TheSamba.com :: View topic - Grandma Mildred's 73 Automatic Perpetual Restoration

Wed Jul 03, 2019 10:35 pm

orwell84 wrote: My hat is off to people who can do this work in a time period that scales with a human lifespan. I would feel like I was humming along if I were some kind of whale or a landmass pulling out of Pangaea. Hope I can get it done while I'm still able to wipe myself...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh, God, Man, that's priceless!

These projects seem to move along in geologic time..

I'm going to be bodyworking and painting my Fastback for another 65 Million Years.

Tue Jul 16, 2019 6:38 am

Clatter wrote: orwell84 wrote: My hat is off to people who can do this work in a time period that scales with a human lifespan. I would feel like I was humming along if I were some kind of whale or a landmass pulling out of Pangaea. Hope I can get it done while I'm still able to wipe myself...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh, God, Man, that's priceless!

These projects seem to move along in geologic time..

I'm going to be bodyworking and painting my Fastback for another 65 Million Years.

Lol...I feel like I have sped up to glacier speed now...

Sanded off the transit primer and epoxy primed the deformation panel and hit all the flanges with weld-through primer.

Tuned up the sides and checked the fit with the old close-out sections. I will have to make new ones, but should be pretty easy.

Finally got it welded on. I still had to fight it a little, but not bad. Got a lot of practice plug welding and have improved. Way fewer boogers than usual. Cleaning the weld-through primer out of the holes and making sure the flanges were tight together at each weld before pulling the trigger really helped.

I use a Dremel with a right angle attachment and quick change cutting discs for grinding in tight spots like this.

Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:18 am

I have been driving the bus now and took it on a couple highway runs; humid days mid to high 80's.

Since I haven't driven in awhile, I was fuzzy on some of my numbers. Running synthetic 10W-40, I am getting the 10 psi per 1000 rpm until the oil temp gets to about 190 and above. So above 190 at about 3800 rpm (60 MPH), I am just above 30 PSI. Head temps were around 325. On an extended highway drive on a hot humid day, I usually see oil temps around 230*. I usually run 20-50 in the summer but haven't run it since installing an oil pressure gauge.

So my next project is replacing my CB performance maxi pump with the stock pump that I lapped and tightened up.

First question:

I need to measure the clearance between the stock oil pump and the cam bolts. I really, really don't want to jam my pump in the case with putty to measure this then have it get stuck. Would it be possible to measure this clearance with a depth gauge and measure the pump some other way? I have one of those pumps with the idler shaft set deep in its boss (some are flush with the boss), so I'm thinking I could ball park it by measuring, then grind away a little extra (if there is a clearance issue) to be sure as there is a lot of extra material the is not bearing on the idler shaft. Maybe I am overthinking it and the pump is actually not that hard to remove when done carefully. I am more patient and less ham handed than I was back then, but thinking about this still keeps me up at night.

Second question:

I was trying to find figures for rpm/mph for the early (003) autotrans, but no luck. My numbers seem normal for rpm-speed, but I wanted to check. I am running stock tire size. My engine is a late single relief case (no control valve) 1800 with a Web 73 cam.

3800~60 mph
4000~63 mph
4200~70 mph.

Last question:

For installing the Solex PDSIT carbs... My understanding is that metal gaskets are used between the head and manifold and phenolic spacers go between the manifolds and carbs. Is this correct? I have a thick head to manifold gasket kicking around, but I think it is from an old gasket set and is only used on FI models.

Just a note: I tried out Wildthings power valve mod which blocks the orifice for the power valve with a section of tubing and routes vacuum to it. It has worked really well for eliminating the off-idle stumble as well as the bogging when slowing down and accelerating when turning corners at least in warm weather. I am still going back to my stock carbs but it has made driving more enjoyable in the meantime.

Thanks for the help.

Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:24 am

orwell84 wrote:

For installing the Solex PDSIT carbs... My understanding is that metal gaskets are used between the head and manifold and phenolic spacers go between the manifolds and carbs. Is this correct?

Yes.

Wed Jul 17, 2019 6:51 am

xyzzy wrote: orwell84 wrote:

For installing the Solex PDSIT carbs... My understanding is that metal gaskets are used between the head and manifold and phenolic spacers go between the manifolds and carbs. Is this correct?

