March82012
Woohoo! It runs! I didn’t break it!

Woohoo! It runs! I didn’t break it!

VW Volkswagen bus engine 

March72012
Finally starting to look more like an engine! Got the tin back on, heater tubes reconnected, apron back on, battery reinstalled (now that it’s fully charged again). Just waiting for the air cleaner to dry out and I need a little piece before installing the oil breather. Maybe I’ll get to test start it tomorrow?

Finally starting to look more like an engine! Got the tin back on, heater tubes reconnected, apron back on, battery reinstalled (now that it’s fully charged again).

Just waiting for the air cleaner to dry out and I need a little piece before installing the oil breather. Maybe I’ll get to test start it tomorrow?

vw volkswagen bus engine 

March42012

Another day of wrenching…

Wherein one thing leads to another. Got the pulley taken care of and the belt adjusted. Then I decided to check the roof lights…no light. It turns out the battery’s dead! Crap…figured it was my reattaching the roof lights…but a good hour of futzing with the volt meter showed it’s my amp that’s causing the power draw. Battery’s on the charger, so hopefully all will be well after that.

My friend Kenny got me hooked up with a new air cleaner (bye bye oil bath) and I had the time to create the custom Shasta Mountain Rush coil cover I’ve been wanting to make.

So now I wait for the battery to be charged and have the rotors arrived from SoCal. With luck, the bus will be back on the road in time for me to start my new job on the 12th!

vw volkswagen bus repairs engine 

January242012
Buster.

Buster.

vw volkswagen bus engine rust patina bassethound 

March292011

Frak…

I was five minutes into my morning commute today (blessedly not on the freeway yet) and my oil pressure light flickers on!

I pull into the parking lot of a computer company, shut down the engine, and get out to check the oil.

Low.

Really low.

Frak!

Out comes the 20W-50 and a rag. Polish off the remnants of one bottle and a good chunk of another bottle. It’s at least enough to get me to the train station where I can park, let it cool down all day, and then check it again this evening.

But my engine’s become an oil eater and that’s not cool. I’ve been saying for a while it’s been time to freshen it up, but this might definitely be the cloister bell that rings it in!

As if my friend radioing me on the Shasta Trip to say that I was blowing a little smoke on the downhills (compression braking) wasn’t alert enough!

Light/transparent blue smoke while you are accelerating = oil is being burned, can be caused by a lot of things. Thick heavy blue smoke while you are accelerating = oil is rapidly entering the combustion chamber and being burned, usually caused by a bad head gasket or blown piston rings. Again, pull the plugs and do a compression test, may be hard to diagnose without an expert opinion on your particular engine. Light gray smoke while decelerating = usually caused by bad valve seals or worn out valve guides, fairly easy to fix but requires a lot of work and time.

So I am going to have to suss out which it is and repair accordingly. And if the engine’s coming out, it might just be time to do the clutch and install the new carbs.

Until then, I need to watch my oil consumption like a hawk…if a hawk ever owned an old VW.

vw volkswagen bus oil engine frak 

February212011
This is called putting a plan into motion…and being easily influenced by my friends. I’ve decided I’m definitely heading into twin carb realm without going overboard on my engine. I’ve bought a set of 32mm Type 3 carbs off The Samba for $75 that I’m going to install on my engine. Why these? Well, 32mm is a mild step up without going for full-on Webers or Kadrons and these still have a choke element so I don’t have to sit there for five minutes with my foot on the accelerator every morning warming them up. And then another friend showed me this guy’s motor (see above) and I just about wet myself! That’s sexy as! Stock air cleaners on the exact same carbs I’ll be running. Not only that, but the hard metal lines piped from the fuel pump cleanly around the shroud and to the carbs?! It’s genius and tooootallly what I want to do! So I found so air cleaners just like these on The Samba as well and snapped them up. I just need the linkage now and have everything arrive!

This is called putting a plan into motion…and being easily influenced by my friends.

I’ve decided I’m definitely heading into twin carb realm without going overboard on my engine. I’ve bought a set of 32mm Type 3 carbs off The Samba for $75 that I’m going to install on my engine. Why these? Well, 32mm is a mild step up without going for full-on Webers or Kadrons and these still have a choke element so I don’t have to sit there for five minutes with my foot on the accelerator every morning warming them up.

And then another friend showed me this guy’s motor (see above) and I just about wet myself! That’s sexy as! Stock air cleaners on the exact same carbs I’ll be running. Not only that, but the hard metal lines piped from the fuel pump cleanly around the shroud and to the carbs?! It’s genius and tooootallly what I want to do!

So I found so air cleaners just like these on The Samba as well and snapped them up. I just need the linkage now and have everything arrive!

vw volkswagen bus engine motor modification carburetor type 3 

February62011
This is what 40 miles of dirt road does to your engine compartment! It needs a washing sooo badly!

This is what 40 miles of dirt road does to your engine compartment! It needs a washing sooo badly!

vw volkswagen bus engine dirt 

April232010
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

A Bullshit Session and The Blues

From that campout last month comes a nice little ramble from four or five guys sitting around a campsite, trying to get a fire going, tearing apart an engine and just talkin’.

Yeah, it doesn’t have a beat, but if you’re out in the garage, hit play and just enjoy.

(13 plays)

vw volkswagen bus camping engine ramble bullshit talking 

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