'73 bus restoration

[JimboCrawdaddy]

Ok, long story short, I bought the bus in February, drove it about 6 miles, barely made it. Put it in the garage and immediately started the full resto. I'm in love with this stupid thing, even though I've only really driven a bus 1 time, I guess that's all it took!

It's a 1973. A regular transporter. It doesn't have the original motor. It's the 2.0. It was a frankenstein of a motor setup when I got it. It had fuel injection originally, someone cut a hole in the intake manifold piece, welded a plate on there, then threw a crappy little holley carb on. All four cylinders were at less than 50% compression, and the exhaust leaked all over the place. Luckily, all the tins were in place, except where the one was cut for the original air conditioning.

10 months later, I've got new paint, rebuilt motor, new rubber all around, empty wallet, and working on new interior. The motor is now installed, and ready to crank.
I added oil and gas. Disconnected the fuel pump to get the oil circulating by letting the starter spin for a few minutes. Next, I attached the fuel pump, let it get the gas from point "A" to the carb, but no spark. Pulled the Pertronix, put the points back in, got spark. I verified this by watching the plug I laid out on the block. It actually kinda sputtered and I shut it down to get the plug back in. Screwed the plug back in, tried to turn it over again, nothing. No voltage to the dash, not a sound from the starter or the electric fuel pump.
Battery is still good. I checked the fuses, they were all good. Put the new ignition coil on there. I thought I might have fried the ignition switch. Checked the voltage at the switch (the red wire) it was there. Not sure exactly what is supposed to heat up when the key is on, but nothing has voltage there now. I went ahead and ordered the $14.99 (the expensive one) switch from bus depot. After reading some posts here, I figured that was the best idea. But I'm not sure where to go from here. I'm gonna go ahead and install the new switch, since I've already got the steering column all apart. What else could have possibly gone wrong by cranking the motor like that?

[Tcash]

To link to copy and paste

[JimboCrawdaddy]

Right-on Tcash. Thanks for the response. I'm relatively familiar with that wiring diagram. When I removed the dash, I placed blue painter's tape everywhere and labeled the connections. It was a work of art. When it came back from the paint booth, they were all painted white. I was crushed... had to figure all of them out the hard way! I cursed that diagram for weeks until I got stuff figured back out.

Anyway, back to the point...
When I'm jumping those wires together on the starter, I'm essentially checking to make sure the ignition switch is bad, right? Does the ignition need to be on to do this?

[Tcash]

[Wasted youth]

I also have a 1973 bus. They originally were delivered with a 1700cc dual carbureted engine.

Have you verified that the transmission ground strap, the battery ground strap and your ignition wiring are all properly cleaned, tightened and correctly connected? It is easy to overlook some small detail when your workflow is at the level you are at.

[JimboCrawdaddy]

Good stuff, guys. I thought the FI wasn't original, because there isn't any kind of wiring to support it on the bus. The motor, however, had some freaky fuel injected stuff on there. I ditched all that, though.

The starter didn't do anything when I did the test, TCash. I reckon I need to try a new starter. Would that have anything to do with the lack of power to the dash or is it a completely different problem? Currently the, lights, hazards, and indicators aren't coming on.

[Wasted youth]

Keep in mind if you have a manual transmission starter, you cannot test it if it is removed from the engine. This is because the armature is held centered within the motor field by the bushing that is on the transmission bell housing. You will likely ruin the starter if you decide to pull it and test it on the floor of your garage with jumper cables.

Have you tried to crank the starter with a remote tester or a screwdriver? Are you able to confirm that the starter solenoid is picking up?

Can you confirm that the continuity from the starter solenoid terminal (see Tcash illustration above and your Bentley) to your steering column is good?

Have you tried to hot wire the engine the old fashioned way? This bypasses all the ignition and start control wiring, of course.... which will help determine where the fault is.

I know you mentioned you had it ruining briefly, and you had spark, etc. but now something has changed. Time to get back to basics. What do think might have changed?

It sounds like a ground issue at the battery if none of your lights work, and neither does the starter. Try hooking up something to the battery for a load test. Maybe one of your cells is fried.

[old DKP driver]

Good explanation Steven to the OP.
since you already know the painters went crazy when it was painted you will need to trace the ignition wiring and check voltage with a known good battery that is fully charged and that your grounds are paint free.

