1972 Crossover Dormobile - Full Restoration Work In Progress

[D@VEY]

Yeah man had a message off loxy saying he had a header for sale he thought you might around his way to bring it back for me.but not heard back. will be down the show if it is fine weather.

 

[Haveacamper]

have a little update to the engine tuning. i drove the bus over to the garage yesterday morning and the bus still juddered between 1800-2300rpm when under partial load.

i phoned the gargae throughout the day and the owner said that his emissions machine broke so was hoping to drive the bus around the corner to the mot centre and use theirs. however, he said that the bus wasnt running well enough (worried i drove it 4miles to the garage :s). anyway, he tuned it by ear and said that it was running very lean and was surprised it was running at all. he said that it is sounding alot better and he has now run it up to temperature and changed the oil. he asked to keep it an extra day for the new part for his emissions machine turns up so he can fine tune it and get it running sweet. here is a link to the garge's facebook page :

http://www.facebook.com/RSPorsche" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

hoping to get the call today to collect it....soooo excited.

p.s. a little worried that he said it was really weak because i was surprised what power it had without knowing that lol

 

[Haveacamper]

Yay,

the bus is running and i collected the bus last night from the garage! apart from a stupid b**ch seriously cutting me up twice in 200m (when i was cruising up to a red light) it drove pretty well. and that was without being able to use frull throttle. i either have to cut the bracket on the rear underside of the pedal or play with the linkage to give me the full throttle range. even still, the bus ran pretty quick!

i drove the bus to work today and had a bit of juddering at 1800-2250rpm so phoned up garage. apparently it could be that i was driving it like a fanny! turns out that 911's dont really like to be driven less that 2000rpm the garage man told me. also, looking at the torque curves and the 4speed box i have he could be right. i'm running the 091 box with a 1.18 3rd and a .75 4th. when i change in second around 3000 the rpm in 3rd is around 1500-1800rpm and the bus judders. looking at the curves its because I am changin too early. so i will be driving it a bit more liberally this evening and tomorrow. if things dont change he garage asked for it back

 

[Trikky2]

Good to hear its on the road at last. :mrgreen:

I sympathise with the gearing/revs problem. The 091 gearing is very long and 30 to 35 mph in top is only a bit over 1500 rpm on stock -ish rolling radius. TBH if I were to do mine over again I would go for the 1.8 box rather than the 2 liter.

Changing the throttle linkage to get full throttle needs to be done by increasing the amount the pedal moves, otherwise the throttle will become too fierce/sensetive to drive in traffic. You can remove the throttle stop on the pedal and the floor to give more pedal travel.

Mine still doesent quite give full throttle because I changed the bracket/linkage under the floor to give a "softer" (longer throw) pedal. Before this mod it was hard to drive smoothly.

With the huge amount of power you have available, tractability will be even more important IMO.

 

[Haveacamper]

Well, the bus had her first official photoshoot yesterday. Its going into Volksworld and VW Speed in the coming months.

I just want to see the results NOWWWWW

 

[Haveacamper]

Well. Not had an update for a while. Been to busy out and about in the bus enjoying it for what it is hehe

On Saturday morning I got the bus to a rolling road as I was a little concerned with the performance. The acceleration was pretty quick in 1st and 2nd but not that great in 3rd and 4th. I couldn't seem to hold 70mph going up a long hill.

Here are the results:

A little worrying that I'm only getting 78bhp at the wheels. With a rough estimate for gearbox efficiency losses this is only giving me about 105bhp at flywheel

Turns out that even after my adjustments I am only getting about 50% throttle at 100% accelerator pedal travel. Ive removed the bracket on the rear pd the pedal and tweeked my custom linkage but to no avail.

Because I don't want to be left with a real snappy accelerator pedal I have opted to modify the amount of pedal travel by making up an adjustable linkage connecting the pedal to the cable. I am hoping that this will double the amount of pedal travel. Watch this space!

 

[Trikky2]

Ah that explains a lot. Yes a bit over 100 is dreadful for that engine - I am getting close on 130 from a 2 liter T1 :lol:

Have a look at some cars in the scrapyard - many of the injected and carburettored ones used a cable running on a snail shell actuator which lets you get a soft pedal at light throttle but the geared effect gives you full throttle at max.

Using one of these will solve your problem I think.

