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Post by Brenticon on Jun 8, 2015 20:57:30 GMT -8
That thing drove like a dream, and I can't imagine what it will drive like with a new motor ... Congrats on finding an awesome bus that I'm sure you will enjoy!
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Post by chickenwing on Jun 13, 2015 21:07:36 GMT -8
Thanks guys for all your kind words! I had some down time this weekend between work and school so I decided to hop over to the island again this Friday to get some work done on my bus. Don and Laurie have been ever so welcoming and kind thus far, I'm sure many of you who know them well would be quick to agree. They even let me sleep in the bus overnight! I couldn't possibly come close to describing the work/parts/functionality of the things I accomplished this weekend (I'd surely be unknowingly destroying this beautiful bus one bolt at a time if it weren't for Don's direction) but here's the gist of what got done Friday/Saturday. Please excuse the rookie language. The biggest and messiest job I did was tackling the engine bay. Here's what it looked like after the soapy scrub and before the wire brushing: And here's after the wire brushing: After the wire brushing, 4 coats of Rust Mort were applied to help seal off the rust. I'm told that the next step here is to clean, sand and eventually paint. I also tackled the dirty, dirty CV joints today. I wouldn't even know where to begin in terms of packing the ball bearings back into place but I was pretty good at taking them apart! Pictured are the before and after cleaning. Amazing what a little thinner can do! Not pictured are the other jobs I did: Bumpers and wheels (previously primed) were sanded and scuffed and readied for paint, transmission exterior was wire brushed clean, pedal pan was removed, those according looking things jutting into the engine bay (name? ) were removed and cleaned (kind of) and front axle (?) joints were de-caked of old, dirty grease. Overall, a very fun, dirty, educational weekend. I'm really enjoying this whole process so far- getting to know my bus inside and out. I'm looking forward to getting into that re-assembly stage though! Thanks for reading
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Post by Volktales on Jun 13, 2015 21:13:45 GMT -8
Congratulations. By servicing the CV joints, you have completed the most greasy nasty job possible there is on an old bus! Glad you are bonding with it...
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Post by busaddict on Jun 13, 2015 21:19:32 GMT -8
Better than TV for us bus people, I enjoyed the resto post. Hey Russ, what type of grease is best to repack those CV joints?
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Post by PICTUP on Jun 13, 2015 21:41:31 GMT -8
What type of grease is best to repack those CV joints? CV grease …. Molybdenum DiSulphate (MoS 2 )or something like that….
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Post by Volktales on Jun 13, 2015 21:44:45 GMT -8
That is the stuff...
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Post by PICTUP on Jun 14, 2015 12:00:57 GMT -8
Looks great Claire! Yes, the reassembly stage is wonderful when it comes along, but all the hard, and usually messy, work now will reward you many times over both mentally and physically. I echo Russ' words and am glad you are bonding with your Bus because as John Muir quotes from somewhere, " Come to kindly terms with your Ass for it bears you." He goes on to explain that it might seem strange to relate a VW to a donkey, but there does exist a communication gap between one and one's transportation and it benefits one to take note and work to bridge that gap.
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Post by busaddict on Jun 14, 2015 13:29:38 GMT -8
Yes, as you become a better mechanic and fixer of things, your bus becomes a better vehicle. Sounds obvious but it's true.
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Post by chickenwing on Jul 15, 2015 18:40:20 GMT -8
Just got back after another day and a half spent over at Don and Laurie's place. Just thought I'd post some photos of what got accomplished this weekend! Great fun meeting some of you guys at the meeting on Tuesday, it's always nice to put faces to names. First up, pulling out the rear shift rod for cleaning and inspection. Apparently the bus had some difficulty getting into 3rd at times, the broken bushing would be the reason why! Cleaning out the fatter tube (does this have a name?) that holds the rear shift rod was done so by passing an old sock through a few times. Grease became my best friend over the two days...the exposed bits were pretty crudded up too. Here it is getting cleaned and sanded before primer and paint. And looking much better! Next up was the broken heater cable. I hear these are notorious for giving people a hard time. Lucky for me, I got to sit back and do a lot of watching while Don struggled with the tiny clips and things. Judging by his ingenious method of threading a thin wire through in place of the old cable and using it to fish the new one into place he'd done it once or twice before. I can't even imagine how much of a struggle it would be to try and thread a new cable through the bus. Here it is pre-clip. At this point we still hadn't figured out the correct way to clip the cable into the engine bay. Books and online research yielded no conclusive results so we took a drive over to Don's shop to take a peak at his Riviera. The trip over was successful and Don managed to figure it out! You'll have to ask him how exactly it's done and why... This is how we left it while we scooted over to the Riviera, unfortunately I don't have a done photo. Don does. The last thing I got done before catching the ferry home was take out the front shift rod. It received the same treatment as the rear one- clean, sand, prime, paint. Unfortunately I'm missing photos of the completed rear shift rod with the new bushings and boots before re-inserting it into its place. Getting my phone out to snap a pic at that time would've definitely ended poorly considering I was covered in grease. Leaving so much work to be done is always hard for me, I can't wait for the day I finally get to drive that bus out of Don's garage. I've said this before but it starting to feel like we've rounded the corner now and are putting more things back onto the bus vs taking things off the bus.
