Cousin Eddie

Hey Guy’s and Gals, so I introduce to you cousin Eddie the home coming, now since then I’ve done some repairs, not many but I’ll elaborate.
Now Ed is ex Australia Post and from the west coast I believe and as it so happens I work at post, have done for ages and so I’m actually torn between “fully restoring” or a “sympathetic restoration” because a vintage post van could be cool and actually I’m known for my sympathetic restorations on vehicles this old lorry of mine is an example of this.

That truck is so cool

Nice panelvan.. Looking forward to seeing your updates on this.

The truck also looks great.

Hiya Eddie mate and welcome home. Liking your new cobber the stepside.
I’m guessing the extra vents at the rear near the the crescent shaped engine air vents are for the cargo area in the van, they’re not ducted to increase air volume into the noisy cupboard are they ?
In my own opinion, I’m liking your thinking about the exterior and anything along the lines of what you’ve done with that stepside would be great. I reckon I’d also try and make the cab look as stock as it can. The cargo area is a different matter though, you can get creative as you like here. There’s virtually no cross over view from inside to outside and visa versa because of the lack of glass as it’s a panel. Perhaps an industrial looking cab separation bulkhead along the lines of the Westphalia stock one that is heavy duty rubberised canvas I think, held up with spring pop clips around the roof brace cross member. It fitted down to the seat backs and the middle bit was weighted and longer and went down to the floor between the seats on the walkthrough. There was also a soft pvc window in the middle with a fold down flap. That would really separate the areas off and provide all you want in the way of curtains too. Roll it completely up if required or simply pop it off and fold it away behind the seat. Basics in the back are all that’s needed, Rock and Roll bed, nice big cool box, and a small kitchen unit. I do ninety nine percent of my cooking outside under a gazebo and that stops the van smelling of sausages or bacon for two weeks.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,it’ll be interesting to see how it materialises bud

ozziedog said:

Hiya Eddie mate and welcome home. Liking your new cobber the stepside.
I’m guessing the extra vents at the rear near the the crescent shaped engine air vents are for the cargo area in the van, they’re not ducted to increase air volume into the noisy cupboard are they ?
In my own opinion, I’m liking your thinking about the exterior and anything along the lines of what you’ve done with that stepside would be great. I reckon I’d also try and make the cab look as stock as it can. The cargo area is a different matter though, you can get creative as you like here. There’s virtually no cross over view from inside to outside and visa versa because of the lack of glass as it’s a panel. Perhaps an industrial looking cab separation bulkhead along the lines of the Westphalia stock one that is heavy duty rubberised canvas I think, held up with spring pop clips around the roof brace cross member. It fitted down to the seat backs and the middle bit was weighted and longer and went down to the floor between the seats on the walkthrough. There was also a soft pvc window in the middle with a fold down flap. That would really separate the areas off and provide all you want in the way of curtains too. Roll it completely up if required or simply pop it off and fold it away behind the seat. Basics in the back are all that’s needed, Rock and Roll bed, nice big cool box, and a small kitchen unit. I do ninety nine percent of my cooking outside under a gazebo and that stops the van smelling of sausages or bacon for two weeks.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,it’ll be interesting to see how it materialises bud

Click to expand...

Now that’s something I never thought off Aussiedog and sounds like a great idea.

Over the last couple of days I’ve been cutting out rust and filling i with fresh steel on the drivers side front nose , it’s coming up nice and I’ll post pics soon

matty74 said:

That truck is so cool

Click to expand...

Thanks Matty for the advice on creating a new build thread, I’m looking forward to this build

Ok so I’ve finished repairing the windscreen curt that was rotted out and now we’ve installed a n windscreen as well

Skill

Just spotted something Munga bud. Not sure if it’s worth digging into or not or if there were differences on the borders between different states or if it was only on certain year models. Most if not all Aussie Bay imports over here in England have a noticeable detail on the wipers and yours dosent. I was under the impression that the Australian government over ruled VW and insisted on having RHD wipers fitted to all Bay Windows but not sure when this started. So on Oz imports we’d expect the RHD wipers and grommets fitted to where the LHD units were fitted previously. Your Eddie has LHD wipers so maybe it wasn’t a big deal with commercials especially those bought in hundreds if not thousands. Everything over here all has LHD wipers which means a bit of the drivers vision is not cleared. Repairs look great and nice bit of Duco too.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,tone it down a bit now ??.

Great taste....

Looking forward to fallward to following.

ozziedog said:

Just spotted something Munga bud. Not sure if it’s worth digging into or not or if there were differences on the borders between different states or if it was only on certain year models. Most if not all Aussie Bay imports over here in England have a noticeable detail on the wipers and yours dosent. I was under the impression that the Australian government over ruled VW and insisted on having RHD wipers fitted to all Bay Windows but not sure when this started. So on Oz imports we’d expect the RHD wipers and grommets fitted to where the LHD units were fitted previously. Your Eddie has LHD wipers so maybe it wasn’t a big deal with commercials especially those bought in hundreds if not thousands. Everything over here all has LHD wipers which means a bit of the drivers vision is not cleared. Repairs look great and nice bit of Duco too.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,tone it down a bit now ??.

Click to expand...

