A Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo Build Thread...

[BumbleBus]

Hey Nepenthe88... loving this thread, but can I make a request to compress your images a bit? I'm on a 30mbit connection and I still feel like it takes forever for the thread to load the giant images. Just my .02. Thanks again for sharing!!
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'72 L11H Campmobile in various stages of disrepair. Just bumbling along...

[BusterBrown]

[Nepenthe88]

[Nepenthe88]

ok. In order to plumb this thing properly, I need to run a 1/2" line from the HOT out of the coolant manifold to Tom Shiels' Thermostat adapter piece. Turns out this is WAY harder to do than expected. What HE did was to build up some weld on the coolant manifold, drill it and tap it for a barbed brass fitting. I figured I would do something a little different cause I didn't want to tear the intakes off, buy new gaskets, etc. Soooo... The PO had an aftermarket temp sensor in an aluminum adapter in the HOT line, that I figured I could modify to accept a 1/2" barbed brass fitting and Voila, problem solved. Here's a pic of the coolant sensor adapter I have:

Ok, so first I bought an aluminum AN fitting nut, thinking I could TIG (or whatever) that on. Unfortunately the threads didn't match. Ugh. Sooo... I scarfed an old aluminum intake from a V8 my buddy had in his scrap pile and just so happened to have a threaded hole that fit the barbed brass fitting I had. Yay! A few minutes of sawzalling and grindering and I had it off, nicely doughnut shaped and ready to be TIG'd up.

Off we went, down the street to the TIG welder guy who said he'd zip it up and have it done This morning.... Well, apparently he didn't feel like working (it's literally a ten minute job, as his garage is already set up to weld ANYTHING), and took off to see a man about a dog or something. So, not only can I not get my pieces back (I was gonna have Wizard Cooling weld them up), but I have no Idea when he's coming back to do the job.... That puts a serious crimp in production, as I need that to plumb the radiator so I can start the engine so I can go back to troubleshooting idle issues so I can PUT IT ON THE ROAD AND DRIVE!!
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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Nepenthe88]

Since I couldn't plumb the radiator, I found other jobs to do.

First I made the Vehicle Speed Sensor WHEEL OF DEATH! This bolts behind the inner CV joint and sends a signal (5 pulses per rotation) that lets the ECU know how fast you're going. Normally the Subaru's speedo cable assembly supplies this signal, but our old mechanical cables have no ability to produce this signal, thus... Fabrication time!

I think you can see that as this rotates on the drive axle, an aftermarket sensor will be able to pick up 5 pulses per rotation as the sensor will be activated each time the steel passes across it's face (Beware BUNNIES!!) Next step is to hog out the inside and cut it in half so it can be removed without pulling the entire drive axle (which I'll need to do anyway to put new boots on, but.. who knows what I'll need to modify in the future). Note that I because I had 4 new CV boots, I was able to mock everything up off the bus. So, even if you don't need boots, I would suggest spending the $5 to buy one for mock up purposes

Ok then, I welded the coolant overflow bottle holding cage to the gas tank firewall and plumbed that. The stock subaru one would fit here as well if you flip the bracket 180*. I can't remember why I decided to use this aftermarket bottle? Sometimes I'm ridiculous like that.... anyway, before I placed the bottle, I shoved the entire subaru wire harness in the area behind the passenger wheel well. Before I shoved stuff in there, I cut a hole in the top (gonna need another access hatch ) so I could get to things, AND I padded the bottom with some closed cell foam from an old sleeping pad I've been using to crawl under the bus. You know, just to keep things from vibrating in their new home and driving me crazy.

Then I made this parking brake gasket out of something I found on the ground, before scrubbing the rubber mat clean and installing that.

...still needs a little more cleaned

Oh. and I also removed about 5lbs of copper by yanking out all sorts of unnecessary wires under the dash. There was a CB radio connection, two random connections to unknown stuff, and the crapped out coolant temp gauge. All GONE. I needed to do this cause I kept blowing the (constant HOT) emergency flasher fuse... He had all this PLUS the radio cobbed onto that big red wire going to the flasher switch with a couple of random (constant HOT) red wires just laying around for... I dunno? Fun? He added all this stuff using those little squeeze connectors that break the sheath of the wire with a little aluminum bridge to the new wire. He used FIVE of them on the poor red wire to the flasher switch. Thing looks like swiss cheeze. Gonna have to replace the wire so I don't start a bloody fire. Things are currently taped up until I can scarf a suitable gauge wire to replace it.
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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[GeorgeL]

Great thread! Thanks for the detail. Your bus is coming together well!

