Houdini the Baja Bus

I thought I had better start a thread for my Bus. I've had him almost a month and a half now. This is my first foray into Kombi ownership (well, running and registered bus it is 🙂 )and I have to say that they are a hoot to own and drive. Named Houdini for his ability to magically make engine oil disappear 😀

The bus is a 1978 panel van that has had windows added to it. Has a auto box and was originally a 2L injected engine. But it presently has a carby 2L fitted, though the computer is still in the engine bay. Has a rear seat which folds into a bed and rear seat belts fitted. Is currently blue plated as a five seater. Has factory air con in the overhead console style, though there is no compressor fitted to this engine. All the other components and hoses are still fitted to the bus.

Has 15" Merc wheels. And I picked up the awning a few weeks ago when I was down Brisbane way for Buggyfest, massive thanks to Paul at Steelart for hooking me up with this. It's 4m long and 2.5m out, so a huuuuge area to sit and have smoko under.

I know you all love pictures, any questions feel free to ask away!


























Plans for the bus is a little bit of lift, some big tyres, manual box with a locker, twin batteries, second fuel tank, fix the aircon, maybe a bigger Type 4. You guys all know the drill, it can't stay standard!!!


Smiley 🙂

Looks great - love the accelerator pedal.

Will look great up in the clouds with big rubber.

OR.....
You could do this.......

Scottkombi wrote:Will look great up in the clouds with big rubber.

Yeah. He suffers from Kombi pedal hinge syndrome too 😀

Scottkombi wrote:Will look great up in the clouds with big rubber.

I can't wait to get stuck into modifying him. They are pretty huge just stock height. I pulled up next to a Patrol the other day and was looking down at them 😂😂 It's a very different sensation being so high up. My bug was pretty big, but no where near as big as a bus to drive around in.

adlbeetle66 wrote:OR.....
You could do this.......

Not entirely sure they have a blue plate code for that in Queensland 😎



Smiley 🙂

So that's why you are dragging your feet on the Baja 😀

. Still love Baja buses, mine is still the car I should not have sold to me. If you decide to go real big let me know, I'll give you the low down on how to do the suspensions all legal and stuff. 👍

I had a 2L auto panel, mine was a '76 from memory.
When the twin carbs finally crapped out totally, I plonked on a manifold off the injected model, then a WW Stromberg off a 253 Kingswood onto a flat plate, then added a few other little bits here and there.........
Lights up and squeaks out of corners, jumps off the lights, sits on 100-110 all day, carried my bean bag and bike for the drags, just the best thing in the whole world. 😀

You're about 15 years behind the times...

11CAB wrote:You're about 15 years behind the times...

Hahahah! Love it! Same awning and everything!

I'm restarting the times! Once mine's done and yours is on the road we can restart the Big Bus trend! There's bugger all of them around these days!


Smiley 🙂

You know, if that auto aint broke, I wouldn't be in a hurry to change it. It will put up with big tyres and low speed much more happily than a manual... stronger too.

20bkombi could probably help you with it if it needs converter or valve mods. That's his specialty now.

nils wrote:So that's why you are dragging your feet on the Baja 😀

. Still love Baja buses, mine is still the car I should not have sold to me. If you decide to go real big let me know, I'll give you the low down on how to do the suspensions all legal and stuff. 👍

Hahaha that's great nils! I've seen your "legal Baja"!
Yeah get cracking on this Smiley, looks like great fun. Do you think you'll finish yours before Andrew finishes his...?

vduboy wrote:Do you think you'll finish yours before Andrew finishes his...?

Mines already registered and driving isn't it?? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂


Smiley 🙂

pete wood wrote:You know, if that auto aint broke, I wouldn't be in a hurry to change it. It will put up with big tyres and low speed much more happily than a manual... stronger too.

20bkombi could probably help you with it if it needs converter or valve mods. That's his specialty now.

