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Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
First, a link to what started this: https://stupidbus.wordpress.com



A realistic simulation of what driving a bus on the freeway feels like.


This first post is essentially going to be a copy/paste of the stupidbus blog, but that's what it's for.

Image dump of how I found it in his yard:








(the worst of the rust, don't know what do do about it)








quote:

I’m just a guy, who currently lives in Phoenix, that wants a VW bus. I found one…in Portland, OR. All of the buses I could find in the Arizona or California craigslist and TheSamba were fairly overpriced for what they were (“rust free!” <shows pictures of rusted out undercarriage>), or had been involved in one too many fender benders.

Then, after a few weeks of searching, the seemingly perfect one showed up in Portland, OR. I gathered up the funds, bought a plane ticket, and started this blog to document my fly-drive vehicle purchase.

First, a quick video of its first start in probably 10+ months:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtSqk3h_y1c

The bus had clearly been sitting under a tree for nearly a year, as there was a receipt for $1500 in the glovebox stating brand new carbs in 09/2014, and the ones on the engine themselves literally didn't have any fuel in the float bowls they were so new. I did a quick eyeball throttle plate sync, and it fired right up.

Then, after shutting down and re-checking the oil level, I paid the guy his money and drove off. There are a few rust spots, mainly the driver's side runners/rockers/whatever (the thing you call the lowest part of the side of the body, between the front and rear wheels, mainly the rear wheel) and a small 1-2" hole in the passenger rear wheel well. Plus whatever's around the windshield (I'm told those are always really bad). But the rest is pretty okay. Not great, but okay.



I was pulled over in Oregon for not having a travel permit, even though I had a bill of sale and title. Whatever, $30 and four hours later and I had a travel permit.



First oil leak, evident after only two miles.





His wiring job was top notch. One of these is 12v, and one is the radio antenna line. I'll give you two guesses as to which one is the +12v line. Hint: it's not what you think.



(it's the radio antenna plug sitting on the ground. The one in duct tape is the antenna)

Not rust: Mold.




The bus already had a fire extinguisher in it, brand new. Good call, PO.





Stocking up on cheap things I think I may need:





I sat in this parking lot for seven or eight hours, going back and forth between Autozone and Harbor Freight for tools and parts. I ended up using almost none of what I bought, but it was good to have. For instance, I bought a fuel pump ($50) just in case, but the pump on the bus didn't start making a knocking noise/fail until I had to do the alcohol trick, as shown later on, for emissions. So, still good to have. I only ended up using a flathead screwdriver, one set of pliers, and the jacks/jackstands, for adjusting the rear drum brakes/star adjusters. I got the brakes working well, but the e-brake is still :iiam:.











(moved to side of lot)




I did meet a girl working in a little highway offramp side-town in a bicycle shop, and she owned this Westfalia. I really, deep down, want a westy, but they are SUPER EXPENSIVE compared to tintops.








Not good, finding these in the glovebox




The ad said this came with a "Z-bed," but the rotten pile of plywood and vinyl I still have sitting in the back of the bus doesn't resemble a bed as much as it resembles a beginner's compost pile. Totally a non-value, and if anybody wants the rusty hinges or something before I throw it away Saturday, let me know, because it is seriously nasty. I can and will make something much better with particle board, padding, piano hinges, and basic vinyl upholstery. Simple design and all that. All it needs to be is something an inch or two padded that you can fold up and straight (with legs/whatever) that you can throw a blanket on. I don't need a 6" thick mattress, this will be a work bus that I also can camp in.















I had an oil leak from the outset, but 90% of it was taken care of by putting a new seal in the dipstick clamp, and RTV'ing the poo poo out of the oil filler neck thing (rubber is old and expanded). A new filler neck is on order.







If anybody knows common oil leak spots, I did lose about 3-4 quarts total over 1600 miles. The oil leaked slow enough to not show much change on the dipstick between fillups, but fast enough to make the bottom of the engine (especially on the driver's side, burning on the cylinder heads enough that if I turned on the heat the cabin got smoky, until I disconnected the driver's side heater tube) and splatter the rear of the bus with oil over the course of the trip. Definitely leaking it, not burning it.


