Buggeee's 1966 Sportsmobile Camper by Travel Equipment Corp

[Buggeee]

The good - Successfully created a stud for the nose cone mount, where a prior owner had installed a long bolt with a stack of washers.

The bad - Then I ran into a setback trying to mount the transaxle.

The ugly - Even after chasing the threads, three of the holes in the RGBs look like the top one in this picture... Yuck!

It had taken quite a bit of work with the heavy air impact wrench to get some of these frozen bolts out, and too much material has been lost. In the three bad holes the bolts start tearing threads out at less than 20lbs, and they are going to be asked to hold 80lbs of torque.

So I pulled the transaxle back out and ordered the time sert kit, a pack of inserts, and all new grade 10.9 bolts. I've got some time to fill waiting for those.
_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

[Buggeee]

This evening the rockers got assembled, installed and the valves adjusted.

And with some spare time I installed the oil pump.

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

Well... I woke up in a cold sweat realizing I had forgot to put in the cylinder air diverter tins. They go in before the pushrod tubes and heads go on.

So I did it again.

Here they are painted and in place.

As long as the heads are off again I'll show you the head diverter tins, which I had in the first time. Here you go.

I got the heads back on and tried to rotate the engine to adjust the valves, but it would only go less than half way around in either direction and then stop. It was the oil pump. I had put back the longer late style pump that had been in there with a late dished camshaft. The new camshaft is flat, and interferes with the longer late oil pump. Here's where the rivets on the flat camshaft hit the longer late pump.

So I await the arrival of a shorter early pump to mate with the flat camshaft.
_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

Back to the transaxle and RGBs...

I put the Time Sert inserts in the three holes that needed proper threads.

Then mounted the transaxle with fresh grade 10.9 bolts. I used 30mm bolts rather than the 25mm that were in there. I thought the longer bolts would just barely clear with the wavy washers, but knew confidently that they would clear with the thicker split washers so I used those, along with blue Loctite thread dressing.

A clamp helps me get the bolts started and hand assembled without cross threading (thank you Bentley)

They torqued to 72 ft lbs, which is the minimum of the range, where I stopped and accepted the win. With both split washers and Loctite, I have no worries about them coming loose.

Here's how it looked before I remembered the brake line bracket.

A new ground strap was called for at this point. The location was selected on the basis of its 9 inch length, and more so because a new stud was needed on the nose cone, so I used that clean contact, and a new stud was on the drivers side of the torsion mount, so I used that clean contact.

The rear shift coupler bolts were then safety wired.

Ahhhh... time to look around....

And she's back on the ground!

Because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy....

One of my crew hooked me up with vintage traveling necessities: a cooler, suitcase, and picnic kit.

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buenos Diaz]

Nice! I always enjoy your updates!
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1967 21 Window Bus
1965 Beetle
2019 Atlas

[69aircooled]

This is such a great thread to watch! I've enjoyed your approach and commend you on such a cool camper project!
The diverter tins, so I'm not the only one who's missed them, but remembered, only to pull the heads again. Anyways, great work and thank you for the documentation as you go.

[Buggeee]

Right on Peeps! We are not alone, and somebody has been there before us, along side us, and following in our wake.

So here's the difference in depth between an early and late style oil pump. Within each type there are also variations on the gears that create more or less pressure, and I went with the low pressure because I've got a single relief case. But that's a different discussion and here you go with early and late side by side. The shallow early style is on the right, not quite as deep.

The early pump is in, the engine spins around, the valves are adjusted (again) and we are back on track!

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

Today involved drilling out the shaft of an old broken bolt, threading the hole, and installing a new negative battery cable. Woohoo!

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

Just a little update as the power plant progress inches forward.

Here I've sorted out the best of the worst of my tin collection, which got a power washing, wire brushing, metal prep (phosphoric acid), and satin black Rust-Oleum paint.

Here I'm clearing carbon from the intake preheat tube with an old clutch cable chucked into a hand drill. A classic move, if I may say so.

