I like it alot.. Mess with wood daily, let me kno if you need a hand with panels or cabinets.

Well... It's been a wile since I've posted about trixie, but that's not because everything has been going smoothly... I drove it up to sevierville for CYW and then two weeks later I took it back for a BBQ competition. On the way back from the BBQ competition, she was blowing a lot of oil out and driving awful. I pulled the motor shortly after and found the o ring on the end of the crank was a grey streak and didn't seal at all. Plus there was oil all over the clutch. I replaced the o ring, installed a few parts I had bought at the shows and had Felton's redo the clutch disc. Threw it all back in and we went to stevenson bug blast at the beginning of June. It drove a little worse, but kept more oil in and the worse was more of the idle being too low or something.

I took it to the Hair opening and it drove terribly so I parked it when I got home and didn't think anything of it for a while. I finally got to it today and adjusted the carb and took it for a sprin. The shifter was giving me fits again. At the first stop sign, I pushed the clutch in and POP! The pedal went half way down and then made a grinding noise  I rolled through and shifted the hard way back home.

Pulled the engine and found that the throw out bearing jumped the fork. From the damage, the bearing had some wear on the contact surface, the clutch fingers were half worn down. Best I can figure Is that the new clutch disc was thicker and I didn't adjust it. Premature wear and finallly gave up. Glad it happened where it did and I was able to get home easily. The trans input seal was also leaking so I got it out and need to get a new one in before the cruise in.

I'll post pics eventually!

You didn't adjust the clutch after putting new stuff in ??  AW come on.  When you say "I replaced the O ring, did you mean the "Main Crankshaft Seal" or as some people say "The engine oil seal" ?  The "O" ring is inside the flywheel where it slides up on the crank.  First you have to get the name right so people will know what You are talking about.  How about dropping my money buy the house on your way home please. The van is looking good on the inside. Good job.

So I cut the hole in the roof for the crane and prepared the outriggers, BUT I found this instead!!!



It was only $100 and near Oak Ridge, TN. I was emailing and planning to go nab it. Finally got up there on June 24th to pick it up. I was so excited that I threw it up on top to see what it was like! Turns out the guy I bought it from has a '66 that is sitting on a '72 frame (I said BS until I saw it!!!) well he was having to clean up some projects prior to moving to Chattanooga for his new job at the factory. He is thinking about selling the '66 with power brakes and IRS if anyone is interested (he wants to build a drop tank racer as his next project)



I loved it!!! but when I pulled it down to paint it and reseal the windows and vent, it CRACKED! Upon further investigation, this thing had hit a low overhang and been repair before. So I flipped it over and started 'glassin.' I reinforced the inside and then had to bondo fiberglass resin the outside smooth since it was a little offset and hard to get it perfectly straight. Sanded and painted!




I got a neat rubber seal from a website and threw it on. (note the cool luggage rack!)


Then came the point of no return... cutting my bus :shock:



I saved this piece in case it needs to go back to a tin-top

I had my dad come and help throw it up on there and set it down. I laid down a few rolls of rope caulk along the contact points.



then used self taping screws to secure it.

This is the view from the back seat looking forward (I need to trim the edges a little bit more).

I see an iPad holder up there for movies in the future!

Standing (YES STANDING!!!!) in the middle looking back (note the pretty upholstery!)


All the new storage! I will have to 'glass some blocks in there and build a cabinet over the front half to pretty it up a bit, but that's for later. Also note the new vent- I had to order a mini roof vent because the standard ones wouldn't fit.


It rained hard and the only places it leaked were around the window frames, which are made with 1"x1" angle aluminum that wasn't sealed in the corners. I'll caulk that up and let it be! I can't wait to take it to the shows!!!!

Remember the bad throwout bearing and pressure plate? Well... the part of the story I didn't tell... was... that well, when I was putting it together, I realized that I had overlooked the damage to the cross-shaft. One of the forks had its half-circle notch opened up a little bit as it was cutting the grove in the fingers. I figured I'd take it to the cruise-in and show off the high-top and replace the cross-shaft at a later time. Threw it all together and made the cruise-in. It started popping but still shifting fine, so I parked it and I bought the cross-shaft shortly after (it was cheap enough, I should have just waited and installed on Friday before the cruise-in...oh well). It has sat on my dresser for a while now (and the bus in the driveway!). Tonight was the night I replaced it finally. Pulled the motor and found the throw out bearing loose on one side and the clips sitting at the bottom  I ended up cutting the old one in order to get it freed up and slipped the new one in. It was the easiest and quickest engine pull I've done in a while (about 2 hours total!). Just got back from the test drive and everything seems good!

Nick , I hate to tell you this but you have the wrong style pressure plate . You need a plate that has the Center ring . I'm surprised it didn't tear the whole cross shaft out. You are lucky. DO NOT drive it until you get it right or it might finish the shaft off or worse yet , crack the tranny case when the parts get tangled up with the flywheel. Trust Me !

WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT BEFORE!?!?!?


Oh yeah, I did install one with the ring  That was the old one!

your question makes me wonder-

I have seen some with and some without the ring. I've also seen those with the ring fall apart and lose the ring or have a loose ring. I understand the ring to be used on the early style and the one without to go on the later with the sleeve. Is there a way to fix a loose ring or put a ring on one that has had it removed? I have a handful of pressure plates and I don't have any more with the ring- I used my last one on Trixie.

YOU NEVER ASKED!!    The plate with 3 release arms/center ring tended to feel loose due to the extra little springs holding them on the arms. Not a problem.  The diaphragm plate with the ring had a round retainer ring on the backside that was installed when the plate was manufactured. Impossible for us Peon's to install after the fact.  We will talk about super loose springs on the 3 arm plate.