Yes.

Thanks!

Fri Aug 09, 2019 6:20 am

I am still alive and working on this. I had a setback because of paint failure when I painted the washer bottle panel behind the nose. The topcoat I used peeled of in sheets, probably because with heat and humidity we have been having, the first coats cured too quickly to allow a chemical bond to form with the topcoat. I had to strip it all out and recoat. It took a long time, but it's good now.

Got a cargo floor half from WW to replace a repair section along the long wall I was never happy with. I could probably make it myself, but I'm tired of taking the the time to knock out fiddly bus bits and would just rather spend the money when a quality part is available. WW was kind enough to send me decent photos of the section I needed and answer my questions which was much appreciated. When I received it the stampings looked good and it measured out to 20 gauge.

It adds to my winter metalwork and delays getting it painted but that really doesn't bother me. I would rather get it the way I want it before paint.

I took the boys camping last weekend close to home. We had a great time and my mother dropped by in the morning with breakfast. I have a couple weeks off starting next week and we plan to do some hiking in the Adirondacks and White Mountains.

Fri Aug 09, 2019 7:14 am

Pop in if you tumble out of the Hills to the South - Albany areas in summer

Fri Aug 09, 2019 7:46 am

Yay! Using the bus as intended!

Sorry to hear about the paint fiasco. That must have been a terrible feeling when you looked down there and saw potato chips instead of shine.

It was explained to me once about an idea called ‘paint window’ where ideal conditions are needed and the time of day, humidity, heat, etc all combine to either support or ruin your work. Last year I kept the ‘window’ open too long and the paint on my wheels flashed off from the heat and did not lay down right before it set. So my wheels look good from ten feet away, but have a defined texture when you run fingers along them.

It would be great if we could all afford a nice paint booth with controlled atmosphere, but that simply isn’t the case for most of us.

Fri Aug 09, 2019 10:40 am

I usually don't have these kinds of issues, but the the combination of brush painting and hot weather and different products came back to bite me even though I had done a test piece. 70% of it peeled right off but the rest had to be scraped, sandblasted, etc. It's real hard to get in there, even the factory didn't get much paint in there. It then takes forever to get the sand out of the cab.

But an after an hour of driving it's all forgotten, even after opening the airbox vents and getting a blast of sand.

Thanks, Abscate. Would really like to meet up one of these days.

Fri Sep 20, 2019 6:30 am

Time for an update. I took a break from metalwork, slapped some duct tape over the holes in the nose of my bus and did some driving.

Drove to a car show near Stowe Vermont and met up with a friend and fellow bus owner. Even saw a few nice buses.

Drove to Franconia Notch NH and hiked up Mt Lafayette and camped at a nearby KOA for a couple nights.

Followed by a few days at a bed and breakfast at Ocean Park Maine and some needed relaxation on the beach.

A 660 mile round trip on mostly state highways. I never got to the mechanical improvements I wanted to do but spent a day doing the usual maintenance and making sure things were safe. I have a wiring issue I could not sort out...left front turn signal always on with the ignition but not blinking. The bus ran great the whole trip, probably the best I’ve ever had it in owning it for 29 years. I added a quart of oil but didn’t need to even look at any of the tools or spare parts I had squirreled away. It hummed along nicely at 60-65, pulled well through Crawford and Franconia notch. At those speeds the bus is quiet and handling feels solid with no gauge sword fights to watch.

It just doesn’t get any better than this.

Fri Oct 04, 2019 7:38 am

After a week of working on plumbing and home projects, I got back to the bus.

I welded up the holes in the nose. I managed not to lose too much of the slight bow along the bottom of the nose panel. I will have to take the passenger door off to work out a flat spot under the headlight, but will wait until driving season is over. I will need to use filler, but nothing crazy.

At one point my welder quit, prompting me to remove the cover and Holy Hantavirus!

The problem turned out to be that the voltage tap switch was not fully seated, which was a lucky coincidence. I put on a mask, cleaned this all out and repaired a wire with some chewed insulation. Looked like this had been there a long time.