Has the spare tire cover!


And a nearly-new spare tire (2014)


But the ones on the bus are from 2004 :iiam:


The bus clearly has been five or so different colors (with decals or something on one of them) in the past. My plan is to sand/strip and repaint white on top and some color (yellow, orange, or brown, maybe?) on the bottom.


















The bumpers are bent, but not so badly I couldn't fix these myself.








Washing the roof was a 30-minute pain in the rear end all by itself



For the rust, I'm thinking of picking up a 110v Harbor Freight welder and practicing a bit, buying an angle grinder, then going to town. Ultimateforce, is this a bad idea Y/Y?

And I got it to pass emissions! After only 9 tries :smith:






Right now I'm dealing with a weak battery. I need to throw a voltmeter on it and see if it's charging. I think it is, because it got better while driving, but after sitting for 12 hours on shift it barely started and would drag the engine down and misfire in cadence with the turn signals, or if I turned the heater fan on (to test). The battery in it is all corroded and leaky, so I need to remove it anyway because acid eats these things alive.

Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Aug 8, 2015

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Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
I enjoyed reading your blog very much and I hope this van is exactly what you wanted.

I would be surprised if you couldn't find a welder who can patch up that little amount of rust for pretty cheap, especially in Arizona.

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
Bought and installed a new battery, because...yeah.



meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

I've always loved the VW bus (and obviously westies). There was a point in time that I was looking for a good 21 window and found some (rust-free!) for ~10k... I am absolutely stupid for not buying all that I could find at that price... :{

Watching this thread with interest.

cursedshitbox
May 20, 2012

Your rear-end wont survive my hammering.



Fun Shoe
pushrod tubes and valvecovers are common piss points.

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
Complete gasket kit on order, along with:

Drag link

Retracting seatbelts

Tie rod ends (4)

Center shaft and bushings

Hubcaps (I lost one :()

Rear rocker panel steel

Door seal (expensive!)

Electronic ignition (Compu-fire, served my beetle well for over a year / 10,000 miles now with no problems)

ABS Interior Panels (doors, sliding door, middle bench panel - rear panels will be custom with certain things)

CV Axles

Master Cylinder

Brake Booster

Door Handles (so they all match)

All new light glass



The only hiccup so far: both the center door hinge and the brake booster show "delivered at parcel box", but they haven't been. Started a claim with USPS already.


And the pushrod tubes are removable w/o removing the head, unlike on the 1600DP, right?

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
You, too, can have an easily sliding door if you simply clean out the cup of old grease and sand in the tracks (and purchase a not-broken U-hinge piece)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFsb4nlomR0

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
What'd you use for new track grease? Shin-Etsu is the daddy if you can get it.

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
I used a silicone chain lube spray :ohdear:

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Oh dude, gently caress that poo poo. Shin-Etsu is designed for sliding doors on Odysseys and poo poo, and it works great.

Put it on, shame your German car a little bit with perfect Japanese lubrication.

FancyMike
May 7, 2007

Nice bus, excited to watch this one. My first car was a '73 deluxe, and it's currently in my garage waiting for me to gather the effort (and money) to get it rolling again. These photos are already providing a healthy dose of motivation.

rscott
Dec 10, 2009
I thought shin etsu made thermal paste, maybe they're a multi talented company

sharkytm
Oct 9, 2003

Ba

By

Sharkytm doot doo do doot do doo


Fallen Rib

Geirskogul posted:

I used a silicone chain lube spray :ohdear:

I hope you never ever plan on painting anything near where you sprayed that. Silicone gets into everything, and is nearly impossible to wash away or dissolve. Many high-end body/paint shops won't allow a car that's been treated with tire shine or armor-all that contains silicone.

