The 1979 VW Transporter

[zoobum]

[Wildthings]

A good exhaust shop should be able to get you heaters all hooked up for you. They can get the outlet to the heat exchangers back to some semblance of being round and make an adapter piece if necessary.

Other wise you can buy a tool for expanding exhaust pipes from Harbor Freight and use it to straighten out the heat exchangers and then do what is necessary to get the riser piece to fit.

[Wasted youth]

Looks like the stock and correct catalytic converter, but I am unsure if 1979 had the O2 sensor. Regardless, you should hold onto that cat. That is the correct style for normal fit up, and if the core is still good, it should work as intended.

I agree with SGKent when he says your bus should not have passed the smog check as is, there's too many visible defects. But my money is on the smog check guy getting it to pass the emissions and treadmill test if the engine is tuned correctly and the cat is doing its job. But he should have failed it or refused to test it because of all the visual defects.

He would also have to overlook all the leaks and probably a missing or damaged EGR system. By doing that, he is violating the law. Not the first time people do that, of course.

[zoobum]

[curtp07]

+1 for Kyle working your FI harness. Money well spent for one less worry. I also had him build a new pump harness for all those bits..worked flawlessly!
_________________
Subaru

[zoobum]

[Tcash]

I was even able to keep the original seat belt locks
Just to be safe, I would use the new locks. They are designed to work with the new belts.
Tcash

[zoobum]

[Tcash]

If it is wired to come on with the ignition switch.
Don't sit there with the key on engine off, there is no accessory key position. This will fry your points or pertronix and possibly fry your coil.
You are better off wiring it to the accessory fuse which is always on hot.
Good luck
Tcash

[zoobum]

[Clatter]

Always nice to see another person fool enough to try and actually drive one of these busses!
You watch - pretty soon the hip thing will be to haul them around on a flatbed trailer to the camp spots!

What you have there is the elusive '79 California spec.
One year only - One state only.
You will have to be an L-Jet Ninja.
Be ready to tattoo some part numbers on your arm.
Welcome to the '79 CA brotherhood.

Be very happy you have that exhaust!

These are some unique parts to this setup:
Exhaust/heat exchangers/cat
Distributor/module/coil
Double relay
O2 sensor
('79 CA was the only 02 sensor on a bus)
Computer

If that were mine, i would definitely get a Kyle harness.
And, while you are at it, have him do your Distributor/Ignition harness, too.
So go and get he right distributor, coil, and module for that thing,
And send Kyle the harness.
(Special harness that connects the module and distributor)
He did one for me, and it made my life better.

Early air-cooled Vanagons will have the Double-relay you need.
(Extra pin for O2 sensor)
Unless you still have the right one, of course..
Early Vanagon might have your distributor, module and coil, too.
They will also have a computer you can use; any other bus computer will NOT work.
Again, this is only the _early_ air-cooled Vanagon - like '80-'81-'82.

All of these parts you are likely to want to have an extra around if you can,
so if you find anything, get a spare if you see it at a good price.

The O2 sensor is a wear item, you will want that new.

Send your injectors out to get flowed/cleaned/tested.
Your local diesel big truck shop will have one nearby, or search here for the one all of the Samba people use.

Get yourself a Bentley manual and check the part numbers for all FI components and make sure they are right for 79 CA.
A late '75 and early '76 will have the WOT switch for the throttle body like the '79 CA needs.
Any of the 7-pin AFMs will work in a pinch, but many here will say you need the correct part number for '79 CA.
(If you are really anal)

Good luck on your hunting...

'79 CA was the most highly-developed of all bus motors, and the technology carried over into the Vanagon.
They are self-correcting, meaning that the 02 sensor feeds into the computer to obtain the 'correct' 14.7:1 air/fuel ratio at all times.
Unfortunately, this is a bit too lean, and a bit hot for bus use, so you will need to make sure everything is 100% right WRT the engine, and especially the cooling system, in order to have long-term success.

Have to learn to do all of this yourself.
No way that anyone else is ever going to be able to give it the love you will.
_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[airkooledchris]

don't be scared of the 79CA edition.

If the exhaust is too far gone, there is still an available smoggable solution.

Swap the drivers side heater box with a federal unit, then get an extractor for a 72-74 and have the cat and a short bodied muffler welded to the end of it.

Use the CAT's O2 port for the factory 02 connection.

