Engine help and advice needed.

[70bus]

Breather box, I assume. Yes; drain oil! And figure out the fuel issue before going too far forward - you can try starting it with plugs in to see if it really was simply hydrolocked, but then cut fuel supply til you have time to figure out oversupply. No point doing this all again.
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raoul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[ComfortablyNumb]

Thanks for your responses. Since I last updated, I went to the Methow to check out the farmers market and stop in to visit the Samba member. He's been busy and hasn't had a chance to come over but is going to Spokane soon (maybe this weekend) to visit a buddy who wrenches on air-cooleds. His daughter is having a dance recital in Omak, so on his way home he will go there and hopefully have a chance to stop in and see my bus. I'm only a couple of miles from where she is performing.

Meanwhile, I've taken the bull by the horns. I drained the oil, it was diluted with fuel, no viscosity whatsoever. I pulled out the motor and took off what little cooling tin was on it. I also got the fuel tank out, that was a chore. It turns out it is from a 1977 bus, at least that is what is written on it. The fit was tight, I thought I was going to have to pull out an acetylene torch and cut it out. Someone cut a hole above it, undoubtably to get to the sending unit. They then screwed a plate to cover the hole. I had to back the screws out to get the tank up as high as I could, and even then, the two metal connections at the bottom of the tank wouldn't clear the opening. I even tried using a wonder bar to no avail. Finally, I got under the bus and was considering options when I got the tubes to clear by pushing up on the tank and slightly tipping it. I was then able to wiggle and pull it out. Needless to say, that tank isn't going back in.

Pics or it didn't happen, eh?

Here is the motor now:

This is the cooling tin I coiuld get off:

I got the screws out, but I haven't figured out how to get it off without removing the pulley. How do you like the customising to fit around the brass fitting?

Here is the tank before:

And removed:

I have to take a break from it; I have a small farm and need to get some planting done. But hopefully get a list of parts needed and where to order them from and get it back running again.

[Eric&Barb]

Well you are definitely missing the foam seal over the oil cooler to seal that cooler to the fan shroud. All cooling air needs to go thru the cooler, none around it.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[Eric&Barb]

Any updates??

Looking again at the stripped down engine, it could use a good filing out of the casting flash in the head fins. Probably the holes (just inward side of the intake) thru the heads also.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[ComfortablyNumb]

Yes, and no.

Not much has been done to the motor, finding original tin is proving difficult. I may have to resort to aftermarket. I've been looking at the Andrig's Aircooled Technology shrouds, anybody have any experience with those?

What I have been working on (and off) is rewiring the bus. Years of splicing, adding an aftermarket stereo, numerous speakers, and a DVD player mounted to the roof, all made the case for replacing the harness. Most of the front end is done, I need a few parts to continue, an interior light switch for the column (switch is broken off the present one) and a turn signal relay. I'm thinking of putting LED lights in the rear, maybe even the headlights as well and am researching those.

The worst was the DVD player. Not only did someone cut into the wood headliner to install it, making either replacing it or figuring out a way to cover it up necessary, but they wired it into the rear dome light for power. A thick A/V cord ran from the DVD player (which was mounted on the ceiling behind the fresh air intake) back to the rear dome light and some other electronic part was stuffed up under the headliner. I got all that mess out and installed the new harness, which was quite a challenge, but I got it done.

I must admit, being somewhat forced to do the work myself (I'm at least 160 miles from any shop that works on air-cooleds) I am getting very intimate with the bus. Lots of research and double checking as I go is time consuming, but the reward of knowing the ins and outs of the bus is worth it.

Don't remember if I posted or not, but I did clean up the floor of the cockpit. I wire brushed it, found some holes in the floor so I filled them up with JB Weld and then painted all of it with epoxy paint. All that should keep any rusting in check for the rest of my life and make it easier for a future owner who may want to do it up right.

Oh yeah, I also cleaned up the engine bay and painted it as well, looks much nicer. And I put in a new Wolfburg West fuel tank, the correct one.