Little Trains Restoration Thread

[hambone]

That's Colin BTW if you haven't yet had the pleasure. Are you having an IAC visit this summer?

[LittleTrainJames]

I have not had the pleasure and I don't know what an IAC visit is.

Sounds kind of scary. Are those the guys that bailed out Greece. =D>

By the way, this forum rocks, thanks everyone for the answers. My wife last night said "you better thank everyone". She's usually right so... Thanks everyone.

Send those j-tubes back too, stick with the heat exchangers

Why no j-tubes? Can you elaborate? Bumblebus who is an electrical maniac is going to build an electrical heating system, so I will not need the heat. Figured j-tubes made the most sense?

[hambone]

Welcome to Itinerant Air-Cooled's seventh lap of America to help you keep your air-cooled VW in good shape.

THE WHY
There are some good reasons to consider this visit as an investment rather than an "expense". After seven years, I remain convinced that the best mechanic to work on your beloved Volkswagen is you. Your terror and anxiety are channeled effectively towards careful, clean, thorough work, and the flood of relief when you proudly drive down the road as the master caretaker of an appreciating investment is better than any drug high.

Another advantage of the IAC day that you are the cheapest option for any maintenance and repair that may be needed. As you become familiar with your VW, you are much more likely to do the work required in a timely fashion without putting off the little things that can turn into big ($$) things. The Itinerant Air-Cooled day challenges both your mind and your stamina. Be prepared for ten hours straight.


THE WHAT
Parts needed are your sole responsibility. We can guess mightily as to what you may need, and we will, but surprises come up all the time. You may be disappointed that the lack of a part stops us dead in our tracks. I remain in a good humor however, (there are always more projects to dive into) because it is a pleasure to hand off the final reassembly to you. That is our goal, remember?
(DCaldwell54 had to put his entire front suspension back together by himself after we discovered a broken torsion bar on ball joint day. His anxiety was palpable. I only helped by laying out the parts in order of assembly. He completed the job weeks later, he was proud, the car ran well)

THE WHERE
Your work environment needs to be clean and organized. This is your excuse to have a full day off from yard work or shopping or schlepping the kids before our appointment date (heck take two, it's on me). Please have paper towels, suitable solvent/oil drain container, a couple of cans of GumOut carb spray (that's GumOut, not Berrymans or ChemTool or the other formulations that strip paint) still available at WalMart for $2.97 a can or $4.99 at Advance or whatever. Try to rustle up a container of Valvoline DuraBlend semi-synthetic moly grease. It is the best all-purpose grease that can meet any need we have. If you are in a rain-drenched climate, please try to have a serious weather-proof alternative available. Make a beautiful new friendship with a hitherto unknown neighbor, discover your skills with lean-to carpentry and tarp, whatever it takes. This will help us get to work. I do not do front wheel bearings in the rain, and you will be the sole valve adjustment mechanic if it IS SNOWING MITCH.

THE WHEN
We begin at 9:00AM with a good belt of coffee. After greeting the dog and going over the list you have prepared, we tackle the cold-required items like valve adjustments, retorques, and choke checks. If you are a neophyte, we will likely do an entire tune-up together. If you are a repeat old hand IAC Graduate Master Mechanic, we will dive into the project at hand.
Lunch is your responsibility. If you need it, make sure you carve out a moment. Chances are, I will make it a working lunch with more diagrams for your future reference. Although a three course Alaskan King Crab buffet with a chilled Fontana Candida Frescotti is nice, a PBJ is perfect.
Work must wind down by 6:00PM. I have been undisciplined about this in the past, but will try again to make sure that we wrap up no later than 7:00PM with the Final Invoice/Final Exam Combination BrainMelt that leaves all of us punchdrunk fatigued.

THE HOW MUCH
You will have paid your $155.00 deposit if I am standing at your door at 9:00AM. I will not be leaving your door at 7:00PM without a balance of $270.00 either in cash or with a PayPal fired off from your computer. Please don't make us wobble around town looking for an ATM at 9:00PM.

THE HENCEFORTH AND FORTHWITH
I am a consultant. You are paying for my knowledge. If I pick up a tool, it is to hand it to you. I could not and cannot should not and shall not accept liability for any of the work performed on your vehicle nor any incidental consequential coincidental consequent incident outsident accident coincident and subsequent to our visit.

IN CONCLUSION
Please PM me with your questions, list of concerns from most-important to least important, a run down of your skills or lack thereof, and a brief description of our work environment. Let me know what your dreams are for your Volkswagen, and pray for less attrition of these fine vehicles in the coming years.
Colin

[BumbleBus]

whc03grady suggested we hire Colin since he was due for another IAC visit to Missoula this summer. It was tempting since we're only a 120 miles north, but money is uber-tight right now (for me at least) and I think actually having a year of bay ownership under our belts first would better justify a visit summer 2011 hopefully. Would be nice to actually be able to walk the walk more if ya know what I mean. I think Colin would eye up me and Little Train at this point and just groan at how n00b we are... but we're learning fast that's for sure!

[hambone]

That's his primary mission, to edjamakate ya!
FWIW no one knows everything. I've been in the "biz" for 17 (!) years but constantly harass Colin for his knowledge and opinion.

[Amskeptic]

I think Colin would eye up me and Little Train at this point and just groan at how n00b we are... but we're learning fast that's for sure!

