Bumblebus Restoration Thread - '72 L11H Campmobile.

[grandfatherjim]

Beauty!
Word is, only certain stereos will fit the slightly-smaller-than-modern-size opening.
I found an old Sanyo cassette deck on eBay that fit (it was advertised as such), thinking, it will not be attractive to thieves. I just use it to tune in either an iPod transmitter or satellite radio, either of which can be stashed in a more discrete location as needed.
Anyway, be sure to check the opening size in your dash.
Jim

[Oregon72]

Great work - I'm impressed.

[hambone]

Wow! It looked like hell before. Nice work.

[chitwnvw]

Wow! It looked like hell before.

You don't mince words, do you?

[hambone]

??? It did. Contrast provides new insight gentle nitwit.

[BumbleBus]

Not sure why, but as a total ACVW n00b and learning as I go I find immense satisfaction in the tiny little things like a shiny "new" clutch pedal with a fresh coat of gloss black and new rubber.



And I can't even tell you how excited I was to see reverse brake lights because I diagnosed that from A-Z until I found the problem. Bulbs - check. Wired correctly - check. Grounds/spades cleaned - check. Fuse off the coil - check. Connect wires directly bypassing switch - AHA! Order new switch - check. Install switch - EUREKA!

[chitwnvw]

Why block out your plate number? Anyone on the street can see it.

[BumbleBus]

Why block out your plate number? Anyone on the street can see it.

Haha.. I know.. I did that as a joke more than anything since I always see that in photos of cars on the internet.. like they're stolen or something.

[BumbleBus]

Got a bunch of goodies. Timing light (which I can't get to work no matter what I try so far.. might be a dud). Multimeter with RPM and Dwell. Compression checker. 17mm socket/breaker bar GL4 goo hand pump etc. Since I know the tranny was rebuilt in '02 and has roughly 900 miles on it since then according to PO and since when I let the clutch out in neutral after startup the bus lurches forward an inch or two (only "cold"), but no gears grind ever I figure it wouldn't hurt to get some new hypoid in there. Should be a fun project and further my learning at any rate.

I ran her around the block to warm her up and checked the dwell and it was 47. Nice. I set RPM to 4cyl and it was reading like 240-250 x 10 = not possible. When I set it to 8 cyl I get what I think is normal ~120 x 10.. I know she's idling fast, but it ain't >2k that I know... sounds like ~1,200... gotta do a full tuneup then adjust (or destroy and replace hehe) my Weber Prog. She runs well enough with enough power that I know someone, at some point cared for her and kept her tuned. My untrained ear thinks there is a lot of valve clatter so I can't wait to check my clearances, but I may just not be used to how these 4 bangers sound yet.

Anyhoo... poking around under the engine I note the thermostat looks fully expanded and just generally worse for the wear... I should replace it right? I read they should look fully compressed. That's "important" right? (sorry for blurriness)



I also noted this round doohickey behind the thermostat/cyl1 etc. and there are 3 hoses... none are attached. Haha. Gotta learn what that is and why it's like that. Always learning!!

[whc03grady]

Anyhoo... poking around under the engine I note the thermostat looks fully expanded and just generally worse for the wear... I should replace it right? I read they should look fully compressed. That's "important" right? (sorry for blurriness)

New ones are NLA, so good luck. There are a couple different options as far as adapting Type I thermostats and there's some funky new one available that we don't like because it doesn't fail safe (it fails unsafe).

I also noted this round doohickey behind the thermostat/cyl1 etc. and there are 3 hoses... none are attached. Haha. Gotta learn what that is and why it's like that. Always learning!!

That's the fuel pump. None of the hoses are attached because somebody replaced it with an electric one at some point.

Everything's so oily! Don't let Colin see it like that...(ask me how I know).

[BumbleBus]

That's the fuel pump. None of the hoses are attached because somebody replaced it with an electric one at some point.

Ahh yes... one of the first things I replaced was the electric fuel pump since it was so loud I thought it was broken... like a jack hammer... even with rubber grommets behind the bolts. I've since learned it's just cavitating and banging. I need to move it below fuel tank level at some point again, but at least I have two working ones now. Funny because I cut out the piece below left side of the photo last fall that also wasn't attached to anything and thought that was the OG fuel pump and filter... probably have had many different ones over the years. Who knows... I sure don't.

Everything's so oily! Don't let Colin see it like that...(ask me how I know).

