TheSamba.com :: View topic - Let the process of saving 2222069996 begin

Sun Mar 25, 2018 4:46 pm

I found this bus on Craigslist 2 years ago. I was not ready for a project yet. Turns out a family friend's girlfriend's younger brother bought it back then. He put it in his grandmother's garage. And it just sat there. I think these 16 year olds got frustrated when they could not get the lug nuts off. They just left it. They pulled the interior and that is it.

The tires are 15 years old, so I guess it was originally parked in 2005-ish.

Sold 4 times and made it's way from North Carolina to Nashville, TN. Never Registered, never titled. I am gonna have this baby running in less than a year, mark my words.

Could not stand looking at the BLACK moldy roof, so yesterday I cleaned the roof, pulled all the side windows. Today I pulled the engine and the fuel tank. Tank has some holes....

My thought is to fix vs. buy new. Ideas?

Damn I am tired.

Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:28 pm

New tank needed, she is crusty. Inside will be worse

Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:27 am

Abscate wrote: New tank needed, she is crusty. Inside will be worse

I read thru the RATWELL tank restoration process. I have already rinsed it and bounced some nuts and bolts around inside. Next, I am gonna try the acid wash a few times and then use some of the POR metal ready.

If that doesn't clean it up I guess I'll have to get a new one. :cry:

Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:46 am

Everywhere there is a hole the metal will be thinned for cm around the hole. The PoR process won’t replace that metal,so the tank will continue to development leaks. The fix is to cut and replace metal but then you figure out what’s easier pretty quickly

Mon Mar 26, 2018 7:39 am

:?: ... There are literal holes in your gas tank... buy the replacement, they work fine. Aftermarket isn't so bad they can't make a gas tank.

Mon Mar 26, 2018 7:44 am

Wow, I've salvaged some really nasty tanks, but that one is beyond salvation IMO, how will you keep the acid inside when cleaning it?

Mon Mar 26, 2018 8:12 am

Great project. I love how the roof cleaned up.

But, seriously, do not waste your time (and put the bus' future at risk of death by fire) on that tank.

Mon Mar 26, 2018 4:54 pm

busdaddy wrote: Wow, I've salvaged some really nasty tanks, but that one is beyond salvation IMO, how will you keep the acid inside when cleaning it?

Yeah, the more the nuts and bolts bang around, the more holes show up. I have been shopping on line and I guess JBugs is the cheapest I have found so far. Then another $90 for the sending unit.

Won't have to worry for another 46 years, I guess.

Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:06 pm

From reading other posting on The Samba, it sounds like the new tanks are thinner walled than the original ones. And coating the inside with POR has also gotten a bad reputation.

But would it make sense to coat the exterior of a new gas tank with some type of rust preventative and paint? In the case of malcolm2's tank, it appears the rust original on the outside rather than the inside in many cases.

Just a thought and something to consider.

While you have the tank out, I would suggest adding sound deadened at the forward side of the tank (between the tank and bench seat). This helped quiet a lot of the engine noise when I did mine last year.

Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:25 pm

KentPS wrote: But would it make sense to coat the exterior of a new gas tank with some type of rust preventative and paint? In the case of malcolm2's tank, it appears the rust original on the outside rather than the inside in many cases.
That one failed from the inside, the outer coating appears intact for the most part, how well the crappy aftermarket tanks are painted isn't something I've seen first hand, but sitting in an enclosed compartment out of the weather isn't hard on most paint so I wouldn't be too worried unless it came in bare metal on the exterior.

The inside will never rust in ones lifetime if you keep the gas fresh and store it with a nearly full tank, non ethanol gas stores better as well. I'd rather take my chances on the thin Chinesium tank with no coating internally than risk a coating fail, if forced at gunpoint to coat it I'd choose the Bill Hirsch product, long proven and easy to remove if it acts up.

But personally I'd shop around for a good used OG tank, especially since the OP has a 72 with that long skinny bendy filler neck, the repro tanks don't have the extra vent it needs to make for speedy filling. Also makes repairing and reusing an OG sender possible since the repro tanks use a sender that doesn't play well with the pre mid 73 tube sender style gauge, most of those repro float and arm style senders fail in a year anyway, fix an OG one and wait 40+ more years for it to act up.

Malcolm, you need a 72-mid 73 tank.

