Process of rebuild, replacing heads, new exhaust & misc 1977 FI

[SGKent]

Finally forced myself to put the bus up on jack stands and start the process of replacing the heads with the custom set from Len (what gorgeous work he does), fixing an alternator chirp, and replacing the exhaust. If the new case gets back from Germany in time I will split the case and use it too. Will also try to find the whine in the trans. Retirement has its joys. Older age has its back pains and right about now I wish I had a son(s) to help with this if their social lives allowed. I will say that it was quite painful every time I had to crawl under the bus and back out. Weight doesn't help, and I am rare 1 in 100,000 guy who has no morphine receptors so if Tylenol or Advil doesn't stop it one just pushes thru it. Since one of my brothers has the same genetic rarity I guess that makes us 2 / 100,000 or more. It is more common in Denmark, 1 /10,000 so I'm guessing there is some Danish blood there somewhere.

So I am going to try to document the work as best I can. If it helps someone great. Worst case whomever buys my bus the day I decide to sell it can look at the history of the build.

Day 1 - maybe 2 hours

Trans oil wrench

Engine oil allen socket

Properly dispose of oil to take to HHW

Disconnect battery charger

Battery negative cable comes off

Extra shroud to chassis ground strap comes off

Pull the coil wires off and remove wire ties

Pull the shroud to air canister hose off

Oil sender wires

Head Temp disconnect

Cut wire ties carefully

Double relay and resistor pack disconnect

right air hose

Left air hose

ECU disconnect

Fuel clamps ready and back under the bus

Where the extra fuel will go

Draining the tank. I don't like to have a full tank only held by clamps or a bolt and clamp while it sits in the garage

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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Jetfxr69]

whats the purpose of the shroud ground? I get more grounding is beneficial, but does grounding the shroud specifically target one thing or just an extra?
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You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. Zappa

‘77 westy Seamus
‘76 tintop Crusher
‘77 westy The Judge
‘72 tintop bastard westy Hudson

[ivwshane]

Damn! Look at all the pretty parts!
Did you refurbish your coil or did you buy it like that? My coil works fine but looks beat up and I would love to clean it up.

I'm looking forward to see how you work.
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77 westy 2.0 FI
69 ghia coup 1600dp
70 single cab

[SGKent]

Thanks Shane. I cleaned and painted it. FI coils are different than non-fi coils with the exception that there is one Bosch Blue coil that has the same windings and voltage. Richard Atwell has the specs on his site. It took me a while to find one worthy of cleaning and painting. The bus was restored 10 years ago so I am looking forward to refreshing everything. A mostly new exhaust is off to the powder coated tomorrow.

As to the extra ground. It seems that these engines can get corrosion on the grounds and cause issues. there are actually a bunch of bays out there with this mod. I also added a strap between the engine and transmission as well as cleaned the one between the chassis and transmission really well. During the restoration I went thru every connector and wire in the bus to be sure the connections were good.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[SGKent]

last photos from Day 1. I also remove the U tubes and heater valves to fit them on the new heater boxes that go to powercoat today. No photos of that. Normally those would come off after the engine was pulled.

remove heater bellows

remove heater cable. Note - the factory barrels hold up better than the after market ones that are too soft so they strip.

remove clutch cable from arm

remove bowden bracket

remove reverse light connectors

remove reverse boot. Looks like it has torn. Hope they all don't do that.

One of my supervisors came to check out the work and offer support before she wandered off to bed.

Remove trans ground strap.

Remove starter wires

_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[airkooledchris]

[ivwshane]

[mikewire]

Cool! Definitely following along.
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-Mike

@countdowngarage
@bigskyeuro

1972 VW Kombi 9 Passenger Deluxe w/ 2.0L F.I. VWAC swap
1965 VW Beetle Deluxe Bahama Blue

[BoltonFTW]

[SGKent]

y'all are welcome. Will try to document each step. Kind of a bummer on the trans boot. I am thinking next time I will put the wire outside so it holds the boot to the coupler. That should reduce pressure on the eye. The couplers I have are genuine VW but they lack the tombstone. The welds were added to keep it from failing at the crimp

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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Wildthings]

If you run the battery ground to the engine (fan shroud or other) instead of the body then the starter current does not need to pass through the transmission ground strap which being hidden underneath the van is subject to corrosion and neglect. VW set the system up the way they did to save a few extra cents on each van at the factory. Having the battery ground strap connected to the engine, tranny, or starter is very common in the automotive industry and I have run my Transporters this way for decades.

[ivwshane]

Steve, did you take before pics of your exhaust before you sent them out. If I remember your previous engine pics, your exhaust already looked really good. I'm specifically interested in your heat exchangers as I am currently rebuilding mine.
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77 westy 2.0 FI
69 ghia coup 1600dp
70 single cab

[SGKent]

[ivwshane]

Lol, I just spent $250 on some used ones in better shape than what I have. But they will still need some work (mostly just welding on new collars on the shells). I think I can do this
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77 westy 2.0 FI
69 ghia coup 1600dp
70 single cab

[Wasted youth]

When I refreshed the 1977 CE-1 I got one of those shifter boots from Bus Depot. It was a perfect fit, but I have no idea what they offer now.

I got brass heater cable lugs from Bus Depot and have used them without issue on the 1981 Westy and the time 1977 sunroof bus. However, if I recall the OE were steel. Stronger by far, but always rust seized.

I’m still in the camp that says your bus is just fine the way it is... likely amongst the top 2% in running quality and you should be wearing out your tires, not your back. But, hell... your call!

[Wasted youth]

[ivwshane]

[SGKent]

I found a good used tombstone coupler and ordered it.

The goal when I built this bus was to have one that was reliable as new. I wanted a new case, new set of heads, and a new exhaust as part of the rebuild. That was 10 years ago. A new case back then was about $6K imported, and new heads were not available except like $3K for a pair. Since then the person doing the heads started selling directly and the cases came way down although they need a mod in the fuel pump area. When this bus is done I am thru working on it, and will use it a lot more.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[ivwshane]

I would like to get the tomb style coupler as well, how did you find one and what specifically did you search for?

Hell, I might have found one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EDOP1TE#Ask

In the comments someone said it fit their 76 bus.
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77 westy 2.0 FI
69 ghia coup 1600dp
70 single cab

[SGKent]

finally got the energy up to work on the bus some more. My back was injured in a 2010 accident and made worse in a 2017 accident so getting under the bus is painful at times these days. But, slowly I will get there.

Remove CV joints

Use wire ties to hold them stable so they don't rock and the ball bearings fall out.

Bag in plastic and tape to keep dirt out and grease off me

Upper trans ear bolts. Use a tiny bit of lift on the engine and trans to be able to pull bolts - do the same when putting them back in.

Back up above now. Pull engine cover

AFM harness. Use a scribe to spread the clips a little and slide off.

rest of the hoses., throttle body cable nut, and afm

Remove voltage regulator part of harness

Pull oil filler - makes it easier to move engine back to pull it. Remove foam around engine too. Inspect it because it may need to be changed with age.

All that is left are the fuel lines (already drained), the carrier bolts, and the nose cone support. Will pull the throttle body cable out and its tubing also at the same time. Off to other chores.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin