3 hippy dudes and a green bus= problems<-THE ORIGINAL

[Gary]

[Jealous_Zack]

This is the sort of post that will be remembered for a long, long time. You'll forever be immortalized in the archives of thesamba.com.

I say that once you're done, you should sit down and make it into a novel; you've got all the right pieces for a best seller:
-Roadtrip across country
-3 generation X hippies with hilarious personality differences
-1 volunteer mechanic who didn't know what he was getting into
-1 scam artist
-a ripoff
-a BIG FREAKIN hill to climb
-many short trips out and about
-AND (the best part and a great catalyst for great stories) an aircooled VW Bus.

I look forward to reading more when you have a chance to post. Please please let us know how it works out. It would be a major bummer for a story like this to drop off without a satisfying ending.
_________________
Not so jealous anymore.
79 for Cruisin
78 for Parts

[thenexttownshend]

HA! maybe you can write the story and ask colin to make a chapter for it in his book!
_________________
Steve

-1973 Bus Type II

[Gary]

[Zeen]

Amazing.

Bottomend, it's guys like you and Randy in Maine and Amskeptic that increase the gravitational pull from that silly Westy I rescued from the woods. Join us.......Join us.

[ratwell]

[Bottomend]

We couldn't tourque the bolt that holds the oil cover on tight enough because my tourque wrench went all out of wack! 2 quarts of oil into our fill up and its that Valdez oil spill all over again! I had bought a new oil strainer screen gasket set this morning but I forgot to buy the new strainer with it. DUHHHHHHHHH!. The strainer was really goofed up so I think thats why it was leaking so bad. This is all happening at like... 7:30 pm. we have 5 minutes of light left!. We called every chain store around and nobody has this part. As I sat here in my place telling Leader the awful truth about what is about to take place (another night on the street...no shower in 6 days SIX DAYS!!) I looked over my shoulder and saw an 1800 T4 case sitting there. I had picked up a long block a month ago in my quest to collect parts for my 'next" engine. Then the light struck me and I said to Leader... " TURN IT OVER!!! Being Leader, he went totally clueless but remained helpfull. He asked where to grab and I told him just flip the thing over and there might be a piece under there we can use! ( I learned that there is NO use in trying to explain stuff to him ... As long as I get excited about something, he goes into "over the top into enthusiasm land"!!!!

....We had it !!! There was a PRISTINE strainer right there in my room the whole time! It took us about five trips up and down the hill to get to this point. (At this point I just run the hill reguardless at this point just to abuse my body more!!!!)

Now it's like 8;30pm and we're gonna put the strainer on and fill it up with oil and do the flush... In the dark! Then we're driveing to AutoBone and changeing tranny fluid in thier parking lot and doing another oil flush. I have to be at work at 11;30 am wednesday morning. Shave?

[ratwell]

[spiffy]

with all that running, you should be ready for a marathon! Kudos to you for helping out some folks in need!! it may seem like a shitload of work but I am sure the VW learning experience is well worth the effort. BTW there has been a 70' bus advertised in the classifieds in wenatchee, WA. I was the one who test drove it and it was the LEFT front tire that locked up, the guy is a nice guy but that bus is chewed up........just thought I would put that info out
_________________
78 Riviera
67 Riviera

www.rivieraregistry.com

[stevemariott]

Excellent efforts and thread!!! You're doing more work to that bus in a few days than I do in a year and a half. Can't wait to hear what happens next...
_________________
1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus

[Bottomend]

We ran into big trouble tonight. it's 12:15 pm and I've been going for 18 hours straight....

We got the oil plate on and put oil in the engine and it leaked like a hole in the head. I cant seem to figure out why the strainer plate wont seal up. I have two new gaskets on there.. any thoughts? Should we take this whole thing to the next level and just RTV the thing shut? Would that actually work?

My tourque wrench seems to have gone out of adjustment. I cant find 9 ft lbs ( the spec for the plate) and I'm afraid to tighten it too much and pop the case open like an egg....I'm thinking of taking it to my Machinist and checking it against his.

We all had burritos in the bus and talked while I tried to figure out what was going on. It looks like the Mickey Mouse circus has come to town around our 'camp site'. Leader keeps coming up with really sincere questions but they are completely from left field. We've all decided that he should not be left alone with anything metal.

These guys brought only one towel between the three of them for this whole trip. We decidied that it's time for showers. the spreding of that clay stuff for gas/oil leak did us in. ( it has grown to be twice the size of the bus) I'm a mix of black and white all over. Residue actully looks African. two out of three of them have dreads and it's been an ongoing debate how best to preserve these things. Leader decided that he's gonna deal with the neck cramps and not let his head touch the ground. Residue liked the way it acts as a pillow. He told me that leaning on corner shaped stuff actually feels better than flat shaped stuff.

Leader has finally stopped asking for rides to Best Buy to get the car stereo (on credit). I had to level wiht him that if he has ( for example) a $1000 limit on his card, taht he doesn't wanna use up potential resourse that he might need later down the road ( litterally!) that cool new stereo wont be very usefull on a freeway ramp broken down. He said thats the best time to have tunes! I kinda aggreed....

We are all REALLY excited to read these postings. it's been a great source of energy to hear from everyone. You guys are as much a part of this as we are, believe it or not!

[Randy in Maine]

I wouldn't worry very much about getting that to 9 ft pounds with a torque wrench. Just snug it up nice. Hopeully the plate is not warped.

