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Post by Volktales on Apr 27, 2016 21:08:17 GMT -8
So after leaving Reagh's place, we headed up Island to Campbell River. The new highway is a lot faster then the old, but extremely boring... Anyway the ferry to Quadra is a quick trip, and in very little time we found ourselves outside this unremarkable garage. What could be inside???
Why it appears to be another of those single cab thingies, this time a splitty. Why would Don want another one of those?
This one even eventually ran, too! Wait, why does it look kinda funny in this picture???
This is the rare "short box" version. M-code 349506143759151! Or not.
I hate to use the "C" word, but it is kinda cute, isn't it? Don's wife has seen it before and likes it too!
Loading this one up was easy and quick. A good thing too, as it was starting to get late.
The now obligatory "Look what I got" picture. I would be smiling too, and I don't even like splitties that much.
Looks tiny on the trailer while waiting for the ferry back to Campbell River. This bus was not shortened for the fun of it, but for a very specific purpose. Don will have to explain that part and it is quite interesting...
Our view on the ferry. A long late drive back to Nanaimo followed, and we dropped the bus at my place, and the trailer at my friend Terry's house. It was then that the FJ complained about its workload. The battery warning light came on in time with the alternator groaning. Don risked driving it home to Ladysmith in the dark where it expired when the voltage dropped below 9 Volts. At least it had the decency to get him home before that happened. And it should be noted that it was all my fault, as I mentioned on the trip how reliable Toyotas are... |
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Post by mitchy965 on Apr 27, 2016 21:15:22 GMT -8
don don don been don so long......your coming up short pal!
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Post by tony on Apr 27, 2016 21:35:35 GMT -8
Oooh that is one of those rare splitties with the dual treasure ashtrays by the look of it  |
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Post by Brenticon on Apr 28, 2016 6:58:11 GMT -8
That a cute lil truck ....  |
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Post by Wongai on Apr 29, 2016 7:10:48 GMT -8
MAN! That thing looks hilarious. There is no other word than cute to describe it.
You are dudes are killing me! I'm generally jealous of what you guys have going on with your collections, but this SC is killer!
I'm happy for you but man it hurt my heart when I saw that picture load. No one ever calls me with such deals.
Well done!!
B
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Post by PICTUP on Apr 29, 2016 16:48:16 GMT -8
MAN! That thing looks hilarious. There is no other word than cute to describe it. I have a feeling if it ever got personalized license plates, it would have to be just that You are dudes are killing me! I'm generally jealous of what you guys have going on with your collections, but this SC is killer! I'm happy for you but man it hurt my heart when I saw that picture load. No one ever calls me with such deals. Well done!! B Nobody called me with this one Byron, I pursued it only because my friend Steve in Seattle was intrigued. And you know the power of the AmeriBuck these days. Plus the price had come down considerably, even before we thought seriously about making an offer. The truck has never been officially registered in Canada, so I can't tell you if it would even be successful if I tried. It was out of California originally. The plan is to get it running and driving better before taking it down to Steve for his driving fun(he is not much of a mechanic to say the least, but loves VWs, trucks especially). He tires of vehicles quickly so I imagine him to sell it on after owning it for a short stint(no pun intended), but that will be up to him. The truck was originally shortened for use on the bow of a boat, the MV Thomas Crosby V . The truck was to have been craned onto the foredeck and sit in wheel chocks. The lifting points are in the bed at the forward and aft ends. I have no idea, nor did the seller, whether they actually ever lifted it. The seller bought the truck when the owner of the boat and truck died unexpectedly in the middle of the refurb of the boat. A sad story really. Makes one think of one's mortality. |
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Post by Wongai on May 2, 2016 7:09:44 GMT -8
Thanks for the insight Don. I do love it. I know most would not be interested in a shortened anything, but I think that thing looks awesome.
Well done and great score!!
b
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Post by wcp on May 2, 2016 8:48:21 GMT -8
so, what are the plans for this bad boy?
wheelie bars and a stout 2.6L T4?
or a streeeetch back to stock length?
