More Americana in the Inbox

I'm digging these reproduction travel stickers on fleabay.  Nice.

The Shifter Coupling Saga, part 1

I mentioned earlier that the Bus's carburetor problems have been solved, but that I've yet to get a chance to get behind the wheel and stretch the legs of the old beast because the rear shift coupling gave out and now the shift lever inside the car isn't actually attached to the transmission any longer.  What I didn't tell you, was that I found out the shift lever wasn't attached to the transmission any longer when I tried to put the car in neutral, released the clutch, and very nearly parked the whole mess in my living room!  The bus was unhurt, but it scared the poo out of me and I did crush my pre-CARB Wedco metal gas can.  I'm bummed.

So that was Saturday, last Saturday, and the parts haven't yet arrived.  Wolfsburg West lists the parts, but they are not happy with the quality of the current reproductions available on the market so they don't stock the part. Therefore I was sent scurrying to find a replacement.  I've not been too happy with the quality of the repop parts available for the bus and I'm not alone, which is why the 'keep it German' mantra has legs, and I understand that the couplings on the market are suspect.  I'm desperate though, so I gotta buy the junk.  

That said, in the time I've waited for the coupling to arrive from the other supplier (who will rename nameless just in case the parts I ordered suck so bad I require customer assistance) I've ordered and received TWO packages of parts from Wolfsburg West!  Apparently, while WW ships same or next day for items listed in stock, the 'other guy' takes the time to read Penthouse and maybe smoke a bowl or two in the can before packages get prepped and handed off to the shipper.  So I wait, and wait, and wait...

The coupling.

 And where it goes in the grand scheme of things.

PITA.

Hazet Assistent

And there's more glory from Hazet too.  Their true claim-to-fame is the Assistent tool cart.  Designed as a catch all for frequently used tools in automotive service centers, the Assistent is a thing of beauty.

The 166N, deployed to max height and cubby, exposure.  Holy crap!! Would you look at all those useful places to put stuff on and little compartments to put stuff in!  Ever since I was a boy I've loved boxes and tables.  The Assistent is both a table AND a box!!  For the love of Moses check my shorts!

Another of the 166N, an older model I believe.  More black on the new Hazet stuff than before.

 An older 166C.  I think the C is a little smaller than the N.  Either way, who cares!  One bible says the same stuff as another regardless of size!  I would carve out my uterus with a dirty spoon and feed it to a rabid raccoon with my pants off just to have a chance to own such a glorious gadget! (which of course is hyperbole, because obviously a raccoon does not wear pants.  Especially not my pants.)

Folded up and ready to be rolled, red wagon style, to the next car waiting for service.

If I had one of these I'd try to mate with it.

Scrumptious.

Hazet flip-tops - the 190 and the 804

Hazet is a German tool manufacturer fabled for it's association with the VW community, or at least fabled for that association within the VW community.  I'm sure the BMW community could give two poo's about the VW community association!  The Benz community can take a flying leap since Bruno Sacco left MB.

At any rate, one of Hazet's big claims-to-fame is their flip-top style boxes.  There are quite a few I think, but here are just a couple examples.  If you need me I'll be in the men's room enjoying a quiet moment...

 The 804 closed. This is an older box.

 The 804 open. Same box mit lid flipped, bitte. (sad attempt at German)

 And the 190, open.  This is a new style flip-top.  a nice little bit of kit.

So nice in fact, that I bought one.  Boom!

Garage Journal and the Toolbox Fetish

Over there on the right is a linky to the Garage Journal Forum.  If I'm not under the bus, or on a bike, or trapped underneath something heavy, and I'm not answering the phone, then I'm probably on the GJ.

Or the HAMB

Or Samba

You get the idea...

Anyway.  There's always vibrant colorful discussion about the value of vintage toolboxes on the GJ forum, and you frequently see folks posting their goodies out there for our collective viewing pleasure, and if you're me, shameless photo ganking.

This is all from one man's garage.  He likes the smaller weekender or truck size kit boxes, apparently.  So do  I so I won't complain.  Check the pics!

I love it!

Dirty Filter Heaven

So here's the fuel line bits from under the car.

The line and bulb filter from right off the tank tap. That line is hard as a rock, and as you can see from the new filter on the right, you should at least be able to see through the filter.

And here is the old tank tap and sock filter. The tank tap was falling apart under the wrench, and I wondered if I'd be able to get it out without doing something drastic to the thing. Patience prevailed though, and I got it threaded out in one piece. The sock filter, again, should be something that you can at least see light through. This sock was so dirty, that even though I thought I'd drained all the gas from the tank, when I pulled out the sock I got a flood of fuel that I had to hustle to catch. The goo was holding in another 2 gallons of fuel or so. What a mess. The sock squeezed out black goo when you grabbed it to pull it out of the tank. Only after I dropped it in the catch basin with the fuel gushing out did it 'clean up' to this state. Yuck.

I don't remember the bug having this style fuel tap at all and yet it was only 5 years newer. I wonder what is under that tank?

Mo Bus Bits

An endless parade of packages for the Bus...

