My 70 Bus!! Wes

[justcruzin]

That is not a nice bus. It is an exceptionaly nice bus. Great find and resurrection. I am not sure if you are aware so... The original paint is excellent. I sure hope that you don`t want to re paint Wes.He looks great and it is more valueble as original paint. As for the forklift. :x There are just too many wankers picking up good busses with forklifts. It is not a good thing. My new single cab came from a Las Vegas repair shop/ yard and the guy that runs that place picked this bus up too many times and it is hammered underneath. When I was there I saw him pick up a customers bus with that same forklift. I think maybe he just had it in for Bay Busses. Sorry I didn`t mean to hi Jack. It is a beauty.

No, I don't plan on repainting. The only thing I plan on doing where possible, is popping out a dent or 2. What dents don't pop out, will stay. I like Wes just the way he is as far as paint. Well, except for his nose. I don't want to paint that either, gives him character! I am going to do a lot of TR3 buffing though, that stuff works so good.

A friend said I should paint his nose black, to cover up some of the rock chips, and said it would make him look like he had one of those bra things. I really don't think I want to do that. I may get him a bra ( don't tell him that though, may give him a complex, lol), but it has to be one with character too, ot just a black one.

As far as fork lifts, I hear ya. I was not thrilled when the guy used that big old thing. I was cringing the whole time. We actually do have a fork lift here at home, but if we want to lift a car, we use blocks in the appropriate places to avoid damaging the under carriage. I have to say, I really like how that pic came out with him on that fork lift. LOL It's even my desktop right now.

 

[Barkafer]

Another one saved from the scrapper!
A truly superb find and an awesome resto! 8) I would take my hat off to you, if I were wearing one :lol:
Keep those updates coming and great work!

 

[justcruzin]

Well, today we went to the wrecking yard that we saved Wes from, so we could get some parts off of his less fortunate brother! LOL We got the back up light wiring loom, rear deck lid, tar board for above motor, and some misc. stuff we didn't really need, but might as well get them. LOL

I figured I would come home, install the wiring loom, tar board, and change the fuel line. Then I would be ready for the motor. Hubby (Bob) suggested that I take the screen out of the tank and check it for gunk. Well, it didn't come out. It fell apart trying. So he said since I was this close, I might as well take the tank out and clean it up. So that is what I did!

Tomorrow I will pressure wash the tank out real good. It's really not to bad. Hopefully I will be able to get that done, put it back in, and hopefully, just hopefully, get the motor in!! Will be nice to be able to start it up!! Although, I need to work on the brakes before I can move it. The pedal won't even budge. :shock:

I also replaced the old yucky engine seal with a nice new one! It was easier to do then I though it would be.

Old one,

Nice soft new one!

On another note,
I was messing with my fridge a bit today. I had to put the door back on because it had fallen off during cleaning. I put it on and was trying to figure out how the tray's went in. This is the only way I could figure they went. Just doesn't make since though. I was under the impression that a block of ice sits in the try that has the hole in it. If that was the case, it couldn't be a very big block of ice because you wouldn't be able to put much on the rack above it. Or do I have my fridge set up wrong? Also, it appears I am missing the bar for the door. What else am I missing?

More tomorrow, I hope!

 

[justcruzin]

I finally got the tank back in, twice! LOL I installed it, then realized I forgot the sending unit wire, so I took it back out and fixed that, then put it back in! LOL I'm good at installing gas tanks now. I am pretty sure I am ready to reinstall the motor. I may attempt to do that later today, just to see if I can do it by myself. If not, I will obviously have to wait for hubby to help me.

Today I decided to tackle the job of painting my donor deck lid and apron. They came off a red bus, and I think they would look better in white. Even if the white is brighter then the bus's white. LOL

This is just the primered stage. I am currently doing the actual painting stage .

Time to go do a second coat!

 

[justcruzin]

Ok, I am a bit excited about this update! Today I installed the motor all by myself!!!!

Although I do have to back up a bit. After I installed the gas tank and put the wall back on, I was left with these parts left over!

