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1969 vw bus, what have i gotten myself into?


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I still don't understand the need for 250ftlb on the nut but atleast I have a way to remove it....

I first punch marked the nut and hub to hopefully put it back on at the same torque.... 

This was the recommendation to prevent the wheel from spinning while removing the nut... bolt an angle Iron to the hub..... with a large cheater bar....Screenshot_20240824_105737_Gallery.thumb.jpg.c652d936b98e01268756e14e7f477c1a.jpg

 

I had 46 mm wrenches for my atv so I put them to work.... c clamp keeps them from spreading....

 

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Needed a little extra cheat....

 

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This side was starting to leak too so I'm glad I had 2 on hand... pads and adjusters were fine after a healthy bath of brake cleaner....

 

Just need the wife to help bleed the system and she should be back to driving....

 

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On 8/24/2024 at 8:04 AM, Crashtd420 said:

I still don't understand the need for 250ftlb on the nut but at least I have a way to remove it....

 

I have a friend with a Sunbeam specialty shop down in San Diego, and the Alpines and Tigers have a similar spec.  He has an 8ft piece of tubing that he keeps just for removing that nut.  It usually requires more than one person leaning on the extension just to break it loose.  Freaks me out everytime..

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Well the bus had a rough day yesterday as did my datsun.... all within an hour of each other..... 

I'm pretty sure the clutch disk broke apart,  atleast that's what I hope it is... 

She made it to the stop sign at the end of the road and upon taking off she heard some noise and lost all transfer of power to the transaxle... 

Luckily I have been making room to fit both vehicles in my work shop for the winter.... 

I'll be pulling the engine soon to inspect the clutch... I also have to check  the gas tank out while I have the engine out. The sender for the gauge sort of works, but to get it out you have to remove the tank. And to get the tank out you have to remove the engine... So I'll be getting that going this weekend too...

 

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I have to give my wife credit she has been driving it almost every day.. 

So it doesn't surprise me that old parts will fail ... one thing I found is it may have a rigid disk, and the replacement has springs. They sell both... I assume the springs help ease engagement, so I'll be getting that type for her.

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On 9/28/2024 at 12:21 PM, Soundline said:

26 min ago, I’m sure you’re done by now.

Not that you want to get in the habit, but without the heat riser sheet metal in the way it's possible to pull a VW motor in 15 minutes with practice... 2 buddies had '69 Beetles 😁

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  • 8 months later...

The wife has been putting the miles on the bus like a champ .. the more she drives the more little problems I have to solve....

Little issues solved over the winter...

New brake master

Return springs for pedal and carburetor plus cleaned and adjusted. 

    Needs fast idle set

New plugs and wires... 

New fuel filter 

New quieter exhaust 

Clutch pedal adjusted

And some body work....

 

Next up is engine heat ...

We had a couple hot days and the bus didn't like sitting in traffic.. so I put together an oil cooler system that will go on the opposite side of the engine from the battery....

 

I might be short 1 AN fitting but I have 2 hose barbs and a half inch hose that I can use to make a temporary connection... I'm using all 8AN lines and fittings...

 

 

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Well this turned into a shit show...

 

I was doing good till I got to the pump....

 

Cooler required a hole in the floor...

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Needed a way to bolt it down.

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Fan was a puller so that is underneath...

 

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Mounted the filter..  

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Next was the thermostat... 

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So the pump i bought i guess only works with the bugs....

They must mount the engine differently...

Because on the bus the rear mount bolts to the oil pump housing...

 

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I thought i was doing good...

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But this created more issues... 

It spaced the bracket out to far, long story short cut somethings I shouldn't have, but I can fix.... the worse came when the crank pulley wouldn't fit back on... 

So I dug deeper and found out I'm an idiot....

I ordered the wrong pump...

Apparently this works with the bus motor bracket....

 

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The bad thing is I can't return the red pump.. when I tightened the bolts the threads pulled out of the block.....

Luckily the an 8mm hole is the right size for a 3/16-18 tap.... but that ment oversized the mounting holes in the pump and cover.... I was successful mounting the pump but then the pulley issue revealed itself....

