Bringing a '73 Westy back to life...

GeorgeO. · Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 5:32 pm Post subject:

Are you going to sell your interior? I like the spice rack and table you have there if it's any good!

levi20AE · Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:07 am Post subject:

Sorry, I've already traded off all of the original interior that was useable.
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1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

levi20AE · Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:18 pm Post subject:

Got the full flow setup mostly wrapped up still gotta pick up some clamps to hold all the oil lines so they don't rub.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Picked up some GoWesty Vanagon outlets to hookup the electric and water. These are way better than the stock outlets!

Here is a pic of the wood flooring and half the interior together.

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1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

shiningstar76 · Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:44 pm Post subject:

Some people are really motivated. Nice work
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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.

levi20AE · Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 5:23 pm Post subject:

finished up mounting the bench/bed today, it took some more fiddling with to account for the higher floor height from the hardwood. The rear padding from the Vanagon needed some trimming to fit in the rear. Just about everything is ready to take to upholstery after Christmas.

Got the sink drain hole drilled and mounted up but i ended up braking the faucet in the process... Still need to drill the holes for the gas lines and the hole for the gray water tank.
_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

jmstu76 · Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 6:24 pm Post subject:

Nice work so far. I agree, early doors belong on early buses. Cat wait to see the green all over that thing.
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James

'76 Deluxe Sage Green Westy
2258 cc GD case 78mm CW crank, 2.0 H-beam rods 5,325” 22mm pin, JE forged pistons with 15cc dish, JE rings, type 11 clearanced oil pump, CB Eagle 2205 Type-2 “Torque Special” hydraulic cam with matched lifters fed by CB Dual Weber 40 IDF MX with 6” foam air filters, currently 55 idle, 130 main, 200 air correction, 32 mm venturis. 27in General Grabber AT2 All Terrains, Berg Shifter, stock '76 exhaust HPC Ceramic Coated. 11/18/2020

levi20AE

Hauled the seats and pads to the upholsterer this week, should be done in another week.

Also used the hole saw to make the holes in the floor for the grey water tank and mock-up its location. I had to trim the middle cabinet a bit to get it to fit but nothing major. I guess the Vanagons had about a 6" longer wheel base than the bay windows.

Last week i managed to break off the port for the grey water on the faucet so i installed a SHURflo faucet kit from GoWesty. Its not a bad setup and the check valve worked great when testing it with city water hooked up.

Also fixed the line from the upper brake fluid resivour to the lower resivour. I had to replace the lower resivour with one from a later bay when replacing the master cylinder. my initial solution was to use a long piece or hose connecting the two but that was prone to get air bubbles and prevent fluid from draining from the upper to the lower resivour. I took some stainless steel tubing from the fuel hard lines I made and put a 180 degree bend in it. Now the fluid fills the lower resivour with no problems .
_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

levi20AE · Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 7:14 pm Post subject:

Today I made a tow bar for the bus from an old beetle tow bar that was bent from towing a lowered beetle with a lifted truck. Rolling Eyes

In the end it would have been easier to start fresh and make the bar from scratch but i didn't have that much scrap material.

Also purchased an Innovate MTX-L A/F and an EGT/CHT gauges to keep an eye on things. I hope to get these installed next weekend but with school starting again my time to spend with the bus maybe reduced.
_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

Red Fau Veh · Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 9:02 pm Post subject:

Really nice work there and I was happy to see the Fram HP1 filter, cool! Very Happy

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1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

levi20AE · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 12:44 pm Post subject:

Got the last few gussets welded onto the tow bar this morning. It should be more than strong enough to tow a bus now. I primered and painted it then remembered that i still needed to drill the holes for the bolts that go over the beam.

This afternoon ill probably drill all the holes in the floor to hold down the sink/stove unit and the other cabinets.
_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

taylorb1 · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 12:57 pm Post subject:

i have a question about your remote oil cooler.....do you think the fan is 100% necessary? or could someone use that location without a fan and still have good air flow over the cooler?
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It's not dented, it's just been environmentally streamlined!