I am pretty sure they came from the wall, but I don't really know where. What I think is I put it in the wrong grove and I must be covering up 2 of the screw holes because of that. In the next pic you can see how it looks like the whole top piece was behind something solid in stead of the notched pieces I have it behind. I'm nto going to worry about it. I will save the screws for the next time, if ever, I need to get to the tank.

I also did some more painting on my deck lid and apron. I moved them over by the bus to see the difference. It is quite a big one! LOL I may see if I can find some rustoleum that is a bit less bright white! LOL

Tomorrow is another day!

 

[Tintop]

Fantastic, keep up the good work and keep the pictures coming.

I definitely live in the wrong country, any van i can find in the UK is rotten.

 

[justcruzin]

Fantastic, keep up the good work and keep the pictures coming.

I definitely live in the wrong country, any van i can find in the UK is rotten.

Thanks.

I really lucked out on this one!! Hardly any rust at all!!

Today I only got a few things done to the bus. Spent half the day working on the curtains and they are still not done! Tomorrow is Hippie Christmas, meaning I get to unwrap the tie dyed curtains to see what they will look like!!

The dog helped.

After the tie dyeing was done, I went to work on the bus again. I figured out part of the problem with the pedals. They didn't have much room to move! :shock:

Sad to say, I figured out that the bus was not invaded by pack rats. Found no treasures in that mess. LOL

I soaked all the moving parts under the bus with WD and left it at that. Tomorrow I will see if the pedals will free up a bit. I already tried the gas pedal and it started moving, but the brake is still stuck solid.

I then turned my attention to the interior again. Finally went and got some trim to finish the floor. Also found a shag rug at Kmart!

I got my first stickers installed today too!

On a side note, I got my bus rug that I found on ebay and got that hung too!

I'll probably have a curtain update tomorrow.

 

[ib-bus]

Love the stickers :mrgreen:
You sure keep busy working on that bus , you'll be done in no time.

 

[Morville78]

Great looking solid bus.

 

[Gert Big T]

Fair play to you, I wish I had the motivation you have. That's one lucky bus. I've thouroughly enjoyed watching your thread and I'm hoping the enthuisasm wears off on me - you never know.

 

[justcruzin]

Today was Hippie Christmas!! I still haven't figured out what ones will become curtains or which ones will even work as curtains, but they are all tie dyed. The larger ones are flour sack towels. The smaller ones are cotton dinner napkins. I couldn't find the ones like I used for the 'false curtains". I searched high and low for that type of napkin, but they must not sell them like that anymore. They work for bus curtains because they are just the right size and also have big hems that can be cut open on the corners so one can run them down a rod. Oh well, I will figure out something for the ones I have now.

Here are some of them!

I know the flour sack towels will be perfect for windshield curtains. The smaller ones I may have to go buy some sort of curtain rings, so that they will hang down enough to cover the windows. I won't be able to open the hems on them.

 

[justcruzin]

Today I did a lot of skipping around. Worked on a little of this, and a little of that.

I started off working on cleaning up the rusty holes in preparation for the fiberglass. Much to my surprise hubby decided to help me on this. He changed his mind on the fiberglass, in a way. He decided to go with Marglass.

Here are the holes,

Marglassed,

Once that was all dry I painted the floor white.

While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I tackled the rear panel. Went from this.

To this,

All thats left to do for paneling is the side door and the headliner. I need to find the material for the headliner but I have just enough paneling left for the door. I may tackle that tomorrow. My last day of vacation.

I also ordered a Master cylinder today. So soon the brakes will be getting looked at.

 

[justcruzin]

Today I went on search for curtain hangers. Didn't find what I wanted, but found some that I could make work. I took big ring off the holder. I tried leaving it on, but the curtains hung to low.

I still need to figure out what kind of cord was used for the bottom of the curtains, and once I do that I will just reverse the holders and run them along that cord.

I also got my battery, apron, decklid, and new rubbers for the tail lights installed today. The paint color is a bit off, but I like it better then the red it was!