So here we are....

I am hoping i might be able to buy just the cover and not the hole pump.... 

 

Edited by Crashtd420
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And that pump idea wont work either.  Apparently I have type 1 engine from a bug.... this is why I have that adapter plate on the oil pump. Apparently the bus which should be a type 2 has two threaded bosses on the engine to bolt to.... that is why I am having such an issue....

 

The idea now is replacing the factory oil cooler setup under the fan shroud... 

They sell and adapter that bolts to the factory cooler location which has the in and out, but i loose the factory cooling setup... I'm hoping with the adapter and some creativity I can retain a small 7 or 10 row cooler in the factory location under the shroud because I'm not sure the cooler i have added is big enough to support cooling by itself, it was ment to be added on....

To be determined....

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  • 3 weeks later...

So I am getting close to done....

I did end up buying the relocation adapter for the stock oil cooler...

I forgot to get pictures removing the fan shroud but luckily I could tilt the motor down enough to remove it.... 

Underneath i found the stock cooler, which seems pretty small...

 

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So the new cooler is bigger and will have a good electric fan on it vs engine rpm driving the fan... I did maintain the fan and doghouse/shroud to provide airflow across the cylinder heads...

 

The relocation kit dumped out the rear of the doghouse nicely with a pair 8an lines...

 

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Over to the filter and cooler. ..

 

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Tomorrow I need to install a new oil pump cover gasket and i can get the rest of the engine put back together...

 

I did the electrical the other day, it comes on with a temperature switch but only with ignition on.... i did install an over ride switch because it had the wiring but I just kept it next to the relay in the engine bay....

I also ran a small fan light indicator for her just so she know when the bus reaches 180 ... we have a dipstick that monitors for high engine temps too .. connects to the oil light... so if the bus does get hot the light flickers and eventually turns on as if low oil.... this also kills the fuel pump so she is unable to continue to drive without cooling the bus off... I'm hoping this new setup will keep her cool enough while in traffic...

 

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Why set the limit so low? 180 is the minimum operating temp for most engines and oil temp is 190-200F

4 hours ago, Crashtd420 said:

when the bus reaches 180 ...  kills the fuel pump so she is unable to continue to drive without cooling the bus off...

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5 hours ago, ggzilla said:

Why set the limit so low? 180 is the minimum operating temp for most engines and oil temp is 190-200F

180 is the fan on and thermostat opening temperature.... I'm hoping to keep engine temps around 190-200....

I can always change the temperature switch to a 185 or 190 if the fans on at 180 is too much....

The hot oil indicator is around 225 when it flickers... I think 240 comes on solid..... thats what effects the fuel pump...

 

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50 minutes ago, ggzilla said:

I was reading up on this. Apparently up to 250 degrees is normal for the bus

I have read that too but I think you dont wanna sustain that high a temp.

 

When my wife drives the bus its primarily around town at slower speeds and rpms, with stop and go traffic.  This setup will regulate the temperature better.... as i said I could possibly up the fan sensor to a 190 if it over cools..  

 

 

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Well this did not finish up like I was hoping...

I installed the new pump cover gasket and reassembled the remaining parts of the engine only to have low oil pressure.... 

At first I had no cause for concern.... light wasn't on oil was flowing through the new system.. then the light came on...

If I reved the engine it went out but wouldn't stay out... 

This happened kind of when I tested the engine before, but i felt like it was just trying to fill up the filler and lines... because the light went out.. 

I didn't have the oil cooler connected but the filter and thermostat were... I just made a loop where the oil cooler was getting hooked up... this was while I was waiting for the extra fittings and how i discovered it needed a new cover gasket.

 

I decided to install a mechanical gauge where the sending unit goes and saw i only have about 15psi reved up and only like 5 or 10 idling..., this was party warmed up, so not good at all...

I really wish I checked oil pressure before I started just to compare number but it never occurred to me....

 

My big question i am asking myself is was this a previous issue or is the pump i installed the issue..

Or something else....

This setup i am doing had been done by many people so I dont think its the added parts...  

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