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Post by camplug on May 2, 2016 10:16:53 GMT -8
I'm a bit confused. Did you buy this for yourself Don or is it for Seattle Steve?
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Post by Volktales on May 2, 2016 20:30:12 GMT -8
I was told this is mostly Steve's, but you just know that Don is coveting it!
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Post by Volktales on May 29, 2016 15:37:31 GMT -8
Nothing more has been said about this for awhile, but some work has started on the "SS" (Short Split). There were quite a few electrical problems that had to be addressed. Imagine that, electrical problems on an old VW... Anyway the first port of call is always the fuse box, and this is what greeted us...
It seems when the interior was repainted a long time ago, the "person" doing it was a bit on the lazy side. Why mask up anything if it is hidden behind a panel? Lets just cover ALL the wiring with overspray! Yet another individual that deserved an ass kicking, for their treatment of a vintage VW... The overspray made troubleshooting much more difficult later. Fitting that new relay in the picture caused issues as well...
See that round thing in the dash to the left of the speedo? That is actually a big fat warning light for the original hazard light system. This was not stock on Beetles until 1966, but the buses apparently had it since around 1963. And it is an oddball system in its operation, which of course did not work...
Turns out there was a second relay that is part of the hazard system, hiding behind the right kick panel. And it was still 6 volts, despite the truck having been converted to 12 volts years ago... So what needed fixing to restore things to operation??? Quite a bit in the end... Somebody in the past had "repaired" some wiring to the fuse box. Only problem is that they mixed up a few wires on the reinstall... Switching things around and cleaning the fusebox restored power at least to the right places. Surprisingly my stash of relays included a 12volt version of the hazard relay. It needed to be opened up, and the casing swapped with the 6volt version (casing must be grounded to body) to work. The flasher relay was not the original style and a much more modern 3 pin version was installed. The wiring for the signal indicator light had to be modified to accommodate this, but info from The Samba helped immensely. The original system is odd in that the hazard lights flash via the signal flasher relay for the rear lights, but the hazard relay in conjunction with the flasher relay for the fronts. Weird. Anyway it all worked in the end after repairing lots of wiring terminal ends too. Don still needs to replace the horn itself and brakelight switch, before all the electrical is alive again...
So while I was wrapping my head around wiring issues, Don tackled the problem of the worn out shifter bushing in the front. Normally you would unbolt the forward section of the shift rod, slide it out and replace the bushing with ease. Or not. Most of the welding for the shorted conversion was of decent quality. The joining of the two shifts rods was not... We could not figure out why this was done. It should have been straight forward to cut the rear shaft to length and re-attach the front shaft. Why this was done this way is a mystery, but Don was able to replace the bushing without removing the shaft and it feels much better in operation now. You can see how the builders of this truck dealt with shortening the cables... Crude looking, but works ok... Next up will be check the brakes, valve adjustment, tune, etc... |
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Post by Wongai on May 30, 2016 6:34:30 GMT -8
Man that thing is cool. Looking forward to getting a pic of that with my little girl. She loves it!
Nice job on the wiring mess. When I fully restore my camper, I'm going to pull every wire I can see and start again. Not looking forward to it.
Thanks for the post and info!
B
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Post by 68IIIbuggy on May 30, 2016 7:34:53 GMT -8
Man that thing is cool. Looking forward to getting a pic of that with my little girl. She loves it! Nice job on the wiring mess. When I fully restore my camper, I'm going to pull every wire I can see and start again. Not looking forward to it. Thanks for the post and info! B It's well worth doing. When I bought my bus it had recently received a completely new harness. Much to my surprise, during the 10 years I've owned the bus I haven't had a single electrical issue, even after storing it all winter. |
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Post by Wongai on May 30, 2016 8:04:09 GMT -8
I look forward to the day I can use a wiring diagram for that bus. Currently, it's more like improve comedy when i have an issue.
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Post by PICTUP on May 30, 2016 8:51:21 GMT -8
I look forward to the day I can use a wiring diagram for that bus. Currently, it's more like improv comedy when i have an issue. As long as you can keep laughing!  |
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