Thing is, the auto is broke. It's really on it's last legs at the moment. And a 2L box doesn't have the ratios to put up with 33s. So I'd have to change to an 1800 box anyway. I figure if I'm going to swap the box out I might as well switch to a manual.
Plus the autos don't last very well offroad cause you can't easily fit a cooler to them.
And you can't fit the diff locks to the auto boxes 🤘

But I can see your point, I have enjoyed putting around in the bus with the auto. It's just too many negatives versus positives for the particular use I will have for the bus.



Smiley 🙂

whats going on with poor alice?????

DubCrazy wrote:whats going on with poor alice?????

I have more updates for Alyce too.

I might need someone to paint her soon 😉 hint hint


Smiley 🙂

Smiley wrote:Thing is, the auto is broke. It's really on it's last legs at the moment. And a 2L box doesn't have the ratios to put up with 33s. So I'd have to change to an 1800 box anyway. I figure if I'm going to swap the box out I might as well switch to a manual.
Plus the autos don't last very well offroad cause you can't easily fit a cooler to them.
And you can't fit the diff locks to the auto boxes 🤘

But I can see your point, I have enjoyed putting around in the bus with the auto. It's just too many negatives versus positives for the particular use I will have for the bus.
Smiley 🙂

I'd have a talk to him. Have you seen the stuff he's doing with autos for his drag car? Other thing being, there's a bunch of guys running vanagon autos in sandrails in the states. They're supposed to be bullet proof. There are a few guys who've fitted BMW LSD centres to VW autos I think too. Do a little research, I think you might find it's a better option than you think. If your's needs a rebuild, all the better to do it now. 😉

P.s. don't put an 1800 manual box in your bus. They're not as strong as 1600 boxes. Don't ask me how I know this.... 🙁

I'm with Pete. Aaron has those autos humming. If you want or need manual control then put a full-manual valve body in it, but remember if you select 1st gear at 100kph on the highway, it WILL GO IN, and you may look slightly uncool for a few seconds while spinning off the highway out of control. 😂
Coolers are as easy as drilling and tapping 2 holes (really that easy), if you think the 2L won't pull the 4.11 diff in that gearbox, then getting the heads pocket-ported (and checking the seats while in there would be good) with high-flow valves, adding an exhaust and a decent intake will give you another 20%.........which is more applied torque multiplication to the wheels than changing the diff from 4.11:1 to 4.37:1 and probably cheaper, heaps cheaper than reinventing the wheel and trying to slide a manual gearbox in..

Just think how cool you're gonna look if you're cruising in a Kombi that uses a B&M race Ratchet shifter! 😁

If you are looking to go to a 094 5 speed let me know, I have a AGT(2.1) and a 1.9 box here in Mackay. Not sure of the code on the 1.9 as I don't like crawling under cars that have been sitting for awhile in snake country. Gets delivered on Monday and can get the code then if you are interested.

AGT has locker boss, 1.9 does not.

Edit AGT is 4.83 and 8E(1.9) is 4.86

Can suppy shift box and linkages if needed but I'm not sure how or if they would fit a bay window.

awesome! it looks like the bus will tip over when the awning is fully extended lol

Sure I know someone who can help u with that :o)

So cool Smiley. What brand of awning is that and if you don't mind me asking, what did cost you? perfect size for my bus Henrietta.

baghall wrote:So cool Smiley. What brand of awning is that and if you don't mind me asking, what did cost you? perfect size for my bus Henrietta.

Hey mate. I didn't buy the awning new. I picked it up second hand from Paul who runs Steelart in Brissy. He used to have it fitted to his T3 bus a few years back before it was written off. And it doesn't have a brand or any markings that I could find, but I will have another look for you. I think Paul said it is one that would normally be mounted to the side of a caravan or motorhome. It's 4m long and 2.5m out.


Smiley 🙂

I just went and had a look. The brand is printed right on the end caps. It's Everite.
I quick search yielded this
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/manual-retractable-awning-12-feet-x-8-feet/916716
Which is exactly the same as what I have, just a different colour. I hope this helps mate.


