Well it is an exciting day in my calendar.
A set of previously mentioned NOS Dellorto 45mm DRLA carburettors have been sitting in my cupboard (with my jumpers) for just on a decade.
They were previously sitting in the wardrobe of a guy out redcliffe way since he bought them new 6 years approx. before I bought them off him.
Today they went onto the 2165 in the ute.
I am very happy with them though it will take a little bit of tweaking to get them perfectly spot on.
Performance seems okay with the speedo reaching the 6pm position on the test drive. That's between the M and the P so must be somewhere between medium and park. (MPH)
Some pics. Yes they are just carbs, but how often do you get to fit a brand new pair of Dellortos???
Well the ute has had another birthday with some upgrades (mind you it's birthday is in January)
I wasn't entirely happy with hitting the bump stops with the ute lowered so was keen when a set of Wagens West spindles came up for sale recently. Thanks to Jason for his excellent packaging and interest. Other little gifts for the ute were a MWS wooden rim steering wheel and a vintage speed shifter.
It was also time to catch up on a niggling brake compatability issue that has been around since I changed from the wide 5 '69 brakes to '71 brakes and hubs/spindles. The rear shoes had not been sitting nicely in the drums (side to side) and so maximum braking effort was not a happening thing.
The gearbox had developed an issue that was at this point unidentified.
So on up to Matt Berry's for engine and gearbox out and replacement of spindles and brakes. Thanks Matt for your excellent attention to detail. 😎
I sourced some 73 and on backing plates believing this may solve the problem with a change in the 'backspace' of the adjusters/wheel cylinder. Not to be. '68 and '69 baywindow rear hubs are approx. 10mm further inboard at the face that mates to the backing plate. I could have changed the hubs to later but my wheels/tyres on the rear have 2mm to spare on the outer and 3mm to spare on the inner/spring plate. (DO NOT MOVE THAT HUB FLANGE)
Spacers were made up out of 10mm plate to bring the brake backing plate and shoes into the correct fitting of the drum. (modify brake balance bars, find later lower springs, make a locating pin that steps from 10mm to 8mm ........)
Front end had the spindles fit on magnificently but not my '71 discs and calipers. Different caliper bolts and offset. 🥲
So new ATE '74 and on calipers and discs fitted to front.
At least all the braking system (with the exception of the master cylinder not being boosted) is 1974-79 kombi.
The lowering of the front via the spindles meant we had to raise the front via the Avis style adjusters. One of the challenges here was that the upper adjuster was going to interfere with the shift rod. Worm screw out and shortened as much as possible and then cradle made for shifter rod to allow top face to be panel beaten flat through that section.
The other major item was the gearbox which had been suffering from the scat gland nut pushing against the inut shaft. Gearbox out and back to Dave Butler for a refresh. Thanks for the quick turn around Dave.
Engine and gearbox back in and it is sweet 😘
The trip home was fantastic! The ride is really good, gearbox shifting sweetly, engine purring along at 75mph. I do love my single cab.
Of interest is that this engine and gearbox have done just over 51,000kms since install. Purrfect!
With now over 60,000kms on the 2165cc I am impressed by engine temps even when the heatwave was smashing us in Brisbane.
I do run an external cooler with thermo fan (mounted above the gearbox) but think that it is worth showing that stroker engines don't have to run hot. These pics were after about an hour of mostly freeway driving where the engine gets its warmest. Just under 75mph on the speedo is 100kmh by the GPS fyi. It was just over 40deg celsius this day.
I thought it might be time to update the thread with my single cab turning 45yo in January and now getting a well deserved Birthday freshen up.
The panel work is being done by Matt Berry Motorsport and my wife's cousin Rod Fuchs is undertaking the final prep and paint.
It has just come back from the sandblasters on Friday and is getting a new Gersons Fab tray and gates (thanks Das Resto Parts) and the other panels needing replacing are Autocraft made.
With the whole vehicle being painted I am now considering whether I will stick with Lotus White (the factory colour) or make a change to L345 Light Grey.
Anyhow some pics:
Nice Birthday present. Nothing like a face lift at 45.🙂 Suprised by the amount of hidden rust. She looked like a good specimen before the reveal. Should come up a treat.
Customer service is not dead in Australia.
Always after HAZET & MATRA & VW factory tools
BizarreModeratorThe artist formerly known as blue74l
Hey Luftmeister,
I agree that it was about as clean as you can find but still needed some love. I have owned it for 6 years next month so it deserves it.
Bizarre, I am torn between leaving it the Lotus White that it was or changing it to L345 Light Grey that was a colour for that era.
I am leaning towards the grey maybe with a white roof.
hey marcus you trying to out do the missus?Trishs camper is pretty nice!Seriously its good to see someone doing what it takes to do it properly unlike some of those $50.000 shitboxs from the "kombi chop" and "kombies from hell"and the like and not painted some stupid colour.Ritchies gonna be pitching for lotus white but grey would be very cool!Your gonna have to let me have a drive when she's all done she was ok last time i drove it but with all those fixes it must have been great?With no rust and nice paint i guess she'll be sign writen and on the books as the work vehical and the triton off to the auctions?
BizarreModeratorThe artist formerly known as blue74l
I found out by doing a little looking back that the colour it had been was not Lotus White and it was originally Green/beige according to the original sales receipt.
It has made it easier for me to go away from Lotus White given that was not it's stock colour.
Here are a couple of pics of where it is up to
Interior is looking good with the exception of a couple of dents
The windscreen surprised me as it looked okay with just some rust in the passenger side. All but 200mm will be replaced now
The area near the fuel tank will soak up some time and effort
Both sills in front of the rear wheels will have a new Autocraft panel fitted
I have my badge come with the order too. It never had it before (a little bit excited)
It's going to come up a treat with the grey/white combo.
For a kombi of that vintage the amount of rust is quite reasonable, as most of the metal under the tray in my dual cab is getting replaced I know how bad they can get.
