The 79 VW Bus Incident.....the fun is real

[blue72beetle]

That's my old bus!

I bought it in 2009, drove it home but it needed some work. Exhaust was rusted out and it didn't idle right. Started tearing the engine apart to rebuild and decided that I didn't want to deal with type 4 stuff. So I sold it to a guy from Indy in 2011, with a brand new exhaust and heater boxes. For a lot less than I bought it for too

I should've just thrown the exhaust on it and driven it til it quit. That was a nice bus.
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-Andy-
-1970 Ghia-
-1971 Bus 1776 Microsquirt EFI-

[tymbo]

[blue72beetle]

Here is my thread I had on it:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=340203&highlight=

It had a rusted out exhaust, and the idle would hunt up and down. At the time I was of the belief that, I had no idea what kind of shape the engine was in, so I was going to tear it apart and refresh it before I started putting miles on it. Like I said, I should've just slapped an exhaust on it and driven it.

I bought it from a guy here in Fort Wayne that had it for a few years. He said he used it to go to camping parties and such. Ironically, I later sold the white bus in the above picture to his brother, which turned out to have a VIN number just a few digits away from the bus I have now. Small world.
_________________
-Andy-
-1970 Ghia-
-1971 Bus 1776 Microsquirt EFI-

[tymbo]

Thanks for all the info. Small world haha. I have a question for anyone about rear drum brakes. I am going to have to replace everything associated with the read brakes, backer plates, cylinders, parts kit...etc. I thought I read somewhere that the vanogan brakes would work. I would be interested in these brake setups because the have auto adjust rear drums.
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A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Rust is time consuming

[curtis4085]

I would suggest buying a new tank. Wolsfsburgwest has them for sale. Your also going to need a new fuel pump.
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Special Thanks to:
Headflow Masters - Vista, CA
www.headflowmasters.com

[williamM]

Fi fuel pump will not get along with carbs- nice find
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some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[tymbo]

So I took a day to clean the greasy engine tins and clean them up so I don't have too to when I go to paint them.

I don't know where this tin mounts up.

It was a messy job.

_________________
A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Rust is time consuming

[tymbo]

Engine stand time. Got the Harbor Freight 1000lbs discount special for $50. Found a 3 arm yoke locally brand new for $75. I am still in need of a 6 rib transmission so we can play a little game of "will it run"... More to come with the results of that game haha.

Measuring and drilling the pin holes for the yoke.

Here is the engine. It has a '78 date code. Its dirty, but its free and has compression.

Will it run?? I am missing all the hardware that holds the front fan shroud to the back of the fan shroud. Does anyone have there or know the sizes so I can go buy them. Thanks.
_________________
A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Rust is time consuming

[Tcash]

You don't need a starter.

Link


Tcash

[tymbo]

Work...work...work.. tis the season. So I have been working on my gas tank. From the info I have gathered the bus sat for a while before I got it. The inside looked pretty bad:

I am using a the electroylsis process and results are pretty good so far, this was after 3 days:

Here were my 2 setups for getting to the entire tank:

The donor metal that attracted all the rust:

I do need some help. I have a FI tank with bad braising on the nipples and I am going to 1 outlet with the replaceable factory VW nipple style. What size bung is used for the factory fuel nipple setup. I cant find one and I have looked all over the net. Also got my first shipment of brake replacement parts, just waiting on my lines and a few other parts.

_________________
A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Rust is time consuming

[Tcash]

It is an M18x1 bung you need.

Note: that the drums rub against the new backing plates.

You need to either.
Install new rear wheel bearing spacer sleeves. Part #211 501 281 E. The new spacers are longer than the old ones and space the drum out a little further.

Or have the back lip of the drum cut on a brake lathe.

Good luck
Tcash

[captincanuck]

[Wasted youth]

[tymbo]

Sooo.... its been a while and I have been as busy as you can in a non heated garage in the middle of a cold winter. I will catch you up on the progress. This post is pic heavy, I like to see when others post pictures, so I will follow.