[BumbleBus]

[Nepenthe88]

[Nepenthe88]

ok, speaking of VSS senders and whatnot, I spent a LONG night last night pulling the rear drive axles, putting new CV boots on (the others were SHREDDED) and installing the Wheel of Death. This is probably one of my least favorite jobs ever. The hex head bolts are always full of crap and are made out of silly puddy. It's so easy to strip them, especially if they're on the acute angle side of the axle. I wound up buying 6 new bolts expecting this... definitely used all 6. This is also an obnoxiously messy job. Bleh. I'm glad it's done for another 20,ooo miles or something. Note I don't have the sensor mounted yet:

I included this pic so you could see where the fuel pump is mounted. I gotta remember to secure the filter as it kinda just flops around up there.

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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Nepenthe88]

And then I plumbed the radiator. Yay! To start, here's the piece I needed to get TIG welded. He did an ok job. Note this will house the coolant temp sending unit for an aftermarket gauge AND be the 1/2" out line running to the thermostat:

Here she is hooked up and seen thru the side scoop. I used two 90* bends. They should be easily replaced in the future if they start getting worn:

The 1/2" line bringing HOT water to the thermostat runs across the top of the engine bay and is held in place by a pair of rubber coated bracket thingies that I tacked on with the welder. Don't judge my crappy welds. I could hardly get my hand up there and definitely couldn't see what I was doing when my hands WERE up there. I then spritzed everything with silver paint to keep things from rusting:

Here is the COLD line from the radiator to the engine. note the stock Subee hose will NOT work as the radiator is about 4" higher now than in stock configuration. THIS hose is the bottom radiator hose from a 1997 S10 pickup truck. Why? Um.... cause we had one sitting out back waiting to be scrapped and it happened to work pretty well, that's why!!

And that's it. Currently, the heater core lines are just looped. I need to find some fittings to bring the lines into the cabin. I'm currently thinking about using some brass fittings with hose barbs that can screw together (or onto a nut I can secure to the body. Anyway, I don't need heat quite yet, that'll be another project. I wanna get her running and on the road already! hopefully tomorrow (I know I keep saying that, but now I'm REAL close!)
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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Nepenthe88]

AND... my buddy bent up an exhaust for me. It bolts onto the stock Subee cat after the Y-pipe connection. The bitch is trying to find the gasket to fit the cat flange (pictured) to the flange for the rest of the exhaust. NAPA wanted to sell me one that was about 3/4" thick (um, no). They finally let me in back to look thru all their exhaust gaskets for the proper sized ring one. Nothing works. I wound up using a flat triangular gasket as the Subee dealer is a gazillian miles away. Here's the offending connection:

Here she is from the front. I love this pic! Note it's all made out of one length of pipe and none of it hangs any lower than the stock subee headers we connected to:

here she is from the back. you can see how it hangs just below the subaru engine mount and just above the passenger side header

And here's a tailpipe that I scarfed from an OLD pontiac Grand Am I used to drive. I think it fit pretty well Aesthetically. Don't mind the wires dangling there, that's my wire harness for the TOW lights I still haven't removed

It requires one exhaust hanger that fits thru a stock bolt hole in the frame. This is the action shot of my buddy grinding off the excess. Note that it DOESN"T interfere with access to the bumper bolts AND the exhaust tip hangs low enough where I should be able to get the bumper off without the exhaust getting in the way.

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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Nepenthe88]

And then there's just one random pic of the underside of the bus with all the unnecessary rigamarole removed. She's pretty clean under there minus the patch panel I welded in and still have to seam seal from the bottom. In the medium term future (before it snows) I'm gonna pressure wash everything under here, prep it and undercoat the entire bus.

Things I have to do tomorrow to get her running and driving (this list is more for me and so I don't forget, but...)
-hook up the stock coolant temp gauge to the ECU
-hook up the stock oil press light to the ECU
-Wire the fans up
-fill the thing with coolant
-Install new coolant temp gauge and wire it up
-re-install driver's air plenum after modifying it to fit the HOT plumbing lines
-secure the fuel filter
-INSPECTION
-install license plates
-re-hook up license plate light
- I think that's it.

OH! I also chopped the rear engine bay door up. I then cut a piece of stainless steel with holes in it to fit over my butcher job. I gotta fabricate a couple troughs for it to slide into on the tops and sides and a couple brackets on the bottom. When everything's all painted up, it should be relatively stealthy (for non BUS guys) and should vent air out the back really well.
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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Joel]

[shiningstar76]

I can't wait for a startup video. Looking great.
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KK4NTP
96 Tacoma
86 4Runner
My bus caught on fire and is now on the other coast with someone who gave me money for it.

[Nepenthe88]

No pix today as I left the camera at my buddy's shop, but there wasn't much to take pictures of anyway. I completed a laundry list of stuff and the only thing pic worthy is the VSS sensor mount. I fabricated a bracket off the transaxle with a flange that butts up against the drivetrain to keep it from twisting.