Smiley 🙂

Thanks Smiley, appreciate it!

Pete while I understand there are many advantages to the auto I just don't have the money to pay for one right now. Plus I have pretty well all of the gear here to swap to a manual. And a locker that is sitting around looking for a home 🤘
And it's funny that you mention Aaron because the 2L carby engine that is currently in Houdini is the original engine out of his black bus! Interesting bit of history that I found out about the car recently 😀


Smiley 🙂

Well this happened....











The auto gave in and decided to go on strike. I knew it was bad but thought it might hold on for a little while longer.
The next time Houdini moves under his own steam it will be with a manual box!


Smiley 🙂

I bought our awning new. It was at the local $2 shop/crazy Clark's type place and its meant to go on the side of a house. But worked perfectly for the Kombi. Was around $200 new when we bought ours probably 10 years ago

Or you could roll it down hill to me! I'd like to see another locked manxter! Might as well be mine...!

vduboy wrote:Or you could roll it down hill to me! I'd like to see another locked manxter! Might as well be mine...!

http://steelart.com.au/
Sells them.
Contact Paul 😀


Smiley 🙂

Smiley wrote:

vduboy wrote:Or you could roll it down hill to me! I'd like to see another locked manxter! Might as well be mine...!

http://steelart.com.au/
Sells them.
Contact Paul 😀


Smiley 🙂

Hahaha yeah already spoken to Paul about it... just thought I was being a nice guy helping you clear some bench space. I am such a giver...! Honestly a bit undecided whether to eventually get a subarugears box with a low first for crawling and the rest being standard ratios or a locked bus box..
How is Alyce coming along? You have so many cool toys!!

^ Go subaru, stronger, smaller, easier to get bits for, same price for double the strength, etc, etc.

pete wood wrote:^ Go subaru, stronger, smaller, easier to get bits for, same price for double the strength, etc, etc.

Way too expensive unfortunately.

I already had the 1800 at home as well as the shifter parts, flywheel and gearbox mounts. For basically the cost of a clutch kit and some labour I had a running bus again.


Smiley 🙂

Well it has been a long time between updates!

Last report was the bus had come home on a tilt tray with a busted auto. A lot has happened since then.

Engine and box both came out! Enlisted a few mates to come and get dirty with me.








We separated the offending paperweight from the engine (not far off a paperweight itself)








Fitted up a flywheel and new clutch kit. Can't remember if it is a 210 or 215. Whichever is more common.





And then pulled this box off the shelf to use. This is actually the 1800 bus box that I was running in my Baja for a few years. We had to find a bellhousing to fit. Which I got of another box on the shelf. Because I cut the ears off the bellhousing to fit it in the bug with no bodylift.





After this I spent a lot of time lying around under the car sorting the manual conversion out. I decided to remove the condenser and aircon lines from under the car. They were all old and will be replaced with modern stuff anyway.
And old school condenser was crazy massive, but only held on by four M6 bolts to the chassis rails!! Check out the fan motors, they are like starter motors!!! The fans have hit the condenser at some stage as half the fins have been flattened over.














This was the monstrosity that was hanging out under the front left wheel arch. I removed the drier and cut the hoses off flush with the floor. And removed all the hoses under the car that when to the condenser and engine bay.





I removed the auto shifter and all the cable mechanism that goes to the box. If you look closely down the gearstick hole you can see the little circular tab that the manual shift rod has to sit in. All the autos have this it just need to be bent around so the shift rod can fit into it.





While I was in there I gave the front floor a good cleanup and a coat of paint. It was covered in glue where someone had previously glued the carpets down in the front.











I 'procured' some stainless steel tubing from work and welded that in underneath for the clutch tube. Pretty well all of the tabs and holes that it goes through are there. You just have to bend them into place.





Engine and box were fitted back up. I lashed out and bought a Berg shifter for the bus. Got it at a very good price on special and I have to say that it makes shifting so nice and the bus a pleasure to drive.








