I didn't want to buy another project.... but I did!  

It all started a few weeks ago right before Christmas when I came across a tool that looked like an end play measuring device on thesamba and it was located in Rossville, GA for $5. I emailed the guy and we met at the Brainerd area Starbucks on the 23rd. I bought the tools that weren't what I thought they were and we talked VWs. He mentioned an early bay he had that he needed to sell because it lost oil pressure and he found a crack during the rebuild. I passed and continued to plan Penelope's repairs.

Then on Jan. 4th, I noticed the craiglist ad for the bus so I jumped over to thesamba and it was the same guy I bought the mystery tools from. I emailed him late at night and made plans to stop by his place after work on Thursday the 5th. I didn't want to buy another bus, but the price seemed right. When I got to his place, he showed me the the '70 and explained that he had given up on it and was about to get a '67 westy so it had to go. It had been his DD this past summer and he showed me receipts for most of what he was asking. It looked amazingly rust free (especially compared to Penelope!!!). We stood around talking and he explained that he needed the money to buy a modern car off a friend that weekend because he was sans transportation. He started pulling a Frankie and began packaging extra parts with it and when we got to the extra back seat, extra early air cleaner, a lot of parts he took off of it, doghouse shroud with new gen, and two extra carbs to replace the crap one on the engine I was planning on putting in it, well I caved.

I texted Megan I was looking at a bus and she didn't respond fast enough, so... I bought it! I gave a deposit and made plans for the next day and the balance. I went home and began going through the engine I had planned to put in Penelope. I had to install the under cylinder tins that were not installed when I bought it, so off came the heads. I resealed everything and boogered up a pushrod tube. The next day, I got a new tube and went down to pull the new bus home. Without hassle, she was in my driveway and I finished up the engine. Due to rain, I didn't get the engine in.

Saturday, I went to pull-a-part.

But Sunday, I woke up late and got to work on the bus. dragged the motor out and planned to get it started before installing it. I couldn't get it to start because of a slow starter and I was going to post a question on here, but I found a thread about help with a slow starter! Actually, William left his coat in my truck from the day before and came to get it. He diagnosed the slow starter as a bad bushing... or a missing bushing! I borrowed one from another transmission and she was running in no time! All tuned up, off the test stand and into the bus. By Sunday evening, she was on her own power.

Oh yeah,

I didn't have a the bus tin for a dog house cooler ('71 only part) so I made a template, cut out a plywood buck and then bent up some sheetmetal to fit! I still have to clean it up and tack weld it onto a beetle dog house tin. I thought it looked pretty good and if I can make the construction process a little easier, I might make a few of these and sell them at BP!

I do belive that's one of kc old bus he had ? Looks like fun!

The mystery tool is still a mystery.

It was KC's bus for a short blip. He bought 2 together and then sold them off. I think that was last April or May on his thread about his collection. Zen said he remembers towing that bus home last year for KC

Btw, it's a 1970, in case anyone missed that. And it had the 15" wheels!

Post a pic of the tool and who made it. Seeing how you are getting more and more deeply  involved in reclaiming junk---- oops, I meant reclaiming priceless pieces of automotive engineering , that you would look for the proper special tools to complete the task. That is when you find out what they are and how to use them. It makes life easier and  Megan won't have to listen to you practice your Rosetta stone course on Mechanic's Lingo.   

Quote from: Bignick on January 17, 2012, 09:21:26 AM

The mystery tool is still a mystery.

It was KC's bus for a short blip. He bought 2 together and then sold them off. I think that was last April or May on his thread about his collection. Zen said he remembers towing that bus home last year for KC

Btw, it's a 1970, in case anyone missed that. And it had the 15" wheels!

Post a pic of the tool and who made it. Seeing how you are getting more and more deeply  involved in reclaiming junk---- oops, I meant reclaiming priceless pieces of automotive engineering , that you would look for the proper special tools to complete the task. That is when you find out what they are and how to use them. It makes life easier and  Megan won't have to listen to you practice your Rosetta stone course on Mechanic's Lingo.   

Have you ever seen how expensive Rosetta Stone is?!?!?! No thank you!!! I will try to get a picture later today. It looks like a slightly straightened out 'z' with a hole in one in (looks like to mount it up) and a hole in the other with a set screw like it would hold a dial indicator.

Zen didn't tow that one.... LOL.
I sprang for a tow truck.
Yeah, It was mine for about 2 months or so and the body is surprisingly straight and rust free.
KC

Well Zen must have dreamed of towing it!

I figured that you've probably owned just about every bug/bus for 2 months. Speaking of owning it for 2 months: that's a record for longest time KC has owned a VW!!!

I never got a chance to swing by for the firewall tin because we were late coming back from pull-a-part and my phone died... I will try to meet up sometime, but I don't know when.

At least I got to paw the real Rosetta stone while in London's  British Museum um-teen years ago. Dang near got tossed out of the place for touching it. I told them it was OK because the Brits stole the thing in the first place and Egypt was the rightful owner. The guards didn't take to kindly to that comment coming from  a "Merican"

You probably couldn't even get close enough to touch it now.


I have been pondering something on the bus. I went and got the rear hatch lock rekeyed and cleaned up the mechanism really good and regreased it. After I reinstalled it, the lever that turns on the lock doesn't come down far enough to press the lever on the mechanism. Does the input lever on the mechanism had a piece that is supposed to extend itself into range of the lock's lever? It looks like a little pad might have been on there at some point... it was strange because it worked (but wouldn't lock), took it apart, cleaned it in a dunk can, rekeyed it and reassembled and now it doesn't have the range to open. Any ideas?

It's either way. Obviously when the lock lever is rotated 180 degrees off, it wouldn't touch, but even when it is lined up, it doesn't extend far enough. What kind of pads? Any idea where I could find one or even see a picture so I could make one?

Zen didn't tow that one.... LOL.
I sprang for a tow truck.

After towing three or four, they all seem to run together.   That is one that I didn't tow, but I did see it in his driveway once.