The intake manifold got heat tolerant engine paint in an off-the-rack color from my f.l.a.p.s., so as to prolong the burn-off of the paint from the preheat tube

As she sits today. I found a bag of new cheese head tin screws so I burned that on this for a touch of detail. Those with a fuel pump fetish may receive a refund of their admission at the front office - as I happened to have a new alternater-style fuel pump and matching rod which will serve for now. (Please remember that the distributor is a stand-in stunt double for this shot)

I do like the update to doghouse offset oil cooling for this eager, but under equipped little engine.

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

An enjoyable day. Scored a little roof rack with ladder, locally, to add some visual clutter.

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

A new tank, sender, sock, seals and fiber pads from Wolfsburg West

Contact cement held the fiber pads and body to tank seal in place for installation

The neck was resisting conformity

So it received some mild persuasion

And it agreed to come into alignment with the cause

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[scrivyscriv]

[Buggeee]

She's legal

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

Cleaned some old heater boxes with Purple Power degreaser, power washer and a wire brush. Then, when dried to a nice golden patina hue, painted them with some xion converter primer followed a couple days later with heat resistant gray paint. The xion website has some demonstrations with a torch that make me think this will work

Hit some details in final assembly and realized I'll be living with the electronic 009 for the time being as all my other junk distributors are DVDA.

Sorted 56 years of hacks in the rear wiring harness, and magnetized the generator, and then mounted the engine!

Still many details to dial in before attempting to start it... but she is mounted!!!
_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

A 12v battery in size 26 fits in the place of the 6v battery, using the 6v battery strap.

I do not have a cover so I do not know how the 6v cover might affect the situation.

I chose to use the height spacer that came with the battery to keep the metal strap off of the acid caps on top of the battery, but it is a tight fit this way, in terms of getting the metal strap into position. I would have had an easier time if I used something shallower to fill the space in the center between the acid caps on top of the battery where the metal strap crosses the top of the battery.

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

I'm out of time for painting things as the (God willing) debut of KRANKENWAGEN is next weekend's big Father's Day car show at the German Club. So, it's just rolling through assembly at this point and the rest of my life to revisit the details.

Air cleaner. Check.

Funny looking, cartoonish, splitty bus tail pipe. Check.

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buenos Diaz]

Looks great!
_________________
1967 21 Window Bus
1965 Beetle
2019 Atlas

[Buggeee]

Oh Yeah! On the road well in advance of the Father's Day Debut of the Krankenwagen!!!!! Time for an Ice Cream!!!

Oh No! Dead on the side of the road with a seized engine and fried starter!!!

Thank my Maker for the Missus who jumps right out to pick me up.

Well really, at this point I was fully committed to an ice cream one way or another.

On the way home stopped to fill the tank. This was not how I had envisioned the first fill-up shot to look.

Once home I pulled the engine for a tear-down.

If you want to see the internal carnage, resulting from a defective camshaft, plus a pinched bearing, plus myriad other sins, you can peruse all that with this link to the post on the engine forum. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=769327

More to come as there is a happy ending....
_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

With the German Club's Father's Day car show less than three days away, I give up on finding an engine new or used and drag this old dual port out of the corner of the barn and tear it down for a pressure washing to see if it can be worked up into something...

With 31 hours to Father's Day, I've got the short block assembled with a new crankshaft, new crank and rod bearings, and keeping the camshaft and lifters that were in there - returned to their married holes to retain the work hardening of the cam and lifter surfaces.

I swapped the upper studs to use the single port heads, cleaned up the pistons and jugs from the prior effort, as they are brand new and unharmed, and went in a rampage.

In the middle of the night, with four hours to go, I stuffed it all into the back of the Krankenwagen and began the break in procedure!!!! Without a replacement starter arriving until next week, I rigged up a remote starter button so I could reach the starter with a hammer as I fed it juice. This will have to do. We're on a mission...

The next morning, poured a HUGE coffee, checked the valve clearances....

And hit the road!!!!!!!

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)