TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1976 Bus Powered by EZ36 Subaru Motor and 6 Speed Trans

Fri Jan 24, 2025 2:04 pm

Have you all seen one of these Renogy One M1? I bought this one plus a bunch of other items so i can monitor the entire system from one app. We will see, heading out to the shop for the first time in a week. Excited to make some progress.

Sat Jan 25, 2025 8:06 pm

That’s pretty slick, they didn’t have that controller when I bought my setup, I have the hardwired monitor mounted in the cabinet. It would be nice to be able to program lights and accessories

Sun Jan 26, 2025 5:39 pm

W1K1 wrote: That’s pretty slick, they didn’t have that controller when I bought my setup, I have the hardwired monitor mounted in the cabinet. It would be nice to be able to program lights and accessories

It works pretty slick W1K1. I was able to link the DC to DC charger and the MPPT charger to it. I look forward to putting the bus in the sun to test out the solar panels next. There are also three switches in the body meant for light and fan controls. Not sure what I will use them for. TBD

Sun Jan 26, 2025 5:44 pm

After tons of trial fittings the headknocker is installed. I was hoping to have it hang lower but after now i am happy with it. Just enough to store gear but not too much to encroach on the sleeping area.

I also installed a strip of aluminum to help with the transition to material i used in the rear. The product for the ceiling is a foam backed rubber that was easy to glue into place

Mon Jan 27, 2025 11:51 pm

Good evening, over the last few nights it feels like im just wrapping up loose ends. Tonight it was finishing the AC lines and installing the a bunch of 80% done projects. Tomorrow i will need to diag the Espar heater, im not getting power to the control unit. That means that i will need to remove the cabinet again. This is only like the 10th time taking it in and out. Hopefully this will be one of the last times. I did get to test the fitment of the bed in the full open position. Its perfect! Im soo glad i dont need to trim it down at all.

Tue Jan 28, 2025 11:50 am

It is coming together nicely and looks great! You've packed a lot of technology in your Bus without taking up much space. It will be good to see how everything performs in the warmer weather as Spring is just around the corner.

Thu Jan 30, 2025 12:36 am

Feeling pretty good about how everything‘s starting to come together. Tonight I modified the front lip that holds the bottom cushion in place. I welded a support bar to give us some additional strength. With all the cushions installed they fit snuggly. Loving it

Thu Jan 30, 2025 9:17 am

Just a suggestion for cabinets and edges, if you’ve ever clocked you noggin on the corner of your headbanger you know , rounded corners and edges hurt less. I have the self adhesive baby bumper corners on some of the corners and rounded as many edges as I could to try to make it safer in case people , dogs, or things get bounced around in the back for any reason

Thu Jan 30, 2025 11:19 am

W1K1 wrote: Just a suggestion for cabinets and edges, if you’ve ever clocked you noggin on the corner of your headbanger you know , rounded corners and edges hurt less. I have the self adhesive baby bumper corners on some of the corners and rounded as many edges as I could to try to make it safer in case people , dogs, or things get bounced around in the back for any reason

Thats a great idea. I was sitting on the bench and my 6'6" frame had my head leaning against the edge. I was trying to figure out a way to put a pad on it. Also concerned just in case an accident. That would crack open the noggin like a coconut.

Thu Jan 30, 2025 11:42 am

these are the two styles i used, soft for above the bed, and the clear silicone for cabinet corners. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0764H81JC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0B3J5P1LH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thu Jan 30, 2025 1:27 pm

Good call W1K1, I went down to my local hardware store and found this self adhesive closed cell foam meant to baby proof a corner.

Thu Jan 30, 2025 4:33 pm

They don't call it the headbanger for nothing!

Thu Jan 30, 2025 7:18 pm

We opted to go with a bungee net above the bed instead of a headbanger shelf and it works well for clothes, jackets, blankets, etc and actually leave our phones up there at night for easy access if you want to check the time or watch or listen to something before dozing off.

Sun Feb 02, 2025 11:33 pm

Final push on the build. Its the little things that take time at this point. I finished up the solar panel assembly, finished the heater control panel, and swapped out the final version of the fuel pump. After much trial and error, this is the ticket, the Bosch 044 is so much better than the prior pump. It is soo much quieter. I also added a pre filter along with some new -10AN fittings. After seeing how close it is to the exhaust I added a heat shield to help out.
Solar Panel in stored position

Solar panel in open position so can still use the hammock area

Mon Feb 03, 2025 10:00 am

Where did you get the AN shut off valve from ?

Mon Feb 03, 2025 10:03 am

panel wrote: Where did you get the AN shut off valve from ?

Good morning Panel, That one I got off of Amazon. I try to buy local but sometimes its too easy to buy from Amazon.

Sun Feb 09, 2025 1:08 am

Can I tell you a chilly story about how fantastic this AC works?? Tonight. I finished the install of the AC by vacuum pumping the system out and charging with 460g of 134a Freon. At Max cooling it pushed out a tremendous amount of air at 44°. The true test will be on a hot summer day. How many hours I get out of the batteries. If my math is correct, I should get eight hours just on the 400 amp hours of batteries I have.

Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:06 pm

A friend of mine brought up a good point about adding a trans cooler to the 6 speed. Are any of you running one of these or something similar?? This would be temperature controlled and would help tons when towing in hot weather. I dont have any real time data yet but it couldnt hurt.

Tue Feb 11, 2025 7:26 pm

I've heard of the automatic Vanagon guys doing this. Is there a place to tap into the trans for an in/out ?

Tue Feb 11, 2025 8:25 pm

panel wrote: I've heard of the automatic Vanagon guys doing this. Is there a place to tap into the trans for an in/out ?

There isn’t a place that’s perfect but what I thought of doing is doing is the suction side in place of the drain plug and doing the discharge side in place of the sight glass on the side halfway up the case. In a perfect situation, I would connect an oiling Sprayer to coat the top of the gears. But I think I should’ve done that when building the transmission. I do have a back up transmission in my garage. I might work on the design of this on the bench.