Aircooled VW South Africa

sean wrote:

billy-joe wrote:good recovery! I hope you're going to leave that Patina? there is something about an old car that looks old. not taking away from the guys that restore their cars but an original condition car is something special. make it safe to drive and maybe clear coat it to conserve the body condition. looks nice and solid!

well done again.

ps, what swb landy was that? another of my passions!

Nooit, its going to be dropped, mag wheels fitted and sprayed metallic green.

Ok, on a serious note, I am going to do nothing of the sought.

It will definitely be preserved in its original state. All the rot from underneath will be removed and mechanically restored. I love the Patina, this must stay, but it must be suitable for road use.

As my goal is to also get this bus up to George next year (2015), I have to get things going here too.

Firstly was to check out the gearbox. The reduction gears were missing, but the side shafts remained. It was quite amazing to see inside this box, it was absolutely perfect. No signs of wear at all. I had to replace the carrier bearings as they had been exposed to the elements due to the reduction boxes being missing, but otherwise everything else was perfect.

As the casing was stripped, the opportunity was taken to thoroughly clean it as can be seen below. Years of old oil and dust makes this seriously crusty layer that needs to be chipped off.





Then the motor. Also, look at the pictures to see how hideous it is.









The motor also got a full cleaning and it too seems to be in perfect condition. I removed the cylinder heads as this motor was partially stripped and feared there could be all kinds of dust and rust inside, but it wasn't the case. it looked as if the motor had run the other day, it was completely clean besides the usual carbon build-up. I am in the process of piecing it all back together and will be able to start up soon.

Oh, can anyone tell me more on this engine? Look at its distributor, it has no vacuum advance and the carb doesn't have the port either. What variety is this?

This engine however appears to be foreign, that valance with the crank handle flap is incorrect and every bit of research I have done points to this model year having a 1200 with the tunnel transmission and not the split casing and 1100 motor.

Hi Sean
The 40 horse was introduced in 61 with the so called Bastard motor just prior to that as this engine was so bad it lasted only for a few months. could be that it was replaced with a 36 horse.
for the record the mechanical advance and port less carb was std on those early busses and correct for 1960 if I remember correctly. Was also the source of the early Bosch screamer kit which featured the 019 dizzy and a blue coil (this was before the 009 became the dizzy to have.)

Maybe the engine can still be original to the car as VW didn't always follow german practice ito model changes as I know that 1960 beetles still had 36 hp engines.
Armand

Hi Sean,

I'm still interested in that engine, if you decide to replace it...

Kind regards,

Nic

Pic after the high pressure jet cleanup. Before pictures above…

Well, a fair bit has happened recently on this bus. The gearbox was re-assembled and the motor after being cleaned up I re-assembled too with all the ancillary components. I had to strip and clean the distributor as this was left open without the cap and got full of dirt. Everything else I left as is.
Then I bench tested it and it fired up straight away. It sounded amazing. This motor hadn't run in a near 30 years. This was also with the plugs, points, condenser and the carb unopened it was abandoned with all these years ago.
I had also sent in the brake components for overhaul which included all the cylinders, drums, flexible hoses and steel pipes which were made up. This was then packed away for storage.

Then I got some stupid idea in my head 2 days before Bug Jam that I wanted to take this bus there. Currently it had no front suspension or gearbox in place and was standing on wooden blocks. I had a lot of work to do. Luckily the gearbox, engine and brake components were at least ready. I had to rebuild the gear linkages, couplings and bushes first, then I installed the gearbox. New shocks had to be sourced and installed. Front suspension had to be rebuild, new bearings, brake components etc installed. I had to source rims and new tyres. Clutch and accelerator cables had to be made up, at the same time the steel tubes/sleeves on the bus were completely rusted and I couldn't get the cables through, these too had to be replaced. All the original windows were missing, luckily I managed to find some old windows and rubber seals from friends to install, very stoked as I didn't want to fit anything new to spoil the rat look.

On the morning of the show I installed the motor, fired it up and drove it to the show. It wasn't the most comfortable ride or the fastest, but it made it. It leaked oil quite badly and certainly didn’t have all the guts there and it needed a couple of tweaks along the way, but pretty stoked it made it.
Thankfully not under so much pressure anymore, (George is the next show), I am installing the new wiring loom, getting it licensed, tweaking all the mechanical issues and attending to all the door hinges, locks etc on the body that everything opens and closes. My shipment from Wolfsburg West has also arrived that has all the new switches for the electronics, wipers, ignition system, 6 volt globes, handbrake cables etc to finish off.

Here are a few pics from the trip.

"On the morning of the show I installed the motor, fired it up and drove it to the show. It wasn't the most comfortable ride or the fastest, but it made it. It leaked oil quite badly and certainly didn’t have all the guts there and it needed a couple of tweaks along the way"

How many times did we have to pull over while you sorted out those inferior busses of yours ?????

jolas wrote:"On the morning of the show I installed the motor, fired it up and drove it to the show. It wasn't the most comfortable ride or the fastest, but it made it. It leaked oil quite badly and certainly didn’t have all the guts there and it needed a couple of tweaks along the way"

How many times did we have to pull over while you sorted out those inferior busses of yours ?????

............

the joys of classic aircooled ownership

I honestly could'nt believe my eyes when I met Sean at the meeting spot - I thought he had pushed the bus out of the workshop so that he could get something else out. It seemed like only a few weeks had passed sinced we salvaged the single cab. So it was indeed a lekker surprise to see it actually driving on the road - with its original motor and gearbox !

jolas wrote:
How many times did we have to pull over while you sorted out those inferior busses of yours ?????

Bastard!!!!

But ja, dont know what it was with this 6V electrics business in my 59 bus, one moment it's going along lekker and then all of a sudden has a 100% completely dead battery. It did this 3 times on the way to show, but since then never ever did it again. Will have to wait for the next show to figure out what is going on there.....

Sean...Paul...seems like I will have to add a new class for the next Bug Jam SA..

a... PRESERVATION CLASS. I really like what you guys are doing....as I always say... our rides are only original once and never again... even after a 100 point restoration its not original again.

Muds