68 Western Panel Van - Operation On The Road!

[ib-bus]

I remember seeing this bus on the samba long time ago only to see it again at Midland Earlybay's website , it's nice to see it found a good house , congrats mate and keep the pics coming.

 

[5erge]

Coming along at a nice pace this; only wish I could spend more time on my bus. The engine transformation is something else, I wouldn't have touched that rusty engine with a barge pole.

Good work fella

Des

 

[mike.s]

The engine transformation is something else, I wouldn't have touched that rusty engine with a barge pole.

Yes - very pleased with the engine - just renewed the seals, alot of wire brushing, gunk and some fresh paint but i`ll wait until i start it back up first before i pass full judgement!

 

[Airtime]

Nice project! The engine turned out great already. 8)

 

[mike.s]

had a few days off work between xmas and new year so i`ve been trying to get on with the van!

slow progress though - its funny how jobs you think are quick and easy take forever sometimes!

well i patched the heat exchangers up for the time being - i`ve just glass fibred the outside where they were rusty. they`re original ones so i think its worth it, the exhaust pipes are fine inside, so we`ll see how they go.

i also refurbed and cleaned up the carb which took a bit of soaking - renewed all the seals and blew out all the jets - hopefully ok now!

i started fitting them, but the rain was that heavy that even with a gazebo, i was having to lie in puddles and getting very cold and wet so i decided to tackle the wiring inside - not a job i was looking forward too!

here`s the dash - very dusty and what lies beneath!

what do i do with this!!!??

here`s the dash very dusty off for a repaint in the shed -

someone tried to steal the fusebox - no suprise! couldn`t get it out but managed to snap the mounts on it - fixed that witha bit of gorilla glue

i managed to get most of the wiring sorted behind the dash this afternoon - looking alot tidier now - just have to connect the ignition switch up into the loom now. I also resprayed the dash which looks a lot better and thats in too.

the rain stopped briefly allowing me to fit the heatexchangers and exhaust - top tip - don`t buy the exhaust fitting kit from vw heritage - its absolute pants! i had to chuck away the doughnut clamps and found some old ones in the shed instead.

so.... tomorrow, i have a few jobs to do - throttle cable, connect ignition switch, engine wiring, engine/gearbox oil then who knows what might happen if i get that done!!

 

[froggy]

Not to sure about the steering wheel :?

 

[dubscum]

strong arms to park it

 

[lobus]

Fantastic job you are doing. The transformation of the engine tin is fantastic. The entire bus looks like a "perfect" base for a resto as all you need to do is source all the bits and bolt them all back in place. Piece of cake eh? :lol:

If you compare your dash with mine there is that big box mounted there? What's that then?
Looks like something to do with heating but it's got me stumped.
I've been thinking of putting some signage on mine for a while, to accomplish two results. Firstly to hide some imperfections in the panels and also make it look more real as a commercial bus. I like the remnants of the "Western" whatever sign on yours. Is the business still there? Maybe they have some pictures of the bus from back in the day when it was al **** and span.
It's inspired me to maybe just invent something and paint it on mine.

I think we should start an appeal though to assist you in getting that steering wheel to where it belongs.
On the shed wall as an ornament.
Although you might be able to park with it if you get the tyres up to 200psi!

Thanks for all the updates, I always want to take progress pics of the things I do but get so carried away with the jobs I forget about the pictures.

Ignore the home made too small speaker box on mine

 

[mike.s]

yes - it takes alot lot longer than you think `just` to bolt a van back together from a pretty much bare shell! :mrgreen:

the steering wheel is off and defintely not going back on the van! It says Indy 500 Performance on it which i like and could possibly make the van go faster but at the detriment to steering which i`m not keen on!
ive put a wanted ad up for a steering wheel so will see what comes of that.

lobus - i`m not sure which large box you mean? there are the 2 large ones which have the air flowing through them but you appear to have them aswell partly hidden by the cardboard panels?

the western vw garage does still exist i think - this is the link i found which is where the van is from - las vegas, nevada. no email address though.

http://www.usaauto.org/states/nv/nvview.asp?key=409

 

[lobus]

You got me there, it's a bit of an optical illusion, but I've got the same airboxes in there too. Now I see why I can never find anything in the fridge!!!

Happy new Year too, to everyone on Earlybay.

