 pm

Hahaha.. funny. It makes sense that it wouldn't have valve seals if the head is on its side because there's no gravity to leak oil into the cyl. Thanks for that.

Well I killed the van today.... I was cleaning/removing dead wiring and got a bad short when I tried to start it. One wire running from the coil to something with fuel lines coming out of it melted. I also saw some smoke from the ignition key area.

I'll look tomorrow but I'm sure I'm going to find a wire from the key alllllll the way back to the engine bay is going to be melted.

Back to the research pages to see what that thing was... I'm sure it's either a fuel pump or some sort of solenoid for gas heater's fuel.

See how little I know?