66 Bahama Blue Father/Son Project

[corro23]

My son and I picked up a 73 Super last year and had so much fun we decided to take on a bigger project and do a '66. I had a Bahama Blue '66 when I was in my 20s. So, we kept a eye out for one. Ended up buying one off the here in the classifieds that sounded like it was in ok shape, other than the engine. I had a buddy at work that had a engine we could have. Not sure how the engine will run. We have not removed or installed a engine yet, but it looks like it will be pretty fun.

Got started with ... Steering wheel horn bar, new glovebox, rekeyed locks - we took off all the locks (doors, engine deck lid, and ignition) and sent them all to SteelersBus here on the Samba to be rekeyed to all be on one key, and added some LED tail lights.

Blank dash radio plate - Found a new original 60s color matching Bahama Blue dash plate here on the samba.

Got the seats out and stripped. I think we should be able to weld these. Pretty sneaky of me to tell the kid to sign up for a welding class at school this year, eh?

We picked up some 15x6" wheels from Joe (vwdeepwheels). We took our wheels in and got them sand blasted. Went with a older vw "arcona white" color. Keeping the old wheels for snow tires.

New Wheels

Painted

Original Wheels

Painted

Going to switch it over to disk brakes+ a narrowed adjustable beam up front.

Got the flashers working, but am a little perplexed about the turn signal switch. The signaling doesnt work, but the bright/dim switch does.

Link


My son really wanted a kill switch. So ... we added a kill switch to the glovebox.

Here are the specs on the engine and a couple pics. It's a 1776 CC, Stroker cam, big valve heads, lightened fly wheel.

I have a couple questions to post up and get some samba opinions on, but I will start with the pans. I wasnt sure how bad the pans would be. Do you guys think I can patch these areas on the drivers side? under the seat has some little pin holes and of course the holes in front of the drivers seat. Everything else seems to hold up to being smacked pretty hard with the sharp end of a screwdriver.

[viiking]

IMO remove the least amount of original metal and weld in or make new bits. Even doing quarter pans is a lot of work and can look awful if not done properly.

I would make patches for all of the holes or several holes at once and cover with a paint like Master Series.
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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3

[corro23]

[corro23]

Did our first engine pull this engine this weekend and started to clean up all the tins, heater boxes, and muffler to put on the new engine. Had a leakdown test done on the new engine. One cylinder was at 55. The recommendation was to drive it for a while and see what happens.

Solex carb.

The muffler seems crusty, but ok. Is it possible / worth it to have this blasted and repaint it?

Does anyone have any tips for removing a extra stuborn distributor?

[corro23]

Got our tines all cleaned up and removed a serious amount of grease and gunk!
Got the seats fixed up. I knew that welding class would pay off!

[corro23]

Put in a few more hours this weekend. There is always more to do than there appears to be. I keep wondering when we are going to be done pulling stuff off this car and start putting stuff back on! Haha.
We are having a ton of fun doing this together and learning as we go. Its cool to watch the kid do 100% of the welding on the car.
--
- Got the new engine back from the shop. This was assembled from parts of the engine that we got from a buddy (mostly), parts from the engine that was in the 66, and a couple parts we had taken off the 73. This should get us up and running. We may opt for a diff carb/distributor/fuel pump combo at a later date. We will prob have the original carb and distributor rebuilt. If we can get the distributor out of the engine... its being VERY stubborn.
- Got the engine compartment cleaned and put in new engine compartment tar board (protects against heat).
- Pulled the pedal assembly, master cylinder, gas tank, back seats, back carpet, seat belts.
- Got the floor pans cleaned up and patched all the holes. Its a weird feeling to cut a big hole in the floor of your car! Lol
- Started to do the sound insulation in the luggage area behind the back seat and the back seat area.
- Got the seat frames painted.[/list]

[sportin-wood]

Nice progress! Looking forward to more updates.
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Paused 66 project bug
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"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[tasb]

Loosen the clamp so that it can be rotated out of the way and spray PB Blaster on the housing shaft. Tap upwards gently with a hammer more for creating vibration than forcing it up. Grab the distributor with both hands and pull up and twist back and forth at the same time.
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Roads Scholar &
1957 Kombi low mileage 36 hp governor equipped M 178 Slow Drag Winner 2014, 2015, 2018

1965 hardtop Deluxe Microbus owned since 1990 M 620 factory 12 v 1500cc

1961 (October)Single Cab- Road Trip Workhorse

[bigdog1962]

You're going to hear, if you haven't already, about moving the fuel filter b/o risk of fire. I moved mine to underneath.

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Oprn wrote: I'm getting to the age that any self propelled woman (no wheel chair or walker) looks HOT!! Oooo! look at that Babe! She made it from the dining room all the way to the TV room without help!! Hubba, hubba!!

