Second Bus and First Engine Drop. Need guidance!

[busdaddy]

That looks like the acellerator pump link from here and yes weld it and file.

That gap on the top cover is an issue, how does the top fit without the gasket?, either something is hanging it up or the cover is warped. If the cover is warped you can sand it flat on a piece of glass (or tablesaw top) and sandpaper.
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[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

You're right, that was the accelerator pump link. This is the fast idle linkage :

and the spring:

I checked the fit without the gasket and, yup, there's a good mm or so rock perpendicular to the red line in second photo. I like the idea of creating nice flat mating surfaces, but there's a lot of brass sticking up...

So I tried another possible solution this morning and stuck two gaskets in, hoping that the tight areas will crush more, and the loose areas will crush enough. No light in between which is good. I set the carb on an angle and pooled some gas over the inside of the gasket to check for leaks, then did the other side where I knew I had a tight fit.

Both sides soaked through fairly evenly, but there were no drips after watching it for 5 minutes; the soaked areas of the gasket are darker in the pictures. I will check tonight so see if they dry out.

Does this look like an acceptable solution? I would guess that the gaskets would not typically be soaked in gas during running, but I don't know for sure?

I would have to add a spacer to the float valve to make up for the extra gasket height.
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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[busdaddy]

I wouldn't use 2 gaskets myself but others have in the past. That air jet unscrews and the acellerator pump valve is just pressed in, grab it with pliers and twist/pull.

You'll need a new spring, that one hasn't got much life left in it. The rods can be welded or shimmed with washers to an unworn spot. Are the holes they go into equally worn?
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[Pinetops]

Excellent work so far (on both buses! ), I'm impressed how you dove right in! Do you think you'll end up keeping both? Is this bus original paint?

If you're only keeping one the one with original paint that can be blended and less rust may be the one to keep. Also this one looks complete and original.
With your work so far I'm sure they will both be really nice once done!

It would be a good time (if you are up to it) to tap the carb fuel inlets for a threaded inlet. If you don't want to do all that I'd recommend safety wiring them. They have a tendency to pop out spraying fuel all over the engine, especially on old carbs (I don't know how old yours are, just making the point). At the very least make sure they are tight, if they come out easily and you don't want to tap them you could also get some locktite sleeve retainer and that along with safety wire should keep you pretty safe.
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Thanks stuco, I appreciate the tip and Ill at least put a safety wire of some kind on each fuel inlet.

I am not sure if Ill keep both yet, I foresee a pretty long time before they will both be running. Turns out the bus from this thread had a pretty hard rear-ender at some point and needs a lot of work. There's bondo and dent puller holes right up into the engine compartment and the rear hatch that trapped a lot of moisture. Too bad because so far as i've seen, the underside is really good and still mostly straight overcoated primer. I'm doing some hasty metal work so that I can get my bumper on and not have gaping holes to the outside. Not pretty, but I think it'll function better than what it was...

Paint had been stripped to original by a PO but rear and front doors were newer paint over bondo. Lots of little rust pock marks overall (maybe from getting carried away while stripping) that will need attention, so keeping original paint is not possible. Have to run with several shades of orange for a while


That work is to be continued.

Ok... first off, yep, the linkage holes are pretty worn, but most of the slop comes from the linkage pieces.

I tried to get the brass bits out so I could flatten the whole mating surface of each side without interference. I hit them with some penetrating oil and tried unscrewing the brass using pliers wrapped with electrical tape, but I clearly lack the right tools or the knack to get these things out... I really don't want to mangle them any more than I did and be out a carb The first photo below shows gouges that weren't made by me, and an old service record talked about "re-positioning a jet", so this thing must have a history. The upper carb brass piece has about 35 degrees of play either way but doesn't want to unscrew.

Next, I tried to lower the high spot where it seems to be rocking, but it hasn't seemed to help enough and I still get a lot of rocking, and no join. I'd feel better about removing more material if I knew I was able to keep the whole surface flat but Im going to stop before I've gone too far. Here's a pic with the light areas showing where it was ground down: I focused on the area where the bolt goes through.

I don't think Ill risk 2 sandwiched gaskets, so my next plan is to get some thicker gasket material and see if that gives me a seal.
_________________
Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Been a while... Lots on the go. Multi-tasking.

Ultimately, the thicker gasket material did not work to seal the carb. The upper body was just too warped. So I got brave and went at the brass fittings again. The fitting from the lower body (from fuel pump) came out with vice grips and a good pull. I put a small drill bit into it so it wouldn't crush as per a tip I read. The jet from the upper body came out after some twisting. Neither were threaded.

Then I ground the mating surfaces of top and bottom on 320 grit over a piece of glass and cleaned the dry aluminum dust out with a stiff bristled paint brush, followed by carb cleaner/ compressed air can to rinse. Then I checked the fuel level in the bowl (12-14mm from top of bowl), the cutoff valve, and the pump and it worked great! Then there was another problem.

There is a tiny flat tab of material that the choke plate stops aganist that you can see in the right carb in the photo below. It's there so the choke plate doesn't bang into the brass fuel jet every time it is wide open (although both choke plates I looked at had wear that showed they did this for a while). At some point, the tab had broken off and I didn't notice it until I compared it to my spare upper carb:

I was going to grind down the spare upper body so it fit (it was also warped), but some mechanic had used a punch to mold the aluminum around the brass jet so it would never be free again... So, new plan, get machinist to weld small tab of aluminum on upper body that I spent so much time making it fit.