I started painting the bumper black on the inside. Also painted the to tin pieces that go on each corner. I need to find the rubber that goes on the corner metal, then I can re install the bumper. Leaving the outside of the bumper the way it is. One day I will find a straight one to replace it.

After hooking up the battery, I tried to start it, but I was not getting a good connection. I need to replace the battery cable ends. So needless to say, still didn't get to try to start the motor.

I did start to mess around with the lights though. I am now getting headlights, both high and low. Tail lights, although I had to go play with the drivers side connections to get it to work. I will clean all of the connections before I take it for an inspection. Also, have parking lights and hazzards. Still no blinkers. Need to get those figured out.

I found one wire under the dash that I couldn't figure out where it went.

That red wire is in a sheath with a black wire, in the next photo you can see the black wire going up into the dash area with a brown wire next to it. The brown wire is coming from somewhere else though, not in the sheath with the black and red one. I am going to go look at the wiring diagrams, but I highly doubt I will figure it out. LOL It's like a spagetti mess under the dash, doesn't look nothing like a wiring diagram all nice and flat and laid out. :lol:

I had to stop writing and help push the bus. It has officially made it in the garage! Although still not on the lift. At least I can keep going when it is raining outside!

You can sure see the difference in the colors in that last photo. :shock:

 

[justcruzin]

So I just went out to check on the lever buttons and also to check to see how bad it was going to be to pull the throttle cable. The cable is not stuck in the tube like I thought it was, so it shouldn't be to bad to do!

The reason I am writing now is because I think Wes must have liked getting pushed into the garage. LOL I saw a wire connection (with no cover) laying against the headlight bucket. I don't know what it does, but figured maybe that is why my turnsignals aren't working. So I moved it and proceded to test the turn signal. I pushed the lever to turn left and could hear it making noise, but didn't see any lights blinking. So I pushed the lever to go right. The right turn signals, both back and front are working now. Then I tried left again, and they worked too. Only thing is, I get both indicaters flashing at the same time, like the hazards are on. I did notice after a second time of trying the left signals, that the back light would quit working. When it did that, the indicators quit working too. The front light kept blinking though.

I think I may luck out and just have to clean all wire connections on the light housings.

 

[justcruzin]

Sorry, this is kind of a boring update, no pics.


Today was an interesting day. LOL I decided to play with the electrical. I cleaned all connections on the tail lights and reverse lights. I now have turn signals every time I turn them on!! Then I decided to tackle the dash lights. Climbed on the passenger side, and managed to get laid down with my head on the gas pedal. LOL I found where that small wire connects. I need a new brake warning light. The male part broke off and that is why my wire is hanging there. didn't see much else so I decided to go lay on the other side. After playing a human pretzel I was down on the floor. I found a big red wire that was not connected. It appeared to go to the headlight switch. I could even feel an empty male connector. I tried and tried to hook it back up while laying there but it just wasn't going to happen.

I then switched my attention to the heater/air levers. I went and got some small sockets in hopes of using them to pinch the one end so it would close enough to pop out of the hole. Nope, not going to happen. I didn't want to break them so I quit that.

As I sat in the bus contemplating how I was going to get the wire hooked back up, it dawned on me. :idea: Just remove the headlight switch. DUH! Blonde moment. LOL So that is what I did. I then hooked the wire up to the prong that looked like it was being used. I tried my lights, still had everything except dash lights. I started messing with the dimmer part and walla, I had dash lights. I had turned it before, but never jiggled it and all. I cleaned the connection for the dash lights, but I still have to jiggle it. I concluded my switch is going bad. Hubby say's he thinks we will be fine using it for the inspection, so I told him he could take it there. LOL I haven't reinstalled it in the dash yet, just in case we find one before we have the inspection.

