TheSamba.com :: View topic - Buggeee's 1966 Sportsmobile Camper by Travel Equipment Corp

Sun Feb 27, 2022 5:02 pm

Man, you wait all day for a bus and then three show up at once:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2531862

Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:57 pm

DanM wrote: Man, you wait all day for a bus and then three show up at once:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2531862

Excellent

Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:59 pm

Buggeee wrote: I am working on a set of single port heads from a friend's stash, for a single relief case build for my 1966 Bus. They have a couple of stripped and frozen exhaust studs on one head and some marred and fozen studs on the other.

So this has effort has involved all the methods.

I started with PB Blaster and double nuts on one of the studs, to no avail. Another had smooshed threads from a POs efforts - so vice grips were called in, to no avail. Heat from the torch did not pursuade the old studs. One finally twisted off in the jaws of the vice grips, kind of close to the head, so I employed the welder and a nut.

After cooling, a small air impact wratchet was tried, followed by a larger impact gun, and it just twisted off even closer.

So I used a cutoff wheel to cut them flush and dinged the center with a punch, followed by drilling successively larger bits, keeping things well oiled along the way.

Once the hole was of a sufficient size, I think it might have been 17/64, I tapped it for 8mm 1.25 thread pitch.

The replacement studs went in, but were not snug and I knew they'd fail under tightening the exhaust nuts. Kind of like a loose tooth. Mainly because my holes were a bit off center and a thin shaving of the old stud still formed part of the wall in there.

Time for a time-sert. I love these insert kits.

It involves drilling a larger hole, then tapping that for the insert, then cutting a shoulder into that to accept the outer lip of the insert, then loading a threaded bit with an insert and screwing it in. When the shoulder hits the head, the threaded bit rotates through the insert, expanding the insert against the threaded wall of the larger hole, securing it.

Then just back out the tool and it's ready for use.

Here are the studs installed in the head.

The other marred studs were cleaned up by running a 8mm 1.25 thread pitch die over them. This metric tap and die set is from Harbor Freight and is inexpensive and invaluable but not precice enough for making space ship parts.

Because the T-handle would not fit between the studs, I just used channel locks.

They came out clean enough to readily install an exhaust nut.

There you have it.

Tue Mar 01, 2022 6:10 pm

As requested

Tue Mar 01, 2022 6:28 pm

MaddMatt wrote:

As requested

Dude. Thank you. So cool.

Thu Mar 03, 2022 10:01 pm

That picture looks a lot like one I posted earlier, but it's different. Much, much different.

I had been throwing this single relief case together with parts I swept off my floor as a temporary power plant. Then, for giggles I ran the numbers on the case against the technical archives and discovered that it's August 1966 (on the Beetle chart, December 1966 on the bus chart). That's about as numbers-matching to this bus as I could hope to get, and it was just by happenstance!

I took this mission from God for what it was and tore it right back down. It is now filled with a freshly ground VW crank, new bearings, rebuilt VW rods, brand new stock grind flat gear cam, new cam bearings and new lifters. Fresh as a daisy.

I had the parts on the shelf thinking they'd go in a dual relief dual port case... but this bus and it's single port, single relief engine just moved to the front of the line. :D

Fri Mar 04, 2022 7:43 pm

The end play is at the minimum tolerance with the three thinnest shims. It doesn't get any fresher than that. :D

Also this case has never been bored or thrust cut. There is lots of life ahead, if our maker is willing.

Sat Mar 05, 2022 6:41 pm

Is that an "H" case?

Sat Mar 05, 2022 7:42 pm

BarryL wrote: Is that an "H" case?

Here you go Barry, what do you think about it? There is a X for the last number.

Sat Mar 05, 2022 8:10 pm

Good Evening,

The code information on your case indicates that it was a VW Factory rebuilt engine (symbol on the far left); that was a 1967 1500 single port engine (H0), and that it was an exchange (X = rebuilt) engine. The 5 digit number is a sequential build serial number.

I posted some info a while back as source material.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/382769.jpg

Regards
Art LeBrun
[email protected]

Sat Mar 05, 2022 8:12 pm

VWTECHEDITOR wrote: Good Evening,

The code information on your case indicates that it was a VW Factory rebuilt engine (symbol on the far left); that was a 1967 1500 single port engine (H0), and that it was an exchange (X = rebuilt) engine. The 5 digit number is a sequential build serial number.

I posted some info a while back as source material.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/382769.jpg

Regards
Art LeBrun
[email protected]

Thank you Art!

Sun Mar 06, 2022 7:09 pm

The hard lines and soft lines are done. The brakes are bled and adjusted. She is back on all fours. She stops. Now its time to make her go!

