68 panel - a long story short ish

[metz]

Dyno day!

Been quiet from my side as the winter here is coming in hard, but today Anders and I got to take the newly built engine to get it tested and dialled in. Very happy to end up at 110bhp and 133nm (with air filters). As we planned it pulls very well from the low revs. The limiting factor now is the exhaust and valve springs, but this should be more than enough power – at least for now

So next up would be to get the old engine out of the bus, install the oil cooler and filter and get the new one in. Since the winter is arriving, first drive will most likely be some time in the spring. We'll see.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[Brian]

I have a lot of questions, but the top one is:
Whats with the fan belt?
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Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter

[metz]

Hehe. It's one that Anders use on his race car when on the strip. It got stretch so one can easily take it on and off. We did most pulls without a belt, and then just popped it on to see how much it affected the power.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[9mmMike]

Does the '68 bay not require a mustache bar to mount the engine?
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1974 Thing - x-Acapulco
1989 Intermeccanica Roadster
1972 SCCA GT4 Beetle
1971 Chianti Red / Pastel white Bus
mcode -
Click to view image

[metz]

It does. Would’ve been easier to use a bus case, but this was what we had available at the time. We’ve modified an adapter plate (to make room for the oil pump and hose) that fits to the mustache bar. The bar is still on the bus with the stock engine. Will need to clean that up when it’s out, mount external oil filter and cooler, delete the og air filter bracket, prepare tins etc.

The bus is currently having a good look at its new power unit after finally being united with it.

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[9mmMike]

Those Berg "specials" 42 DCNF's bring back some good memories of my old 1776 (in a bug). When the bug was gone, I had them rebuilt and never installed them on a 2009cc engine for my Intermeccanica. Match-ported (is that even a thing anymore?) to my Berg heads.
No mounting bosses in that case either or I would have put in into my '71 bus by now. Such a sweet engine.
Really enjoying this build. My bus has not been on the road in years.
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1974 Thing - x-Acapulco
1989 Intermeccanica Roadster
1972 SCCA GT4 Beetle
1971 Chianti Red / Pastel white Bus
mcode -
Click to view image

[airschooled]

Soooo uhhhh are we going to talk about the tin?
Robbie

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Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[TDCTDI]

[metz]

9mmMike: Cool, man. They don’t show up every day, so gives a nice touch.

asiab3: Lets it is temporary, so have at it.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[airschooled]

Haha it's been a while, and nothing has changed. I see engines on dynos like that from time to time, but I legitimately went to test drive a bus one time in ARIZONA that had no cylidner cover tin…

"Gotta let the air in, dude!"
Robbie
_________________
Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[metz]

Not much new, but scored a 010 distributor to replace the one that I’ve been borrowing.

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Dropped the engine last night. Strapped up the transmission and used a motorcycle jack to drop it - quick and painless.

Test fitted the extremely custom adapter plate we made for the bug case to work in harmony with full flow and the mustache bar. Hand in glove.

Got the oil system planned out, just need to pick up some hardware. More on that next time.

Cheers
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Long time no see. I bought a new apartment in February that needed renovating, so work on the bus came to a halt. Slowly been picking up pace again and we are close to getting the bus back on the road – only this time with plenty of power!

So, to get the thread back up to speed I'll do a few posts starting where we left off.

After getting the old engine out, I needed to make room for the new one. This obviously had to go.

A hard-fought and not pretty battle, but after sticking in there with various tools I came out on top.

Cleaning and welding up the mess.

There has always been a hole on the other side, so now was a good time to delete it.

Tacked in.

Not pictured: finished welding, grinding, filler, sanding. Messy, but did clean up OK.

Etch primed and had a rattle can mixed with the correct color. Good match.

Of course I forgot to take pictures after removing the masking.

Next time you'll see how sorting out cooling tins can take half a lifetime and still not turn out great. Don't miss it.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

As promised: tins. I got hold of a fan house that needed some work, so scuffed it down to get it ready for primer.

After that I realized that I needed to weld up some holes and make a new cable clamp to replace the old one that was falling apart.

Test fitting before for paint was a PITA. A part from the fan house they all had terrible fit. I think we spent two nights on this.

