Help Prioritizing the Projects on My '73 Bay Window Bus

[Seventy3Bus]

Greetings! I just purchased my first VW - a 1973 Bay Window Bus. It runs, has pretty minimal rust, and overall seems to be in pretty good shape for what I paid for it. Ultimately my goal is to restore the body, paint it in the same color scheme, convert the back into a sleeping/living space, and get the engine running well enough for weekend and possibly longer road trips.

Here are some projects that I've identified so far... the floorboard paint around the bench seat mounts has failed and there is some heavy surface rust. The floor has also rusted through around the bench mount nearest the sliding door and in front of the driver's side seat. It was in an accident a couple owners back that resulted in the nose clip being crush in. The last owner pulled a nose clip of a bus that was being parted out and tack welded it on, but you can see that it is kind of a hack job. The back right headlight area also sustained some damage. The previous owner told me that he was able to hammer it back into shape, and that it is all metal, but I'm not really sure what the bondo to metal ratio is. Finally, the engine starts right up, and idles just fine, but it seems to be running kind of rough and backfires. It does fine in reverse, but is kind of jumpy in first and second, and I haven't gotten it into third and fourth other than the test drive. It seems to run ok when I press the accelerator hard, but the engine sputters and the car jumps when the accelerator is between no pressure and about halfway to two thirds depressed.

I've ordered a copy of Mark Paxton's book, John Muir's book, and the Official Service Manual. I would like to do as much of the restoration myself as possible, but I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment. Where should I start? Should I focus on the engine and mechanical side first, or should I start by removing rust and getting the body ready for paint.

Thanks for your help!

[kooper271]

Get the engine happy first. Probably needs fuel lines. I don't know much about carbs but yours may need cleaned/rebuilt/tuned.

replace your rubber brake lines. If they collapse, your brakes will stick. check out the rest of your brake system too. Being able to go is good, being able to stop is better

check out your grounds. clean them all up and grease them. Check your clutch cable too, it will act as a ground if you have bad grounds elsewhere, causing it to eventually break

[lil-jinx]

That looks real solid,the front "repair patch" should be easy to remove to see what is under it.
Nice bus
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1974 Bay Westfalia. she likes to be called Ethel.
1968 Dune Buggy
1974 parts bus
A smart man learns from his mistakes,a very smart man learns from other's mistakes.

[kooper271]

[Spike0180]

[Abscate]

Steer/suspend/tires - so you can kill yourself, to save others

Brakes - so you can stop and save yourself, and others

Engine - so you can go, and steer and stop.

...in that order...

I die a little inside when I read about people driving busses with brakes that 'work fine after a pump or two'
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.ssS!

[Seventy3Bus]

Hello everyone, thank you for all the advice! I've used the procedures from chapter III of John Muir's book to do most of the checks you recommended.

Tires:

The tires are all good, at least 3/8 of an inch of tread on each tire and they look pretty new... no dry rot.

Brakes:

The brakes seem very responsive, I only need to depress the brake pedal 1 inch before I start to feel pressure and the brakes start to do their thing. The front left disc is pretty grooved. I plan to take both front wheels off later this week to check the brake pads... and need to spend some time researching how to properly check the drum brakes in the back.

Engine:

After letting the engine idle for about 10 minutes I did a compression test and found the following:

Cylinder 1 - 86 PSI
Cylinder 2 - 123 PSI
Cylinder 3 - 100 PSI
Cylinder 4 - 115 PSI

I added a little oil to cylinders 1 and 3, turned the engine over a few times to distribute the oil, and tested again. The reading on cylinder 1 did not change, but the reading on cylinder 3 went up to 119 PSI... from what I've read here and in Muir's book this indicates a valve issue on cylinder 1 and a ring issue on cylinder 3. Thoughts?

Here are the pics of the spark plugs:

They were all a little oily, but I was idling the engine before pulling them, and the previous owner didn't really run the engine much over the last few years with the exception of starting it and maybe taking it around the block a couple times a year. The gaps on the plugs were all a lot more than .024 mm. I cleaned them and adjusted the gaps. New plugs are on order.

The engine starts right up after a couple cranks, but you need to feather the gas for the first minute or so to keep it idling. When I increase the engine RPMs the engine responds and then sort of bogs down and I get "pops" from both carburetors. My neighbor seems to think there is a timing issue, I'm thinking I will also need to adjust the carbs.

It is looking like I am going to have to drop the engine to address the compression in cylinders 1 and 3, but I would like to get the bus running well enough to drive it a bit in order to suss out any other issues before removing the engine for overhaul.

I ran out of time this weekend, but plan to do a more comprehensive check of the steering and suspension referencing chapter XII of Muir's book. However, during the test drive, and subsequent drives around my neighborhood I haven't noticed any shimmies, shakes, or pulling. Also there is not much play in the steering wheel, as soon as I start turning the wheel the tires start to turn.

I appreciate your help, and will keep posting updates as I do more work on the bus.

[Wildthings]

The rubber brake lines likely need replacing even if the brakes work fine. A failed brake line can ruin a whole lot more than your day.

Your fuel lines most likely need to be replaced as well. You need to run ethanol resistant line, which means either 30r9 or 30r14 rated fuel hose. Conventional fuel hose, 30r6 or 30r7, should not be used with today's fuels yet unfortunately is still commonly sold and used. An engine fire can engulf your treasure in a few minutes, making that rusty floor board you are concerned about a total non issue.