 

[Haveacamper]

Rik,

Do you have a link to this. i have had a little look but havent found anything yet. also, I presume the 130 is BHP and its estimated at the flywheel. 130BHP at wheels would be pretty good for 2L

NaFe

 

[Trikky2]

Yes thats at the flywheel - I dont like to think about whats actually at the wheels - too sad :lol:

Heres a picture of an Audi 100 engine - you can see the throttle cable operates a snail shell shaped quadrant.

This means that for a given range of throttle pedal travel it changes the rate of throttle opening progressivly. So for example the first inch of pedal travel only opens the throttle 10% and for the last inch it opens it 50%

These quadrants were/are widely used - not just Audi. You should be able to find several at any breakers yard and adapt it to fit your throttle spindle. You might even be really lucky and find a whole throttle body that fits.

 

[Supertramp]

Wow, stunning bus!
Bromsgrove have done an incredible job on the trim. No wonder they're fully booked.

 

[Haveacamper]

Thanks mate.

i'm chuffed to bits with the interior! its just keeping it clean is the nightmare

 

[user 422]

Bus looks fantastic mate - seriously good!

How did you get on with modifying the pedal/throttle linkage?

 

[Haveacamper]

Hi Matty,

yep i got the throttle all sorted. i got rid of the rigid conduit and bought one of these:
http://www.venhill.co.uk/Hoses_&_Cables_-_Car/CAR_CABLE_KITS/VEN-UKCCBLUE_UNIVERSAL_CAR_THROTTLE_CABLE_KIT.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

i also modified the linkage between the pedal and the lever arm (which is mounted to the chassis) with an adjustable rod and ball/socket joints. i bought these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M5x0-8-RH-LINKAGE-BALL-JOINT-ZINC-PLATED-CLIP-/140838692209?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20caa3e571" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

really smooth and adjustable so I get full travel.

 

[Haveacamper]

Having found out that my bus is the cover feature of Volksworld for Christmas, I decided to thank Betty and gave her a wash, polish, wax and new cover from Hamilton.

Got my Best mates wedding in Liverpool in 3 weeks which the camper will be the wedding vehicle so all exciting times. After the trip to Liverpool Betty will be tucked up for the winter again - apart from those crisp winter days

 

[joaonar]

(...)
so, as for the hookup. i've bought a caravan wall mounted hookup and tucked it up under the bus. this has been mounted straight onto the main chassis rail under the sliding door. i have also bought a quick release BBQ fitting. this means that i will be able to cook outside without having to remove the gas bottle everytime. i got the idea from someone on thelatebay site, but cant remember who so no acknowledgements sorry

at the moment all of this is just fitted and not connected. i have started routing wires like the fridge, the interior lights and propex, but nothing connected though

that's in fact an excellent idea...
I'll be using your thread as reference for what I still have to do in my interior.. which is everything :mrgreen:
Cheers 8)

 

[TSAF]

Your van is one of the best looking vans I have ever seen. I am a big German Look enthusiast myself. I am building an extremely high spec 1303s.

I am thinking of buying / building either a type 2 or a type 3 "PORSCHE VAN". I only have two questions.

1) Why have you used the vw tranny and not a 901 or a 915?
2) Have you changed your steering to rack & pinion ?

 

[Haveacamper]

Thank you for your kinds words.

I have stuck with the original 091 box but I have had a taller 3rd and 4th gear put in.

the reason for not going down the Porsche box route was because, at the time, i thought that it involved alot more work than it actually does. my mistake. i may, in future change to 5 speed.

i still have the original steering. i have been tempted a couple of times to go for the wishbone setup that red9design sell, but i would have clearance issues at the ride height i currently have on the front wheels. The wishbone setup would give me better ride and also a steering rack, but I would have to raise the bus to enable me to have travel.

Nathan

 

[TSAF]

Trust me the steering rack will transform the van. As far as the tranny is concerned. A Porsche tranny will be a lot better and it will make your engine run a lot smoother. Try to contact Lee from LA performance (GL specialist) A nice idea I have seen in another forum (samba I think) would be to use the steering wheel from an early 944 turbo or from a 3.2 Carrera. Its quite big and fits perfectly in a type 2.

 

[Haveacamper]

when funds permit, i will be looking at the front suspension, then the gearbox.

I am aware of Lee's good work. out of interest, would Lee do the whole installation etc?

 

[TSAF]

Sure he would. He also sells a lot of Porsche parts (gearboxes, brakes, wheels, etc). If you will upgrade the gearbox do not forget to fit an LSD as well. As far as the suspension is concerned, I believe that a custom coilover will be more than enough.