Noobs are the plastic that I can mold far more successfully than those pre-hardened "I been working on these things for 30 years and never had a problem running without a thermostat."

It is my pleasure to start with people who do not know the four strokes of the internal combustion engine and whose only tool is a screwdriver in the junk drawer. They are the ones who actually pay attention to valve adjustments and correct timing, and they are definitely better at over-cleaning parts.
Colin

[LittleTrainJames]

So the bus has been through a lot.

Summary: sanded it, resealed all the windows, put in new glass (removing the problem of vent window parts), painted it yellow and white (now the bus is named Sonny), the engine was pulled apart and I got all new parts. New performance cam, new carburetor, new alternator (got rid of the gen/reg), new doghouse cooler, new pistons and cylinders, machined the crankshaft etc.. etc... I pulled it all apart, labeled everything and got it ready and chickened out and had a mechanic friend put it together. A little guilty about that but oh well.



Now I need to wire up all the electrical (nothings working).
Then I need to adjust the carburetor I assume (constantly dying in 1st or 2nd when I am not giving it gas)
Get new CV boots
and get the engine tin finished (lost some parts in the translation)

This is where I need help. What part am I missing? Do these pictures help, are any of you aware of what part I need? Also I noticed that I don't have the silver air hosey things from the fan shroud to the engine tin. Do I need to put those in or not? Sorry, stupid questions I know, but I had a big night last night.





Thanks. What's up Bumblebus!

[RSorak 71Westy]

You need to get all those holes sealed up, as they are allowing LOTS of hot air to be sucked in. The round hoses that are missing supply the air for the heat. I'm missing the stuff for the non round holes in my tin too and there are sheet metal patches riveted in to cover the holes.

[LittleTrainJames]

Definitely going to get it covered up before any real driving. At this point it has gone two blocks tops.

Thanks for the advice. Getting this all sealed up is top of the list for me right now.

[dtrumbo]

Using this diagram (courtesy Bus Boys, Inc.) for reference. I believe you need the part labeled 'O'.

Hunt around your parts pile for it or you can get a good used one from either Bus Boys, Ken Madson at The Bus Company (http://www.thebusco.com) or any other VW-centric wrecking yard.

[BumbleBus]

I think the 70 twins have some extra tin. Let's check this weekend. I still think that's the "breast plate" link I sent you the other day.

[LittleTrainJames]

I've been working on the wiring. Yeahh Fun. I got the generator light to go on (going off is another story : ) ), I got the oil light on and I have the headlights working. I also went through and pulled some old PO stereo system wires. The trick is that none of the wires are color coded as to the schematics, that's fine I can trace and find what they are supposed to be, but it adds time. Also the fuse box was upside down to the schematic, but all the fuses are correct and the wires are going where they need to. I have a whole bunch of dilemmas but overall it is a fun job. I am just trying to get basics down, thus this post. My instrument panel looks like this:



This isn't mine but it is the same. My diagram doesn't really have the same connections as this panel. What I am wondering is:

What are the two headlighty indicators for, they both look like "headlight's are on" warnings, and what is the red B, is that the brake light for the parking brake? I also have a red light on the dash next to the "Emergency Light" switch (looks like a old school siren light but way smaller), what is that? Let me organize this.

1. Fuel Gauge (got it)
2. Left Turn Signal (got it)
3. Generator light (got it)
4. Headlight something (don't got it, meaning not sure what it is for)
5. Headlight something (don't got it)
6. Oil light (got it)
7. Right Turn Signal (got it)
8. "B" light (don't got it)
9. Siren light next to emergency light (don't got it)

Confidently knowing that these are in fact what I think they are will help me to deal with the wiring tremendously.

Thanks so much.

Little Train

[BumbleBus]

What are the two headlighty indicators for, they both look like "headlight's are on" warnings, and what is the red B, is that the brake light for the parking brake?

I can help with a couple of these anyway... the left headlight indicator is the blue high beam light. The one to the right of it is a "green" parking lights only light. Probably activated by one pull on the knob. Mine does nothing... you've piqued my curiosity so I'm going to peek at that one tonight and see if I can get it going. Not sure how I over looked that one. Maybe it's not active in a '72. I leave my lights on ALL the time though. Heh, heh. 'Course 2 times outta 3 I also drive away with my hand brake still engaged. I need to put together pre-flight and post-flight check lists. Ha.

The "b" red light goes off if your braking system goes wonky. Pretty sure it activates when 1 of the master cylinder sides goes bad. You can still make it home being careful.

Any of this could be incorrect information.

[dtrumbo]

Bumble's explanation is correct. Here are some further tidbits. The turn indicators both flash simultaneously regardless of which way you are turning. The parking light indicator does (or should) come on when the parking lights, but not the headlights, are on. As Bumble said, one pull of the switch. Also as Bumble said, the red brake light illuminates when only one half of your dual master cylinder is working. You can test the bulb by pushing the red button. While holding it down the light should come on and go off if you put your foot on the brake pedal. It does NOT indicate if you have your parking brake engaged as later buses did.

The "siren light next to the emergency light". Do you mean next to the emergency flasher switch? Is it just a light or is it a lighted switch? That one's not familiar to me. A picture would be worth at least a dozen words.

[LittleTrainJames]

I'll post some pictures. Thanks all!