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70bus 
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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 Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2023 11:48 pm Post subject: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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Be careful what you wish for. You might get it.
As my username attests, I started out with a baywindow; my first car - a 9-passenger Deluxe. It was great for hauling musicians around Texas, from New Bomb Turks to Sun Ra's Arkestra, but it was hard to get 4x8' plywood sheets and 16' pipes in there without ripping the interior up a bit! One day in 1991, at The Swamp (Austin VeeDub Salvage), I ran across what seemed the perfect answer:
$450 bucks later - more than my rent! - it was mine. Tho they did sell someone the motor out of it before delivering it to me, the little scamps...
It sat for a while. I foolishly acquired a 57 Kombi ($150!) that I made slightly less progress on before having to sell it to a kid who rented it to a Disney film (Michael) before selling it to Rex Rogers who restored it nicely and sold it to some guy in England.
THAT was the lucky bus. The truck didn't get away...
Fast forward to 2022, and the body man says "I’ve seen it 100 times hobbyists get in there with all their brand new harbor freight cutting tools, cut all the rust away, and then walk away from the project cuz nothing fits anymore. Hobbyists don’t look at the structural part of a project. So keep that in mind also, IF THATS THE CASE." No, Jeff, it was NOT the case - they were pawn shop Milwaukie cutting tools!
In my defense, when I got the bumper off, everything below the headlights was bondo over wadded-up newspaper. It came off wit the bumper. The rest wasn't much better.
I got some parts from Kelly Metwiz and a welder, was getting ready to learn as I went - and suddenly had to move across country. The car went to the shop of a friend; he also got a semi-truck full of new and used VW parts, and the idea was he would restore the truck for me in exchange for all the parts. Cool! One decade passes; I have kids, my friend has a couple of family tragedies, financial setbacks... we keep in touch, I send a small check now and again to let him know I'm still here, he promises to drive it out when done. A second decade. Finally, a family trip means I decide it's now or never; I'll grab the truck and tow it home. That, or I have to give up and let it go.
While looking at TheSamba for parts I need, I run across an ad for a tophat; mine was crushed when the scrapyard took a forklift and set it down on top of a Beetle! Along with everything else down there, it turns out. Anyways, this guy says he has them, and hey, he can even weld it in for me if I swing by. We talk, and discover that he has time to repair the whole thing if I want. Yes. Yes I do.
This is what I dropped off at Jeff Gagnon's house:
Jeff's dad was laughing as we unloaded it; "this one's almost as bad as that school bus!" Needless to say, I had quite some sticker shock on the repair estimate. No fault of Jeff, who I consider a bargain. And a nice guy, to boot. Plus, his dad said "if anyone can fix it, Jeff can."
These are the kind of photos Jeff sent me to know how the patient was doing...
Like I said, 20 years ago, this was supposed to be a free resto. Then again, even though it sat in a West Texas desert, 20 years ago there was more truck to repair! I okayed an amount (of course we went over :P) and sat the wife down, expecting a divorce. She was quiet a long time, but said I'd been wanting to do this for 30 years, so what the hell. That one kid didn't need college.
But why even bother? Surely there are other singlecabs out there in better condition! They might even be double treasure chested, or factory 12 volt, or have the heavy-duty aircleaner... Ah, but are they the same age as I am? Almost to the day? The VW 'birth certificate' says "Built on 05/05/65 Delivered 11/05/65" I was born that week.
Moral? Don't get emotionally attached! My wife reminded me she 'fell in love with our house' and THAT disaster cost us waaaaay more than the truck, so we're even.
I apologize to Jeff for being such a whiny freaked-out ball of stress over the whole thing; he and his crew were champs about it. They also did damn fine work.
That orange nose is from a donor 67; looking at this pic I doubt it's actually any better than the nose I cut off! Saved me a few hundred vs. a repro, which seemed important at the time...
I feel better about all this after seeing other trucks you folks are restoring - kb65single's for example. They are ALL like this if they were used as a truck, apparently. Jeff says the dirt settles in all the pockets created by the bed, treasure-chest area, etc, absorbs moisture and Bob's yer Uncle... out it rots. It was never gonna be just a new dogleg and some paint touchup... BTW, budget prevented me from letting Jeff do a more-thorough job and replace more metal. I told him "once you get it to where it won't break in half like Beto's did, stop. I don't need a show queen; I need a truck I can fill with rocks and dirt."
I think he gave me a good balance.
So Jeff brought it to me (more stress; luckily it clears my garage with 1' to spare front to back and 2' left to right!) and I am faced with "now what." I went rhough my boxes of parts squirreled away the last 30 years and made a list of what was lost and needed. Nothing minor, of course! Stupid treasure chest locks... Anyways, even though I don't mind ugly buses, the flat-white housepaint job was flaking off in the cab and had to go before I did anything else.
I have a post on the OG paint thread, so I'll spare the photos here
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9997623&highlight=#9997623
Whew.