If it makes you feel any better just today I was talking to the local NAPA guys about the best way to clean all that gunk up. Thick it is. I'm noticing some leaky pushrod tubes that, while shiny and new looking, have little white stickers on them that say "Made in Taiwan". *sigh* Amazingly this engine only makes it's mark with 1 drop every few days. I'd call that pretty good based on what I've read.

Had some bucking tonight while driving.. a new development. Fun. Really need to get this sucker looked at by a pro at some point soon. There is a lot of air moving around the intake manifold gaskets and carb so I'm pretty sure that's what's causing my super fast idle and inconsistent acceleration. It's just sofa king fun to drive I can't help myself.

[BumbleBus]

BumbleBus, did you ever send me the production date code for your bus? It would be a total kick in the head if yours ALSO starts with a 31

Production date: July 30th 1971 per alltheprettybusses decoder. And.. yup... 31 5. They should meet sometime since they're siblings. Haha.

[BumbleBus]

That's pretty awesome Jim!

So.. this weekend is supposed to be real nice so I want to get a lot done. Working on the luggage rack.. why not.. nice to see what Sierra Yellow can really look like... zapped the rusty spots as well...



Made some replacement rubber mounts for the rear (1 3/8" outside and 1 1/4" center so I read.. we'll see) so it doesn't rest on the tin anymore...



Also determined to start tuning the type 4 and was doing a little carb investigation so I could read up on the right documentation and 'lo and behold I see "Solex" on the.. uhm.. round thing (auto choke?).. here I thought I had a Weber this whole time and kept reading about how awful and finicky they are... the intake runners with the orange/red grommets I've seen in countless photos had me assuming I guess...



Cleaned the other side a bit under the ARR (I think it's the ARR) and.. yup.. a Solex C34 progressive on there.. dunno if that's good or bad, but at least it's not a Weber... haha..



Looking behind it I realize there's another hose in bad need of replacement. Thankfully I've got some of german stuff laying around somewhere from an order last fall.



PS - Samba is revealing that this seems to be the same carb as in the "progressives for type 4s don't suck" thread.. haha.. looks like I've got some reading ahead of me this weekend.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=217070

[BumbleBus]

Finished the luggage rack cleanup today. Was thinking of doing a nice white paint job over the fibery stuff, but opted instead to clear coat it and keep the "character" of it. Lots of cleaning/sanding etc. to smooth it out, but it turned out swell I thought with the new rubber bumpers and some new screws etc. Buffed/painted/waxed the top surface of the actual tintop so water just slides off all beady-like. Should be fine in the harshest of Montana weather now. We'll see.



Also did a lot of cleaning and sanded/primed and painted with some Sierra Yellow rattle cans I got from Carquest and it's made me want to keep patching/buffing 'til it's all shiny-like. It's true what they say about a fresh coat of paint.

Read up on and found the Solex C34 fast idle adjust and got'r all warmed up and backed out the screw until she went from 2k down to about 850 and was purring even though I know it's not a good fix since I need to find/fix all the vacuum leaks and tune her proper before really setting a good warm idle. I just wanted to hear what she sounded like all calm and smooth.. even if just for a bit. Was like butter on pancakes that sound.

[BumbleBus]

Interesting day of learning. I knew from PO notes that the Bumblebus had sat for quite a few years with a stripped/cross threaded plug. What I found out tonight was that it was the #4 cylinder and the "fix" was some sort of dual threading.

I was doing a compression check (my first.. cold for now..) and #1: 100 (plug a little grimy and smelled like gas a bit), #2: 115, #3: #115 and then I hit #4... clearly a different animal than the rest...



Dark plugs, which I'm learning might be too "rich"? Expert opinions welcome here. These plugs probably date back to at least 2002.

Couldn't thread in my compression checker on #4 obviously so no idea how that one sits and couldn't throw in a new plug so did my best to clean up the existing dual threaded one.. re-gapped it to around 24 at per the other new ones from it's overly expanded 34 and just put it back in. *shrug* Had a whole new plug wire set from Bus Depot, but was shipped the wrong one... "411"/FI or whatever, but clearly didn't fit my plugs so I cleaned and electrical taped my existing plug wires and put everything back in and she's running again with 3 new plugs at least.

I need to do the valves and then re-do the compression clearly, but overall I'm satisfied with the results even though I know #4 is going to be the one that "just isn't the same" (and possibly #1 is gimpy).

Frustrating overall, but very educational. Drove her to town for a brew and let her sit there in the sunset soaking in the admirers and skeptics alike. She likes the attention I've no doubt.