My 1968 Campmobile

[Hikelite]

[Hikelite]

Guess what I did after work yesterday...

I drove my bus!

I parked it at the end of 2001. It was snowing already, so it had to be November or December.

After 16.5ish years, and 6 rides on a Uhaul auto transport, she has been revived.

Everytime I think about it, I keep breaking into a goofy grin.

I didn't really remember just how much fun it is to drive her. I love sitting over the wheel, that horizontalish steering wheel that feels so good in my hands, and of course that big bay window view. It's like falling in love with her all over again.

There are a few people I need to thank for getting me to this point.
First, my wife for agreeing to spend the $$.
Then Cory (cdennisg) for putting me in touch with Adam.
And of course, Adam. He's a great guy and a fantastic mechanic.

Adam still needs to build the wheels to go around the disc brakes, but other than that, she is mechanically ready "to drive around the world", or at least as ready as any '68 bus can be.

I'm pretty eager to start on the rest of the work, but she still isn't legal to drive yet. ssshhhh, don't tell anyone that Adam and I have test drove her around the block. hehe

As I said earlier, I want to register her on my birthday, April 20, but I don't want to buy two of the $25 3 day permits. I wasn't going to pick her up from Adam's until 4/17, but now I'm not sure I can wait that long.

I planned to take a shot of her on the road, but I left my phone in the 4runner and then forgot while I was talking to Adam about all the stuff done and left to do.
_________________
~Kevin

My 1968 Campmobile

[TDCTDI]

NICE! I got mine running & realized how much I loved my '72 highroof I sold in '91, great job getting it on the road again.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[ultralite]

[Hikelite]

My package from Columbia arrived this morning
_________________
~Kevin

My 1968 Campmobile

[TDCTDI]

[Hikelite]

[Hikelite]

Finally have an update Sambanistas will like, ie one with pictures.

I got my baby registered last week. Since I live in Washington, but wanted to keep my California plates, that meant one thing.... road trip!!!!

My bus was first registered on 12/26/1967. I always liked that she was someone's Christmas gift. Sadly, that date was lost when the CA DMV purged my plate from their system.

The good news is, she is now my birthday present. Her new date is 4/20/2018.
She also had her body type designation changed from HSCR (Housecar) to MH (Motorhome). I think that may offer an insurance advantage when we start the grand adventure. I found my old registration and pink slip, so that made things a little easier I think.


My FIL (father in law) went with me, and we realized something interesting...
only in a 50+ year old vehicle would you say something like 'the car ran great except for problem 1, problem 2, and problem 3'

The bus did run great. We did 1500+ miles in 3 days. I don't recommend it. 400 a day seems to be a good limit.

The 1904 motor accelerated up nearly every grade, and never required me to downshift except on one hill where I had to slow for a section with lots of turns and it couldn't accelerate in 4th gear.

We did have a few issues along the way...
The starter took a crap on day 1 at the first gas station. I tried it every time we restarted, but I think it only worked 4 times the whole trip. We learned to park on a hill. Gas stations are flat, so they were more difficult, but there was always someone around to help give us a push.

The electrical part of the ignition switch has a broken spring, so it was a suspect. When I got home, I bypassed it to hot wire the bus, but it's not the switch. I'll do more troubleshooting tonight.

Then there was the issue with the tail lights blowing a fuse. While the bus was sitting in Flagstaff, AZ, someone stole my license plate light. The replacement part (cip1) was grounding against the body. I was able to use my FIL's candy wrapper to insulate it so we had running lights. I put some electrical tape on it when I got home.

The issue that was most annoying, yes even more than the bad starter, was the idle. While my engine is not new, it does have brand new Weber 40 IDFs. We noticed the idle was getting higher and higher. I eventually figured out that it is the linkage binding up or something at the bottom of it's range. If I went to the back and gave a little tug, the idle would drop right back down to normal. The return spring seemed able to get it most of the way back when I let is snap back, so I started 'smacking' the gas pedal whenever I needed to idle. Usually I could get it to return to a mostly normal idle with a couple smacks. It was real annoying when maneuvering around a parking lot. Either it sounded like the engine was racing or it sounded like I liked to rev my engine when I tried to get the idle to return to normal.

So other than that, she ran flawlessly.

Here is the route we took. The route was chosen based on some requirements:
I needed to go to a CA DMV on Friday for my birthday.
I wanted to go to Roseburg to get a splash pan.
We had hotel rooms booked in Klamath Falls on Thursday and Redmond, OR on Saturday.
Avoid Interstate Highways.
I wanted to do a loop

We had to drive on I-5 for a little while to get from Yreka to Roseburg, but we took a side route from Medford to Canyonville to skip some of the Interstate. It was certainly slower, but a much more pleasant drive.

We made it to CA on day 1, and then turn back north to reach our hotel room in Klamath Falls.

Day 2 took us near Mt Shasta as we headed to the DMV in Yreka, CA.

Later that day, we saw this cool building (for sale) between Roseburg and Bend.

If you are ever traveling along the Columbia River, I highly recommend Hwy 14 vs I-84. Especially in a Bus. If you choose to take my advice you can stop at this hang glider launch spot with a great view of the dam.

After I get the starter working, Adam is going to look at the carb linkage problem. It also lost a lot of oil on the trip (~3 qts). I did see a small spot each morning in the hotel, but it didn't seem big enough to account for all of it. The steering also seemed to have more play than I expected given I replaced every part.

I'm very happy with how the bus did. I'm excited to go on more trips with her. Next time, no hotels. :p

I also changed my mind about painting her blue. She is white. Always has been and I don't think I'm gonna change it. It's pretty amazing how familiar she felt after all these years. If I changed her color, she wouldn't feel like my bus anymore.



last item... I noticed something weird inside the drivers door. Anyone know what that stuff is? I'm referring to the stuff that looks like some sort of goo pushed through holes. Is it body filler? It doesn't look like a repair has been made there.

_________________
~Kevin

My 1968 Campmobile

[EDragnDean]

Congrats on the trip and registration.
The goop is body filler pushed through the body puller holes during a dent repair.
_________________
63 Double Cab http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=443823&highlight=deanos
66 Bus Click to view image - SOLD
73 Thing http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8111202#8111202
70 BusClick to view image

[TDCTDI]

Hah, VW camper registered on 4-20.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Spike0180]

Awesome trip! Thanks for sharing, and I'm glad you're keeping it white. I should have kept my original color, but oh well. In my defense I had a bit of body work to complete, so most of my color wouldn't have been original anyway.
_________________
Brutis Patches Izabich: 1970 VW Transporter - 1776cc DP
Current State: Projects never truly end...
Location: Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Other cars: 2003 F150, 2003 Jetta GLI vr6-6sp

Sambastic: adj; the quality of being nit picky, elitist, expecting everyone to do things the way they believe is best with no regard to situation, "sambastic"

[Hikelite]

[Ride_On]

I saw on another thread that you were looking at upgrading to a Wagenswest disc kit. Did you end up doing that? If so, how'd it go?

How was summer with the bus? Congrats on bringing it back to life!
_________________
1977 Westfalia 2.0 FI Skills EJ25 w SubaruGears 5sp
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687254
2018 Golf Sportwagen 4MO DSG (Dieselgated 2013 Golf Wagon TDI DSG)

[Hikelite]