Well, after figuring out the dash light problem, I decided to make sure I still had turn signals. I had nothing, not even gen or oil lights. I figured out that the red wire that had fallen off, did not go on the prong that i had put it on. I moved it to the other empty prong and everything was back to normal. I have know idea what the other prong is for, but the way it is hooked up now seems to be right

I also finished some cabinet installation. If you remember way back a few pages ago, I had made my own headliner for the rear and it was a tad short. Today I fixed that by adding an extra piece of paneling. It now looks complete from the front. Spent have the night searching for the screws to finish installing the shelf, and finally found them down the side of the seat. Same place I found the postcards that the PO lost! LOL Needless to say that is one more thing done.

I think I am getting there. A few things that need to be done on the inside is, finish installing the sink/ice box. Need plumbing parts to do that. Need to make a headliner for the cab. Need to buy a new pop up tent.

The only thing left to do on the outside is fasten the temporary marker lights to the bus. My originals were to far gone. I plan on finding some original style later down the road, but these will do the trick for the inspection. Need to change the cable ends. Once that is done and I have a better connection we can refocus on the motor not starting.

I also have the brakes to deal with. I bought a new master cyinder so that part is good to go. Just need to get on the lift to do everything. If I have to I may try to change it laying on the ground. At least I am in the garage so I stay dry.

Once the motor is running and the brakes are fixed, I think I will be ready to go for the inspection!! Then it will be all about driving it for a while. I can't wait. Hopefully I don't have to many leaks, or I will only be able to drive it on fair weather days. LOL

 

[justcruzin]

It's ALIVE!!!!

I got some new (used) battery cable ends and cleaned the wires and installed them. Now I have a good connection at the battery. I went to start the bus and nothing. So I jacked it up, put it on jack stands and crawled under it. Only thing I did was push on the cables I could reach. Crawled back out from underneath and went to try to start it. It turned over now. When I get it on the lift, I will take all the wires off the starter and clean them up.

I tried for about 10 minutes to start it on my own. With no throttle it made it hard. I would go back and and dump a little gas in the carb, give it a pump or two, then go back up front and turn the key. Most I got was a couple little sputters. When hubby got home he did some work on the points and it finally fired up. Yay!!!

Tomorrow I am going to look to see how hard it will be to change the throttle cable. Then I should be able to start it on my own! LOL

It's getting closer!!!

 

[Elginbuslover]

I'm actually getting excited for you!
I'm loving you're updates, keep 'em coming!

 

[Airtime]

Great result so far! 8)

 

[Gadget Boy]

Hey Kim

Great work on fixing up Wes, unfortunatly when you get a ''New '' bus it seems that all the PO's have messed with teh wiring and its a nightmare to fix it all . keep the pictures coming though

Gadget

 

[justcruzin]

I am actually pretty lucky on the wiring part. It is mainly just old dirty connections. Every once in a while I'll run into a loose wire or broken connection. Looks like the only wiring the PO did was maybe an 8 track player installation at one time. The player is gone but the wiring is still there. I can tell it is probably an 8 track because I have one in my Pinto that has the same end on it!

I got my stuff I ordered from ib-bus today (thanks ), so I was able to install the bumper. I would have been able to do the license plate light, but the bulb was burnt out so I figured I might as well wait till I get a new one!

I also bought some new rubbers for the turn signals up front! Got those all installed!

I also had a little fun! Found some stickers at Walmart today!

I also found out that reverse and first gears work! I am happy to say that I turned the key and Wes fired right up!! No hesitations or anything. He starts faster then my other 2 VW's!! Because my throttle cable is bad, rusty and all, it doesn't allow the carb to idle. So right now I have cruise control and because my brakes are either half way rusted to the drums or something like that, I have automatic brakes too! LOL I lucked out and Wes will be going on the lift tonight!!! Hubby's paying job is finally able to come off the lift. I plan on pulling the wheels and drums tonight so I will be able to know what I need to buy tomorrow. So hopefully after tomorrow I will have a running and stopping bus!! If all goes well I will have hubby tow it to the brake and light place on Monday. ( Either that or I have to go to DMV for a moving permit) Then Tuesday or Weds. I will go to DMV to get him registered. Not getting my hopes up though, I know how things can go sometimes. LOL It is getting closer though.