Date:         Wed, 17 Jul 1996 00:50:55 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Claralw@aol.com
Subject:      fixing the rat (65 westy)

where was i ?   it has become a blur.   btw, my cat watched to make sure i
did it all right.

the bus was up on the stands this morning, with one wheel off and one wheel
on.    I just happened to find 1 (one) front brake line in my new tune up
parts drawer, so i switched it with the old one on the front right, put it
back together with the new cylinders and cleaned and repacked the wheel
bearing.   lovely sense of accomplishment.   unfortunately the bleeding valve
broke off, and the only one i could find was in soory shape.  :(   put on
list

i just ignored the left front wheel.  but i felt it laughing at me and had a
brief feeble attempt to beat it into submission, but i was humbled.

brake job 1/4 done   :)

lets play get the motor running....   i made sure the wheels were all firmly
attached to the bus, and let it down off the jack.   slid under the bus and
put it in neutral (in their infinate wisdom, the DPO removed the shifter
stick, and i have to get a friend willing to get dirty to help put it
together - later)   i gritted my teeth and futzed with the carb (DP type 34
pict 3, not my favorite)  until i was convinced that th passages were clear
of the guck that was blocking them.  it was a gooey brown stuff.  the carb
looked pretty clean and newish, nice and shiny.    squirted gas when i asked
it to, after reassembling the thing.  so i bolted it back on, and looked up
the line to the gas can in the bed area (fuel lines had leaked)   at just
about this point, 

Mike drove up in the 66 standard, returning from his canadian/okanagan trek,
with lots of glorious vw trinkets, including, but not limited to, an early
(date code 11/58) ghia tachometer, a bug steering lock w/key, lotsa new old
stuff from old vw shops, latches for early bug pop out windows,  a tempered
windshield for my 61's winter set which matched the one i already had, new
german linkpins and swing lever kits for buses,  a split case bug tranny,
early (56-58) front bumper with a liscense plate with a 74 sticker on it
(from a REAL HIPPY BUS), and lot of wierd old porcelain telephone insulators
(they have Fred Locke pieces on the poles up there!) 
 but this is the thing:  a Blaupunkt TAPE PLAYER that can mount under the
dash, or you pull it out and carry it around w/you while it plays off
batteries.  and you can record on it.    and, i kid you not, on it's face it
says SNOB 100.     wow.   sold through the vw dealership, but this one never
sold as it was pricey, so the guys just used it in the shop, and when the
dealership closed, one of the guys, who opened up a vw shop, took it with
him.

so i put the wires together (no key)   and the bus started!!!!!!!!!

it sounded terrible.   wouldn't idle.    big muffler hole sound, which makes
sense considering the big hole in the muffler.    air blasted out of the
heater vents, and smelled stale, but not exhausty.   it would keep going  if
i kept my foot on the gas.  rumours from the peanut gallery had it that
flames were spat out the carb, so i turned it off,  and decided to finish the
tune up process.

drain oil.   gook in bottom of sump plate, but no chunks.   its dirty and
greasy under here.  i want to take this to a car wash before i pull the motor
to change the oil seals and fuel line.             i let it drip while i went
and ate.
 i pulled out the plugs, which were autolite, and tossed them in the
garbage.v    then i adjusted the valves  (it had cooled enough) starting with
#1 and #2, which were fine.  the head looked old and dirty, though.   then i
went to #3 and #4.  wipe away more cobwebs.   the head looked new and shiny.
 wierd.  did someone do a half *ssed rebuild?    these valves were all very
tight.  hmmm.
compression test time:   they were all 120.   wow.  is this a functionable
motor?  i hope so.   the end play feels fine.   new Bosch plugs in.    the
plug wires were the kind that take the little brass things screwedonto the
plugs, but they werent there on the old plugs.  i put them on the new plugs,
and cleaned the plug wire ends out, as they had ome kind of build up in
there, not nice and shiny.    i already did the points, but want to set the
timing while it runs,  i left it at slightly BTDC

started it up again.  sounds better.  :) still big muffler hole noise, and
wont idle.   i dont like these carbs.     left it till later.   

clara  (we must save them!)