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My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures!
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smitty1976bus
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 7:07 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Decided to take the bus to the family's for Thanksgiving, and it drove great on the way there, but on the way home, it was dark, and I noticed my battery dummy light was on. It wasn't bright, but rather a faint glow. Everything seemed to be working fine though. Today I had some time to investigate, and noticed that the battery wasn't being charged.... Dang. Here's what I know:

Battery volts (with engine off): 12.5 volts
Battery volts (with engine on): 11.9 volts

Yup, not being charged; luckily it's an Optima yellow top, so it doesn't drain quickly. But I don't know if I have an alternator issue or a voltage regulator issue. I checked out RatWells site:
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/ChargingSystem.html

It had a great guide to check the voltage reg.:
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So i tested out mine, and it passed! (besides having the dummy light on the entire time) I actually got 14 volts on the D+ terminal, when the engine was running... So now I don't know what to do, because the alternator is working... isn't it? That's the only thing that can give me 14v.

I then checked the inside of the regulator:

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Was hoping to see it burnt up, or something, but it looks good (but i have no real idea what I'm looking at). I'm not sure where to go from here. I took the alternator off last week, to change my oil cooler, but what could I have screwed up when reinstalling it? All the connections are tight, the belt is nice and tight, and everything looks good. The only other thing thats different is the weather; it's been in the 30's here recently; could cold weather affect the regulator? Hmmm.................
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smitty1976bus
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 7:23 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

I read up on how the voltage regulator works, and I think I finally understand it... I think. My regulator has a bit more going on with it than the one shown on the Ratwell page, but the basic idea is the same. But I believe mine has some type of temperature sensor, which slightly changes the voltage/charge to the battery (guess colder batteries can hold more?) But, I wanted to see the regulator in action, so I hooked it up with out the cover one it:

Link


All that seems to work pretty well. I started to think that the alternator was defective Sad In a last ditch effort, I cleaned all the connections in the charging system, tightened them back up, charged the battery over night (just to be sure), and even checked all my fuses. All looked good. I started up the engine to see if I had any luck.... well, the alternator was now working.. but a little too well. The alt. was cranking out 18 volts to the battery! What the he!!? I immediately turned the bus off, just to be safe, then scratched my head. totally lost... Has to be voltage regulator; now, when I was getting the high volts, the regulator still had its cover off, and tilted a little bit. So, I put its cover back on and straightened it up. Then I turned the engine on again, and for whatever reason, I was getting 14.3 volts! Nice! The problem fixed itself! I know, I probably need a new regulator.

I'll buy a new voltage regulator as soon as I can (anyone know where to buy a new one? I see BusDepot has some new digital ones; they any good?) But in the mean time, I put a volt meter up in my cabin, so I can keep an eye on those pesky volts. Seems to be at 14.5 volts... is that normal, or high?
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It's always something with this bus!

-Smitty


Last edited by smitty1976bus on Mon Nov 27, 2017 2:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 1:42 am    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

It's a bit high , but think about your tool there for a bit, Smitty

No , not that one, too personal. A dash gauge is like an axe handle with finger nail marks for measuring length. A decent VOM, maybe $30-40, will give you voltage readings +- 0.1 volts, which is what you want to record drops over wiring runs
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smitty1976bus
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 7:55 am    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Poke'n fun at my tool Abscate?? Haha, great analogy with the axe. but you're right, I'll need to measure with my voltage meter. Went out and tested it last night, and it is a little high, was at 14.56 volts. Strangely enough though, I turned on my headlights, the volts dropped down to 13.7'sh (to be expected), but then when I turned the lights off, the volts stayed steady at around 14 - 14.15. It stayed that way when I drove the bus this morning too. Long story short, my VR is on its way out, so I headed over to BusDepot and bought a new one:
http://www.busdepot.com/021903803a
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Hopefully it's the right one. In the mean time, hoping my VR stays working until the replacement arrives.
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 8:13 am    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

iv e fitted a couple of these diode based regulators and they are great much more stable and a higher voltage output. at least 0.5v more than the old mechanical one.

only thing i found was that on my one i had to blip the throttle to turn the alternator light off, i think the gate open voltage was just on the cusp of it turning on.
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 12:20 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

pkrboo wrote:
iv e fitted a couple of these diode based regulators and they are great much more stable and a higher voltage output. at least 0.5v more than the old mechanical one.


