New to the Club - '64 Split Window Camper

[Waterborn]

Trying to find time to get some more work done on the bus before BulliBrigade this weekend, but all I could do today was snap this pic.

[mandraks]

looks legit
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regards

Uli

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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[Waterborn]

[Waterborn]

Just returned from my first sizeable road trip with the bus (500 miles or so from Ft Lauderdale to Dade City for Bug Jam / BulliBrigade). Bus ran pretty well with a few hiccups, but no major breakdowns. It did start to really drag (no pick up, had to lay heavy on the clutch until engine was reving to prevent stalling) and I had some air bubble perculating up into the fuel filter after the engine was off. Friend suggested tightening the fuel hose clamps and replacing the fuel filter, which I did. Bus ran better, but still seams more temperamental than before the trip.

So I decided to really start digging into what engine I have and what maintenance/new parts I may want to get soon.

First question seems obvious, exactly which engine do I have? Below of a photo of the engine number stamped on the generator support.

What confuses me is that given the production date of my bus (5/5/1964) and my chasis number (1294796) my original engine should have been numbered around 8200 000 to 8785000. Based on the photo below, my engine # begins with an H and then is only 6 digits. All the info I can find on bus engines indicates that if it begins with an H it should have 7 digits.

I completely understand that the engine in this bus could have been and probably was swapped out numerous times over the years. So which engine do I have? I know its a single carb dual port, but my knowledge at this time does not go much further than that. Can anyone help me figure this out? Thanks in advance.

[mandraks]

looks like your motor is a single port? dual port has a 3 piece intake manifold. picture looks like a one piece?

H motor would have been a 1500.
_________________
regards

Uli

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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[Z]

I had to go back to pg 1 and look, but its def dual port.

[mandraks]

[BarryL]

[Waterborn]

OK, sorry it has been so long since the last update. Holidays, a major illness and the looming anniversary of my father's passing have sucked up all my time.

First the good stuff.

Got a nice custom rack from Bullidriver at BugJam in Tampa earlier this fall AND scored an old school set of Aloha Surf racks from a fellow Samba'er.

I LOVE how the Alohas fit perfectly within the footprint of the canopy bars on my bus. It's almost as if they were made specifically for myu 'Bama Camper setup.

The pups are LOVING the new ride

Now for some frustrations. Upon returning from our first road trip in the bus from Ft Lauderdale to Tampa for Bug Jam and Bulli Brigade (what a FUN time BTW!), I was having issues with stalling when downshifting out of third gear and with poor pickup in 1st and 2nd. After talking to some friends and researching here and elsewhere I figured it was an issue with my carb and/or how the idle and primary jets were set on that carb. So I spent a few weeks (while using the bus as my daily driver) tweaking the carb, with some improvements but not full success.

After countless hours of tweaking and driving and stopping and tweaking, I looked at the engine one night after dark and realized that there as some minor electrical arcing occurring at the base of the solenoid on the carb when I pushed down on the throttle lever on the carb. Turns out that the solenoid kept rattling loose, causing the stalling. After tightening it multiple times, only to have it loosen and stall again, I got a tube of blue locktite (the kind that will unthread with a little pressure) and applied a small bit on the threads of the solenoid. Since there, NO STALLING.

I also realized that there was an uncapped vacuum port on my heater manifold

As well as a crack in the right side of the same manifold, which I "quick fixed" with some JB Weld.

After doing these two things, I have had much better pickup in the lower gears.

Ever since my belt got mangled by the loose air filter (see previous post) I noticed that the upper pulley was getting a good bit of red "dust: accumulating on it. I had not noticed this previously.

Also, when the engine was idling, the upper pulley seemed to be a bit off center, but would right itself when the throttle lever on the carb was depressed. So I took off the pulley and realized that the center hole where it mounts to the alternator was bored out a bit. Not sure if this was a result of the air filter hitting it or a more long term issue. I also noted that some of the extra shims that I have on the outside of the pulley were rather rusty. So I grabbed some cleaner shims, installed a new belt just to be safe and re-adjusted the upper pulley. I also used some small clamps to tidy up the spark plug and alternator wire routes. No more rust dust on the upper pulley.