I have been driving around with a front left turn signal light that is always steadily on. The wipers would no longer park either. I had disconnected some wiring and it had been pushed and pulled around a lot during the metal repairs.

I almost posted a question after checking/cleaning the connections, grounds etc. I took some photos of the wiring connectors and spent a lot of time with the newer style wiring diagrams.

Turns out I had the wires switched for the left signal light and wiper motor. They are both hooked up using the same T-connectors and use black/white, black/grey wiring that in some places looks bright and new and others faded and dirty.

A riveting story to be sure, but I was so pleased to have found and fixed it. My younger self would have flailed around for hours under the dash pulling wires and making it worse.

I used to think you Samba folks were a little obsessive for chasing down original style wiring terminals and exotic crimp tools when repairing wiring, yet here I am. They just so much better. Most of my hacked wiring is for aftermarket gauges. Might as well do it right.

I heard that Phil was doing pumps again, so when one of his became available on the classifieds, I ordered it. I tightened one up myself, but certainly not to this standard. I was thinking about the whole internal leakage issue found with aftermarket pumps during my drive to Maine. Watching my gauges, I noticed that oil temp was a factor, but also rpm in that pressure vs rpm was not consistently a linear relationship...in other words erratic or inconsistent. Time to just install and try out the new pump.

Sat Oct 05, 2019 5:35 pm

What a great thread. Love the old pics. Keep it up!

Sun Oct 06, 2019 6:53 am

curtp07 wrote: What a great thread. Love the old pics. Keep it up!

Looks like you are a pilot, aviation mechanic or enthusiast. Can’t remember if my sim photos are in this thread. I’m just an enthusiast. The bus and sim are complimentary hobbies for me.

Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:35 am

During the week I replaced my oil pressure relief valve piston and spring. I checked it for movement when I rebuilt my engine but didn’t check the spring tension.

The new spring and new to me piston on the right from Bus Depot. The new spring is noticeably longer and was considerably harder to compress when installing the plug.

The bore looked fine. Sorry for the blurry pic.

In 60* weather I had to really flog it down the highway to get oil temps up to 210* running 20-50.

Oil pressure was significantly improved across the rpm range. At 4500 rpm/75 mph I was getting 42-45 psi @210. Usually it would only get to the low 30’s once oil temp was above 190*. At more mid range rpm oil pressure was higher vs rpm. It also tended to fluctuate less and drop at a lower rate when rpm dropped.

It’s not perfect and I have finally disassembled the engine tin and mounts to install Phil’s blueprinted pump. I will be checking the drive tang to cam shaft slot distance and cam shaft bolt to pump body clearance with a depth micrometer. I don’t want to be dicking around with putty or getting the new pump stuck. Also going to measure and compare the pump’s OD. I suspect it may not have been the issue. The new pump may not improve the oil pressure or it might even decrease being a lower capacity pump. Or it might increase it due to a better fit in the case and being a tighter pump.

Either way, I think I am in decent shape with the pressure I am getting now. I rarely spin my engine at 4500 rpm. I have to keep reminded myself that even things that seem so simple can have a large effect on engine performance.

Any thoughts?

Fri Aug 25, 2023 2:40 pm

I spent a lot of time doing metal replacement on my bus and began getting ready for paint. Bodywork and and fresh paint were my main goal for a long time. But after finishing almost all of the metal work and rusty window frames, my goal became making it as mechanically reliable as possible. Bodywork can stretch on for ages, often leaving the bus undriveable when you really have to dig deep. My kids are getting older, but still love bus trips with Dad. That won’t last forever.

Finished building an engine, redoing the brakes and repairing the wiring in August, 2021. It took almost a year and a half and I finally took the boys on a trip to the Canadian Maritime provinces. 8 days, 4 states, 4 provinces, 1,970 miles. Went surfing for the first time. The bus plodded along at a steady 100kph without a single hitch. That’s really all I ever wanted from it. Lots of extra power for moving faster when necessary. Only issue was a bad fuse contact which was repaired by cleaning. Some pics:

Made a quick top bunk before leaving.