Awesome! I haven't' heard of anyone who's used these new digital VRs, so that's good to know Very Happy It'a amazing how far electronics have come in the past 40 years haha.

I received the VR in the mail today too! can't believe how fast BusDepot got it to me, I received it less than 18 hours after ordering! Insane! Very Happy

-Smitty
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smitty1976bus
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 2:56 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Now that my bus is running nice; the engine doesn't leak oil, it starts up when I need it to (usually), the TSII is TS'ing correctly, and the voltage regulator is new and improved Very Happy ******Knock on wood for 30 minutes******* I want to drive it more and more, only I have no heat, and winter is coming Crying or Very sad My stock heat system doesn't work, due to missing pieces, and from what I've read, it wouldn't work that great anyways. And the factory installed gas heater is toasted, as seen above. I needed some new way to heat the bus.........

I came up with an unorthodox way to heat the bus, and some people are not going to like it (probably), but it's cheap and effective; and will update with a better system when funds are available. I went out and bought a Mr Buddy Heater this Black Friday:

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The thing works great! It throws some heat. It is a propane heater, and it is used in a confined space, which is why i installed a CO2 detector into the cabin as well. This model also has a low O2 sensor, which shuts the unit down when activated. So plenty of fail safes.

But that's only part of it, I want defrost for my little bus, so I came up with a system of HVAC tubes, which takes the heat from the Mr. Heater, and takes it up to the windshield:
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I fabricated a little tophat for the heater, which funnels heat into a duct, which is sucked up by an inline HVAC fan unit, up into the dash, through the stock defroster ports (just on the drivers side). It works in theory, but I haven't had any super cold days/nights to test it out yet. But it does crank some heat:
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The dash started with a nice and cool 47 degrees:
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But there was 80 degrees + coming out of the heat duct:
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And my PVC junction was over 100 degrees:
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Guess I'll have to wait and see how she really works until a cold day. There were some difficulties though, such as I couldn't find any high temp. adhesive to bond the little HVAC duct onto the little tophat I fabbed up. I ended up going with 'Fuze IT all surface' adhesive, which is rated up to 300 degrees, and I've only seen the tophat get up to 250 degrees, so it should be ok. Even with the high heat, the HVAC ducts stay nice and cool, due to they're aluminum (haven't seen them over 70). And as for the little in-line fan, I use a DC to AC converter, and the fan works fine.

So we shall see how this little system works. Since it all cost me less than $150 (Heater, ducts, fan, sheet metal, duct tape (is that why they call it that?? oh man, that just hit me, ha), etc.) I'm already happy. If I do see any dangers, I won't use it, but I think I should be ok.

-Smitty
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 5:08 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

I have the same heater that I use for camping and in my garage. They have a safety switch that turns them off when tipped or bumped. I find it trips quite easily. You might be better off just using it to warm up the bus before driving.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 7:40 am    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Welp... it was just a matter of time before something else broke on my green beauty. Just so happens its been something thats been giving me troubles for a while. The alternator finally crapped out on me Sad

Last weekend I took a little trip in the bus, and on the the trip to where I was going, I noticed the volts were getting low, right around 12, and a little lower. Figured it was the VR again, since it was giving me troubles back in November, but then it started working again; so I kept using it, and had a replacement on deck ready to go. I decided to switch the old one with the new VR for the ride home, since it was dark and would need plenty of volts. But it's never that easy..... New VR in, and started the bus, and got a crazy high volt reading. Over 15! Dang... not again.. I put the old VR back on, but still got a high reading... great. Since I was only 15 miles away from home, I decided to just drive it. I had all the electronics in the bus going (lights, wipers, stereo, fans) just to prevent the battery from over charging. I guess it worked, because I made it home, and the battery wasnt hissing.... that loudly Rolling Eyes Luckily its an Optima, so not sure how they react to overcharging, since they don't have liquids. Probably just explode, ha. But the next day, the batt. was fine, 12 volts.

Yesterday I diagnosed the problem. First I looked at all the connections. Then measured the volts at the VR connections, going by this chart from RatWell.
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I got as far as measuring the D+ terminal, with the ignition on, but engine off. The volts were at 11.6. So straight from the battery. My guess is that one of the diodes in the alternator are stuck open, which causes it to just put out maximum voltage at all times. When usually it only opens when the VR tells it to. I think.. But its been coming for a few months now. So I think I'll try and find a replacement...or see if anyone can rebuild this one.