Mon Mar 26, 2018 7:01 pm

busdaddy wrote: the repro tanks don't have the extra vent it needs to make for speedy filling.

I was curious about the small vent tubes. one on each rear corner of the tank. A small tube makes it's way UP to the rear vents, where I see a bulb in the tube, then the tube turns back downward and that's it. looks to be just open ended.

Is all that for tank filling? If not, what does it do? What about the bulb near each end?

Last question.... so Folks on the classifieds will have used tanks in good condition?

Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:27 pm

malcolm2 wrote: Last question.... so Folks on the classifieds will have used tanks in good condition?
Possibly, buyer beware of course, ask for pics and check thier feedback. You might have to do some cleaning, but compared to what you have now that's minor.

The small tube on each side leading up into the bulbs in the scoops is for venting to compensate for atmospheric expansion and fuel consumption, the bulbs are liquid separators. The lines connected to a Tee in the engine compartment that led to a charcoal canister to store vapors until they can be burnt off in the engine.
The 72 has a 3rd larger vent in the middle rear that connects to the neck near the filler cap.

Tue Mar 27, 2018 5:47 am

Oh, hey!

I have the tank I took out of my May 1973 Bus I would be happy to sell. (I removed it because I installed fuel injection in my Bus.)

Though it did not take the tube style sending unit. So it sounds like maybe it isn't the perfect tank for you.

Tue Mar 27, 2018 7:09 am

busdaddy wrote:

Malcolm, you need a 72-mid 73 tank.

I assume he is suggesting vans made at the 1/2 way point of 1972 thru 1973. Model Year starts in September and lasts 'til August, right?

Not sure we can tell about the tanks, but his suggestion would be Jan 1972 thru August of 1973.

Mine was made in November, 1971.

VWwestyman, I believe your tank, if it is original, could be in that range. You want to send me some pix? my email is [email protected]

Here is a shot of the top of mine. I'll see if I can get a closer shot, or zoom in on this one.

Tue Mar 27, 2018 7:46 am

The OG non tube (bayonet mount float and arm style) will work, but the needle in the gauge may be a bit hyperactive sometimes. Westyman's tank would be a big improvement over your current one, even if the gauge is a little jumpy.

Tue Mar 27, 2018 7:51 am

busdaddy wrote: The OG non tube (bayonet mount float and arm style) will work, but the needle in the gauge may be a bit hyperactive sometimes. Westyman's tank would be a big improvement over your current one, even if the gauge is a little jumpy.

So the tube type sending unit, won't fit in the tank you suggest? Too long? wrong mounting holes, is the hole angled differently. Just curious.

Should I consider a 1973 fuel gauge to match the arm style sending unit?

Tue Mar 27, 2018 12:36 pm

My tank takes the later style "twist and lock" sending unit.

I believe the new model year for VW always starts August 1 of the preceeding year. (i.e. 1973 model Buses were first built on August 1, 1972.)

Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:43 am

Week 1 update...

* Tank is out and evaluated... Need a new one
* Engine is out, tins, flywheel etc..., exhaust, fuel pump, fan and housing plus a few other things are off.
* ALT, Disty, Cooling Flaps are all missing.
* front brakes are off. Will evaluate the calipers for rebuild vs buying fresh, rotors and hubs are apart, cleaned 5 pounds of hardened mud off of and around the ball joints, which are toast.
* Rear Stub Axles are off. Tuff time getting the drivers side nut off. It took Oxy Acetylene. Buggered up the threads on the tip, might be ok. Will need a new nut. The heat has ruined the temper.
* Rear Brakes are off. Would like to get the baking plate off and sand blasted, plus paint.
* All CV joints are removed, disassembled and cleaned.
* Bentley Manual arrived Saturday

HAPPY EASTER

Sun Apr 01, 2018 10:18 am

Let's see if this works.... Here is a link to my Flickr album.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmhCasWD

Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:43 pm

Not much work done in week 2. The wife made me go to the beach. I did order some stuff tho. Rear Backing plates, wheel cylinders, shoes, springs, E-brake.
Bout the only things I can re-use are the adjusters. Have been spending lots of time on the BRAKES.

I think this bus has been sitting in a field and all the hardware on the brakes has rusted together. 2 hours to get 2 bolts off, jeez.

Just about everything is off, brake wise now. Did the MC and the Booster tonight. Servo or Booster? what is the difference?

Gonna need a new one of each, MC and Booster.