"The Volkkari": Got gifted a -76 bus, let the story begin.

[Cera]

Hiya!

I'll pop this here as well since this forum seems lively and I'm gonna be needing all the advice I can get I think ^-^

Also pardon me my English here and there, I'm from Finland so it isn't my native language but oh well.

So yeah, I got gifted a -76 VW T2 from my granddad just a few days ago. It's actually a bus I've spent some summers as a kid so I've quite a few memories about this specific vehicle. I'm obviously going to restore it and I'm in the process of finding out what's that going to need and how difficult it's going to be.

Thing is, my granddad moved out of the country around 2003, took the car with him and ran it (I believe) for a few years as a daily ride after that. Then something happened to the engine and he started saying it's a toast and left it lying around in a cold storage. Some years after that, he befriended with some neighbour of his who happened to be a mechanic he said, and who could get the bus up and running again. Then I started hearing about how this friend of his managed to find a brand new engine in a factory container from the German army, and how they'd get the bus working again. They apparently reached the point where it was just the electrics left and I got told the new engine requires 24V so two batteries were going to be installed.

Theeen the friend of his moved away and the work was left unfinished and the bus stayed in the shelter for 10 more years before last tuesday when we went and fetched it with a trailer to its new home.

So that about the history. I now own a T2 that has spent the last 10+ years almost in a barn (it wasn't far from that really), with supposedly new engine but unwired, blown tires but otherwise in surprisingly good shape.

My main issues now are identifying the engine and getting it wired up. I've learned it's apparently from some sort of industrial machine rather than a car (?) which sounded weird but alright, what the heck if it works. The 24-volt system is going to cause some headache but I thought about wiring the main system to that (everything that's easily changeable, like lightbulbs), and then getting a 24V->12V converter to feed the instrument panel, radio, stuff like that. Figured going the other way around and wiring the engine for 12V would require changing more parts and therefore more bucks.

I also got told that industrial engine distributor isn't that good for a car, as the advance isn't going to work properly? Is this correct and should I be looking at changing the distributor?

Otherwise it looks pretty decent. Chassis is alright, brakes and even handbrake seemed to work when we towed it off the trailer. Interior is very moldy and needs to be replaced but that's the easiest part to work on.

Cleaning it all up is a priority one now, wiring up the engine and getting it running comes close behind.

I come from RWD Volvo world so this german tech is all new to me, but it's got four cylinders and a spark plug for each so I guess I'll learn how to work on this.

Cheers,
Sara

Pics;

[Wildthings]

You have what is probably an 1800cc T-127 Type 4 engine. If should be fine for moving your bus down the road, maybe a bit weak on the top end because of the cam and valve sizes, not sure.

I see no reason that the motor can't be converted to 12V, you are talking only the starter, the coil, and the alternator, plus maybe a solenoid or two. If you have them the parts off the original engine should work fine, except some might need to be rebuilt because or age and wear. Converting the motor to 12v would be a lot easier than converting the entire bus to 24 volt.

Note that there were two different starters used with a Type 4 powered bus, the starter needs to match the bellhousing more than anything else.

Your engine has been sitting for a long long time, I would want to prime the oil galleys before turning it over the first time and have the spark plugs removed when you do.

[Abscate]

I doubt it was converted to 24 V. Perhaps someone got confused with a starter And houses battery setup and think that two 12 V batteries means a 24 volt system.

Have a real electrical expert look this over
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[outcaststudios]

that's a great bus! welcome.
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'69 westy
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[Wildthings]

[sjbartnik]

There is definitely some weird hardware on that coil, check out the plug wires and their connections - all looks RF shielded, like military spec.

But yeah, just make the engine 12v. that's the easy way.
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1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[Cera]

Alright. I'll give 12V a thought again then.

The main reason why I was considering keeping it as 24V was that starter, alternator, coil all cost bucks but I've two 24V -> 12V 30A converters available which I could've used to route the interior electronics. I don't think the bus has much more than instrument panel, radio and lights? So thinking like that it sounded sensible route to avoid replacing any working parts. Of course the 24V system would cause headache in the future when designing the interior is there's ever going to be fridges or other electronic appliances on board.