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Post by Brenticon on Jul 15, 2015 19:01:33 GMT -8
Awesome ..... Gotta love the trudge Nice neeting you also, and lookin fwd to seeing that thing see light again
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Post by PICTUP on Sept 6, 2015 20:13:10 GMT -8
I have been trying to get back to finishing this Bus so Claire can drive off into the sunset for some time now. First up is the heater box dilemma. Why dilemma you ask? Well I have been working at this for far too long and it has allowed me to obsess over the imperfections of the boxes I had. So what did I do? I went on the hunt for more and I thought I came up with some good ones and some marginal ones I believe could be fixed. Well, I was sort of right. One box was a goner for sure, so I figured I used it for a guinea pig to see what one of these actually looked like inside. VW put their boxes together by crimping one half's lip over the tongue of the other half. With a bit of creative clamping and work with a couple of screw drivers and a hammer, they do eventually come apart. And here is what you see, a aluminum/asbestos(?) shield over the aluminum fins So I took the better examples to the local VW guru(Russ), who has enough patience to put up with my entire lack of knowledge in this matter. And he broke out the old school welding tools, namely the oxygen and acetylene bottles along with hoses and controls. At this point in our metal working capabilities MIG and TIG welding are more the norm. Welding and brazing using the oxy/acetylene set-up isn't that common. However dealing with thinner metal, potentially rusty metal, sometimes it is an easier alternative. Giving it a go resulted in a successful plugging of the holes quite nicely. Sorry, no pics of the process…perhaps another time. What I did get pics of was the before and after bead blasting of three of the boxes(2 rights I had to choose from) plus other bits. Before After Now to get to fitting all the bits together before paint
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Post by PICTUP on Sept 15, 2015 20:18:31 GMT -8
Well with the summer's fun in the sun and our Cruise In over, it's back to the grind. Literally. Before the engine goes in(no, it ain't done! ) The battery trays needed attention. I don't have pics of them, but the metal was being "helped" by pieces of wood. In some ways, it worked just fine, but it did hold water and would just serve to rot along with helping the rust along. So out they came. The Bus has been painted so welding new ones in was out of the question. Instead I figured cutting the rusty metal out while leaving a lip for a repair section to sit on was the ticket. The repair trays will be just sealed into place, not welded. Maybe a couple rivets, I dunno. Here is what the trays looked like to start with. Passenger side Driver's side(leisure battery) First I had to remove all the old seam sealer Then it was spark city with a bulky angle grinder(wish I had air tools!) to get to this: Ugh! The other side was similar After wire wheeling, it is ready to be rust morted and then painted
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Post by mitchy965 on Sept 15, 2015 20:34:46 GMT -8
Don,there is a welding alternative. try panel bonder (two part body adhesive). got my set up from Lordco,you need the mixing gun (caulking gun with mixing tips) and the 2 part glue which is available in different strengths and working times.
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Post by PICTUP on Sept 15, 2015 20:44:37 GMT -8
Don,there is a welding alternative. try panel bonder (two part body adhesive). got my set up from Lordco,you need the mixing gun (caulking gun with mixing tips) and the 2 part glue which is available in different strengths and working times. Cool, I will look into it. Thanks Mitch. Hey, we missed you at the Cruise In!
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Post by mitchy965 on Sept 16, 2015 8:28:39 GMT -8
actually had plans to go to Seattle bug in(i was a fixture there in the late 80s early 90s) until the wife reminded me of my promise to take my son and his buddy to playland. i also wanted to check out a manx buggy in langley (overpriced junk).i did manage to take the boys out to mission for a doorslammers event on sunday(their first!).sorry to have missed the cruise, maybe next year if the dates don't collide.
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