 

[mike.s]

Its ALIVE ! :mrgreen:

finished building the engine up and all the little jobs today -

then finished wiring the ignition up, connected the battery and got this on the turn off the key -

(yes, i know the speedo is upside down!)

after a bit of faffing not having enough fuel, i fiddled with the carb making it richer and the engine burst into life!!

finally - and i managed it before the end of the year!

i missed a wire of the generator and regulator which caused a few problems - i only ran the engine for a few seconds but the gen light was going on and off and when i shut it down the dynamo was smoking and the battery flat - the red light stayed on on the dash too even after i had cut the ignition. Will have to have a look at that.

Anyway - Happy New Year everyone!!

Mike

 

[Grazy]

Nice swift progress Mike , nice to see this coming alive 8)

 

[dubscum]

when it first starts it the best feeling :mrgreen:

 

[lobus]

Did you import the speedo from Australia? :lol:

 

[Cali_bay]

Great progress. Can't wait to see this one back on the road. 8)

Keep the pictures coming

 

[mike.s]

well, i worked yesterday and today on the van - seem to have done loads but not got very far - one of those weekends!

i decided to carry on getting the engine sorted yesterday and find the problem with the generator. I finally worked out what i`d done wrong! I can take an engine to pieces, renew everything, do loads of other stuff and i only go and get the battery connections the wrong way round!!

It was my own fault - i bought 2 positive terminals as earth ones were out of stock. With them both the same size, its easy to get them the wrong way round. Should never have done that - its just not worth taking risks with the wiring and fires

Anyway, i tested the generator - blown and the regulator i just took it out! Managed to get a 2nd hand generator and regulator and fitted them plus a correct earth terminal. I spent ages fitting the generator - i had it in and out 3 or 4 times before i got the shimming on the fan right so it wasn`t scraping. With a freshly charged battery, i started it up and it wouldn`t idle and the red light didn`t go out. Pretty frustrating day.

Today wasn`t much better initially - i decided to fix the clutch cable as i now had the bracket to connect the conduit tube to the gearbox. After messing about, i realised that i couldn`t pull the lever back far enough to get the cable connected. I put it in gear, pulled the lever as far back as i could and the clutch wasn`t disengaging. Several choice words later, i decided engine had to come out to look at it. Took the engine out - checked the cluch parts were compatible and everything looked ok :roll:

I then connected the clutch cable up as i could pull the lever back far enough now. Deliberated for a bit and put the engine back in - it seems i can disengage the clutch now, but the there isn`t any free play and its adjusted right at its limits. I think the cable that was in the van is too short possibly. Anyway... I now have a clutch - nice!

Connected the engine back up - started it up with my girlfriend kindly operating the key while i was at the back as i also had a snapped throttle cable (just a minor thing!) - my luck must have been in as the red light went out on the dash - must have been a bad earth which i fixed when connecting everything back up

Still wouldn`t idle though for love or money. Going dark now, but i took the carb off, top off, and cleaned all jets out and blew it through with compressed air. Got the engine started, quick adjustment and its idling great

Not too bad an end to the day after all that - i have a running idling engine, working electrics and a clutch so i can actually drive it!

No pics i`m afraid unless anyones interested in pics of clutch pressure plates and release bearings! :mrgreen:

Next things to do are fit new brake cylinders and possible master cylinder, then go through the front and rear suspension, weldings adjusters in ( i just can`t afford dropped spindles at the mo!) then all the littles bits and pieces to sort out!

 

[froggy]

seem to have done loads but not got very far - one of those weekends!

I quite often get these sort of weekends, the other week i sanded down and filled some parts that i wasn't happy with and at the end of the weekend no-one could see what i had acheived :lol:

 

[mattd1984]

Keep up the work Mike, sounds like your doing a great job.

 

[mike.s]

i think we`re the only part of the country that hasn`t had much snow but its still freezing down here!

couldn`t get into work though because of the ice on the hills so had to take it as holiday - thought i`d make the most of it and get some work done on the van

i realised at the weekend that to take the rear hub nut off i`d need a pretty big socket and a breaker bar so ordered them on monday and luckilly for me they turned up at 9.30 this morning!

that scaffold bar is actually longer than it looks in the photo!

they were on bl**dy tight!!

got them off eventually and as usual when i slid the drum off, i was greeted with loads of desert dust/soil/sand whatever -

the van is just caked in it - everything i remove /take off is covered in thick sandy soil!

i had a bit of a disaster though at this point - went in the box to get the rear brake cylinders i`d ordered and they`d only put the front cylinders in! not pleased, but i drove down to poole and picked some rear ones up from good old german swedish

got back in time to finish fitting all new rear cylinders, flexi hoses and everything back together.

next on list is front brakes!

 

[flynster]

looking good there fella and i love your choice of daily too by the way......mk 2`s rock 8)


ste