The Gift of the Mysterious ‘78 Kombi

[SiameseCitys]

I’ve popped my head out to ask a couple of questions and I’ve noticed a couple of “here’s my bus” threads... so here’s mine.

First, back in high school I had a ‘72 Kombi, only for about 6 months. I loved it but it needed lots of work. Work I never did. One day when it was sitting in a mechanic’s parking lot, it was hit by a car, into a pole, so the damage on the two sides made my insurance company decide it was a loss. I’ve been waiting to buy myself a bus ever since.

About 5 weeks ago a co-worker of mine said he was going to have to junk his bus because he didn’t have anywhere to store it and he didn’t have time to try and sell it. I said, “if you’re just cool with getting rid of it, I’ll take it off your hands.” Everyone in the room chuckled at my comment, which couldn’t be serious... then 2 weeks later he texted me if I was serious, and if I handled the towing, then I could have the bus.

So now I’m a proud owner of a 1978 transporter, Champagne Addition (thanks fellow members for imparting that fact). I don’t know anything about the bus. He didn’t know anything about the bus. He thought it was a ‘79, and he thought all the wiring was messed up in it.

I jumped the battery and power immediately went to the clock (yes, the clock works), the lights turned on, and even the heat started humming a little. But there wasn’t enough power to get the car to turn over. That’s what brought me here. I got a lot of great pointers, and I’ve realized this endeavor isn’t going to just be a jump-the-battery-and-go.

Since I wasn’t expecting this, I’m not in a position to drop too much cash into it. So this will be a slow process of me learning about how to work on it and seeing what I can fix on my own for the time being. Like other threads I’ve seen, I’ll update here as I make progress.

Other mysteries of the bus: it was driven for a couple of hours from South Carolina to North Carolina, but then it never came back on. Previous owner told me there was a porche engine in the bus, which went up to 6 gears, but to my untrained feel, I can only seem to move the clutch into 4 spots. There is a mystery knob I have to investigate.

There’s a little list of issues the former owner gave to my coworker which I’ll have to try and fix. And then, to be frank, once it drives I’ll spend some time making cosmetic changes before I dive deep into the mechanics (unless that’s a foolish thing to do)

First on my list is to replace the battery, positive and negative cables. Change the oil and drain/replace the gas. If it cranks one, great, I’ll look at other ‘getting started’ type actions. If it doesn’t, I’ll start troubleshooting if it’s an electrical or fuel issue.

I’m open to any tips/advice/anecdotes... because I don’t even know how much I don’t know. I don’t know which sticky topics are relevant to me, I don’t know which topics or projects would serve me well.

I haven’t named her yet.

[KentABQ]

Holy crap, Batman.... That thing is CLEAN and SOLID!

You've scored the deal of the decade there.

Definitely take it slow getting back running. Post lots of pictures here and ask lots of questions. Keep it all in this thread, so you can refer back to it in the future.
I was given an immense amount of help when I got mine, and it made the difference between a well running van, versus selling from frustration of not getting it running.

You have lots of jealous fellow Sambanistas rooting for you.
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-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[SiameseCitys]

There’s a bit of damage on the front end passenger side, which in my quest for a ‘64 Deluxe Walkthrough (the dream bus) I got it I to my head that “the nose must be good... MUST be good.” So I was bummed to not see the damage until I got it home, but since then, after instagram accounts, and searching for parts, I’m seeing that I can always fix the front end on this, so I’m no longer worried.

So yeah, I agree, it’s definitely clean and solid and I feel incredibly lucky to have it for the cost of a tow.

I’ve got a stupid question, which I was going to post in that stupid question thread, but I’ll ask it here.

How do I get the positive cable out of the bus? It’s goes behind the engine wall, so I started to remove that to see what was behind and I found my gas tank. I haven’t crawled under the bus yet, but from looking at it, I don’t know if I’m going to find it from that angle either.

Is it an under the bus issue or do I have to get behind the engine?

[KentABQ]

I just replaced my battery cables a week ago, so it's fresh in my mind.
The positive cable goes thru the firewall, but not into the gas tank compartment. It snakes out and connects to the starter, which is just in and forward of the passenger rear tire. There are a number of wires that attach to the same post on the starter. And be sure to put them all back on when you're done. I missed one, and it had me scratching my head for a couple days as to why my alternator light was on.

