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Date:         Wed, 5 Apr 95 08:56:57 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         smaher@ball.com (Steve Maher)
Subject:      Unearthing 70 VW bus

A friend has a '70 VW bus that's been sitting in his driveway for about 4 years without being touched. He wants to get it going, but I cautioned him about the perils of old fluids, rust in cylinders, flat spots on tires, etc. Some of the obvious problems it has:

1.) It won't move if you push it. I jacked up the rear wheels, they both turn (trans in neutral, haven't tried to rotate engine by hand yet). Jacked up the front, neither front wheel turns. My guess is, rusty drums, shoes stuck to them. Any suggestions, other than Liquid Wrench and a 2# hammer? I figure I'll have to replace all master & wheel cylinders and shoes, and possibly drums too.

2.) I did turn the engine about 1/2 in. by hand. Seemed to move fairly easily-- didn't try to turn it further, fearing rust/dirt in one or more cylinders, although no overt evidence of same yet. I plan to change oil, pull all 4 plugs, spray in Liquid Wrench, turn 1/4 turn, more Liquid Wrench, 1/4 turn, etc., feeling for rough spots as I go. If it seems to turn fairly smoothly, may next try to crank it with the starter to get the oil flowing. After a minute of that, will let starter cool, replace plugs, and try to start it. Any comments/ suggestions/screams of horror?

3.) It currently has the original type 30PICT-3 carb on a 1600 SP engine. Assuming it gets going OK, He wants to put dual Kadrons on this engine, with 009 and dual quiet-pack. Anybody have any experience putting dual Kadrons on a single-port engine? Does this relieve somewhat, the bottleneck caused by the long, narrow path from the Solex carb to those small, single ports? Do dual port heads have more of a tendency to crack from the spark plug hole to the intake port, than single-port heads when stressed?

4.) Anybody have a good source for rebuilding (or purchasing a newly rebuilt) '70 bus steering box?

5.) Anybody know where I can find a back seat (full length) for such a bus?

Thanks in advance,

Steve Maher smaher@ball.com


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