Sleep well, Junior

Yeah, we do this all the time (Nova Scotia)

Beach camping, PEI

Living in a submarine

Happy campers

Sunrise through my window (PEI)

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

Fri Aug 25, 2023 2:55 pm

orwell84 wrote: I spent a lot of time doing metal replacement on my bus and began getting ready for paint. Bodywork and and fresh paint were my main goal for a long time. But after finishing almost all of the metal work and rusty window frames, my goal became making it as mechanically reliable as possible. Bodywork can stretch on for ages, often leaving the bus undriveable when you really have to dig deep. My kids are getting older, but still love bus trips with Dad. That won’t last forever.

Finished building an engine, redoing the brakes and repairing the wiring in August, 2021. It took almost a year and a half and I finally took the boys on a trip to the Canadian Maritime provinces. 8 days, 4 states, 4 provinces, 1,970 miles. Went surfing for the first time. The bus plodded along at a steady 100kph without a single hitch. That’s really all I ever wanted from it. Lots of extra power for moving faster when necessary. Only issue was a bad fuse contact which was repaired by cleaning. Some pics:

Made a quick top bunk before leaving.

Sleep well, Junior

Yeah, we do this all the time (Nova Scotia)

Beach camping, PEI

Living in a submarine

Happy campers

Sunrise through my window (PEI)

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

Nice Bus! Great to see that you got her back on the road again and were able to come to the "Great White North" on a surfing trip none the less. I stopped in PEI on my way to the Magdalen Islands for a Windsurfing competition as well as surfed Lawrencetown just North of Halifax back in the early 90s while doing a 2 year tour in my 73 VW Panel Bus.

Sun Aug 27, 2023 11:52 am

Lawrencetown is where we surfed. One of the few places I could find lessons in northeastern North America. It’s definitely something I will be doing again.

Before leaving, I tried throwing together a pop top bunk to replace the long gone child’s cot. I have considered building a continental bed, but I wanted something smaller and simpler. We all weigh about 180 lbs and are close to 6’ tall so it needed to be sturdy. I started by trying to make it work with the frame for the child’s cot, which just made it more complicated. It seemed to fit under the roof when I removed the frame, but didn’t once I added foam. We ended up having to store it in the walkthrough while driving. It was very obvious why it didn’t work, but I didn’t have time to make the changes. It worked pretty well anyway and I will be making changes to it so that it can be stored with the poptop down and will be more comfortable. Surprisingly, the headroom it takes away when installed did not bother us. It works well for trips where we are moving around a lot. When we stay in one place and so day trips, we use the Bus Depot repro side tent. It’s great, but isn’t practical for short stays.

Rails were installed to fit inside the tubes for the folding cot frame. If I remove the ends, it will sit lower on the roof. Thinner, but denser foam should also help with closing the poptop.

Tue Jan 02, 2024 7:11 am

I’m planning to return to the prep and paint work on my bus. I kind of got distracted from it with the engine build, then with actually driving/camping/enjoying the bus.

There are still some small welding jobs to button up, but it’s mostly done.

I feel pretty confident in my filler and prep skills, but my painting has always been iffy. Worked on my skills by doing a bare metal respray of a 70’s Vespa and keeping up with Clatter’s current restoration thread. My painting has improved to the point that I am confident I can do a decent job on my bus.

First thing is the sliding door. I redid the bottom section over 20 years ago. It’s pretty ugly compared to the work I do now, so I considered redoing it. Since it’s held up great for so long, I decided to get as straight as possible and move on.

Last night I pulled the jalousie window expecting to find a crusty mess. I was very pleased to find it looked like this.

I still have to pull the rear hatch window and the long side jalousie.

Gotta (re)start somewhere.

Tue Jan 02, 2024 9:24 am

I’ve gotta go back and read this thread next plane trip

So many gems to immortalize….

#heart watching boys >> Young men

Wed Jan 03, 2024 7:28 am

Abscate wrote: I’ve gotta go back and read this thread next plane trip

So many gems to immortalize….

#heart watching boys >> Young men

My boys are 14 and 19. I am incredibly pleased that they still love road trips with me. They bug me about it all year long. So different from the beer soaked and nicotine stained travels of my youth, but definitely much more fun.

Glad I put my time and money into making it go down the road.