I have plans to drop the engine in two weeks to replace a bad fuel sender and will also be replacing a few seals, the upper pulley and perhaps the lower pulley as well. I have had several friends tell me not to mess with the lower pulley if it ain't broke, but I would love to have one (which I have already purchased) that is marked for ease of knowing exactly where TDC is when adjusting my valves. Any feedback on lower pulley replacement? Should I or should I not?

While driving to work in the rain a few weeks ago I lost one of my brand new wiper bases from BulliDriver thanks to some ground down wiper mounts.

I have plans to replace the wiper pivots with new ones from WW soon, but luckily still have my old bases for now.

Finally, have been looking at replacing/rebuilding/fixing the Hehr camper windows that I have. The cranks are shot and the seals suck. Currently the windows are "locked" using wire strung through the screens and around the center posts of the windows. I notice a good bit of water coming in around at least one of the windows during that same rainy day that took my wiper base, so would like to get these fixed sooner than later.

[Eric&Barb]

Doubt that the air cleaner hitting the generator pulley caused that. More likely not having enough shims there has allowed the pulley halve not to the viced in place by the rear nut.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[Waterborn]

So trying to get a few things done on the bus today, including my very first SOLO attempt at adjusting the valves. Pretty confident I know what I'm doing as I have helped and watched several of my friends do theirs. I also received my first "Big Box" delivery from WW today! In addition to a complete engine seal kit (for when we drop the engine later) I also got new cargo door seals, new 2-piece CV boots (mine are cracking and starting to leak), front windshield seals (going to replace the horrible ones that are currently in place and then get those safaris on down the line), new pulley shims, new cargo door bumpers and a few other odds and ends. It's like Christmas all over again!

Before digging into some repairs I took the puppy for a run on the beach. We are taking her on her first bus camping trip next weekend and she is still getting her VW legs under her. With that said, I think she likes the Z-bed when it's pulled out.

We went for a 2 mile run/walk on the beach. As you can see, she is also fond of having water "fountains" every block.

One other item that I need to get fixed (and wish I would have realized this before making the last WW order) is the seal that goes around my gas tank fill neck at the fuel entry. I have been smelling gas quite a bit, but have not been able to find any leaks. Could this be the source of the smell?

Hope to have a few "after" pics today or tomorrow, so stay tuned.

[Eric&Barb]

[Waterborn]

I did and have been trying to see if the smell is more obvious after a fill. I don’t top off after the gas handle clicks as I’ve heard people say that can cause overspill via the fill neck. Also read a few threads about fuel vapor lines meant to capture fumes but my tank does not appear to have one.

[BarryL]

[Waterborn]

Well worked on replacing the cargo door seals today with mixed results.

The old seals were ROTTED to the point of becoming dust when I went to remove them.

And some PO decided to use some nasty black adhesive on two of the seals. This stuff was still tacky after all these years and thick and sticky as molasses.

I got everything cleaned up finally and installed the new seals (purchased from WW). Having read numerous threads and the FAQs on the subject, I notched out the seals around the hinges. When all was said and done I still could not close the damn doors. As you can see below, the doors were actually bowing outward along the bottom edge due to the thickness of the new seals.

I ended up removing several of the seals, including those along the bottom of the doors just to get the doors closed and locked. I plan to leave those doors closed for a while in hopes that the new seals that I left in place will mold around the doors and loosen up a bit. I guess I may need to get more seals down the line to replace the ones I removed as doing so trashed them.

[LAGrunthaner]

I have't installed my seals yet and thankfully the bus in indoors but I did read that closing the doors with new seals can be tricky and there is a solution. I'll look for that when I get a chance but perhaps someone will read this and chime in.
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[Waterborn]

If i did it over I would install half the seals, let those break in and then install the other half. As it stands now the doors close and the new seals that are left on the bus are breaking in nicely. Will have to order additional seals to replace the ones I pulled

[LAGrunthaner]

Thanks for the tip, I'm waiting till spring up here in the cold north east.