Any one know of any reliable 70 amp alternator distributors? How's BusDepot's? Any good?

Thanks Smitty
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:24 am    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

How about the heater system in cold??
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:24 am    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

How about the heater system in cold??
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 7:32 am    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Why is it when I see that manifold system leading up to the dash I hear

"Warning Will Robinson!!" in my head?

Smittie is still trying to thaw his fingers from winter to type - to answer the heat question.
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:34 am    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Abscate wrote:
Why is it when I see that manifold system leading up to the dash I hear

"Warning Will Robinson!!" in my head?

Smittie is still trying to thaw his fingers from winter to type - to answer the heat question.


I had a lot of that going on in my mind too; But it's only silly if it doesn't work. haha. The heating thing-a-majig works surprisingly well.. It does fog the windows up pretty quickly tho, so i had to add more crazy to the puzzle. I put some fans up on the windshield, and that really clears up the fogging:

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It's all temparary until I can afford to buy a Propex HS2000, and do it the way I really want to:

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Then I can mount that under the belly, and use the factory heating ducts, instead of my spare HVAC tubing. Maybe next winter.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 5:59 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Winter has been pretty brutal the past 30 days; it's been winter storm after winter storm up here in New England. Just going to post some pictures of what its done to my poor car port, and my VW who calls it home.

The car port fared well for the first storm, but the 2nd storm brought some incredible wind. That wind managed to turn the car port into a sail, snap the anchor cables, and shoot the port into the air! It almost blew away, but 1 anchor held strong, and with the help of some electrical cords, the tent slammed back down to the ground. Just long enough for me to run out tie the car port to the bus, to keep it ground. If it blew away again, it was taking the bus with it. Luckily it stayed grounded. But the damage to the inside was done:

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It left a mess, and gave my bus some deep scratches, but no dents thankfully. I managed to clean up the aftermath, just in time for the 3rd NorEaster to hit. This one didn't have the wind like the last storm, but it did have snow; a lot of it, and it was heavy. I like to clean the snow off the car ports roof every 2-3 inches, but since I was at work for about 2 hours, and the snow was falling so fast, this is what I came home to:

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A collapsed car port Sad Thankfully.. Somehow.. It didnt touch my bus, no damage at all. Amazing. I did some redneck engineering, and with some 2x4s, I resurrected my car port:

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So now I'm back in business. The 4th NorEaster happened the other day, and I'm happy to say nothing collapsed or blew away.

Just had to post this on my bus's story thread, because the entire time I've owned this vehicle, nothing has been easy with it. But I'll be damned if anything stops me from getting this bus exactly where I want it. And it goes to show you that you don't need any fancy garage to do a build in, or expensive tools; I've built this thing in the dirt, under a tarp, using second hand tools, and while the bus isn't perfect, it's mine Very Happy
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 6:48 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Back to business! The time before the snow storms, I had a slight over-charging problem, my alternator was puting out 17+ volts (again)
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Put in a new voltage regulator and alternator, yada yada yada, neither one fixed the problem; ended up being my wiring harness (VR to AlT), so I made a new one:
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Seems to be working so far *knock on wood*, and if anyone is interested in this problem, I made another thread about it:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

Another issue I wanted to tackle, before any long road trips, was changing my transmission fluid. I've never changed it, and I don't know the last time it ever was (if ever), and the gears do whine a bit while driving. The only problem was... what fluid to use?!?! There are soooo many topics about this, and nobody has a definite answer. They say use 80w-90 hypoid fluid, that is GL-4 compliant, and to stay away from GL-5. But they don't make GL-4 any longer, and people say GL-5 is the same as GL-4, just newer, but it doesn't protect yellow metals, and blah blah blah blah. It's all very intimidating. I originally purchased Valvoline 80w-90:
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But then someone on here pointed out it says 'for use in non-synchronized manual transmissions', so I didn't really want to use that stuff. I went to every auto parts store in the tri-town area, reading gear lubes. Finally picked a lube I felt good about... Lucas Oil, 80w-90, High Performance Gear Lube. It's exceeds the GL-4 and GL-5 service level, and its safe for outboard final drives, I.E. yellow metals (brass).
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So this stuff should do the trick. The only doubt I have is that I've never read anyone mention it on this site. So that's not good, nor bad. So we shall see! I ended up draining my old lube, and putting in the new. Boy, was my drain plug magnet full of spurs.
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Getting closer to making this V-Dub super reliable.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 8:04 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

eek. with that many spurs id be tempted to do a second change shortly after my first. sorry about your luck with the car port, that really sucks.
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2018 7:13 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Spike0180 wrote:
eek. with that many spurs id be tempted to do a second change shortly after my first


Yea, I'll probably change it again in maybe 5k.