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
I put some on a rag and wiped it in all three channels, to avoid overspray. And sandpaper cures many things :getin:, right?

the spyder
Feb 18, 2011
I drive by that AutoZone daily. There's a store called Discount Import Parts just a few blocks up from HF. They sell pretty much everything air-cooled VW. Not that it helps you now.

sharkytm
Oct 9, 2003

Ba

By

Sharkytm doot doo do doot do doo


Fallen Rib

Geirskogul posted:

I put some on a rag and wiped it in all three channels, to avoid overspray. And sandpaper cures many things :getin:, right?

That's way better than spraying, but like I said, it won't come off easily if you want to paint. Sandpaper won't do it.

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
We drive 1,600 miles together, and I spend over $1,000 on parts for you, and this is how you repay me?





[










Only the rearmost pushrod tube has oil on it, and it's fresh.


Coming from up here.

Around the cooling fan it is also fresh with wet oil, but the fan itself is dry.


Only the bottom of the oil filter is wet with oil - the sides are still dry.

The spatter pattern on the water leads me to believe it was being violently thrown out.

I have no idea where it's coming from. There's fresh oil on the mustache bracket below the alternator, which doesn't make sense to me. I went to start it up, and there were a few pops and it ran on 3 cylinders for a little bit (it does that sometimes for 10 seconds or so), just like normal, and then suddenly there's a big blue butt behind me and the oil light is on unless I rev it (I immediately turned it off). There is no oil left on the dipstick. It was dripping, hell, pouring down.

Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Aug 12, 2015

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
No pictures (dark) but report 2:

Backside of the fan itself is dry, but there is oil on the edges of the fan blade towards the rear of the fan/front of the car. The fan hub is dry, but the block behind it is soaked with oil, from top to bottom, from oil cooler to alternator. There is oil pooled in the fan shroud itself.

Oil is actively (with the engine off, 30 minutes later) dripping from what seems to be the oil fill to engine block gasket area, but I can't be sure, because it appears the oil is draining down from the side of the gasket and dripping off of the bottom, if it is coming from the gasket itself or dripping from even higher.

The top of the engine is dry. The near side of the oil cooler is wet with oil, and the top of the oil cooler where it rests against a tin of some sort is also wet, but the sides and bottom of it (relative to the ground) are dry. The area it mounts to the engine is wet.

Both of the large (left side) and single small (right side) oil gallery plug behind the fan are intact and not bulging at all.

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011


Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
Posting here for notes to myself.


Possible areas to check out:

Oil pressure sender (unlikely, top is dry, but should check out)

Distributor O-ring (could it leak this catastrophically)

Rear main seal (the one behind the fan, unlikely as fan is dry)

Dipstick tube seal (looks good from underneath, but should order another in any case)

Oil fill tube (need to pull rear three tin pieces)

Oil cooler


If anybody else has any other ideas my ears are open.

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





:psyduck: Rolling superfund site indeed. I think you top me/my-then-future-wife flying to Hollywood and driving an Opel GT back to Phoenix, though.

NoWake
Dec 28, 2008

College Slice
Ughhh that exact situation happened to me in my 412 back two years ago, unfortunately I didn't notice the oil light until the auto trans kicked down into 2nd and by then the engine was seizing. Traced the oil slick a whole mile through town, leading directly to my parking spot where there was no pool of oil. Something must have let go right after startup.

E: at which point I mothballed the car into my mom's garage, haven't done anything to it since. Good luck tracing down the leak, it's a gut punch for sure.

NoWake fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Aug 12, 2015

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
I'm hoping the engine is still okay because I shut it down fast, but you never know.


E: My next day off (Monday, I decided to take Wednesday as an O/T day) I should have the engine gasket kit in by then, and my plan is to remove the fan shroud (without removing the exhaust - I'm told this is possible but difficult based on a few hours of thesamba.com research), remove the oil cooler, remove pressure sender and distributor, inspect everything, and wash it all off with brake cleaner/carb cleaner/whatever I have. If the leak isn't obvious by then, I'll continue to change every gasket I can get to without dropping the engine, and fire it back up full of oil, with somebody watching.


