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Post by CrazyBrit on May 31, 2021 20:44:12 GMT -8
Quick question. These are the clamps on the driveshaft supplied with the Lobro / GNK CV boots. The outer end of the clamp is supposed to be pulled over the small tab on the inner section of the clamp (seen at the bottom). The clamp is then tightened by squeezing together the square shaped bulge just visible on the top of the driveshaft using a set of CV boot pliers. However, the clamp is such a tight fit that I cannot persuade it to fit over and clip onto the tab. Is there a method / tool / bodge that can be used to do this? I am starting to think that I might have to use a hose clamp or buy some bigger CV bands. [img src=" i.imgur.com/v2xkW90.jpg" alt="" src=""] For some reason I can't get Imgur to play ball tonight. I'll try again tomorrow.
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Post by mitchy965 on May 31, 2021 21:48:46 GMT -8
I use a small screwdriver or pick that fits into the hole in the band and pry it over the tab.
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Post by CrazyBrit on Jun 1, 2021 21:22:52 GMT -8
Thanks Mitchy. I'll give it a try when I get back from work. I'm a little leery of damaging the boot!
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Post by CrazyBrit on Jun 9, 2021 15:06:03 GMT -8
Well, CV boot clamps really should be a new four letter word. They're all on now. I earned a couple of new puncture wounds and discovered that having skin on your fingers and knuckles is highly overrated. 😡🤬
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Post by CrazyBrit on Jun 9, 2021 18:31:11 GMT -8
I'm about to fit my external cooler to the bus. For those running external coolers, what temperature thermostat do you use to activate your fan please? Mine came with a 180F, which I think is too low.
It came with AN8 barbed fittings and jubilee clamps. Are these acceptable on a full flow oil system?
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Post by Rob Sannes on Jun 9, 2021 19:45:01 GMT -8
Mark my fan is on the typical 180° switch. I don't have gauges in my 56 but the oil idiot light has a temp sensor and will flicker at a calibrated 190°. It gets warm but the fan has only turned on once with this motor. It was after a long hwy drive then popped in to drivethrough for coffee and it came on and ran for 30 seconds and shut off. I feel OK with the 180° switch the way it is. You could change the temp switch in your kit to a 190° or 200° or have a manual switch and monitor a gauge. I use -8 AN fittings that are a barbed push lock style fitting and hose system that are easy to assemble. The hose and clamps provided in kits like yours are easy to use, for a short term install in my opinion. Good Luck and Thanks for the loan of the hub socket for the bus!
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Post by CrazyBrit on Jun 9, 2021 20:48:19 GMT -8
Thanks Rob. I have some of the lock on ones that I got from Lordco, but I noted that the ID is smaller than that of the barbed fittings. I'll call in tomorrow and see what they have in stock.
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Post by CrazyBrit on Sept 28, 2021 19:05:00 GMT -8
Although it has been some time since I updated this thread, that doesn’t mean that I have not been working on the bus. The engine trials and tribulations are documented elsewhere on the site and have taken up a lot of my car tinkering time. Family, work and the house take up much of the rest! When the bus was last on the road, one of my primary complaints was directional stability. It handled like a Thrifty’s shopping cart. Throw in the odd semi passing, a bit of wind and some rutted highway lanes and it could become positively scary. This bus was originally intended for a top speed of less than 60mph on the roads of the 1950s. Our highways tend to be a little bit quicker than they were back then and even at 80kph, I have to really concentrate on driving this vehicle. The tie rods are new, the spindles are in great condition, but there was a little bit of play at the centre pin. It did not look like much, but I figured that any play was not good. I ordered a new OG Febi swing lever repair kit from CIP. There are different qualities out there and I only wanted to do this once, so I bought the best that they had. The first job was to remove the old pin, which popped out easily. Then I had to remove the bushes. Apparently a lot of people use a BFH for this and a lot of force is supposedly required, but I have never been keen whacking my classic bus with a 3lb hammer! So, I did a bit of research on thesamba and set up my own homemade press. A big socket on the top to allow the old bushes to slide into, a smaller socket on the bottom to slide into the beam and push the bushes up, and a short length of ½ inch threaded rod with some large washers and some nuts. It worked like a charm and out came the old bushes with no BFH required! The old bushes and pin did not actually look too bad. Then I had to press in the new bushes, which I did once again with my homemade press and a little persuasion with a socket, some wood and the hammer for the final few mm. The top bush of the Febi replacement did not have a hole for the grease nipple. The consensus on thesamba is that you can get away without it, but the hole is already there in the beam and I had the nipple. Most men will agree that two nipples are better than one, so I drilled the bush so that I can force grease into both the top and bottom bushes. On the split buses, the newly inserted bushes must be hand reamed with a 24mm straight flute reamer. I quickly discovered that these are not just difficult to find in North America – they just don’t seem to exist. Thankfully the internet came to my rescue and I bought a new, Russian made one on eBay from the Netherlands. I then discovered that the reamer shaft was metric too and did not fit my half inch drive tap wrench that I had planned to use. So, I improvised with a couple of pairs of mole grips! With a nice clean pass with the reamer, I cleaned her out and then added some grease and the new pin. I reused the OG bolt though, because the shoulder is longer on the originals and apparently the shorter shoulder of the replacement ones can cause the threads to eat into the shiny new pin. Whilst I was under there I also adjusted the steering box, which was a bit on the sloppy side. It now feels nice and tight (for a 64 year old vehicle!), although I have not yet had the opportunity for a good test drive.