[car_cursed]

This was one of the first things I bought when I went about with my restoration.

https://www.pandraggers.com/product-page/pandraggers-fuel-filter

[corro23]

sportin-wood - Thanks for the encouragment!

tasb - Thanks! I will give the hammer tap a try. I have been hitting it with PB Blaster for about 3 weeks now. It will turn, but not pop out.

bigdog1962 and car_cursed - Thanks! Yeah, I planned on moving that fuel filter. I just want sure where to move it to. On our 73 we have it up front, but that wasnt a option on this car. So, thanks for the suggestions! Going to order that bracket right now!

EDIT: Fuel Filter Bracket - Out of Stock! Its on the list. TY

[corro23]

@car_cursed: Was able to get a Fuel Filter Bracket. Thanks again for the tip.

Wondering about the engine that came out of the car. From the searching I have done, it is looking like it might be a type3 engine. I am not quite sure though. There is no engine number at the base of the generator stand. There is a u0194500 on the case next to the stand. Any ideas?

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64 - Next project
66 - Maintaining
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73 Super (sold)
63, 66, 73 Super (history)

[richparker]

Nice project!

What do you mean by “stroker cam?” I don’t think that is a thing, is it like a w110? How do you think it’s gonna play with that PICT30? Did you do anything to the carb, like enlarge the Venturi?
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[corro23]

Thanks Rich! I just read through your '65 thread yesterday. Looks awesome!

Honestly ... That is just what I was told about the engine we were given. I am learning, but dont know much about engines. That is my sons department for now. By "Stroker cam", I am guessing it means crankshaft with a stroke longer than stock. We pulled the original engine and all the engine parts/tins off this 66 and had some spare parts from our 73. We then took these down to the local shop with the engine we were given and the shop put together a running engine for us (with a couple additional parts) and got it running on the bench. Hopefully, thinks will plug in, run, and we can go from there. The new engine has a EMPI carb and seems like it was running pretty good.
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64 - Next project
66 - Maintaining
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73 Super (sold)
63, 66, 73 Super (history)

[richparker]

Sounds like a shop set it up for you and I hope it works well. These engines are amazing when they are built and tuned correctly.

Looking forward to reading the progress. Enjoy the time with your son!

Rich P
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[Pruneman99]

The engine stamping on the top of the case seem is indictive of Type III. You can reference the technical section to find out what it originally was, but it doesn't really matter.

[corro23]

Thanks!

@richparker : Thanks! Looking forward to watching your build.

@Pruneman99 : Yeah, I agree doesnt really matter, but I was curious and its fun to know the history of the car. Was oviously not the original engine. I went digging in the recipts. Looks like it got a new rebuilt 1600 engine at 121808 in 1996.

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64 - Next project
66 - Maintaining
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73 Super (sold)
63, 66, 73 Super (history)

[corro23]

Its fun to see what you find in your new/old car. We have found quite a few loose buttons in this car. Even in the tunnel. So, I think the car has found its name. "Button"

We are going through and rewiring the car right now and I ran into a couple questions. The PO had the car had converted over to 12v. From my searches it looks like it has a hard start relay.
Does this mean the starter is a 12v starter?
Should we ditch the relay?
The old engine had a generator stand, but it looks like the new engine has a alternator stand. We will be running a new stereo/amp/speakers setup. Would switching to a alternator make sense?
We have a 12 Volt flywheel.

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64 - Next project
66 - Maintaining
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73 Super (sold)
63, 66, 73 Super (history)

[corro23]

The PO had the car had converted over to 12v. From my searches it looks like it has a hard start relay. Should we ditch the relay? From my reading it sounds like they tend to be a band-aid and really shouldnt be needed with all new wiring. We will be removing the relay. If we need to add one back in we can do that.

Does this mean the starter is a 12v starter? Cleaned the gunk off this to make it readable, its a 12v starter.

Going to get up and running, then switch out to a alternator. For anyone reading this thread --> Ended up finding this good thread.
Generator vs Alternator with small sub and speakers

Bonus ... I think the PBblaster finally worked its magic and I was able to pop the old distributor out of the original engine.

EDIT: Can anyone tell me if the steering box coupler should be splined? I have looked at quite a few pictures and it looks like a new chrome empi is splined to fit the steering box, but I found a pic here in the gallery that looks the same as mine and does not appear to be splined, just a pinch clamp.
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64 - Next project
66 - Maintaining
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73 Super (sold)
63, 66, 73 Super (history)

[richparker]

I have a hot start relay in my bus. It’s not a bandaid, it shortens the amount of travel the power has to go.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build