Here's a good tip for those playing at home. If you want to seal up your clutch/accelerator cables go to the wreckers and have a look in the engine bays of some more modern cars. You can pick up these little concertina boots off the throttle cables of some cars. I found that little Ford and Mazda hatchbacks have them. Everytime I got there I have a look and grab any that I see. I put them on the clutch and accelerator in the bus. On both ends of the tubes if I remember correctly.











So once this was all done (around early Feb 2015) I enjoyed many months of trouble free motoring, if your idea of trouble free is topping up the oil with the fuel that is 😀
Including many camping trips with Scouts or with friends. It is so lovely to be able to pull up on a level spot, fold the back seat flat and flop into bed if necessary. No need to pitch a tent or swag and you have a nice warm, dry place to sleep and even a spare tyre to cuddle!

The bus was mostly used for smaller trips and running around town. But I took a few longer (600-800km one way) trips down to some VW shows and drag meets. Once again the bus proved versatile with it's lack of middle seat and massive cargo area. At one show it served as a swap meet ute and had no less than 20 wheels and tyres, a 36 horse engine, doors, guards and all other sorts of bits loaded inside to the headliner.

At home it proved to be a worthy workhouse. Capable of carting furniture for friends and all manner of camping gear alike. I have used it to bring 6m lengths of steel home, tying them to the roofrack. And 2400x1200mm sheets of timber, that fit so neatly through the back and onto the waiting bed that you swear the VW engineers must have measured the timber, gone back in time and built the bus to suit!!
At one point we needed a canoe transported for a Scout ceremony. No one had a trailer or car that it would fit in, but it was seemingly designed to strap to the roof of Houdini the bus. I liked the look of it on the roof so much that I didn't return the canoe for nearly 2 months 🙂
To say that I have fallen in love with the space, comfort and versatility of the bus is an understatement. I now 'get' why people and so enamored by them.








Coming soon, why an engine needs all its valves and rings. And making a big bus.

Thanks for reading.


Smiley 🙂

So, around the start of November last year Houdini developed a serious smoking problem, we're talking way more than a pack a day here.
And that pretty much put an end to me driving him. When you go around creating smoke screens that the Australian Army could hide a convoy in things are pretty dire.
Now ever since I purchased the bus the engine hasn't been in very good shape. Drinking oil and requiring very regular valve sets have demonstrated that he was never looked after very well by previous owners. But I knew all this and it's part of the reason the price was so good when I picked him up. The fact that I have done many many kms and lots of hard work with him has probably also been deleterious to engine health.

So early in Jan I pulled the engine out and took it over to a mates place, we stripped it down and discovered a few things.
Didn't take long to reduce it to this.





May have a slight issue here...





On the other head it has eaten part of the inlet valve guide. You can see the hammering on the head, it is mirrored on the piston. I remember when this happened on the way to Brisbane from the VW drags one arvo. Horrible noise for a second or two, and then it must have spat it out the back. And the funny thing is that it actually ran better and felt like it had more power afterwards!! But I guess you can recognise half a horse when you only have about 10 to start with!





Pile of bits awaiting cleanup.





So the basic breakdown includes. 2 broken rings, one stuck oil ring, broken and eaten valve guide, hole in exhaust guide and the flaps were missing in the fanhousing that direct the air into the oil cooler 🙁
Bus still started and ran fine though!
In addition to this we found that it has the worst possible Type 4 heads on it, those with 37mm inlet valves. It was supposed to have 1800 heads with 41mm valves, but I guess I got jibbed on that one too. Explains where some of those horses had escaped to.

Plans for the build are pretty basic
-96mm pistons
-stock cam but changing to hydraulic
-getting another set of heads rebuilt with 41mm valves and new everything
-balance and fix any other little issues with the engine like the missing flaps etc.
Should be a nice torquey little setup 😀


While the engine has been on holiday I have also gathered some additional bits for the bus. Front and rear flares, set of 15" Merc rims that have been modded with an offroad offset and 32 rear and 30 front inch tyres respectfully. Front end adjusters, and some other bits and pieces.