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Post by CrazyBrit on Sept 28, 2021 19:06:13 GMT -8
Hmmm. Those photo's suddenly became huge. Where did I go wrong?
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Post by CrazyBrit on Sept 28, 2021 19:31:13 GMT -8
As it now stands, the bus has her engine back in place. Whilst it was out I replaced the seals again on the 1/2 pushrod tubes, because one of them was leaking. Now three of them are leaking, so I will be revisiting this again this winter. I'm contemplating the spring loaded ones from the old engine for now, because I don't really want to take the motor out again. I will be using the silicone type seals.
The routing of the external plumbing for the oil cooler and the breather kit caused some head scratching and some re-working to fit properly. This ate up a surprising number of hours. I am now reasonably happy with this, but I am sure that further fiddling will be required.
The bus starts and runs nicely. I have fitted up a new Berg carb' linkage, which is of really nice quality. So far, I am very impressed. I was not so impressed with the exorbitant Fedex customs handling fees for this and the Berg oil pump pressure relief cover. Just shy of $100 CAD, including less than $40 in tax.
Then came the shifting problems. Somewhere along the way I added a Vintage Speed shifter to my shopping cart. They were on sale at AVR and I have always found the throw of the original shift to be somewhat excessive. Perhaps I should have waited to drive the bus with the original shifter in position, but it was shiny and new and I wanted to see how it looked!
When I got the bus started, I could get 1st, 2nd and reverse. I set the shifter in reverse, and adjusted it as far right and forward as I could. My driveway is 80 feet long give or take. I raced out of the garage in first, second and managed to jam it into third and quickly fourth in that distance, before hitting the brakes hard. At this point I discovered that the brakes still need a little more bleeding and the new rear shoes need to be bedded in.... Thankfully we live on a quiet street (except when "someone" is working on their VW).
Third and fourth gear were almost unattainable and I spent a lot of time researching Split bus gear linkages. I put the OG shifter back in but had the same problem. First and second were where third and fourth should have been. I went through my linkage, which has the early style metal guide in the front crossmember and the NLA and not reproduced m-spring under the shifter. It all looked good. The new transmission mount that I had made up lined up the nosecone with the coupling perfectly. In the end I traced the problem to the rear linkage coupling, which I must have turned as I tightened the grub screw when I installed the transmission. The screw had missed the indent in the shift rod by less than 2mm, but had rotated on the rod sufficiently to make a big difference at the gearshift. Because of the rain, I have not been able to drag test it down the driveway again yet, but it seems to shift okay when stationary. A test will be forthcoming when I finish my shift at work and re-adjust those brakes...
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Post by Volktales on Sept 28, 2021 21:25:58 GMT -8
Sounds like you had some good VW fun, there... Meanwhile I looked at mine and started yet another list of parts to order...
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Post by CrazyBrit on Oct 8, 2021 16:17:08 GMT -8
I got home for a few hours today and tested the bus again. I do have all 5 gears!
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Post by CrazyBrit on Oct 21, 2021 20:32:17 GMT -8
I'm finally back from work and have a few weeks off. There are lots of non-VW plans afoot, but there should be plenty car time with the cold wet dark nights too!
This evening I finished off a bathroom project and so had a couple of hours spare. Last days off I had adjusted the rear camber because it was miles out after the upgrades at around 8 degrees negative. It's now fairly close to 1 degree, but the camber reset has lifted the back end and now the rear end is around an inch higher than the front. So, next job is to lower the rear a touch. I will be getting a professional alignment done before I finally weld the IRS brackets in, but want to get the ride height dialed in and get the alignment close before I take it to the shop, to make sure that there are no other issues first. When I had the swing axle setup in the bus and took it for an alignment we discovered that the oval holes in the spring plates did not allow sufficient adjustment. It cost me two alignments!
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Post by Volktales on Oct 21, 2021 20:59:58 GMT -8
Since you have some time off, make sure you stop by sometime and pick up that "gift" that Reagh left here for you. Hint, it ain't a VW...
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Post by CrazyBrit on Mar 28, 2022 15:29:34 GMT -8
I'm trying to set up the engine. I checked and set my valves to 0.002" as per the instructions from Scat for steel pushrods. It had a fairly loud "tack tack" noise apparently from the 1/2 side of the engine, so I rechecked the valve clearances suspecting rocker noise. There was little to no adjustment required. When I started it again, the noise had gone, but then restarted after around 30- 40 seconds.
Any suggestions please?
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