After running out of my first can of 2k black I had to get another, which turned out to have a different gloss. Oh well, I didn't bother to do it all over because those cans are expensive and I wanted to move forward. Like Anders' expression can tell you, we don't care and are happy to see some progression.

I managed to find a newer style engine mount bar, so I didn't have to use the early patched and rusted up one from my old engine. Prepped it for paint.

Then put a couple of coats of POR-15 on it (my new "daily" on the left, but that's another story).

Behold for the unicorn. Beetle case, full flow, type 2. We had to go quite custom on the adapter plate, but it fits.

Sort of! Upon test mounting the assembled engine in the back of the bus, we couldn't get the engine mounts to line up with the holes in the bus. They simply couldn't come enough forward when we had bolted it to the tranny. So we let the engine sit on the jack while taking out the engine bar to meet up with the angle grinder.

I tought of roughly 8mm of the towers and touches up the bare metal with some paint. That, along with some elbow grease did the trick.

We fired it up for the first time since it was adjusted and called it a night. Next up is the external oil system along with some missing bits and pieces. Then hopefully take it for a spin again.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Haven't been great at documenting everything, but there has been a lot of progress. We finally got everything fitted and dropped it back on its wheels. Felt really good to see it on the ground again.

We pulled out at midnight and the first test went smooth. It pulls really nice throughout the range, just as we planned. Had to fiddle with the carb linkage that didn't let it shut properly which lead to a high idle when warm. Pretty much sorted that now, and I've ordered a throttle linkage from Buttys Bits to make the pedal smoother.

With a noisey clutch we realized we've forgotten the part between the throwout bearing and the pressure plate. No idea where it is, but will have to find it or get a new one to get rid of that sound. So the engine needs to be separated from the tranny again. Hopefully there is enough room to fit it without having the disassemble stuff to get the engine all the way out(?). There's also some other stuff to sort out like the temporary breather filter.

Then it was time for a new MOT. So took it to work in the morning and up to the shop later on. Feels really good to be driving it again.

Unfortunately, rules have gotten more strict here, so it did not pass because of the modified front beam and brakes. I now have to show it at the DMV and hopefully have the modifications approved.

Other than that the steering box has too much play, which has been bothering me. Good to get a kick in the butt to get that sorted. More motivated than ever. So fun to be driving it with some real power.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Quick visit to the garage after work yesterday. Dug out old steering box (that was replaced during the restoration because it was bad (with a box that turned out to be even worse)) and started cleaning it up.

Was expecting a badly worn worm, but upon inspection my amateur opinion is that these bits should last for years to come.

So I've ordered all the seals and bearings I could find online and will just clean, lube and rebuild with proper grease. Hopefully that should sort out the steering issue.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[metz]

Finished up the steering box last night. All bearings seemed fine, so I just packed them with grease. New seals rund baut and things are rotating nicely, so hopefully this will be a decent improvement.

Just need to fill it up and install it. I couldn't get NLGI 00 grease, but I did find NLGI 0. Not sure whether to use that or try SAE90. From what I understand, the manual states that gear oil is the correct lubricant, but everyone seems to be using and advocating thicker stuff. Because of leaks I assume. Any expert opinions? Feel free to chime in.

I really need to get some better light above my desk. Hard to get good photos.
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[calvinater]

John Deere corn head grease.
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"Albatross"!

[metz]

[metz]

So I ended up filling the box with SAE90 hypoid as the manual states, which seems to be working great – no leaks yet. I'll change to grease later if it becomes a problem. But the wandering when driving didn't change so had to inspect further. The video below shows that the box has little play, but when following the link backwards, the steering swing arm moves up and down instead of sideways – exactly when there is slop in the steering wheel (the keen eye will also spot the Buttys Bits throttle linkage which was a really nice upgrade).


Link

So I've ordered a new pin and bushing kit which should hopefully be the end being nervous on the highway.

Drove the bus to have all wheels adjusted prior showing it to the DMV next week to get the front beam and brakes approved, which again will make it pass the MOT.

The engine is a beast. Starts right up, is easy to drive and pulls really well. Very stoked about that. I also quite like the look without the rear bumper. What do you think?

And here it is parked next to my other car, which I bought back in May... No, not the Saab

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68 panel
64 ghia coupe