76 STD Bug-Sold
71 Transporter Converted To Camper.

levi20AE · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:58 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure yet, I haven't been able to drive it. My plan is to install an LED light next to the oil temp gauge. The LED will light when the fan is turned on by the thermostat, which is set for 190 I believe. Ill be sure and report back my findings. After welding in the new floor brace I realized how strong it was. Since the only weight over the brace is the water tank I plan to put a few 1" holes in the brace, if fans come one too much to promote airflow.
_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

levi20AE · Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 2:29 pm Post subject:

Got the seats back from the upholster last week. They came out really nice in my opinion. It's nice to have a seat to sit on when planning the next steps to getting the bus back on the road.

Also I ended up with some extra Gerson panels that I ended up not needing while working on the rockers. I have the inner and middle rocker for the passenger side and the upper outer panel for the driver's side. I'll be putting them up for sale in the classifieds in the next few days.

_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

Red Fau Veh · Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 8:23 pm Post subject:

Looking good there, tow bar looks stout, seats look sweet, fine bus. Cool

_________________
1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

Bala · Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:30 am Post subject:

I just caught up on your build. I'm liking it! Nice work!
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1976 Westy

1966 Beetle

levi20AE · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 3:29 pm Post subject:

The semester began in January and free time has been at a premium these past two months. I had a chance to play with the bus a week ago. I managed to wire up the A/F ratio gauge and the CHT/EGT gauge. While wiring the CHT gauge I used a 4 in 1 K-type wire bundle so in the future I can weld in individual CHT probes and use the EGT probe that came with the kit.The current gauge only takes one input but you just have to swap the the probe under the dash.

I also made a bracket for supporting the stove/fridge unit, behind the drivers seat, to the B-pillar. The long threads on the bolt welded to the plate also help to pull the stove snug against the wall.

Next big project will be to install the deep cycle battery, isolator, and switch then setting up a auxiliary fuse panel for the new interior electronics.
_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

justcruzin · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 3:36 pm Post subject:

[quote="levi20AE"]

I also made a bracket for supporting the stove/fridge unit, behind the drivers seat, to the B-pillar. The long threads on the bolt welded to the plate also help to pull the stove snug against the wall.

Your bus is coming along nicely. Very Happy

Question on the threaded insert things you installed. What are they called and where did you find them? I am looking for that exact thing to use in a shifter knob that I have bought. It doesn't have any threads in it so I need to glue something like those thing in the pic above into it. I just don't know what to call them to ask at the hardware stores.
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Kim
Sacramento, CA

1964 Split Window Bus
1966 Beetle Build Thread= http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=472933
1969 Delivery Van= http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=566282
1970 Westy Build Thread= http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=479538
1971 Squareback Build Thread = http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6652459#6652459
1970 Single Cab, Samson = http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8022609#8022609

levi20AE · Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 3:44 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the compliment and the fittings are called nut-serts. You can get kits that have a tool much like a river gun or a special bolt they sell also works. They can be adicting because they are so much easier than welding bolts to sheetmetal or using sheetmetal screws that may pull though.
_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

levi20AE · Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 6:48 pm Post subject:

Got most of the house battery setup installed today. Still need to hit up the hardware store for bolts to mount the battery switch and get some heat shrink to go over the 2 gauge wire ends. I welded up a scrap sheet of aluminum with a tab at the bottom that the factory battery bracket goes over to hold the aluminum in place.

_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs

levi20AE · Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 8:26 am Post subject:

finished up the house battery install last weekend. With this particular switch I can now see a difference in voltage on the gauge when using the primary, secondary, or a combination of the two. Its a kinda nice unintended feature.

Removed the ignition cylinder as well after it put up a great fight. I used some steel welding rod as a makeshift tool as suggested in few articles. After an hour and feeling the rod pushing into the proper hole and the lock cylinder not disengage I went to a material removal process. Wink

Turns out the cylinder was not stock and was stuck after removing the bracket that holds the barrel it took a screw driver in the release hole and a lot of tugging to get it out.

SteelerBus modified a new lock cylinder to work with the existing door handles cut two keys to code. So now I can lock the doors for the first time ever and also turn the key to start the engine without crossing my fingers and 10 attempts.

I brought home 5 sheets of 5x5 Baltic Birch in 1/8th" from the hardwoods dealer this morning to make new headliner and door cards after being stained in cherry.
_________________
1973 Campmobile http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=524511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
20th AE VW GTI - 369hp 340tq @ 26 PSI
1982 Rabbit Pickup - German AAZ 1.9TD - daily with lots of MPGs


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