'70 Riviera: The Continuing (Mis)Adventures

[TomWesty]

[D/A/N]

A bit of an update now that we're only 476 miles (a really long 1 day drive) from home and passing the night in Ohio and I'll kick myself for saying this (or I can cut myself on Occam's razor and sop up the blood with a coffee filter) b/c tomorrow the damned thing will probably blow up, but the bus has been pretty close to trouble free since leaving Oregon. There are only a few issues, two of which have been with us for a while:

1. We of course have the little oil drip from the air cleaner to contend with. I'll try to get a pic of what it looks like and where it's coming from in the AM. We've been going through a 1/2 quart of oil every 500 or so miles. I think the owner's manual says 1 qt. per 1k miles?

Gotta get our hands on a correct air cleaner. Isn't the '70 one a one-year-only part? It should have a nipple for oil breather, a nipple for line from the fuel evap canister, and the cable operated preheat flap provision. Anyone know the part #? Or have one to sell? Everyone/everyplace just sells "68-71" cleaners as if they're all the same.

2. Trans intermittently pops out of 1st under a variety of conditions...pulling off from a stop light or stop sign (not gonna be at all safe back in NYC!!!) driving across a parking lot in 1st, etc. etc. Need rebuilt trans soon!!

And two new ones

3. Under very hard braking, the bus pulls sharply to the left. Under hard or normal braking, it's fine. The right front hubcap is warm after driving around town while the left one is very warm. Seems that all is not well with the right front wheel. We'll adjust the shoes and troubleshoot from there. Also under very hard braking there's a very slight pulse in the pedal as though there's a drum slightly out of round. I think the front drums might be original to the bus.

4. We've been driving through a terrible on and off rain front since Sunday....Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio. Starting yesterday, there's a terrible terrible and annoying as fuck squeak from the wiper assembly under the dash. It isn't the blades or even the pivots outside. We lifted the wipers off the window and ran the motor and there's no sound outside but still that terrible squeak inside. Pull the assembly and lube what? Here it is....imagine this squeak for hours at a time!!!


Link

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'69 Fuel Injected Squareback. "B" D-jet. 1600 with balanced rotating assembly and lightened flywheel. Full flow and external filter.

'70 Riviera. 1904cc w/ 40mm Dellortos, 019 distributor, Steve Tims “super stock” 37x32 heads, Web Cam 218, Vintage Speed SS143 Super Speed exhaust, 1 1/2” heater boxes

[neena]

And here are some vacation photos:

Talked to more than one person from Nebraska to Iowa about the end of summer rodeo season, state fair season, and the start of the school year (with plenty of days built in for snow and hay harvesting season). All the talk of school years gave both of us tight necks/shoulder blades...

First, a visit to a historic train depot in Douglas, WY (cuz vintage train stuff is as cool as vintage car stuff):

Then, making the dreaded trip east fun by chasing the historic Lincoln Highway, so here are some pictures of old car stuff:

an old gas station somewhere in IA:

Big John makes the bus look small:

Some other small town gas station:

At Niland's corner in Colo, IA:

A mural in Morrison, IL:

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'69 Fuel Injected Squareback. "B" D-jet. 1600 with balanced rotating assembly and lightened flywheel. Full flow and external filter.

'70 Riviera. 1600 SP with 30 PICT 3 carburetor, 205M distributor, stock muffler

@chaseyessi on Instagram

[Tram]

Hastily:

1. Air cleaner leak: You let me "fix" it... and you expected ...?

2. Oil consumption:
Owner's manual says 1.7 to 4.8 pints per 1000 miles is the range so you are on the very low end of normal. I'd say you're golden.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/jan70bus/70ownmanpage54.jpg

3. Jalapeno poppers: Just for fun, loosen your shifter plate fasteners and move the whole plate towards the front a few mm. See if this improves things. If it makes it worse, go back to where you started and go a few mm the other way. I'm not at all convinced that my shop floor wore out first gear. On the other hand... it is "THIS BUS".

4. Brakes: Sounds like the left needs some adjustment. Back it off a little and see if it stops pulling.

5. Annoying fucking squeak: Find your silicone lube and squirt down all the moving parts you can see up under there.

6. Nice pics! Sorry about you being in oHIo. No, wait... I mean "CLEVELAND ROCKS!!!" Yeah, that's what I meant all right.
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Немає виправдання для війни! Я з Україною.

[sjbartnik]

Having plenty of experience with front drum brakes over the last few years, if you are feeling a pulsation in the pedal it is indeed likely that a drum is out of round. If that is associated with a pull under hard braking then it’s most likely a front drum.

An out of round condition causes a bit of a grab & release effect with the shoes. This results in a difference in brake effectiveness from side to side, causing a pull which is most noticeable under hard braking.

Best solution is to get the drums turned if you can find a place that can do it!

