This is why

[Zundfolge1432]

This 66 bug has been donated to the Route 66 museum and we have the task of making it somewhat operational and presentable again. How refreshing to see a mostly original numbers matching unmolested car. It hasn’t run in years but we did get it started and it sounded ok. No knocks no smoke but since it’s history was unknown we decided to pull the engine and strip to long block. The pictures do a better job explaining what we found.

This was under cylinder tin 3-4 side.

Oil cooler leak because the ear was busted off the cooler itself.

So much easier to chase down and fix all the discrepancies with engine out and we found trans mounts collapsed

Car has seen better days.

Working with a lift makes life much easier.

Don’t ask to borrow tools this cat will bite.

[Chickensoup]

Car looks solid. too bad its being restored or fixed up as stock

IMO 66 is the best year for stock tho. maybe 67 if you can deal with the fenders and short decklid.


The ear sheering off the oil cooler seems to be very common on the early coolers. the same thing happened on my 40hp and when i was looking through boxes of coolers looking for a good one, many had the same damage.

As you may know, you cant find one of the valves(forget if its intake or exhaust for the 1300) new. BUT, if you cant find them NOS, you can buy 32mm or 35mm SS or regular valves, and just have them turned down, and re ground.
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-'85 c10 5.3 LS, 222 cam, long tubes, x pipe, 3 inch spin tech's
-'05 B5.5 TDI Wagon 17in sport rims ;EGR + BSM + ASV Delete, Stage-2 Tune, straight pipe
'65 Tourist Delivery Build
'66 RIP
'69 RIP
Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge"

[Zundfolge1432]

I think the car is destined to sit inside the museum and they want it to appear period correct. Also it’s cheaper to go back stock or close to it. If it was me I’d probably build it 1600 single because most people cannot spot the difference but they sure run better.😀

[Zundfolge1432]

We went through the stash looking for good used oil cooler. I’ll be using 1970 cooler, it’s all I saved in a flat top and I’ve got more than one.
The cooler cleaned and painted ready to use.

More spares, you just never know 😀

[Chickensoup]

the 1970 1600 has larger oil passages than the 1300 right? If so as you may already know you should use the green adapter seals that are tapered. cb cells them but if you dont already have some i can ship my set to you in an envelope.
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-'85 c10 5.3 LS, 222 cam, long tubes, x pipe, 3 inch spin tech's
-'05 B5.5 TDI Wagon 17in sport rims ;EGR + BSM + ASV Delete, Stage-2 Tune, straight pipe
'65 Tourist Delivery Build
'66 RIP
'69 RIP
Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge"

[tasb]

I've come across many coolers and I've never seen one with a broken lower tab. Speaking of tabs, those two on the right side are a one year only mid 1950's item. The brace for them is pretty rare. The one on the far right is early 36 hp. You have a 40 hp distributor on that engine last issued 1963.
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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

[Zundfolge1432]

Yes I’ve seen a few coolers broken at that mounting tab. Maybe from rough handling or perhaps vibration. This one was broken all the way and leaking a little and it was a running engine. Looking at the design through the years I can see they went with larger mounting studs, a better seal, offset from the shroud and aluminum to shed heat. They VW called it progressive refinement. I’d call it something else 😀

[Zundfolge1432]

[tasb]

"This is why", the tabs were welded to the top of those two coolers: to prevent vibration from cracking the lower tab...
_________________
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

[Zundfolge1432]

Engine cleaned and resealed

new tranny mounts

Mostly original unmolested 1966 wiring

Old guys working on a car

Looking better

Worms eye view

[Zundfolge1432]

Back at it today finishing things up. Got a clean fuel tank installed, ran a new fuel line alongside the tunnel passenger side per Bentley manual. Changed oil in transaxle. Installed fresh air hoses. Got it up to temp checked for overheating. Drained motor oil installed fresh. Then I got the car out on the road for first time since 1997. It’s got the smell.

This is dangerous

Finally we washed off all those years of dirt and grime. The people I’m working with are hell bent on repainting which will destroy the patina. I’m going to break out the Rupes with leveling compound to see what it looks like. More on that later.

[sportin-wood]

Very cool, man!
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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

[aa390392]

Looking good James...paint looks fine.
Tomas
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getting grumpy & less tolerant!


55 ragtop
56 delux sedan
56 Kabriolet

[iowegian]

As you know, Jim, I'm a UUGE fan of original paint/"patina". However, I suspect that the subject vehicle has been repainted in a previous life. So, a fresh coat might be appropriate.

[sjbartnik]

It's definitely been repainted at least once, the overspray on the heater hoses behind the dash gives it away.
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1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[Zundfolge1432]

Yes on the paint I just wanted to see what if. I put maybe 30 minutes into it playing around with the buffer and compound. I used the tape to divide the car showing half done. Good thing too because the pad didn’t survive, need new one.

I have a stash of these seals NOS and they are still good.

[janerick3]

[Zundfolge1432]

This car went to a VW car show yesterday and was viewed by hundreds of people. A poll was taken and by about three to one they thought the car should not be painted. Sounds good but the paint is failing as evidenced by the tape pulling paint up when removed. This car has been in dry storage since 1997 so rust is minimal but seals have shrunken around windows letting moisture in. It’s at the point where it must be kept inside going forward to defeat the tin worm.

It’s out of my hands they will probably paint the car. They wanted it to run and it does. We will do brakes next week

In this picture engine has everything including the valve adjustment sticker and correct distributor installed, it runs like a watch.

[EverettB]

You say it's pretty original and numbers matching. Cool.

What's the original mileage?

It's already been painted once it doesn't matter if you paint it again.
I mean let's be honest... It's a '66 and there are other super low miles all original ones out there.

Would I repaint it?
No because I'm generally lazy and would clean it up the best I could as-is and cruise it.
I can see a bunch if stuff I would do to make it look a lot better - new running board mats, massive clean up, all the normal mechanical stuff, etc. Redo interior too?
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[EverettB]