The great thing now is that the starter motor is super weak even with the brand new battery (and it is charged up - I have a tender installed) so maybe it is a bad connection or maybe I need to drop $50 on a new starter as well. We'll see.

Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 06:43 on Aug 12, 2015

cursedshitbox
May 20, 2012

Your rear-end wont survive my hammering.



Fun Shoe
Its an acvw. There are guys on youtube that build em up to run em at redline for 3-4 minutes without oil.

You *might* wanna pop off the tinware for some better pics...and or hose-er down and fire it over post the removal of the tinware.

Pics of such would be great too. :D

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
More notes for myself, and others if they're crazy like me, too.

It rained tonight in Phoenix so I went outside around 0100 before heading to bed to see if it washed away the sins oil my bus leaked. Unfortunately, the bus was still leaking some black oily fluid. "This is crazy," I thought, because it had stopped hours prior.

I don't know if it's from all of the alcohol I ran, or because they're made by EMPI, or because there's still probably a lot of crud in the gas tank, but the float needles have (hopefully temporarily) failed, and filled the crankcase with gasoline. Right as I got out there the leaking was just stopping, but not before dumping probably another gallon on the ground. I clamped off the gas line with some smooth vice grips, and got underneath with a flashlight to check things out. I tried tracing the leak upwards, but I can't see beyond the oil fill gasket and I don't know if that's what is causing it or if it's originating from up higher.

Since I was outside, I decided to pull the distributor and check the oil pressure switch (right next to each other) up top to see if they were leaking. I also pulled the plate behind the fan to check there, but from what it looks like, that seal (while hard as a rock) isn't the culprit. I'll still replace it eventually though. Unfortunately, neither of the first two were, either, so I can scratch those off of the list.

quote:

Possible areas to check out:

Oil pressure sender (unlikely, top is dry, but should check out)

Distributor O-ring (could it leak this catastrophically?)

Rear main seal (the one behind the fan, unlikely as fan is dry)

Dipstick tube seal (looks good from underneath, but should order another in any case)

Oil fill tube (need to pull rear three tin pieces)

Oil cooler

Leaning on the back of the bus and working through the porthole compressed the shocks, though, and the leak started back up, this time with oil-tainted gasoline. And boy it was leaking fast. In less than a minute about half a cup of inky, black, thin-as-water gasoline oil leaked out into the tupperware container I placed. I rushed back underneath to check it out, but I couldn't trace it upwards any more than I could see, which is again the underside of the oil fill tube. But something did happen that may help later after removing the fan shroud and alternator bracket: the gas/oil cleaned up the previously black areas of the engine (as I've always had a slow leak somewhere that makes everything black/sticky). Even if I can't get it to leak again by pouring UV-tinted oil into the crankcase (my next plan), I can trace the hopefully now clean trail up to the source.

Unless there's some wizardry going on with the leak transferring from one side of the engine to the other (always a possibility), then it's definitely coming from the rear passenger side area, probably between the fan and the alternator.


E: note for later - check pickup tube galley/gallery (which one is it? Google gives 50/50 results, and a galley is a kitchen, but whatever) plug. It's the only one on the rear of the engine I haven't checked, and is right next to the oil pump, righthand side, right where I THINK oil is leaking from.

Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Aug 12, 2015

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
GotDAMN bus parts are expensive.

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
My prize!





The mess:



Dude seriously packed it well.

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

Since you can't do safari windows, those are the next best things!

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
Turns out the oil was full of gasoline, and I can't find a specific oil leak point. I'm replacing right now (inside to cool off, because it's 115 and I'm outside in the sun) the oil cooler seals (tested the cooler by filling it with water and holding pressure, it's not split hopefully), fan seal (bad juju, the aluminum surround holding 60 degrees of the arc around the seal broke off, but I'm working on it), oil fill/dipstick seals and gaskets (oil fill has been brazed before by the previous owner) and anything else I can find. I also verified the thermostat works.

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

How's the gas getting in the crankcase? Carb?