Hell the guy from Jiffy Lube would have used an air gun on it. Coat that plate with a thin coat of wheel bearing grease and put it on. Make sure the screen is fitting in there level and not akimbo.

Are you pretty sure it is leaking from that plate?

Remember the taco plate has (or is supposed to have) an O ring around it to get it to seal.

Wow these guys are all "Presidential Material" aren't they? Not you bottomend, you can actually fix something (just not the CV boots).

[Devon-Dyno-Soar118]

Just started to spread this thread thru UK too- Keep it comin! Pics an essential.

[spiny]

brilliant thread guys

I'm not sure if you've sorted the brakes, but from reading the posts, I don't think it's the servo - the brakes should work without a servo (my 78 doesn't have one) so if they are not working at all, I would suspect duff fluid / air in the system (already suggested) or stuck calipers + drums from being stood.

good luck anyway

cheers, Phil, UK

[steve74baywin]

Bottomend, send these guys to Florida!!!
That hill must keep you in shape, I used run up stairs alot when I lived up north, now that I live in FL I don't see hills or stairs too often.
_________________
Steve

[Bottomend]

Ok, first the technical stuff then on to the weird... ( I apoligize 'bout all the typos. I useually do a quick post after the climb and full of... ' Grease'. I went back last night and did a little editing. I was embrassing!)

Day four- I finally got more than 4 hours sleep last night. nice.


Last night till about midnight we tried and tried to get the strainer plate to stop leaking No luck. It's not the taco plate. I'm starting to know my way around under there pretty well... A little credit please. ( but PLEASE dont stop asking questions/posting thoughts) I think we've gone through 5 quarts at this point. most of it just dripping back into our pail. We've got two gallon water jugs full of oil hidden under the bushes in case the cops come back.

The taco plate o-ring was RTV'd ( like EVERYTHING else) and we went to a bunch of places to get a new one but had no luck . I put the old one back in and it didn't leak during our ' oil experiments"
When I took out the 'original" oil strainer, it had the normal number of gaskets 'cept... They had both been RTV'd to death! Who was this guy! this got me thinking when i woke up this morning. I recall looking at the case surface where the strainer plate goes looking very scratch up. this would explain the RTV, right? I was thinking about taking the strainer plate we found on the parts engine ( a divine moment of brilliant light shined for sure) in my room to my machinist and having him make sure the sealing surface was really flat. Wadda ya think? I also think I'm gonna RTV the two gaskets like the dude who built this thing. maybe we should give him a brake for once. he could've recieved this engine in the same shape I'm seeing it. Doubtfull, but the hippy's and me are mostly talking about God and spirtual stuff so we gotta put the good vibe outthere. Peace.

Last night Leader let out a few good ones. I think he has a hard time understanding why we NEED tools. At one point while I was wrestleing with the tranny drain plug he actaully thought that because I was haveing such a hard time with the big allen wrech that I should try using my hand on it instead! thats the way he thinks! It' like the mind of an innocent child.

Residue is figureing out that he has the most mechcanical ability out of the thre and is stepping up to the plate nicely. It took the three of us to bleed the lifter yesterday. Leader held the lifter bore in an upright position ( he did it with so much conviction it made us laugh. He was HELPING!) while Residue used a screw drive to push down on the inside piston thing. that gave me the chance to use a safety pin to push on the little bleed valve and insert the circlip. ( Colin rememeber how i seem to have a natural talent for circlip removal instalation!!!??)( that's a little ribbing for the Skeptic...) It was a good show of the team spirit. Waterboy floated over head. He spends most of the time upstairs in the bunk.

So anyway, the tranny plugs are loose now and waiting for us to figure out the oil leak so we can drive it to the Auto Bone (Auto Zone for the UK people. It's a very crappy chain store but it's open 24 hours. Ask me how we know!!!) to drain it out in thier parking lot. that way, we can use thier disposal tank really easily. Smart, huh!?

Yesterday they told me that when they got to the storage facility where the bus was waiting for them, they found a heroin tie off ( how'd they know what that looks like...?) and dirty womens panties in the bus. Skid marks. Yuck!

This was along with the fact that the owner NEVER answered his phone since they got out here ( they used my phone to finally get him on the line) AND charging them $120 additional to tow the bus to a storage place where he wouldn't have to meet them face to face. The storage worker dude said that this guy is a gypse type and sells VW's pretty regulaly. I saw the EBAY ad and it's a bunch of BS. All the photos are of the parts that arnt too bad and not one mention of the mecanical problems. It even said that it "Runs great' in the ad. the pop top has a gaping hole from top to bottom in the front passenger side corner and the sliding door side has jean matieral sewn into about 30% of it. Hand sewn. I saw it my self.

There is nothing wrong with a bus in this shape but these guys were totally decieved into believeing that it was a good running bus able to make a cross country trip.

To answer the next townsends question about rust, it's in great shape as far as thats concerned. We keep finding stuff inside the little cubby holes. It has a rear hatch screen and I them that it may have a swivel passenger seat. It did! That got a hugh cheer from every body!

They also like some of the names you guys have on the board. They thought Randy in Maine was the best. Leader said ( in a low contemplative tone...) "very cryptic")

I've got to go to work for a few hours right now. I'll tell them that we're getting intrest from abroad ( from a brod??!!)

[keifernet]

[ratwell]

[steve74baywin]

[79SuperVert]

I just discovered this thread and I wish I knew more about this kind of vehicle so I could help but I just gotta say Bottomend is an inspiration. Tremendous work! What a story!