Once you convert the heater box on the drivers side to a federal model, you will always be able to use the cheap and readily available 72-74 style systems.

BTW, Kyle did the full harness for my 79CA and I couldn't be happier with it. Spring for the extra kit to do your factory electronic ignition wiring as well.

[zoobum]

[zoobum]

After recently noticing a loss of power on all gears and a very shaky engine.
Thinking maybe a cylinder was bad, I bought a compression tester to test.

I found right away that cylinder 2 was not properly connected to the plug wire, I reseated and test drove. 100% better.
Although two of the coil wires are chipped, it seems to not be a problem.

I did the compression test also just to have an idea of the state of my engine.
Two of the plugs were stripped and I didn't want to cause any more damage so I bought a new set.
Unable to find Bosch or NGK plugs, so I went with the Champion for now until I can order the Bosch.

Old Plugs: These plugs weren't even close to the gap of the Bentley.

New Plugs: Gapped per Bentley

Damaged Plug Ends:

Compression Test:

After the Test Run:

[Wildthings]

Your compression is okay, but maybe #4 has some carbon build up on the head or the top of the piston causing higher than normal compression. You might add something like MMO to you fuel for a few tanks and see if it positively effects the compression.

I would certainly use a thread chaser before installing the plugs if you aren't going to use an insert.

Get some never seize and use it on the threads any time you install new or used plugs.

[zoobum]

[zoobum]

Well, the decision has been made.

The bus was sent in for repairs to restore the FI.

After installing the new plugs, this baby could move:

Stage 1:

More to come...

[aeromech]

Here's an update to this thread. The job was to reinstall California legal fuel injection back into this bus. Zach, the owner, brought me several FI parts but many of them proved to be bad and I spent a good amount of time locating replacements. I also learned a lot about the differences between the 49 state federal buses and the 1979 California bus. It was a good project that today I can say is complete.

Started with this

Ended with this

Doing this job had a high degree of difficulty. Not the mechanical part but the electrical part. Telford Dorr was instrumental in my success. There would be a long list of problems encountered and finally solved. I won't list them here but anyone considering doing this needs to understand that I built the engine in my garage on my run stand and was able to test run it before installation. This made doing the work a lot easier.

_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
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Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[zoobum]

After understanding the issue w/ CA smog, I successfully had the FI installed.
Big props to Gary, he is amazing!!
If you need help with your VW and are, or around the San Diego, CA area, message him and he'll take great care of your bus!

Here's a shot of the CAT that was custom made for bolt on/ off use, came out great.
The flanges were reused from the original cat.

CAT

Now that the FI is finished, my main goal is to finish some missing parts in the cab and restore the nose.

///

Most of the curtain carriers that came w/ the bus were in bad shape, so I had to track down new ones.
I picked up these at a local RV shop, but you can also get them online.

Carrier: Part# A104 the Clips are Part# A114

My girlfriend took time to sew them in and install in the bus:

I received another parts package, ready for install:
New Front emblem, Heater Lever Set, Pedals Pads, Pull Straps, Visor Clips.
All to be installed.

Pedals Before:

After:

Lever Set Before:

Lever Set After:

Pull Straps Before:

Pull Straps After:

Visor Clips Before:

Visor Clips After:

Personal Goal set for myself below.
Hope to be completed by Summer (fingers crossed):

Interior:
CAB
- Kick panel refresh
- Door panels refresh
- Glovebox knob
- Rubber floor mat
- Dash emergency brake light
- Emergency brake boot
- Steering wheel wrap
- Gas pedal refresh

Cabinets
- Shelf for under sink
- Shelf over spare tire
- Contact paper

Curtains
- Rear window
- Both rear side windows

Exterior:
- Nose refresh: grind, sand, paint. (Tire rusted out bottom front)
- Windshield wiper refresh
- Shocks
- Tires
- Paint Wheels

It feels really great having new parts installed on the bus!
I can now brake and clutch better with more grip from the new pads,
and get a nice cool breeze with the new levers!

Now it's time to knock out this punch list
_________________
-Zach
1979 CA Riviera 2.0L FI

[wcfvw69]

Good job putting the engine back to original, FI status. How do you like the FI system vs. the crappy carb that was on it?

Curios how much you ended up spending on parts to get the engine back to FI with the associated parts, if you don't mind me asking?
_________________
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
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