My 1978 Big Sage Green Giant Westy Build! Lots of Pictures!

[Spike0180]

I'm interested in how this oil pressure sensor does. Keep us posted please

and yes! Road trip ready! Whoop whoop!
_________________
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"

[smitty1976bus]

So far so good on the oil pressure gauge Spike0180

wasn't prepared for the extreme PSI swings of this engine tho, haha. 60+ psi
(when cold) down to 10 psi (when hot and idling).

[smitty1976bus]

I thought the hardest/most tidiest project of this bus was behind me.. I was wrong. Last weekend, I installed the pop top canvas. Wow, did that suck. I bought the BusDepot brand of canvas, to save some money. When I received it, I took it out of the packaging, and it looked great. Material was nice, the stitching was done well, the windows were awesome. I just had to figure out how to install it.

First thing I did was clean the pop top itself. The inside of it was very dirty, and possibly had some mold. I sprayed some cleaner on it and used a Magic Eraser, and it worked very well, cleaned up nicely.

Now it was time to start installing:

I followed the directions which came with the top, and measured, measured and measured. Had all my tools ready:

I started with the top section, and started at the middle, of the back and front. Stapled the top up, then tackled the corners. It looked good, all lined up....... Then I tried to attached the bottom. I lowered the top just a bit, and tried to attach the back first, since it would be the hardest. And i couldn't get the fabric close to the screw down trim. I could barely get one corner down; when I did get one corner down, the other corner would be too tight, and impossible to attach. I was very frustrated. I gave up for the evening.

The next day I started early, knowing I'd be become angry with the project very quickly. I took the top down again, to start fresh, thinking I may have attached something incorrectly. I tried to attach the bottom first, just to see if it could be done. I couldn't get the corners to reach at all.... Ok, now I might have a problem. If I can't get the bottom to fit, before the tops even attached, how would I ever do it?? I knew I wouldn't be able to return the top either, just because all over the instructions were "Cannot Return Once you Put a Hole in this Top"

Now I had to figure out how to get this top on, with out ripping it. The bottom seemed to be about 1 1/2 inches to small... Ok, all I have to do is move the back mounting aluminum trim 1 1/2 closer. Piece'a cake. I have 2 set of aluminum mounting trim, so I took one set, and chopped 1 1/2" out of it. Then drilled some new mounting holes in the top of the bus... Not an ideal situation, I know, but it's the best out come I could think of. I just kept picturing the fabric tearing as I stretched it....

Alright, starting over again. I stapled the top of the canvas up, starting with the middle, then the corners.

Then, I moved down to the bottom.... Wow, it still sucked, ha. I stretched and stretched, and I finally mounted the rear bottom trim. (yes, i cut those notches into the plastic strip on the corners of the canvas ) I then began screwing down the rest of the trim pieces; very time consuming and tedious. It was finally finished! I slowly raised the top, listening for any ripping fabric, thankfully I didn't hear any. Done! The top was on and looks great!

You can see where the the holes of where the mounting trim should have gone, and where it ended up; about 1 1/2 inches away:

A little altering was needed, but it worked. I don't know if it was the BusDepot brand canvas, or something I did or didn't do (or just inexperience), but I know this install shouldnt have been as difficult as it was. Has anyone else this type of problem with pop top canvas before? Or had success with BusDepot tops?

I'm just glad I didn't rip it, ha.

Sean

[Tcash]

Westfalia Pop Top

[championbaum]

I will be ordering mine Friday, I also have a 78, and was going Bus Depot as well so we will see.

I just redid the vinyl on the bunk bed/rear ceiling and just set it in in anticipation for this project, I am hoping I can just move it out of the way a bit to get to the back section where space is limited. (if you ever do this, you can not remove it without removing the canvas to my knowledge).

I hope mine will fit, I don't want to move the mounting aluminum if I don't have to... Those things are pricey so I commend you for your ingenuity in avoiding wasting that money by ripping it. I am honestly worried about that myself.

You think it would have been easier with 2 people or is it one of those jobs you should do solo to wallow in your frustration without someone annoying you?

Looks good and very awesome work so far.

[Tcash]

Most say it is easier if you take the top off.
Good luck
Tcash

[championbaum]

[smitty1976bus]

[smitty1976bus]

Did the first decent trip in my van this weekend, went about 100 miles; and it was hot out too, about 90 F. She did great while on the back roads, easily cruised 40-50 miles per hour, no issues. Buuuut, once I got on the freeway, it was a totally different story. Was doing about 60-65, and after about 10 minutes of that, my 'low oil pressure' light began to flicker.... Which means that newly installed dip stick oil temperature sensor was reading some hot oil temps. Flickering light means the temp was at least 225 F. Once I saw that flickering light, I backed off a little bit, and went down to 50 mph. Of course I was about 10 miles from the next exit, and by the time I made it off the freeway, the oil light was flickering faster and brighter. If it had stayed on steady, I would have just pulled over, but thankfully it didn't.