Until then, more repairs, fine tuning the Green Boy. This weekend I switched out the old parking brake cables. The passenger side was very easy, it looked to be new anyways, but the drivers side was old, rusty, and stubborn. First the cable didn't want to come out of the drum housing:
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I eventually pried it out, and pulled out the other end, from that strange metal tube, buuuuuut, half of it broke off inside the tube:
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Bummmer. This is why i've been putting off this project for so long, ha. I pulled the wire out from the tube, along with a lot of rust and gunk. Then I had to drill out the broken off housing, which was stuck in the tube. Since it's been so cold out, I broke about 2 drill bits before clearing all the debris out of the tube. It was done though; installed the new brake cable very easily:
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Now I can park with out using my wheel chock!

I've also been having issues with my house battery, so I tackled this problem as well. So, every time I switch on battery power (my 2nd battery), using a starting solenoid, after about 20 minutes of use (watching TV mostly), the solenoid decides to melt, haha:
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Gave me quite the scare the first time it happened, no idea where the smell was coming from. The second time I almost expected it. The problem is that these solenoids are not deigned to operate continuously, only intermittently, like engaging a starter. So I needed something that could run all the time, and not melt. I did some research and found out golf carts use solenoids to operate, and they are run continuously. So I bought a couple of em, and installed them. Haven't tested it yet, but believe it should do the trick *fingers crossed*
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Finally have decent weather coming up, so I'll be able to drive the bus around, hopefully she does good Very Happy
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 10:12 am    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Check out Swepco Trans fluid. It's the absolute best for our buses.
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PostPosted: Wed May 09, 2018 1:02 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

BUSBOSS wrote:
Check out Swepco Trans fluid. It's the absolute best for our buses.


Niiice. I'll have to order some of that and do a another flush of the transmission before Summer comes.

Since my last post, been doing a lot of driving in the Bus, which is good, but then I had charging issues again! Welp, the rebuilt 70 amp alternator from BusDepot never kicked on until the engine hit 1200 rpm'sh, so that was no good. Ended up getting an exchange, which was awesome. But I still had high voltage issues; managed to fix this, and believe my issue the entire time was due to the VR not being grounded properly. Ran a ground stip from the VR to a known good ground, and the high voltage issue went away. Plus I learned just about all there is about my charging system, ha. More can be seen at this thread:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8766593&highlight=#8766593

Since then, I've added some goodies to the bus, starting with this sweet gauge setup:

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I've never been able to get my factory gas gauge to work, so I picked up a nice VDO gauge and sending unit:

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Thought I'd be slick and mesh it into a factory sending unit, so I could mount it in the original tank location:
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Welded it all together, and it looked good... But, I cut the original sending unit wrong, and it's unable to mount Sad Measure twice and cut once folks, ha.
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PostPosted: Wed May 09, 2018 1:02 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures! Reply with quote

Also bought a VDO oil pressure sender. Another item which was harder to mount than I thouhgt it'd be. Due to the engine tin, it wasn't able to screw into the location. I ended up buying a small section of brake line, and ended it up mounting it like so:
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She seems to work ok. But I do get some big PSI swings. Not sure if due to the long brake line, or the curve in the line, but sometime the PSI will go down to like 10psi, and sometimes lower. The original dummy light goes off often now, believe this has a higher kick on point than the original sender. I never had my light come on before (well once, due to an oil leak, so it did work). I'll have to read up on these oil pressure readings, and see whats normal or not. I might have to move up to a heavier weight oil too; because when the engine is hot, the PSI is pretty low (15-20 psi). And oil grade is whole different can of worms.


Other than those gauges, I spruced up the looks of the green girl with some sweet fog lamps, and decals. She's looking fly now!:

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Getting closer to road trip ready!
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