[Waterborn]

It's been a while and a wild ride since my last post. Did my first engine pull, which as could be expected, turned into an odyssey of discovering numerous additional items that needed to be adjusted repaired or replaced. The initial goals of the engine pull were to replace all the primary engine seals that did not require cracking the case (was slowly leaking oil from the alternator stand and a few other places), clean up the metal and doghouse (they were looking ratty) and remove the gas tank for cleaning, sealing and repair of the fuel sender. This process began 10 days ago on the 7th. The initial goal was to have everything put back together by Saturday the 9th and have the bus road ready for our big club run to the Skunk Ape Headquarters and Museum yesterday (more on that AMAZING trip to come). Short story is that we (myself and a cast of friends who have way more VW experience than me) spent most of our free time over the following 9 days chasing issues & parts, turning wrenches until midnight and getting up for work (in my case at 5:30 am) the next morning. No joke, I stopped keeping track at when we passed 40 hours active wrench time on this project. The longer story is coming as I get time between working today.

Spoiler Alert: I was able to drive my bus on our run yesterday and for the most part she ran well, right up until the very end. Then additional problems arose. Right now I have one major issue (leaking trans) that I will go into more deeply after I get the general story laid out here in this thread. As this was my first deep dive into an engine pull and serious mechanical work on my bus, I can honestly say I was a bit overwhelmed and almost ready to park her on the street with a sign "Free to a Good Home" taped to the windshield. My friends could see my eyes glazing over and they continually talked me off that ledge and for that (and all the work and advice that they lent me over the past week +) I am eternally grateful.

So until I get more time to fully update this thread later today, here is a pic of one of my good friends and the guy who kept me sane over the past week. If you look closely you can also see the elusive skunk ape. I will let you decide which is which

[Waterborn]

So going to start from the end and work my way back in time as I really want to tackle the current issue(s) at hand. On the way back from our run yesterday, after running the bus for about 4 hours going between 45 and 55 mph most of the way, the entire engine began to shake pretty violently when on high rpm end of 2nd and 3rd gear. First seemed ok as did 4th. When we returned to my friend's house we rode around the block a few times and then got under the bus. While we were tracking down another issue with the throttle cable catching (cable was replaced during week of work on the bus because the previous one snapped) my friend noticed that one the of the engine mounting nuts (the one above the clutch cable connector) was VERY loose, to the point of almost coming off. So we tightened up that nut and went for another test drive. Problem solved, no more rattling of the engine.

Fast forward to this morning. When I parked my bus at work (this is my daily driver) I noticed quite a bit of trans oil on the concrete under the bus. There was oil all over the trans, including back to and on the new axle boots that were also replaced in the past week. Prior to all of this work, I had a small leak from the trans nose cone.

When we pulled the engine, we were going to try to replace the nose cone bushings, but my friends, who are not very experienced with transmissions, were reluctant to do so as that would have added a whole another can of worms to the week's work. We tried to loosed the 17mm nuts on the front of the nose cone, but could not get a good grip on the one pictured below due to interference from the rubber mount.

Well now it looks like that little leak on the nose cone has become a much bigger one. It's hard to see in the photos below, but it appears that the oil is coming out of the nose cone where the shift rod (correct term?) goes into it. From here the oil is being blown back under the trans and on the boots.

I am also concerned that when I installed the boots I may have overtightened the clamps on the trans side of the axle. If I did this, could this cause leaking of oil from that point? This is just a "maybe" as I did not find much oil further back from the boots, indicating to me that the leak is coming from somewhere toward the front of the car (trans nose cone).

So am I looking at pulling the engine again as the only way to replace the bushings on the trans nose cone? I have looked up numerous threads on this issue, but cannot really find one that explains how to do this, provided of course that I can get those mounting bolts pictured above out.

At the time when we first discussed trying to do this while the engine was out, we had the new nose cone bushings but were running out of time and patience getting everything put back together in time for our run yesterday. Now I wish we had pursued this more, though that would have probably meant no bus for the run yesterday. 20/20 hindsight vs the desire to get on the road with my crew.

Though it may not seem like a lot to some, I dropped about $500 on various parts in the past week, including a new alternator (that story to come a bit later). I have also been carrying the cost of a rental car while the bus was out of use, adding to the growing cost of these recent repairs. Money is tight, so this is no small chunk of change to a starving biologist like me.