Aircooled VW South Africa

I have been using the Fleetline for the last couple of days but today it let me down.

Luckily I conveniently arrived in the parking lot at work when it happened. My initial thought was running out of petrol again but on inspection later on in the day the fuel filter was completely clogged. Being rather annoyed got Tonia to bring me another, swapped it, got a bit of fuel through and then the new accelerator cable broke, right at the front.

So ended the day with Tonia towing me home and checking at home that I again can get now fuel through.

I suspect the tank is rusting inside and has now clogged the fuel lines.

Does anybody know if a tank should be treated with some sort of chemical or paint after cleaning? It was soaked for some time in some type of a acid mix to clean the rust out and was spotlessly clean when I installed it, but something is obviously going wrong.

Any ideas?

Bad luck on the cable, thats not good service for a new cable ?

From what I understand, the professional petrol tank cleaners cut it in half and clean in properly, and the final product is left with a new interior "skin". Apparently there is a company in Paarden Eiland doing this. Will try get more info, can't remember who I last spoke with about this ........

jolas wrote:Bad luck on the cable, thats not good service for a new cable ?

From what I understand, the professional petrol tank cleaners cut it in half and clean in properly, and the final product is left with a new interior "skin". Apparently there is a company in Paarden Eiland doing this. Will try get more info, can't remember who I last spoke with about this ........

Thanks Paul.

I think that person you are speaking about was that fellow that Errol was talking about. If it is the same person I had contacted earlier my parts will be there for months. He refuses to give a time frame and it doesn’t seem like much is going on there.

I am going to try a few other places today for some more advice.

I also saw a write up on ratwell.com for tank refreshing (although that was for baywindows), where the tank is cleaned with muratic/pool acid http://www.ratwell.com/technical/FuelTa ... ation.html, which is afterwards neutralised with baking soda. You need the POR15 auto fuel tank repair kit, though. From experience though, getting the POR15 range of products is tricky in SA, but they work!

Thanks for the advice.

I have had the fuel tank refurbished, quite an expensive process but entailed blasting the inside and outside of which the tank had to be cut open in some places and welded back to get everywhere inside it for cleaning.

It then had a product coated inside which looks and feels almost ceramic like as well as a rubberising coat on the outside, both of which are baked afterwards to cure.

Pretty happy with the result.

The work just doesn’t seem to end on this Split....

I have been fighting with these stupid drum brakes again recently, which I just can’t seem to satisfy myself with. I had them all skimmed, shoes relined and radiused again with still a shudder at speeds over 80km/h. I think I have now determined which drum it is and its going to be off again to check out.

On another part my steering seemed as it has developed some more play. Firstly I found one of the brand new tie rod ends had failed, replaced again and still felt play. This time appeared to be the centre pin, which at the time of doing everything else, initially still seemed ok.

I was surprised to find this Febi/Bilstein kit in stock, so grabbed it and started with the fitment.



The kit worked well and all bushes were removed and fitted with no problem. I on the other hand managed to somehow tap the pin in skew and got it stock. Not wanting to damage the pin and try and hit out on the lip, I stripped the whole front suspension out to get to it from above.

Anyway, once out of the car mide life easy and I was able to assemble everything again.

After all was assembled it feels a substantial amount better. I still have about 10mm of play in my steering and I have tracked this to the steering box arm. It appears to move side to side slightly before transferring the movement. I am not familiar with these but I suspect there is a bush or bearing that is worn? I Will have to check this out next.

Anybody have advice on rebuilding these Split units?

Before you do all this work, it may only need adjustment, and the steering box may be dry, or full of old grease.
Remove the plugs to the box, and stick a rod into it, see what is inside. If it is old dry grease, but still relatively clean, then just fill it to the top with a Wynns Motor oil or gearbox oil additive, the THICK type.
This will tighten the box up again, and then you do the normal wear adjustment, see your Manual.
If all this will not help, then yes, tackle the box, but I think that the problem will be gone by that time.

Herman

retrovan wrote:Before you do all this work, it may only need adjustment, and the steering box may be dry, or full of old grease.
Remove the plugs to the box, and stick a rod into it, see what is inside. If it is old dry grease, but still relatively clean, then just fill it to the top with a Wynns Motor oil or gearbox oil additive, the THICK type.
This will tighten the box up again, and then you do the normal wear adjustment, see your Manual.
If all this will not help, then yes, tackle the box, but I think that the problem will be gone by that time.

Herman

Thanks Herman, but the play I am describing here is not movement in the worm (this steering box is in very good condition in this regard) but only where the shaft exits. As it is not a tight fit where exiting, it moves +- 1.5mm before being able to direct the motion.

Surprisingly my box is stilled filled with oil, to the top.

Thanks

I recently acquired this jack which I believe is from a Fleetline, it has the “B vw” logo stamped into it. It all appears to work on the car, but does anyone know where this should be stored in the vehicle originally? It’s quite bulky and doesn’t appear to fit anywhere near the front seats?



Here’s another further addition, I’m pretty chuffed with the outcome here, especially since my emblem was never even painted.

Ok, so its time to start over.

I acquired this bus back in 2005 (I was still in school), but had a lot to learn about body work.....

Its time to do it correctly now.

So i started by cutting off the nose. Herman will be very happy with the cutting work

How good would that look if you just fitted a clear plexiglass cover in the front???

Tony Z wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 9:41 pm How good would that look if you just fitted a clear plexiglass cover in the front???

sean wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 9:21 pm ............... Herman will be very happy with the cutting work
...

...And the children grow up so fast.....

Learning as they go....

Makes one so proud.....

Well done Sean, nice going

Herman

Ok, so the fleetline was next at #2 to the sand blasters.

This time I tried to spray paint everywhere as a guide that this sandblaster would hopefully not divert from where I have marked.


It went better, but the man with one eye just couldn't follow an instruction.

Nice Sean ! Saw the fleetline outside the other day along with a red beetle ?

Are you getting the blasting done at Choenic on the Bottelary road ?