I'm still removing paint in the cab, and when too cold I am stripping down the doors and windows. Windshield wiper motor and frame are next. I'm not sure whether/how I'll paint the cab interior when it warms up, but once that's sorted I can intsall the wiring harness and assemble the dash. Then I move on to restoring the front axle, rear axle/trans, and put in a motor. I have boxes of NOS parts for most of that. The goal is I drive it for our 60th birthdays, but I hope to have it running before then.
Edited to add
chassis # 265 148 182
M codes plate
06 4
426 002 043 071 620 621
UO 2612 131383 5148182
Transaxle H782 7701
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams
Last edited by 70bus on Fri Apr 14, 2023 4:36 pm; edited 4 times in total |
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karl h
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Location: austria
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TRS63
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Kb65single
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Joined: July 24, 2019
Posts: 267
Location: Obxnc
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:02 am Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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Interesting history behind the bus. Glad you held on to your dream. Sometimes there is a method to our madness. Good luck with the rest of the restoration, looks like you have a good jump start now!
Ken |
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69aircooled
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Joined: August 04, 2004
Posts: 241
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:38 am Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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Great story and good to see another truck getting done! I have a '62 I haven't started on yet. It's cool that you mentioned Kelly, aka Metwiz. I knew him and visited his shop some. He blew me away with some of the builds he had going back then. Too bad he's gone, he is missed.
Looks like your truck is good hands! |
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70bus
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 11:11 am Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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While waiting for warmer weather, I brought the driver's door in for a rebuild; cleaned and lubed the locks, latches and stop, and removed the old rubber.
Spent a llooooonnngg time reading about window rubber; many thanks for the sacrifice of those who went before! Actually wasn't too bad due to all that advice. I will say no-one appears to have done a Step 1 Step 2 etc, as I didn't realize you needed to install the scraper rubber before you did the vent wing seal; read it deep in a thread after I started! Also, a picture of WHAT people cut off the new seals and WHERE would be nice; when I do the passenger side I'll take pics, but I've no idea if I'm doing it right!
I didn't have to fiddle with the glass-to-vent seal, as even a good bit of tugging did not budge the glass. Nothing was broken, so leave well enough alone...
As far as trimming went, I got off most of the flash with an exacto; the underside has many lines, lumps and bulges, but the one intact piece of old rubber was flat - so I made the bottom of mine flat as well. Also cut out anything between the two locking fins, including bits around the vent post hole. Hope that was okay!
Putting it in my Workmate worked better than flopping around on a table, and I used loose clamps to help keep it from popping back out.
Exacto handle helped position things and keep them there. Not sure the angle is right, so might need some adjustment; also, I didn't cut all the material in the hole, just made star-shaped cuts, and I think the 'flaps' are pushing the rubber out of shape once the shaft goes through. Kinda guessed on where to cut slots for latch plate and rivet tab... I assumed as close to main body of seal as possible.
A few fitment questions - have a pooch out by the rivet holder, and a few spots not flush along the swoosh.
And since most of the rubber meets the old wear line, I'm not sure if the gap at the apex of this curve is due to OG rubber being wider at this point, or new is not fully seated. Yes, I nicked the rubber :P
Overall, aside from sore fingertips and some ugly knife scars on the rubber, it went better than I thought. I'll probably take it out and redo with lessons learned from first attempt, and do the scraper rubber first as well. Yes, the latch is wrong; that's the only handle I had. It does seal the window without needing so much force I worry about snapping it, so that's good!
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams |
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70bus
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 7:56 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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Started work on the passenger door; got most of the white paint off. Better shape than the driver side:
Not so the window frame and vent
I have seen worse on here! After cleanup, the seals will go on and doors set aside while cab is worked on...
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams |
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70bus
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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silkvw
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Joined: July 06, 2008
Posts: 453
Location: Elgin, TX
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| Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 8:08 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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". It sat for a while. I foolishly acquired a 57 Kombi ($150!) that I made slightly less progress on before having to sell it to a kid who rented it to a Disney film (Michael) before selling it to Rex Rogers who restored it nicely and sold it to some guy in England. "
Interesting, I met Rex when he and his wife lived in Elgin. They came out to our place for a campout. His "movie bus" was very nice. I wondered what became of it.
Contact me if you are still looking for single cab parts.
Greg S.
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'64 single cab Big Bend Bus Bash 2015 '16
'59 camper BBBB 2017 '18 '19 '20 '22 New Mexico
'70 Ghia........Bonneville,........TX Mile,........142 mph......(sold)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=641871&highlight= |
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70bus
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 11:15 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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Rex's bus; the image he sent which identified it as my old bus (grafitti courtesy of the skinheads I bought it from), and the only image I have left of the hippie US flag paint job outside.
After it went to England I have no idea what became of it... or Rex! Hi, if yer out there buddy.