Here's a better picture of the coil side of the engine. I didn't even notice the RF shielding before. It makes the story about the engine coming from the German army slightly more plausible then. Then the rest of the story might also be true and it actually might be 0 miles driven.

- Sara

[JaimeH]

24 volt system will be a headache when it breaks down too.
If you think you can get it going with parts on hand go for it. Get it running start having fun with it. As time goes by start collecting parts to go back to 12 volt.
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1978 Transporter 2.0 FI, BA6
Special Thanks to Razor's Customs, Boscawen, NH

[sjbartnik]

An auto electrical rebuilder may be able to re-wire the starter and alternator for 12V, though it may be more economical to just find used or rebuilt versions and swap in.

You will need a 12V coil as well and 12V chokes for the carburetors. If the carbs have electromagnetic cutoff valves, you would need 12V versions of those as well.

I see you are also going to need to locate some engine tin, you should not be able to see the ground from inside the engine compartment. It's very important for cooling that the upper half of the engine is sealed off from the lower half. The only source of air into the engine compartment should be the scoops at the top of the D-pillars.
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[Wildthings]

The proper way to have done this conversion would have been to strip the new engine to the long block and then install all the tin and peripherals from the old engine onto the new. It could have been running in a day of work had this been done. Now if you no longer have the old engine to strip parts from you may to source a pile of stuff from shows, club members, wrecking yards, etc.

[Cera]

[crownline]

If that is indeed the kriginal engine. The look at the coil and alternator I'll bet its 12v.
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1972 Bus 1700 cc Single Carb. But not a progressive.
Barelymuvin
Wish I still had the ones I got rid of.

"It"s got some dings and dents and neither of us is going to SEMA."(Update, I went to SEMA in 2019 but the Bus stayed home)
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[sjbartnik]

[Wildthings]

You will need to Type 4 cooling tin no matter what, while the coil off your old engine would work, and likely the distributor and the starter. That would leave you needing to buy an alternator, regulator, and whatever solenoids and choke heaters the carbs need. Actually maybe you could just buy a 12v regulator and it would work with a 24v alternator just fine, so you wouldn't have to buy a 12v alternator after all.

[JaimeH]

I didn’t realize at first that this was a conversion from a Type 1 to Type 4. Wildthings is right. You’re going to need a lot more parts than just the 24 volt adaptation. It looks like your original Type 1 is mostly complete. Before spending any money think about just rebuilding or having rebuilt the original engine. Nothing beats stock.
_________________
1978 Transporter 2.0 FI, BA6
Special Thanks to Razor's Customs, Boscawen, NH

[lil-jinx]

You may be better off getting another up right engine and sell the flat 4 you have.it will be much easier to source parts for the up right,and less expensive!
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1974 Bay Westfalia. she likes to be called Ethel.
1968 Dune Buggy
1974 parts bus
A smart man learns from his mistakes,a very smart man learns from other's mistakes.

[a1steaksauce]

i'm with others...put that stock 1.6 back in. it appears you have the necessary tin for it as well. will be far less money in the long run.

i've done the 24v to 12v conversion on an Iltis and while it's pretty straight forward (really only the engine components are 24v) it wasn't cheap.

[airschooled]

Seeing the thermostatic warm-up flaps tells me that the engine was probably well cared for, or an original VW engine of some kind. Very likely to be a good engine, or a cheaper option to rebuild.

Robbie
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[Wildthings]

As someone who has at times put 40,000 kilometers on my bus in a single year, if I had a choice between a zero mile 1800 Type 4 engine and a rebuilt Type 1, I would hands down go for the Type 4. Assuming the Type 4 doesn't have any rust issues from sitting so long, it would outlast a factory new Type 1 engine two or even three to one. If you are only intending to drive 5000 kilometers a year, it would be a different story though.

[outcaststudios]

i agree ,not that a 1.6 isnt grea,t i have one, but the type 4 is better for highway, runs cooler and is newer (and possibly low mileage!)
_________________
'88Doka JX td
'69 westy
(rip)couple bugs
(rip)three type III"s
(rip) '81 vanagon
a bunch of french stuff,and 9 motorcycles.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2573791