Other than that, I wired the oil sending unit and the stock coolant temp gauge to the ECU. Hung the aftermarket coolant temp gauge and wired that. re- attached the fuse box. secured the fuel filter. cleaned up some wiring. welded a strap to the hacked up engine bay door to strengthen it. Re-fab'd the driver's side front air intake plenum to account for the coolant pipes that run thru it (that sucked). Filled her with coolant (no leaks, YAY!). Fab'd a pair of spacers so I could permanently affix the top seatbelt bolt. FINALLY took off the tow bar and tow lights. Removed the front heater pipe. Attached the license plates and fabricated a new rear license plate holder (the stock one in the engine bay door's been cut away) and created a REALLY Janky (and definitely temporary) license plate illumination system so I can (once again) pass inspection. Wired up the fans (Wow, they really move a lot of air!

I feel like there were a couple other random jobs I did. All of this kinda needed to get done before I put her on the road, but it took way longer than expected. Tomorrow I'll post pix of the VSS sensor, & the license plate

List of things that need completed tomorrow:
-inspection
-re-install seats
-burp coolant
-DRIVE!!!

the rest of the stuff can be completed during phase2, THE ROLLING RESTORATION!
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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Nepenthe88]

WHOOOOOOO!!!!
She's ALIVE!! She's been idling for about 45min now and is pegged at 167* (right about where the thermostat opens). I think it might be cycling on-off-on-off, but... That means I PROBABLY won't have overheating issues!!

And...

I wound up putting a different Mass Air Flow sensor on it and she idles BEAUTIFULLY! And sounds like a small block Chevy cause of the lack of muffler. Videos to come!!!!!

I'm a happy, HAPPY boy!!
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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Nepenthe88]

Got a lot of pictures to post from the past couple days and all sorts of stuff to blather about. Unfortunately, it's been a rough weekend+ and all I want is to hang out with my chicklet, run my fingers thru her hair and talk about all the cool places we're gonna travel to now that the bus is a driver!! BUT... I couldn't NOT post a quick video of me zooming off on my very first drive in the bus. Enjoi everyone. More to come soon!

think I need a muffler?


Link

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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Nepenthe88]

no love for the video?

ok, lets finish off this VSS sensor thing. Here she is mounted to a bracket I made. It's within a couple mm of the bunny cutter:

and here's the other side of the bracket. Note the flange which turns 90* back into the transaxle. This rests on the transaxle case and keeps things from twisting. Though, now that I've driven her a while without the wires attached, I'm wondering if this ECU requires the sensor? If I remember correct there were a bunch of Subee ECU's that just didn't care about the VSS signal for the engine to rev down to idle properly.

... Speaking of idle issues... the reason the engine idled so spottily when I first bought it was the mass air flow sensor. I'm not sure if the unit is bad or if it just required an air filter to read properly. I'll swap stuff around when I make the new air intake and get back to y'all. The intake needs to be re-done a bit in order to fit an air filter underneath the hatch (the stock subee air filter housing is too large and the donkey dick has one too many 90* bends in it. You can see my janky temporary solution in the video I'll post when it's done uploading. you can see things are just bungee corded in place to keep them from flopping around and putting too much tension on the MAF sensor wires. Regardless, here's a pic of the offending MAF sensor unit:

and as promised, here's a pic of my TEMPORARY license plate light setup. NICE!

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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Nepenthe88]

and just cause I like the pic:

Also, here's the four fittings I'm going to use to plumb the heater core. 2 will go thru the body into the space below the westy bed. the other 2 will be used to make the 90* turn into the drivers seat base. each one consists of a brass street 90, and one each of a 1/2" MAP and a FAP brass hose barb

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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/

[Nepenthe88]

Here's a video of the bus idling. I've since turned it down just a hair. She's LOUD and barky! I wound up letting it idle for about an hour, maybe a little longer and coolant temps held steady right around 168*f.


Link


here's what the gauge reads (also temporarily mounted as I'm not sure where I want it yet):

and here's what the thermal sensor thingy reads when the laser's on the metal part of the coolant manifold HOT out line:

So, then I'm standing there and I notice that the left side of the driver's fan is WAY hotter than the right side of the passenger side of the fan. Took me a minute to realize this is a GOOD thing and tells me the radiator and fans are doing their job, as the hottest air corresponds to the location of the HOT line in and the coolest air corresponds to the COLD line out! There's a 25* difference in AIR temps from one side to the other. here's a pic of the HOT driver's side:

and a pic of the COOL passenger side:

Haha, NICE! Then I just happened to walk around the bus and stick my hand in the air scoop. WOW!! My plenums are doing a phenomenal job sucking air since even way out here I can feel the airflow from the fans doing their job. I made a quick video to show this as well:


Link

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a Black & Blue Su-BUS-aroo

Follow my adventures in the GoWAND'RLoST bus on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gowandrlost/