1. Rebuilt the fuel sending unit and re wrapped it with the correct wire, epoxied over the wire scrapping away and sanding a little. Tested it when I got my new $50 Walmart battery in and it works great. I have some extra wire if someone else needs some, let me know. It wasn't that hard of a job, just takes some patience. I will post the link here later : __________

Before:

After:

Testing:

Success:

2. After getting all my brake parts in, I had to get some practice at bending metal brake lines, ohh what fun lol. Bought some cheap line from the LPS and there is a learning curve for sure. I advise do this as well before you bend the good stuff. My new brake drums actually didn't rub my new backer plates as I have seen in other posts. Replaced all the rubber lines all the way around. Let me know if you want to know my setup for drums and backer plates.
As you can see, new backer plates were necessary for sure

Progress

Rear backer plates installed

Some final brake yoga lol

Someone left a emergency brake pin out of my order so I had to improvise

Front brake line install

3. Finally I found a 6 rib transmission and will be going through the axles and bearings and repacking them and maybe new boots. First I think I have a dropped valve seat on my engine and will find out this week when I remove the heads. I have maybe located an 1800 engine, but have some questions about how well it will work with the 6 rib trans. I need to know what size bolts do i need to mount the transmission to the engine. Also looking for a starter for the 6 rib near me before I order a new one.

Finding this felt like a victory of some sort after all the searching to find one near me that wasn't a $1000

Also here is a photo of the engine, its pretty dirty and needs to be cleaned

My wife got me a new tent and seals for the pop top, so in the spring I will be doing a write up on the install and refinishing of the fiberglass top.

Tomorrow I will install my hazard switch and make sure the rest of the bus is getting power. I have found that the hazard switch works as a power block for a lot of lights in the bus.

Also I have found the popular LED light strips and did my homework on the sizes and types and ended up getting the 5050 led light strips that are water proof. Found some 4ft aluminum extruded channel with a cover to diffuse the light. I will put about 3-4ft on the stove side and about 3ft on the door side, so plenty of light with little power draw. Also bought a dimmer switch to control brightness. I will get to this in the spring as well. But just a taste of that I am talking about.

Quick test:

Extruded channel with diffuser:

_________________
A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Rust is time consuming

[khalimadeath]

Nice work, got a link to the LED strip? Still sorting the electronics in my bus but im thinking of going with battery operated velcro or stick on LED lights.

[tymbo]

I went with bright white lights that were water proof and you can cut to length. I got water proof so I use left overs for an engine bay light bar that I can have on a switch so when trying to work on it I can see without a flashlight.

Lights 16ft

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JQV6U7Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I will probably switch to this warm White color

http://www.amazon.com/Lampux-Waterproof-Flexible-L...+5050+warm

Dimmer switch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003L4KKF2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Aluminum channel- this channels come with 2 mounts, 2 end caps and you can cut to length.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018NQZKV6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I almost went with these lights that are multi colored and have a wireless remote, so you can have any color any time. Just didn't want the hassle of trying to turn them on without the remote.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Wind-Lighting-Waterproo...led+strips
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A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Rust is time consuming

[khalimadeath]

Thanks!!

[Tom Powell]

I have put LED strip lighting in the interior of my Vanagons. The biggest problem was mounting them. Stickyback velcro would not stay stuck to the LED strip or to the Vanagon plastic. Difficult to find glue that would stick to the Vanagon plastic. The final solution was E6000 glue and 3M hooks.

E6000:
http://www.amazon.com/E6000®-3-7-Ounce-Industrial-Carded-Adhesive/dp/B00178MO58/ref=sr_1_6?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1455862412&sr=1-6&keywords=e6000+industrial+strength

3M hooks:
http://www.amazon.com/Command-Clear-Hooks-Strips-A...mini+hooks

Aloha
tp

[tymbo]

I need to know what size bolts I need to attach the engine to the trans and the mounting bolts to the bus? Also what size bolts do I need for the starter?
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A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Rust is time consuming

[tymbo]

Ok, I just picked up a '74 type 4 1800 motor and I am about to get this Bus rolling soon. I am going to go ahead and rebuild the carb just while I have it out. I have a few questions for you guys:

1. How much fuel line do you think I will need and what size do I need?

2. I have a weber center mount carb and I need to know how long of a throttle cable I need.

3.I have a 6 rib trans and the 1800, can I use the flywheel and clutch setup from my 2.0L engine? Will it bolt up? If not what are my options?

4. I need some cheap plug wires just to get it running..can you send me in the right direction.

5. Anything else you guys can think of??


Thanks for any help.... trying to get this thing on the road by labor day because I already have my camp site paid for hahaha
_________________
A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

Rust is time consuming