Worst scenario would be to disassemble the starter and make sure the solenoid and brushes are in good shape if the voltage is fine from the battery to the switch and back to the starter.

Your Bus looks great with the new paint job. You might want to hold onto all the F,I, parts incase you decide in the future to convert back to AFC.

good luck with this project.
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V.W.owner since 1967

[1967250s]

Did you re-time it when you swapped the points backin? I know my pertronix was at a different position than points. Good battery cables? They might look good, but might hide corrosion in the terminals.
_________________
'72 Elm Green Deluxe

[Tcash]

JimboCrawdaddy"]The starter didn't do anything when I did the test, TCash. I reckon I need to try a new starter.
If you made sure the battery is fully charged and the cables are good.

Would that have anything to do with the lack of power to the dash or is it a completely different problem? Currently the, lights, hazards, and indicators aren't coming on.
Completely different problem.
Double check your battery and battery cables, ground to transmission.
You can pull the battery out and have it tested at a auto parts store.

Good Luck

[JimboCrawdaddy]

The voltage does not go through the starter to the dash, right? The voltage goes from the dash to the starter? I'm sure you all know, but I'm not sure. I did check the strap from the transmission to the body. It looks to be ok. I'm sure there is a ground somewhere that's causing trouble, I just gotta find it.

To hotwire it, just connect a line from the red wire to the red/black wire? That will spin the starter, if the starter is spinable? I've racked my brain to come up with a variable that might have changed in trying to crank the engine. To my knowledge, nothing changed.

Thanks again for all the great ideas, gang. I'm trying them all!

[Wasted youth]

The electricity from the battery to the start solenoid is interrupted by the ignition key switch in the steering column. It starts at the battery, and goes up to the ignition switch, then back to the start solenoid. Some people install a relay back near the starter so all that juice doesn't have to travel so far.

Here:

http://wolfsburgwest.com/wired/wired_03_01/wired_03_01.htm

So, look at your wiring diagram or look around the Samba to see what that looks like. In essence, you simply have to bridge the two terminals on the start solenoid to get the starter to crank. That's the screwdriver trick or the remote starter method.

Remote starter example:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&t...ir=catalog

Your local FLAPS will have one cheaper.

Hot wiring simply ignores the key switch by feeding 12VDC from the positive side of the battery to the positive side of the coil. Then, crank the starter with a screwdriver across the start solenoid terminals, and your engine should run. The potential for serious injury doing this is great. Take extraordinary care that you don't get crushed by your bus when doing this.

This method is ill advised for long term use.

Hotwire your bus:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+hotwire...B1792D8250

[JimboCrawdaddy]

WOW! Nothing beats the sound of that 2.0 rumblin' without a muffler. Especially since it hasn't made a sound in almost 10 months! Thanks a million times for the great advice. I wish I could say exactly what I did that got her goin', but I adjusted so many things at once that I'm not sure if one thing, or a combination of things made it right. Either way, I've got electricity up front, and a running engine in the back. What more do I need!?
The Samba crowd has given me so much knowledge and inspiration to continue the project. I've only made this one post, but I've been creepin' the forums for a while now. I've still got a long way to go 'till she's road worthy, but man, it's been fun getting this far.

[Wasted youth]

That's great to hear! Really glad for you, and I know how inspirational that is.

[JimboCrawdaddy]

The exterior is getting close. It's drivable now, just a little loud, though. I'm looking for a nice stainless steel exhaust. It's a '73, but has a 2.0 from a later model. The exhaust flanges are the triangle shape. I think my neighbors are ready for me to cover the open exhaust with something a bit more residentially friendly.

Anybody have a good experience with a particular vendor for bolt-on action, or could a local muffler dude be the way to go?

[AirKooledGarage]

Building a 73 as well. Love the color. Keep the pics coming!

[JimboCrawdaddy]

Thanks, Old Bike Doc. It's Voodoo blue. The code is from those Toyota FJ Cruisers. Since they have the white roof, I always thought that color would look good on a two-tone bus.

[JimboCrawdaddy]

A few more shots of the bus.

The front.

The passenger side.

The back.

[jtauxe]

[Bala]

Good looking bus, glad you got it going!
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1976 Westy

1966 Beetle