Fuel pump rebuild kits. These are for the original German pumps. I got one of these kits with the bus and installed it to solve some leak down through the pump that I think I had, but I have a second spare fuel pump and I'll rebuild it, and then keep the second kit for spares to the two complete pumps. Boy Scouts would approve.

G55 Idle Jet, sans electric idle valve switch. This way even if the new 12V idle valve takes a dump I can screw in the replacement jet and run the car without the idle valve. This back-up plan is instead of the lame idea to keep the 6V idle valve for a spare and have a reducer on hand. F- that reducer idea. I'll just tote the naked valve-less jet instead.

Solex Carb rebuild kits. If your mucky old carb is good and tight when it comes to the shafts and bushes, then you can replace all the wear items, and with a cleaning to the fuel channels in the carb body, have essentially a new carb in the end. I went through a full kit working up the first carb, and then a second kit building up the spare carb to troubleshoot the first carb, so more spares are needed.

Fuel tank tap. This little sucker threads in to the underside of the fuel tank, and then gravity feeds fuel to the distributor drive shaft driven fuel pump in the engine bay which pushes fuel to the carb. The tap on the bus looked like it was gooped up pretty good, and then when I pulled the original I found out that...

...the filter sock, which sits on the tap was also gooped up. I'll give a run down of all that later.

Reverse Lights

Here's my reverse lights idea, only installed on a 66 Bug. I have also seen people use these little lights, with back tinted lenses in red, as secondary brake lights. Lets face it. These old VW's don't have much going on in the back with regard to lights. And what is back there usually has bad grounding and therefore only seems to work about 60% of the time. For example, the bus has secondary ground wires for the tail lights already, as opposed to being grounded through the mounting to the car of the metal frames light buckets themselves. Good ground is a good thing.

Bus Bits

New arrivals here at One Utahdog Center, World Congress of the Americas.

Pop-out window hasp for the 6 side windows on the bus. Obviously this is for one hasp, and the bus takes 6. The bus has six though, and they all work. BUT, all of the windows are gummed shut by dry rubber and various other detritus. Freeing the windows may result in a casualty, and I want to be prepared. If I want to drive the thing this summer, then those windows have to work.

Rest easy, Pops, it is a German part!

12V Idle control valve. This is the sucker that prevented the bus from idling. Now I have a spare. The spare being the 6V one in the car right now. I'll pull it and replace with the 12V and hold the 6V for emergencies. I'll also fab up a voltage reducer to keep in the spare parts box just in case I need to run the 6V for any length of time, I can run it through the reducer and keep the 6V from blowing. Radio Shack has the bits to do that reducer up.

Don't worry, Pop. I won't run the reducer all the time. Only if I have to!

30Pict-2 carbs for parts. Dirty and cheap.

12V choke. I snagged this before I saw the above lot of carbs. I'm up to my buns in 12V chokes.

Finally, reverse lights from a 68 Bug. These are German Hella lights, and I'll fashion brackets and mount them on the bumper using the stock holes so no new holes get drilled. The 66 Bus has no reverse lights, and not having reverse lights is nuts. I won't be able to activate these just by putting it in reverse, so I'll have to fashion up a switch. No drilling to do that, thank you.

666!

I've grown horns! The horns are in the form of Altek brake levers, M910 XTR bits, SDG saddles and more recently, Solex carburetor cores and other geegaws for the bus. Granted, there are probably 200+ sales mixed in to the transaction feedback count, but honestly. Who are we kidding here??! Mostly I just buy worthless crap off the interwebs.

I wuvs America.

BOOM!

Google Streetview is HOT!

This is why VW fans are constantly in pursuit of fire-proofing their babies. Eeek!

eBay, Your source for worthless Americana!

You can even get reproduction vintage travel stickers on ebay!

Ask me how I know!

Happy Easter!

All the underpaid non-union employees here at One Utahdog Center, World Congress of the Americas, located in sunny Northeast Florida, wish you and yours a very happy Easter!

VW Bus - Luggage Area - Part 3

Finished luggage area. No more oily goop here!

Corner panels recovered in original headliner material, lower cargo panels refinished in 'putty' beige (with the original vinyl piping preserved, shown here in a weathered brown between the upper and lower panels), and loop pile, rubber backed carpet courtesy of Lowe's, cut to fit.

Wine crate does duty as a carrier for the vitals fluids, tools and bits.

The jail bars and the putty panels and recovered corners meet nicely in a blend of original and new.

Overall, a marked improvement. It seems like a little thing, and I know it is all superficial, but I can tell you... Nothing put my wife's mind at ease about driving in the VW Bug like having the VW Bug as clean as I could keep it. Any concerns she may (or may not!) have with this bus, I'm out to put an end to ASAP.

VW Bus - Luggage Area - Part 2

Luggage area side panels.

These are the original grey side panels, looking a little forlorn and abused from their days hosting tool boxes and dog leashes. I have a plan though...

And the original corner panels, with their original material removed, naked for recovering. I hav a big honking bolt of headliner material to fashion covers for these. Not enough headliner material to do a full headliner though, and besides, the headliner in the bus is pretty nice for 40 plus years. I will not be touching it.

Upper corner panels removed, the original pearl white paint.

And the other side, same area.

Panels covered and installed. Time to address those lower luggage panels and button everything up.