Taking the plunge on a restoration project

[capkirk45]

Back story:

I bought my 1977 Type 2 bus in 2012 and it drove pretty good for a number of years. The engine was a Type4 FI, 1600 2L. "Syd" was my surfer bus, and I loved her like a child. We had many good years together, and then one day in 2018, this happened:

Long story short, Syd caught fire while in rush hour traffic in Portland. I had a fire extinguisher with me, which did put the fire out, but soon after it started back up and I was doomed.

For 18 months Syd sat in my garage. My intentions to fix her slowly ebbing away as I walked past her stricken state nearly every day.

I thought if I could just get that burnt up engine out of her, I could make this happen, but it seemed so daughting.

My lack of confidence continued to grow and I was ready to give up. Then Covid-19 came along, and I felt a resurgence of passion and enthusiasm, and I set about making Syd whole once again.

Granted, my lack of engine and mechanical know-how was, and is real, but I was motivated now to make it happen. Two weeks ago, through sheer determination, I pulled the engine.

For me this was huge, and I felt a tremendous surge of confidence.. i CAN do this!!

Once the engine was out, I set about cleaning up and getting the engine compartment into a healthy place. I also started a search for a new engine, and have located a seasoned builder back in the Midwest. A newly built dual carb Type4 engine will soon be delivered.

This weekend I set about cleaning up that back end, and here's where Syd currently stands:

The next step is to get a new wiring harness installed. That starts tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

[KentABQ]

Glad to hear you survived every van/bus owners' worst nightmares.
And that something good can come of this virus shutdown.

Definitely keep us posted on the progress, okay?
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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

[Jeff Geisen]

You’ve obviously dedicated much time and funds to getting your bus back on the road. Keep up the good work.
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I Corinthians 4: 1 thru 5

‘63 ragtop - ‘68 single cab

[ImAddicted]

Awesome! You’ve got this! I’m impressed how her rear cleaned up. Wow, that sounds kinda bad...
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1979 Transporter (sold)
KC1MUR

[crownline]

Looks great. I'm sure your going to remove the firewall and change All fuel hoses.
Was the inside really bad with smoke damage?
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1972 Bus 1700 cc Single Carb. But not a progressive.
Barelymuvin
Wish I still had the ones I got rid of.

"It"s got some dings and dents and neither of us is going to SEMA."(Update, I went to SEMA in 2019 but the Bus stayed home)
[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-8446.png]Click to view image[/URL]

[chris86uk]

Well done! Great to see you sorting your bus out. Bet you can't wait to get it back on the road.

Did you ever find out what exactly caused the fire?
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1977 VW T2 - 1.6 Twin Port

[cmonSTART]

That's amazing progress! Keep it up!
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'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS

[orwell84]

I’m surprised it cleaned up so well. It looks like you got the fire out pretty quickly as it did not seem to burn beyond the engine compartment. You are very lucky you only lost the engine. Good luck with your project.

[wagohn]

Looks great. Did you ever figure out where the fire began?

[Abscate]

Take the time and restore the fuel injection when you can. The expertise and parts chain for carbs are dying and the fuel injected motor is superior in many ways.

At lastly, the market for our car, if you ever want to sell, is vastly expanded if you can sell to CA, which you can’t with a carved 1977

Robbie , asiab3 , can help you get squared away with FIJ
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.ssS!

[capkirk45]

[capkirk45]

[capkirk45]

[capkirk45]

[capkirk45]

Struggling to find a good DYI video on installing wiring harness. One talks about how to read the diagram but I’m less certain about how to actually install it. Anyone know of a good resource?

[capkirk45]

Running into a problem with my wiring. Right-front turn signal works when lights are off, but when I turn them on, it stops blinking. Can't seem to figure out why this is so. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[SamboSamba22]

[capkirk45]

An update on the project ..

Spent the past 6 or 8 weeks (lost track) working on the restoration every night after day job, and all weekend. Pulled the burnt engine, repaired and painted back-end, bought new wiring harness and installed. Replaced tail lights. Replaced bad rear axle. Wired everything up.

New engine arrived last week (Willie Page). Figured out how to get it (500+ pounds) from truck, and into engine compartment. Spent two day desperately trying to get engine and transmission to mate. Doing this by yourself is probably not possible, as I found out, but I got very close. Had bus up on ramps, and that angle was killing me. Lesson learned, jack up front to reduce angle. Found a couple of helpers and got the mating done. Wired and hooked up everything else, but ran into a couple of issues ..

Issue 1: My accelerator cable was too short. Ordered an extender, which is coming. In the meantime I rigged up my own extender using a second barrel bolt and 20 gauge wire. It works, but I don't get full pedal extension. Hoping the extender fixes that.

Issue 2: Didn't realize the idiot wire coming off of VR needed to be hooked up to dash light, and my battery was not getting charged.

QUESTION: My wiring harness has a blue/greenish wire coming into engine compartment .. is that the correct wire for the idiot connector? I had this wire connected to oil pressure switch, which also looks to be blue on diagram.

Which wire goes to VR, and which goes to the oil pressure switch??

Issue 3: Does radio go to fuse 7? Does lighter also go to fuse 7?

Been a very interesting and enlightening experience, and a great way to pass this Covid-19 time away. Never thought I'd see old Syd healthy again, and it's truly sublime to be driving him again!

[BUSBOSS]

Nice work. I would also install one of these:

http://blazecut.com/small-enclosures/description/
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All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
1976 Westfalia
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (sold - but not forgotten)

[capkirk45]