You will usually be able to pinpoint the out of round drum during shoe adjustment time, as there will be an uneven on/off rubbing sound as you spin the wheel. When round, it will just be an even light rubbing sound.
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1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[TomWesty]

[D/A/N]

[TomWesty]

[D/A/N]

So....this happened last Thursday afternoon. Haven't fully accepted it yet (and promptly left town for 2 days right after) so we haven't posted. I'm already back to work 2 days now. More info and pics later...

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'69 Fuel Injected Squareback. "B" D-jet. 1600 with balanced rotating assembly and lightened flywheel. Full flow and external filter.

'70 Riviera. 1904cc w/ 40mm Dellortos, 019 distributor, Steve Tims “super stock” 37x32 heads, Web Cam 218, Vintage Speed SS143 Super Speed exhaust, 1 1/2” heater boxes

[Tram]

Well... it looks like they almost got the barricade erected in time- I tried to warn them you were on the way back!


Link

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Немає виправдання для війни! Я з Україною.

[Koeppler]

[sjbartnik]

[andrewtf]

just looked thru this thread to catch up....
I NEVER thought I'd see my tiny little home town anywhere on this site.
I'm from here: Morrison, Illinois... about 2 and a half blocks from where this photo was taken.

Fun fact about that exact building......
I used to go there ALL the time growing up to watch the 'race car guy' work on all his cool stuff. I know now how friggin awesome that was. The 'shop' was owned by Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick who at the time was the foremost Pontiac racer.. maybe in the world. He drove The Judge

As kids from the ages of about 8 to 14 we would spend at least part of almost every day in the summer just hanging around his shop drinking Cokes and watching those guys wrench the shit out of that car(s). As an adult I can't believe how gracious and accommodating and nice he and his crew were to the stupid kids who just wanted to be around those sweet race cars.

Ahh..... Good Times.
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'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' (Pan American highway trip paused for a make over)
'77 Riviera - Murphy' (being reborn.... slowly)
'63 Austin Healey

[neena]

[neena]

...And with that nudge, I will share a few more vacation photos. We fell into a dark cloud of rain that plagued us for FOUR DAYS It was exhausting and annoying, and in Ohio, I persisted in driving through some of the worst rain I've ever driven in...until Daniel wisely persuaded me to give up and get off the road. After those dark days, we got some good pictures. For some reason, old cars featured prominently on the final leg of our drive:

Found a stretch of "original" Lincoln Highway to drive on (original road was dirt, bricks came next before asphalt replaced the bricks) in Ohio. This particular stretch lasted for <50 yards past some houses and dead-ended in a tree and guardrail. Not sure how a road could become SO irrelevant to east-west travel

Passed a beautiful old parts store in Lisbon, OH

While trying to find a colonial-era tavern in Pennsylvania (the old shit that's around on the east coast still blows my CA mind), we passed a help wanted sign and an amazing Gremlin in East Canton, OH

Ran into this clean "Vacation" mobile at a rest stop in Pennsylvania

and finally, the Williamsburg Bridge: a sure sign we were home

Still to come: data and statistics
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'69 Fuel Injected Squareback. "B" D-jet. 1600 with balanced rotating assembly and lightened flywheel. Full flow and external filter.

'70 Riviera. 1600 SP with 30 PICT 3 carburetor, 205M distributor, stock muffler

@chaseyessi on Instagram

[Tram]

East Canton? I know the area well. My mother and brother are in North Canton, about 15 min. away.
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Немає виправдання для війни! Я з Україною.

[TomWesty]

Great picture of the “Wagon Queen Family Truckster” And in metallic pea no less!
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If you haven't bled on them, you haven't worked on them.
Visit: www.tomcoryell.com and check out my music!

[D/A/N]

[Tram]

[D/A/N]

So last week or so I was picking up some rubber bits from the West Coast Metric site (wiper grommets, seals for the fresh air flaps up front, etc.) when I came across a part I didn't have and hadn't seen before.....grey rubber beading for the sliding door track. It was OEM/NOS and I went for it. Full part # is 221-843-196

I didn't really think about where it was supposed to go or what is was supposed to do--I guess I was too excited about the NOS/OEM aspect of the thing--but it goes along here, behind the curtain rod on our Riviera

We tried fitting it and then realized there's no way a curtain rod will cooperate with this thing unless we use longer screws

Plus, it's a few inches too long. And here's the question: What the heck is the purpose of this thing and is it even meant for a camper with a curtain rod in the sliding door area? Does anyone even have one in place?

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'69 Fuel Injected Squareback. "B" D-jet. 1600 with balanced rotating assembly and lightened flywheel. Full flow and external filter.

'70 Riviera. 1904cc w/ 40mm Dellortos, 019 distributor, Steve Tims “super stock” 37x32 heads, Web Cam 218, Vintage Speed SS143 Super Speed exhaust, 1 1/2” heater boxes