Engine help and advice needed.

[ComfortablyNumb]

I bought a '65 camper last month. I had hoped it was going to be turnkey but have run into a few problems. I discovered the muffler has a hole in it, thanks to fuel leaking out of it. Here is a picture of the engine bay.

Seller told me it is an 1835. He got it that way. Are there any identifying numbers or manufacturer brand I can look for?

Here is the hole in the muffler, and another picture taken from the tire well. If you zoom in you can see the exhaust system is wet with fuel.

This is a picture of the fuel pump, filter, and something with numbers and what looks like a dial. I have no idea what it is or does.

This is the one of the carburetors. Can someone tell me what kind it is, or where identifying marks would be?

Another problem I have is it not starting, which is probably a good thing! Here is a picture of the starter.

I had VWs a lifetime ago, they were all stockers. This is my first with dual carbs, and I was told it has a freeway flyer trans. Is there a good manual for these engines? I'll tackle this on my own if I can as I am at least 100 miles from any shop that works on air-cooled, maybe more. The rubber around the engine tin is gone, I've ordered a new one, so was planning to pull the engine anyway.

Thanks in advance for any advice or insight.

[type241]

Where in Washington are you, that you are at least 100 mi from a VW mechanic?

[ComfortablyNumb]

[type241]

There is/was Nickles in East Wenatchee (509) 884-2317.

- I would ditch all the chrome tin and hunt down all stock cooling tin.
- Right now you have no heat and a shitty exhaust(do you want heat?)
- Replace fuel pump with an original rebuilt mechanical pump. The electric pump and pressure regulator are probably your over fueling issue.(fuel out of exhaust)

[Eric&Barb]

[Glenn]

I'll repeat and add.

That looks like oil on the right side exhaust, are you sure it's gas?
Replace the electric fuel pump and regulator with a stock mechanical.
Replace all of the fuel hose while you're at it.
While i'm not a fan of chrome tin, unless you're gonna replace it with stock VW tins... leave it alone.
The fan shroud has the fresh air outlets blocked and no heater boxes so you need to close off the 2 large holes in the rear tin to prevent hat air being sucked into the engine.
The carb linkage has really bad geometry, the down links should be perpendicular, not at an angle.
You want the missing lower tin on the passenger side.
Being in a Bus i'd suggest adding stock fan shroud flaps and thermostat. Your engine will warm up faster and last longer since you live in a cool and damp climate.
As to displacement, no way to know without removing the head and measuring. The top of the piston is marked with the side. You might be able to remove a spark plug and get a scope inside. But odds are its covered in carbon and you won't be able to see it.
_________________
Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

[Eric&Barb]

Forgot to mention, once down to the long block would retorque all the case fasteners and then the heads just like as when building the engine.
_________________
In Stereo, Where Available!

[type241]

You must be in Omak, Okanogan, Ororville area. There are some Samba members in our area that have the parts,knowledge, and skills if you are totally lost. Show some pics of the bus.

[Eric&Barb]

The main positive cable (also the wiring harness is missing grommet) from the battery passing thru the firewall without the factory rubber grommet is a class act to a wiring fire there and maybe even blowing up the battery!!
_________________
In Stereo, Where Available!

[BulliBill]

Welcome to our "Bus world" ComfortablyNumb!

Thats' not a hole in your muffler. Thats a huge gash! You're gonna need to replace that with another header/muffler or better yet a stock/original VW Bus muffler.

Listen to all the folks above me as they are all giving you great advice and we all want you to eventually be happy with your Bus (like we are with ours). Find a few local enthusiasts and ask 'em who locally do they trust to service their Buses and pay them a visit or ask them to visit your Bus for recommendations.

I would recommend at least a service manual that we all nickname "the Idiot Book" "How to keep your Volkswagen alive - a manual of step by step procedures for the compleat Idiot" by author John Muir, but even better would be a used or new copy of the "Workshop Manual - Volkswagen Transporter" ( https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2721944 ) covering the particular year of your Bus published by Robert Bentley Publishers. Not cheap, but the very best of all the manuals out there to use to understand was service your Bus.

Bill Bowman
_________________
I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[ComfortablyNumb]

First off, I'd like to apologise for posting in this tread. I'm new to the forum and see that there is a section for engines, which is probably where I should have posted.

Second, thanks for your kind and helpful responses. When I turn the key on, I can hear the fuel pump. I've been working on a home remodel project (take care of SWMBO before the bus) for the past week and a half. I noticed that when I took the pics yesterday that there is still fuel coming out of the hole in the exhaust and the ground under is saturated. Your responses make me wonder why electric fuel pumps are used.

Last night I ordered a 63-67 manual http://www.bentleypublishers.com/volkswagen/repair-information/vw-type-2-63-67-repair-manual.html I couldn't find a 67-71. There is a 68-79 http://www.bentleypublishers.com/volkswagen/repair...anual.html Is this the one you were referring to, E&B?

As for heat, I don't really need it. I will garage it in the winter. Spring and fall I dress accordingly, and summers are hot. As soon as I get the remodel project complete, I'll look for a shop, seems like some professional help is in order. I have just enough mechanical skills to get me into trouble.

Yes, I am in Okanogan County, just north of Omak. Air-cooleds are like hen's teeth around here, you don't see many. I got the bus over in Gig Harbor, it was on this site and CL. Owner's wife got it for him as a present, but he's more into Vanagons and didn't drive the split much. I haven't take many pics, here's one from the day I picked it up.

I'd be happy to meet fellow enthusiasts in the area. If you are ever up this way, give me a shout out. I don't get down to ML much, mostly Wenatchee or Spokane. But if I do I'll shoot you a PM.