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams |
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70bus
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Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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70bus
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Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2023 10:47 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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Removed the pedals for repair today; no real problems despite the circlip on the brake shaft becoming a permanent part of the shaft! Oughta dissolve in some rust treatment.
Emergency brake lever, now that was a different story - unlike most people who said the pin rusted tight to the lever, mine fused with the sides of the bracket under the bus! I cut off ends, hammered, drilled, lots of rustbuster sprays (no flames allowed in house tho). No luck. Finally got the tiniest-toothed hacksaw blade I had and went at it from inside the cab; I took a little off the left hand side (FIF) of the lever pivot, maybe a 1/16", but then was able to slide it over by that much and expose the right side of the pin. Cutting that allowed the lever to drop out under the bus. Pin slid right out of the lever no prob.
Now I just have to figure out how to get out those little disks of pin fused into the bracket! Left one is nearly indistinguishable from bracket metal...
I will be installing a zerked pin, and probably a thin washer to take up slop from cut section of lever.
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams |
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70bus
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Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2023 9:17 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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Picked up the new motor from the shop today (always veedub):
Aluminum case (don’t ask), Machine in 88s, c/w 69 crank, 38 amp gen rebuilt by PMX (sr17x starter as well) 30 pict1 carb from Volkzbitz, restored Pierburg pump and 205 dizzy from Sparxwerks. T4 oil cooler. 12 v f/w. Had a Porsche 356 gen pulley but you can’t run those w a 38A gen :(
Some tweaks to do… remove plastic gas filter eventually, not satisfied with air sealing on cooler. Throttle cable should be fine with that angle but will order an ‘outie’ arm from Tim just in case. The case was tapped for full-flow, but they missed that in the build sheet as well as a Berg temp sender in the T3 dipstick hole. That’s more my fault than theirs as I assumed they would follow the list of what HAD been on the motor and did not specify each item. Lesson learned. Easily fixed at 500 mile service check. I’m used to 1600 manifolds, so the carb spacer on the 1500 mani was a bit of a shock. Again, I gave them a 1500 mani - which had a hole - so they replaced it exactly. I am not familiar w splitting parts, so had no clue it was shorter. I DO have a rev limiter if I want to replace the spacer!
Weird to have a motor without a moustache bar. I used to have one of those Nickle-sized ‘overheat’ indicators glued to this case - you can see the glue spot location just below dizzy. anyone still sell those?
Let me know if you see any other tiny tweaks to do before it goes in… which will be a while!
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams |
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pyrOman
Fire Master
Joined: July 21, 2003
Posts: 12403
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 2:36 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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WTF happened here? 
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70bus
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Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 3:14 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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That's a T4 cooler - they are deeper, so the doghouse needs to be modified. I admit I was expecting a full enclosure, but I also have never seen the mod in person. Maybe that's how it's done? I still intend to add some sealing and stop metal-to-metal contact.
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams |
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BarryL
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Joined: November 01, 2004
Posts: 14253
Location: Casa de Oro, California
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 6:39 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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| 70bus wrote: |
Throttle cable should be fine with that angle but will order an ‘outie’ arm from Tim just in case. |
Outie is going to be clocked 90 degrees to the innie pretty sure. |
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70bus
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Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 7:24 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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I made that comment because I swear I just read a post about someone's throttle arm on a 28 or 30 carb causing issues, and the solution was one that went left away from carb. Picture and everything. Can't dig it up for the life of me, since most of my browsing history is thesamba anymore. Could have been a dedicated post, or buried in a 49-page saga!
Now I gotta trawl all the carb pics in the gallery :P
Shop didn't see an issue if it wasn't tight enough to bind or saw at the tube. I could even see if the tube can be moved next time engine is worked on.
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams |
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70bus
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Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 7:27 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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At least that was fast!
Are you saying this puts the overall linkage/butterfly in a dfferent positioning, i.e. not tuned the same?
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams |
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EverettB
Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69798
Location: Phoenix Metro
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 9:38 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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I could be wrong but I believe 28 PICT-1 goes left and 30 PICT-1 goes right.
I think it's a spring over the cable design vs spring on the carb design so this might have switched mid 28 PICT-1 at some point.
The hole in the fan shroud is in a different place too so mismatched fan shroud with the "wrong" carb can give a strange angle.
I'm going from memory a bit here so if I'm wrong, please correct me.
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70bus
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Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 561
Location: P.O.
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 10:20 pm Post subject: Re: Raoul the 65 singlecab |
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I mean, it's a fuel-injected Superbeetle fan shroud or some such, so it didn't have a cable tube from factory and the tube hole was drilled at some point. I never had an issue before, as I ran 30/31s or 34 PICTs which are much wider. It may not even be an issue now, but I like to identify potential problems waaaay ahead and come up with a solution before I get to the pinch point... like at the side of the road somewhere.
Tim at Volkzbitz indicated an 'outie' arm could be run, so perhaps the 28 and 30 PICT arms interchange. I'll scrounge for one and find out!
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people."
-Robert Williams |
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