EDIT - THE RUBBER GROMMETS NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE METAL BRAKE LINES WHEREVER THEY PASS THROUGH THE METAL BRACKETS AND FRAME ARE NOT IN YET IN THESE PICTURES.

Mon Mar 07, 2022 7:05 pm

She got a new 12v starter tonight. I went with a self-suoporting autostick starter this time so I didn't have to play with the brass bushing in the transaxle. As long as I was chasing threads I thought I'd share a picture of the homemade starter bolt that came out of her. Not the first time, nor the last, that some aircooled owner found a creative way to get this fastener location handled.

Mon Mar 07, 2022 7:38 pm

Good Evening,

Installing that starter is a good upgrade. It is also supposed to be some small % more powerful. OK... I've had one in my green '69 Beetle for some time now; works great.

Art LeBrun
vwtecheditor

Wed Mar 09, 2022 12:59 am

VWTECHEDITOR wrote: Good Evening,

Installing that starter is a good upgrade. It is also supposed to be some small % more powerful. OK... I've had one in my green '69 Beetle for some time now; works great.

Art LeBrun
vwtecheditor

I completely agree. This has become my first purchase with any new vw project. After years and years of replaced bushings, that hole on the bell housing tends to wear out. Self supporting starters all the way.

Wed Mar 09, 2022 7:50 am

Good Morning,

A self-supporting 12 volt starter also has another benefit.

My engine test stand uses a bell housing from a "12 volt" Bus. I installed an adapter bushing so my 6 volt starter now works with it. When I test run an older 6 volt engine with a 109 tooth flywheel, I simply use a 6 volt starter. Flywheel, starter pinion and bushing all match.

When I test run a 12 volt engine with a 130 tooth flywheel, I simply swap out the 6 volt starter and use a self supporting 12 volt starter and then I don't have to worry about the bushing in the bell housing. Flywheel and starter pinion both match, no bushing involved.

Regards,
Art LeBrun
vwtecheditor

Fri Mar 11, 2022 6:26 am

A little update with a new steering stabilizer. Also I busted a grease fitting in the beam with the jack stand, which made me feel a little foolish. But I had this box of various metric fittings from Harbor Freight on the shelf, so no harm. All of the grease fittings on the beam took grease and the old grease that was pushed out at the ends was fairly clean. Everything so far points to this bus being cared for while it was on the road. (New cotter pin not pictured)

Fri Mar 11, 2022 10:30 am

Buggeee wrote:

It kinda looks like the rubber grommets to hold the brake lines are missing on the tab bolted to the top spring plate bolt. You absolutely need the rubber grommets in this location.

Fri Mar 11, 2022 11:06 am

nlorntson wrote:
It kinda looks like the rubber grommets to hold the brake lines are missing on the tab bolted to the top spring plate bolt. You absolutely need the rubber grommets in this location.

You are absolutely correct they are necessary. For me, and any other reader, thank you for the comment as it is literally a life saving measure for some operator years down the road when the vibration of metal on metal might finally cut through a line. The grommets go here in these brackets, as well as everywhere the metal lines pass through round holes in the frame.

They are not in yet in these pictures and I should have noted a comment, which is now added to the earlier post. The brake line grommets have not arrived yet and the generic grommets that are good for hoses and electrical, which I do have on the shelf, are too thin-walled to have any shape or support once they are cut for installation here.

Another place to watch for this issue, which I learned from another Samba thread, is where the brake shoe is close to the short s-shaped brake line in the front wheels on these busses. The idea is to shape the brake line in a way that it won't get rubbed on by the brake shoe during its adjustment, operation or movement. Here I've circled the two spots, generally, in this picture:

I found this other potential wear spot for front brake lines in another thread and am editing this post to drop it here so I have it all in one place.... these next pictures are not my bus, just an example.

AS350driver wrote: Now the junky 13 window has 4 correct 15” wheels on it, with fresh paint.

Also figured out an issue with uneven braking and wheel cylinders blowing out on the front right wheel. The bus started pulling left while braking, and I’d pull the drum and replace the lower wheel cylinder due to apparent leakage. It turns out, it was the hard line getting rubbed by the drum, which created a pinhole aimed at the lower wheel cylinder. It only leaked if I had had to get on the brakes very hard….then the pedal would go to the floor of course. New hard line installed, all is well again.

Sat Mar 12, 2022 4:08 pm

Fresh gear oil in the reduction gear boxes (0.25 Liter each) and the transaxle (2.5 Liter). New axle boots to keep the oil where it belongs (seams at 10:00 and 2:00). The magnets in the drain plugs at the differential and the nose cone had collected a bit of metal dust but no shavings whatsoever :D