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
Yeah I'm assuming I hosed the float valves (or one got stuck open) from the alcohol emissions test thing. I bought and am going to install today a fuel shutoff solenoid, too.


Even after the mess I took the oil cooler off a few hours ago and it was full of essentially pure gasoline :ohdear:

cursedshitbox
May 20, 2012

Your rear-end wont survive my hammering.



Fun Shoe
You're lucky its an acvw engine, anything else would have trashed the bearings. If the coolers obviously not pissing throw new Orings on it and bolt-er' back on. Get some fresh heavyweight into that crankcase stat.


Personally I'd opt for a manual fuel shutoff over a solenoid, but to each their own. I've seen a few bikes fill crankcases with 2-5 gallons of gas from a leaky float. :suicide:

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
My home for the past two days:



I have used up a year of stolen free gloves from work in one project alone



Keep these moldy panels in mind for the next update:



The best clothing to wear is free army clothing. I have so many tan shirts



The official uniform pants for the shadetree mechanic



It doesn't look like it, but this is 100 times cleaner than it was before:



When you've torn up the foam engine seal, and all you have is copper RTV, everything starts to look like it SHOULD HAVE ORIGINALLY BEEN RUBBER ANYWAY SO gently caress IT LET'S DO IT LIVE



I'M SO GLAD THE TIMING MARKS ARE STILL INTACT AND NOT FADED IN ANY WAY




FUUUUUUUUCK IT IS HOT

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
Good and bad news!


Good news! It runs!


Bad news! Oil smoke comes out in distinct puffs from the tailpipe :(

Raluek
Nov 3, 2006

WUT.
I don't know ACVWs at all, how is the fuel pump run? If it's a pushrod-actuated diaphragm dealie like a SBC, that is a gasoline-into-crankcase ingress point. All it takes is a hole in the diaphragm, from alternative fuels perhaps?

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

Geirskogul posted:

Good and bad news!


Good news! It runs!


Bad news! Oil smoke comes out in distinct puffs from the tailpipe :(

The obvious answer is Subaru swap.

Terrible Robot
Jul 2, 2010

FRIED CHICKEN
Slippery Tilde

meatpimp posted:

The obvious answer is Subaru swap.

I saw a Westfalia the other day with 944 wheels and a subaru swap of some kind. I've never seen a VW bus move like that.

extreme_accordion
Apr 9, 2009

Terrible Robot posted:

I've never seen a VW bus move.
^fixed.

How common is swapping modern motors into those old VWs?

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011

Raluek posted:

I don't know ACVWs at all, how is the fuel pump run? If it's a pushrod-actuated diaphragm dealie like a SBC, that is a gasoline-into-crankcase ingress point. All it takes is a hole in the diaphragm, from alternative fuels perhaps?

It had a mechanical one, but it's been blocked off and I'm using a carter electric one (the autozone electric one it had during the trip was LOUD AS gently caress. I have a feeling there is/was a stuck float valve.

Update!

After setting the idle timing to 7.5 degreesISH* BTDC, and ensuring it doesn't move past 32 degreesISH* BTDC at 3k rpm in the Harbor Freight parking lot using a HF timing light and a vague idea of where the timing marks go, I drove it around and got some gas. For the first half of the trip or so it was smoking people out at stoplights, and smoking badly on deceleration, and a big puff on acceleration. I drove around some more after getting gas and the smoking started to subside, and now it's minimal, at least once it's warmed up. Maybe the floats are bad on the carbs and/or the electric pump (a 3 psi one) was overpowering the floats. I'll have to let it cool down and start it up tomorrow to double check.

On the way backing out of the parking space, I ran over my nearly-new bottle of Kroil spray :(



extreme_accordion posted:

^fixed.

How common is swapping modern motors into those old VWs?


Extremely.



*ISH because my timing marks and scale are gone so I spent 30 minutes studying a good straight-on photo of a scale and measuring and poo poo to mark on my own with an awl.

Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Aug 19, 2015

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The Locator
Sep 12, 2004

Out here, everything hurts.





What part of town do you live in Geirskogul?

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