So paused on the carbs for a bit, but so close to being done. This needs degreasing:

And, inspired by this post:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=613236&highlight=heat+exchangers

I decided to get back into the heat exchangers Id pretty much finshed. Previously Id used picklex to kill the rust, and high temp paint on top. But of course it was starting to rust under the paint.

Now, I am going to sandblast, and powdercoat. Not yet sure about what to use on the inside however...

When I took them apart there was no asbestos mat insulation, but the tin had some pretty sweet stamping of a printed book in German

Very oily in the bottom, I think its very worth it to get these apart.

prying with screwdriver nail puller worked the best. thin enough to get under, then worked like a can opener. The only spot welds were at the end of each seam, used an angle grinder with cutoff wheel to chop those, then sliced at the front end where they go into the heat risers.

dereased and ready for sandblasting, then welding back up, then powdercoating.

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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[Tcash]

but the tin had some pretty sweet stamping of a printed book in German
What is this, stamped into the metal or transferred onto the metal? Can you post some closer pix?
Thank You
Tcash

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

It is transferred onto the metal, part of it started coming off with degreaser. Click for larger pic. It looks like a printed book rather than newspaper or the like.

Also, google translate says it's in Swedish ??? Caption for the ancient Greek-looking image is "The Barbaric Muse" haha.

They aren't homemade. I know the aftermarket HE's are Danish made, but I thought they were supposed to be pretty flimsy compared to the originals?
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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[Tcash]

How do you think it got transferred?

[timvw7476]

It doesn't appear to be transferred, it looks "bonded".
What in the hell did they use to build these vehicles ?

[Tcash]

I wonder if they where originally used for printing and then recycled?

[busdaddy]

Commercial printing plates, my dad had a hangar that was clad entirely with them, chinese menus, travel brochures, etc....
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

The orientation of the text makes sense with printing plates, that's neat.

Insert joke about each bus telling its own story
_________________
Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Made some progress. Lots of little hurdles along the way.

Here was my solution for the choke stop tab that was missing or had snapped off: inserting a hardened steel pin through a carefully drilled hole. After tapping it through from the outside, I made sure the hollow pin was sealed.

Finally I got a chance to put the top end together. Everything that was stored had been oiled and I cleaned it again before putting it together. No new rust had formed which was great!

Followed the Wilson book for this and everything went pretty smoothly, ring gaps were positioned properly.

I put the new valve screws in, heres a comparison of new to old.

And got the rockers and everything else in place and lubed.

Once I got it all together and adjusted the valves it turned over nice and smoothly

Now Im attaching all the components, which is a little tricky when I forget things that aren't listed in the book and have to go a few steps back. But its leaps forwards than a few weeks ago.

Anyone know if I can get the front right-side bottom tin on with the fuel pump in place?? Im struggling with this one.

More to come on Heat Exchanger fiasco. I believe the ones shown previously in this post are aftermarket, and they are clearly not as nice as the originals, so Ill be taking the internals from the old ones, and welding the newer skins around them after they are repaired. Ill make sure to post some comparisons.
_________________
Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[timvw7476]

As far as the right lower tin, it slides from the side, and it kind of fits the contour of the case, just in front of the #1 exhaust lifter.

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Getting much closer to finishing now that I've found some time to work.

Heat exchangers / heaterboxes nearly complete, will post more pictures of that progress in a bit. A word of advice when putting them back together, make sure ALL the heat shields are in place before welding it shut

As promised, here are some comparisons of original to aftermarket heat exchanger internal castings for '72-74, '79.


Aftermarket, left. Original, right.

Notice how much worse the join is inside the manifold pipes for aftermarket (right). There is a huge shelf of metal. I used the original internals which have a slight lip, but it grinds down easily.

Aftermarket in the middle.

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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[Amskeptic]

[wcfvw69]

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

At first I thought I had a melted aluminum core on my hands, but nope, that's from the factory...

Its been said here before, but it would be great if someone started producing the sheet metal for these things. I imagine a huge number of good internals are chucked because the outsides are swiss cheese.
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Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).

[whatdoesthisbuttondo?]

Had a setback the other day whereby the EGR threads stripped in the head of #4, which involved pulling the head off again. Machinist tapped and plugged. Argh. Luckily I managed to do this without pulling everything off, but the forward cylinder tin had to be bent quite a bit. Had to clean up the rust that started at the sealing surface, it was very superficial luckily. Inside bores was nice and oily still. Got that back together and started sticking things on again.

On distributor, spark plug order clockwise from #1 is 1, 4, 3, 2 , correct?

Transmission is back from a rebuild.

Finishing off the heat exchangers, welded some collars around to strengthen and seal the area around the manifolds. In the end it wasn't pretty, but oh well. Pictures later.

Last things to do is hook up exhaust system to heads, put carb linkage back together (those tiny circlips are horrible), some wiring, flywheel, last of tin etc etc.

Start up soon hopefully... Should I strap to pallet?

Please let me know if you see something I've hooked up wrong!
_________________
Orange 1973 Campervan. Rebuilt 1700cc with dual Solex carbs. Pertronix electronic points on stock distributor. Engine rebuild in progress (fall 2023).