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1973 Thing Heater (Glow Plugs)
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ChapinBusDude
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Joined: June 25, 2013
Posts: 131
Location: South Carolina
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 8:41 am    Post subject: 1973 Thing Heater (Glow Plugs) Reply with quote

I'm posting a couple of pictures of the glow plug situation I just ran into. See next post for the pics....

Never worked on a Thing before. Very cool! This heater is pretty cool so I hope I can get it working for the guy that owns this car. I think it's called a BN4, right? Anyway there is some good info on this topic that I have been reading today. Great detailed posts!

I suppose the big cylinder is a combustion chamber? And the pictures I'm going to post show the glow plug I just pulled as well as the hole it came out of. Pretty weird looking junk on the plug. Kind of dry and flaky stuff that is also inside the chamber. Anyone seen this junk fouling up their glow plug before? Does the chamber need to be removed and cleaned up before using or just get the fan working and drive down the road with it on (blowing out the debris)? Smile

Looking forward to working on this car. Whatta cool car....

One other thing, no one seems to sell these plugs anymore. Checked out German Supply but they say discontinued. Any ideas?

By the way, been a bus owner and restorer since the early 80's, mostly 68 - 71 models.


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doublecanister
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Joined: September 23, 2008
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Location: Richmond, Va
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 9:53 am    Post subject: Re: 1973 Thing Heater (Glow Plugs) Reply with quote

hey Chapinbusdude,

I've never seen one with that crud in it before, this one must have been sitting a LONG time. Almost looks like sand...

Clean it up good and see if it'll work.

On my 73' the PO said the heater was broken and too expensive to fix.
Once I got the fuel pump working, cleaned the plug and what I could, replaced my broken timer switch, it works fine.

The fuel pump, probably is stuck. Mine was for sure. After a few hammer raps which didn't seem to work, I made some test power leads and ran them to the pump and straight to a spare 12v battery. I lost count after 275 taps to the battery post, which mostly made sparks and did slightly eat the battery post up a bit so don't do this on a donor car's battery unless you don't care about looks...
Anyway I took a break, tapped on it again w the hammer, applied power a few more times, 50times or so and she clicked.

Hooked it back up to the THING's power cables and turned on the timer switch and it started working!

I may have got lucky, not sure, but look on the SAMBA there are a few posts about these heaters that should help you get it going again.

Good luck!

T
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2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8
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ChapinBusDude
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Location: South Carolina
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 11:18 am    Post subject: Re: 1973 Thing Heater (Glow Plugs) Reply with quote

Appreciate the encouragement !! Yup, been sitting waaaay long but I got it cranked and running nice on the original engine. Too bad it has 80K on it already and a leaky front main seal Sad Never (ever) seen or worked on a BN-4 but am looking forward to seeing it work. I have heard that they are pretty solid design that will simply work when the common suspects are all rounded up and thrown in jail (pump being #1 bad guy). Maybe the glow plug will still work. It cleaned up fine but never know.... Thanks again doublecanister...
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doublecanister
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 4:17 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 Thing Heater (Glow Plugs) Reply with quote

You're welcome! Trying to payback for all the help I got working on mine! Lol

I hope you've read thru the heater sticky:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=332848

if not, give it a good read over, should help.

T
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2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8
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Deckard
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 6:04 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 Thing Heater (Glow Plugs) Reply with quote

I bet dimes to bitcoin that the "junk" in the glow plug is debris from a mice nest; I bet it climber through the tire, hopped in BN4's exhaust vent (inside the driver's wheel well), and set up his abode there.

You can find a BN4 manual in the site, which you can download for free. It will show you how to take it apart and evict the tenants. Using a shop vac to suck out the debris might work, but you might end up making things worse.
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ChapinBusDude
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Location: South Carolina
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 7:18 pm    Post subject: Re: 1973 Thing Heater (Glow Plugs) Reply with quote

Mice!!!!!! Smart critters. Climbed up the fresh air intake or warm air out.

I got that manual next to me on the table right now. Getting ready to do some light reading for the evenin'
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