Once off the freeway, and going 40mph'sh, within 5 minutes, the light was off, and all was safe. Good thing I installed that dip stick sensor, or else I would have never known... until it was too late. I'll tell ya, I was a lot happier driving without all these sensor's, haha, ignorance is bliss.

Now I need to fix this problem, because this bus is no good to me if I can't take it on the free way. I know it was a hot day, but still shouldnt happen.

I just installed an oil cooler (used, but I cleaned it up), and the tin is all there, and the the thermostat is good and works properly. I'm going to buy a deep sump oil pan for the bus, hopefully that will help it out. Anyone have similar problems, and found a fix with the deep sump? If it doesn't work, I may have to install an external oil cooler. Time to do some research, in the mean time, I'll be stuck to the side roads.

[Tcash]

Did you qualify the oil temp dipstick? If not put it in some water with a known good thermometer and increase the water temperature until the light flickers. Note the thermometer reading.

Your timing may be too far advanced.

Oil Temps FAQ

Good luck
Tcash

[championbaum]

[smitty1976bus]

[smitty1976bus]

[smitty1976bus]

[Ride_On]

You can also add salt or sugar to water to raise the boiling point:

http://kitchenscience.sci-toys.com/boiling_freezing_pressure

I'll let someone wittier comment on saving your meat thermometer!
_________________
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)

[danfromsyr]

we also had a top canvas that required shortening and moving of the aluminum hold down trim about the same distance..
it was modify the trim and add some more holes, or return the canvas, loose more week(s) of camper fun.. so we moved the trim and sealed the original holes.

[smitty1976bus]

[smitty1976bus]

Ended up looking into my overheating problem, and noticed my cooling flaps weren't opening all the way. So I drove around and heated up engine until the thermostat was open all the way, then adjusted the cooling flap wire. It wasn't off by much at all, but I'm sure 1 millimeter can make a difference.

I drove around on the high-way after that, and the engine didn't overheat, so maybe it worked. But it was only 70 F outside, compared to the 90 F it was the other day, when it did overheat. It'll be 95-100 F this coming week, so I'll find out then if this little adjustment worked or not.

Also noticed that the cooling flaps were a little sticky; it didnt move smoothly. I lightly touched it when I first started looking at it, when cold, and the flaps sprung closed. So it was hung up on something. I sprayed some WD on it, in hopes to lube and loosen it up.

Will have to keep my eye on this.

[smitty1976bus]

Hi everyone, been about a year since I've posted on this build thread... which I guess is a good thing. Been out enjoying the bus. But now it's time for some maintenance. Bought some goodies from BusDepot, need to do the push rod tube seals (been leaking very badly), a rebuilt air flow meter (will get into that later, not very happy with the unit), and some suspension work.

Start with the pushrod tube seals. Here's what it looked like after removing the tin. Note that I did put some silicone insta-gasket stuff around where the pushrod tube goes into the head. This actually worked the first time I did it, but isn't a long time fix, it was time to fix it right:

Took every thing off that needed to come off, keeping it in order so it'll go back where it came from:

Heads look good:

Hydraulic lifters look good:

Old push rod tube seals, don't look good:

Seems everyone has a different method on putting the seals back on, some say use motor oil, some silicone, others something different. I just soaked them in oil (literally...I dunno) and put them on. Looks good:

Ok, everything is back on the same way it came off. Only I noticed that the valve clearance on one of the valves is loose. It's at .279 mm (.011"), the Bently book says .015 mm (.006") but I'm pretty sure thats for solid lifters. All the info i can find online says the clearance should be 1.5 turns after contact with valve. Anyone know what that roughly translates to mm? Also, odds are that my lifters are not full (inflated? pumped up?.. full of oil) due to bus sitting for about 5 days before I did this.

Anyways, I should be good to run the bus, right? It ran fine before this project, and everyone was put back on the same way it came off... Should be fine Hmm....

[smitty1976bus]

bus runs, but there is some valvetrain noise. There's always been some noise, so I think it's time for some adjustments. I'll use RatWells guide to hydraulic lifters and hope for the best:
http://www.ratwell.com/technical/HydraulicLifters.html