It's an easy job to replace. Just make sure to clean ALL the connections to bright shining metal, and make sure they are tight. And you might use a thin smear of dielectric grease on the connections. Dielectric grease is also called bulb grease at parts stores.

Edit: Oh yeah.... Also make sure NOT to mix up the positive and negative on the battery. It fries some very tough to replace components, mainly diodes in the alternator, if I remember right. So double check before making the last connection to the battery.
_________________
-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[Manfred58sc]

Great Bus, Do not over torque the drain bolt for the oil!!! Doing so can severely damage the engine. A Bentley manual will be the best money you spend.

Good score and good luck.
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Fat chick owner/operator

[67ctbug]

You got that for free!?!? That was an insane deal!
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'67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'72 Dodge Wrecker
Go Cubs!
World Series Champions 2016

[Spike0180]

Your free bus is nicer than what I paid $5000 for... dang. Nice score!

[Wildthings]

You could buy certain model Porsches with VW engines, so what you have isn't a Porsche engine it is a VW Type 4 engine that Porsche also used in a couple of their contemporaneous models. Yes you most likely have a stock 4 speed transmission.

Good looking rig, hope you have a lot of fun with it.

[Tom Powell]

[78BusGA]

Wow, what an amazing find and inheritance! Lucky you! Beautiful color too! The chrome rear bumper looks nice on it.

How long had it sat for? Do you yet have more photos of it? Photos of the engine and tranny would he great to see if there was a conversion done. 6 speeds... that sounds like a tease to me!
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Few will understand the passion and majesty, among the nuts and grease.

Tom H.

My '74 Super 1303 thread - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764902&start=60

My '78 Kombi Bus thread - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=769385&highlight=

'72 Superbeetle (retired), '78 Bus Kombi 2.0FI, '74 1303 Superbeetle

[TDCTDI]

Awesome score! I'm in Raleigh if you need help, PM me if you need anything.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[SiameseCitys]

There’s actually a Bentley repair manual in the bus already, almost all the pages are readable and free of mold.

I can’t say the thought of a souped up, 6 speed transmission wasn’t exciting, but if the engine is a stock type 4, then I won’t feel so overwhelmed to work on it.

A little help... what’s that tool Tom Powell posted? Is that for cleaning?

78BusGA, it sat for a couple of years. Purchased and driven in the second half of 2015. I’ll get pictures of the engine and transmission up in the next couple of days.

[KentABQ]

[jtauxe]

[Tom Powell]

[Wildthings]

The picture is of an early bay and not about the late bay central to this thread.

Don't know why VW changed that orientation of the battery, but perhaps to lessen the change that the positive terminal might touch and body and blow a big hole into it.

[khalimadeath]

Nice score. Keep it stock and do the maintenance right. Enjoy it for a long time.
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1970 Bus Westfalia
1964 Kombi

[Tom Powell]

[honestcharlie56]

If you wanna learn about the two types of people in this world, simply give them a bucket. People will toss money in your bucket and $h!t in mine, HA. Enjoy the bus! Good things come to those who keep their ear to the ground. Lets see more pics.

[SiameseCitys]

I’m not around here enough for you guys to know me, but many of you have been a lot of help and I’m so appreciative.

Got the bus running today. Kind of. I did routine maintenance on it, some stuff I’ll need to do better or with better parts for piece of mind. For example, I bought a new ground strap because mine was is a little beat up and has kinks in it. But what I received was just a plain strap, with no battery connections on it, so the bus had the old one, which is fine for now, but I want something better. Also, the new battery has the terminals opposite of what I need, so I plan on getting a longer positive cable to lessen how taut it is. And I need a new drain plug, because as you can see, the previous owner mangled it and It’s almost completely stripped. So right now I’m waiting to accumulate enough “needs” to make shipping costs worth it.

It’s turning itself off when idling, so I’ve got a new goal to study on and fix, but at least I know it isn’t a completely dead bus in need of a total overhaul.

I still haven’t registered the thing because the previous owner isn’t being much help, and I can’t seem to get a hold of a state inspector to look over my “antigue” vehicle. Either way, it feels like the finish line (of having it be a daily driver) is in sight. Then I can get to work on replacing and improving.

Edited to add: someone asked for pictures of the engine and tranny, I’ve yet to get pictures of the transmission, and I didn’t really take great shot of the engine, it was more of a general overview shot.

Any ideas of what kind of shots I should be taking, what things I should focus on? Let me know.
Thanks again.