Thanks man, as for the wipers this van was purchased by the federal government as in OHMS the PMG (post master general), that said I do know that in today’s day and age Australia Post has had but not now I believe, a seperate supply of motorcycles for their posties, the domestic version of the same motorcycle is double in price and has disc brakes and ABS a completely different animal that said was this the case even back then I’m wondering?

Munga said:

Thanks man, as for the wipers this van was purchased by the federal government as in OHMS the PMG (post master general), that said I do know that in today’s day and age Australia Post has had but not now I believe, a seperate supply of motorcycles for their posties, the domestic version of the same motorcycle is double in price and has disc brakes and ABS a completely different animal that said was this the case even back then I’m wondering?

Click to expand...

Yes, yes, yes, it’s just very interesting. Try having a look at photos on local VW groups as in see if you can spot what I’m rattling on about. The main other thing but primarily with Ozzie campers is remote access to the gas supply and the little trap door for bottle access if required. Cant think of any other uniqueness type stuff apart from air vent variations for warmer climates. As yours is a panel I’m assuming you don’t have rear heating pipes at the floor to firewall / tank junction just a slight intrusion.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,I’m rattling on again, sorry bud, but the pubs open and I’ll be away soon

ozziedog said:

Yes, yes, yes, it’s just very interesting. Try having a look at photos on local VW groups as in see if you can spot what I’m rattling on about. The main other thing but primarily with Ozzie campers is remote access to the gas supply and the little trap door for bottle access if required. Cant think of any other uniqueness type stuff apart from air vent variations for warmer climates. As yours is a panel I’m assuming you don’t have rear heating pipes at the floor to firewall / tank junction just a slight intrusion.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,I’m rattling on again, sorry bud, but the pubs open and I’ll be away soon

Click to expand...

I will look into it but I’m pre occupied at the minute

And so here we go, one head 41mm intakes and the other? 37’s hahaha here we go fellas from the top, again ! Another build

Munga said:

And so here we go, one head 41mm intakes and the other? 37’s hahaha here we go fellas from the top, again ! Another build

Click to expand...

Yes indeed, these old vans have been around for years and years and they were old vans fifty years ago. They spent a long time being worth a hundred bucks so were just kept going on extremely tight budgets and lots of second hand parts from the scrapyards of the world. Forty years ago, a new head was maybe worth more than the van but five bucks for a second hand one off another vehicle meant you had a van for a while until the next thing wore out.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,, but it still went

ozziedog said:

Yes indeed, these old vans have been around for years and years and they were old vans fifty years ago. They spent a long time being worth a hundred bucks so were just kept going on extremely tight budgets and lots of second hand parts from the scrapyards of the world. Forty years ago, a new head was maybe worth more than the van but five bucks for a second hand one off another vehicle meant you had a van for a while until the next thing wore out.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,, but it still went

Click to expand...

A true word, sad! But true and ol faithful got you home, sometimes hahahah.
Did you actually notice the two completely different combustion chamber shape?

I’m guessing that is a type 4 engine ?

Munga said:

A true word, sad! But true and ol faithful got you home, sometimes hahahah.
Did you actually notice the two completely different combustion chamber shape?

Click to expand...

And the valve sizes. Was this motor shoe horned in in someone’s garage or do you think it was stick? Look at the crap blocking the fins though.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,A wonder he ran at all

ozziedog said:

And the valve sizes. Was this motor shoe horned in in someone’s garage or do you think it was stick? Look at the crap blocking the fins though.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,A wonder he ran at all

Click to expand...

The guy I bought the pannel van from, long story but here goes. The fella I bought it from owned it twice and so yeh he sold it and bought it back from someone and during this period the fella he sold it to got rid of the original engine and bought this type 4 and so the pannel van ended up with this non descript type 4 tha was never fitted but followed the van as a separate part yes takin up space on many floors that was said to be a “great runner” haven’t we all heard that one? and so that’s how it turns up but as far as what it looks like? With tins all over it ? It still looked shit but eh! I gave it the benefit of doubt

so I do have an update,
So now I’ve split the cases, it was unavoidable as the big ends had play (rocking sideways as opposed to sliding sideways, there’s a big difference) and so the con rods were rocking out medicating excessive bearing wear, actually at the time the cases were still together I was unsure of Conroe rocking as opposed to simply sliding up and down the journal and so once I re installed a piston pin back into a little end i then could feel some rocking and so I had to continue with digging deeper and so pop goes the weasel.

If you thought that so far you’ve seen funny shit? Well the shot has only just begun.
1) cam gear shifting 10-15 degrees due to rivet failure onto the camshaft, the timing was not even a distant possibility it was something I’ve never seen in my life since I’ve only done about 6 rebuilds ever.
2)can bearings? Wow , bearing delaminating? Also never seen it was toasted, the whole thing was rooted except the pots and pistons they we’re almost new but the other play in the valve guides? Jeeeeeezus you could wriggle the vale any valve 10mm side to side ! Unbelievable, yeh a good goer my eye.

And so here we are a total strip down and complete rebuild total needed with zero dollars at hand for this, awesome . I will admit that this definitely was a possibility that did not have a zero chance, and as remotely as it seemed was a possibility soon became a reality it seems this engine it’s entire life it has been owned by people just patching up as cheaply as possible, i for one am not going to and refuse to try and cobble together anything for this bud ! I’m going balls to the wall all out and if that means eating 2 minute noodles for a year then that’s it! 2 minute noodles it is!