[Eric&Barb]

[Eric&Barb]

Do also go into the "Owner's Manuals" thru the "Technical" button at upper right. Once in the type 2 section of that scroll down to your year of bus, that will be like AUG1964 when your model year started. Print out two copies of that. One for the home library and the other to have onboard. Read often till you have a good general grasp of what is in it and how to find it quickly with the index. The only info in there that is bogus IOHO is the "Speed ranges for shifting" advice, EG driving in 4th gear at 20 MPH, that is going to damage the engine due to lugging it. Best for longevity of the engine to stick with 1,500-3,000 RPM in 2-4th gears, first you can go lower , but still stick to 3,000 RPM for top. Only go above 3,000 RPM for short bursts, so say as to avoid going below 1,500 in the next upper gear when upshifting.

Once you have the bus running buy or borrow a tach and take a passenger to hold the tach and write down what MPH you hit those RPMs in each gear. That way you can figure what points to shift and if you might need a rebuild to get better gearing.

We once had a transaxle that topped out at 3,000 RPM in fourth at 35 MPH!!! Which is probably why the engine that came in the bus cargo area have a connecting rod shoved up thru the top of the engine case. Just to do 55 MPH that engine had to be doing 5,000 RPM.
_________________
In Stereo, Where Available!

[70bus]

Proper 'heat' hardware is more for the motor than for you... but as E&B point out, it doesn't hurt to heat you as well.

I would suggest a new gas tank, as the one ypu have has a dodgy-looking extra outlet with even dodgier-looking hardware on it to stop gas from spewing directly onto starter and engine.

This will suck for a while as you UN dreaded-previous-owner it, but will be worth it.
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[ComfortablyNumb]

Thanks for all the responses and information. On a good note, a member PMed me the name of another highly regarded member who is only about 40 miles away from me, which, when you live in rural areas, is practically next door. I've contacted him and we have exchanged a few texts. Hopefully, we can meet in the next week and get to work on getting the bus up and running properly. I'll keep all of you posted, and as always welcome comments and advice and perhaps meet some of you at PNW shows later this year.

[Eric&Barb]

Good to hear!! Do make sure to get the dog house fan shroud cooling system, and see if you can get it adapted for the type 4 oil cooler that is 40% bigger than the stock DH cooler.

Looking forward to any updates.
_________________
In Stereo, Where Available!

[Clara]

[ComfortablyNumb]

I'm still working on the remodel project, just today finished building a closet organiser for my wife, now she can put her clothes back into the closet. Next thing is finishing laying the flooring in the living room so she can get her furniture back in the house. My knees aren't looking forward to that but knowing that the bus is next is motivation.

I've been referred to a member who lives in Winthrop. This weekend is our 45th wedding anniversary (hard to believe she's put up with me that long, but she'll never divorce me because she'd have to take half my stuff and she doesn't want any of it!), so I'm thinking that going over to Winthrop for the day and dinner is in order. And, oh by the way dear, let's stop in a meet this guy who works on VWs. Like I said, hard to believe she's put up with me!

Once we meet and if he can help out, I'll start shopping for whatever list of parts he thinks I need. I hope it all works out; I'd like to be driving it instead of looking at it sit in an outbuilding.

I ordered the Bentley Manual for busses from a place in Seattle off eBay. They said delivery would be April 8-15, but Seattle is only a couple of delivery days away and should be here soon, right? That was a week ago and it hasn't shipped yet.

I have owned the Muir book in the past, will get it again.

Hopefully, it will be running soon, and I can drive it to some shows.

[ComfortablyNumb]

Unfortunately, not much has happened since I last posted. I did go over to the Methow Valley and met the Samba member; he has a cool shop with about a dozen split window busses. He does mostly metal work, but said he'd come over to check out my bus, make up a list of what I should get, and after all the stuff gets here for me to take my bus over to him. That was a couple of weeks ago and I haven't seen or heard from him. I'm not one to pester, so I'm moving forward.

Went by Nickles in Wenatchee. Nobody was there and no sign of VWs. I called the number; it is no longer in service. When I was in Spokane in March, I stopped into Euro-Union and met the owner. He said he was in the process of scaling back and perhaps even leaving the area, he's had enough of regulations and taxes. He did give me his card and said to send him an email. I did and have not gotten a response.

Damn the luck, eh? Plenty of air-cooled shops on the wetside, but I hate the idea of having to go over the hill (which is where I bought the bus) but I'm running out of options. I see there is a place in Spokane called Hooks, might have to reach out to them.

Meanwhile, I stopped by a friend's house, and it turns out he did some wrenching back in the day. He advised me to disconnect the fuel pump, pull the spark plugs, then try turning the motor by hand. If it moves, run the key. He suggested that the cylinders had filled with fuel and the motor wouldn't turn over because they can't compress the liquid. So, I pulled the hot wire off the pump, took out the plugs and turned the motor by hand, which moved freely. Put in the key and turned over the motor, it spun like a top and more fuel came out of the exhaust.

I'm guessing that the float on one of the carbs isn't doing its job, or the pump pressure is too great and it filled the cylinder with fuel. I haven't put the plugs back in and tried to fire the motor. Partly because I removed the muffler, and partly because I don't know if it would cause more issues. Would fuel leak past the rings and dilute the oil?

My inclination is to drain the oil, pull the motor and order up some tin and a new exhaust system. By the time the parts get here I will have figured out what to do or pack the motor into the back of my truck and head west.

Meanwhile, can anyone tell me what this is?

It has three hoses, two go behind the fan shroud, the other terminates just below the oil filler.

[Eric&Barb]