Bringing a '73 Westy back to life...

1967250s · Samba Member Joined: May 02, 2007 Posts: 2137

Awesome rebuild. have you sold your extra panels yet? I need the pass side ones.......

levi20AE · Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:00 pm Post subject:

I'm sorta curious how it's going to perform as a daily as well with this combo. The little bit of cam from the 110 isn't helping either. From the short trips I have driven thus far though it has been fine. But until it has legal plates it won't see more than third gear cruising around the block.

On the diesel caddy I found that having a set of the tallest tires i could find worked out great for road trips and using a set that are closer to stock for daily driving reduced the sluggishness of a diesel. You maybe able to run a shorter tire if you find the engine running hot on the 1600.
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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

rpm750 · Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:08 am Post subject:

I have a '70 Bay and I'm interested in the 1776/4.57 R/P Trans combo. I drive my Bus everyday through a rural area. Stop and go, red lights, etc about 30 mls one way. But I go to a lot of shows and I'm on the freeway for most of those trips. I've been told with a stock 1600 that this set up would not be an easy driver. Sluggish on start and hills would be difficult. I don't want to kill the rural drive to work.
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rpm750

'64 Sunroof "Geek"
'74 SB "Chigger"
'70 Bus

Georgia Dubs

levi20AE · Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:40 pm Post subject:

I cut out all the panels for the headliner and the doors. A few panels still need a holes drilled for the chrome snaps around the parameter of the door panels. Hopefully in the next week i will have time to get to staining the interior and figuring out why the engine is running lean above 2000 RPM.

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

The home-brewed tow bar held up like a champ and got the bus to the local VW shop for some attention to the carbs and a leaking rear main seal.

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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

nineteensixtyfiveVG · Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:11 pm Post subject:

youre an animal, looks great

808OvalGreasemonkey · Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:48 pm Post subject:

After looking at this,I am a little embarassed to be considering selling my Westy because I have 2 small rust holes under the windshield rubber

Good work man!

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.
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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: 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.

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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: 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.
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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

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 3:29 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.
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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

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

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

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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 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.

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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: 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.
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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

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 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

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

_________________
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: 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

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


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