And I started work fitting the back wheels first.
Here is what the back looks like stock with 15" Merc rims and tyres.





And this is one of the 32s and the rear flares to go on.





The flare should sit around here somewhere. You can see there is a bit of trimming to go.





I marked a centreline up from the hub to work from.





No way this will fit on there yet!!





Cut, cut, cut. And then it bolts right on!!











This is only rough cut for now. I just wanted to get one on the car and see what the fit was like and how it looked. I have to trim a fair bit higher up the guard yet, somewhere in the 50-75mm range. I going to take the opening up so it is level with the top of the inner guard. And then the flares will be fitted afterwards.

I have yet to try a 30 on the front, as you can see the weather was pretty miserable with it raining on and off while I was trying to chop the guard. Hoping to attack some more tomorrow with any luck.


Smiley 🙂

I got the other side rough cut out and fitted up the other 32.





The stance is good and I like the look with both on there. But it will come down once the engine goes back in and I put the spare on the rear bar. So I think I will have to crank the back suspension up a little down the track.





The flares cover the tyres perfectly. And I would be comfortable going out to a 12.5" wide tyre (currently 11.5"). I just need to crawl under it and see what the clearance is like to the springplate.








Next up I put one of the 30s on the front. And jacked the opposite back corner up to compress it.











As you can see clearance is an issue when compressed. I can trim the section of guard off that it is currently hitting on. But It also hits the back on the inner guard when compressed and turned. The front jacking point may have to go. Will have to do a little more playing and decide.

But, overall I am happy with the stance and the wheel offsets are great. The fronts aren't even going to need flares as they are under the front guards as is. Hoping to get some more done shortly.








Thanks for looking.

Smiley 🙂

Got a quick little bit done on the bus this afternoon.

The old driver's door was really getting crusty around the edges. Fortunately when I purchased the bus it came with a solid late model door as a spare.
I swapped the glass and regulator out of the old door into the new one to replace the inoperative one. I also swapped the door handle so the lock matches the keys.
I just have to get a new door rubber as the old one fell to pieces when I tried to remove it from the yellow door.











Thanks for looking, more soon.


Smiley 🙂

This afternoon I did some further measuring and working out to trim the rear guards out the rest of the way.

Here is where I was up to previously, a bit of a rough cut just to get the wheels on there.





It's hard to tell in the picture but the inner guard curves down a lot as it comes to the outside of the body. What we want to do is cut the curved piece out and extend the inner guard straight out to give maximum room for the wheel on up travel. I was also a little concerned about the dodgy seatbelt bolts hanging down so much. But it turns out the tyre is no where near them under compression, I will still be tidying them up down the track though.





I made a cardboard template of the profile of the inner guard. I transferred this onto the outside of the car and trimmed it out. I cut slightly below the line so I can sneak up on it with a flapper disc on the grinder and keep it neat.





I also removed this bottom section at the back of the inner guard. It basically attaches to the bottom of the battery tray and hangs straight down. I trimmed it off for now and am still decided whether to leave it off for good or build a new new that sits back further out of the way. It will stop some of the crud getting thrown into the back corner of the body under the taillights.








Next up I removed the bumpstop snubber and put a wheel on. Compressed it up with a bit of extra mass hanging off the back in the form of my old man. The trailing arm was about 50mm off the bump stop and I have 50mm clearance between the guard and the top of the tyre. The snubber rubber is 90mm high and I am planning to trim one knob off the bottom of it to give a little more up travel. But the clearances should still be all good.





Back on the wheels. And I trimmed out the other side the same.








One other thing that I will have to address on the left side is the sliding door. Currently it just hits the wheel, but once the flare goes on it will crash straight into it. So I have to trim the kickout arm and add some tube to it to hold the door out further at the back and clear the flare. I will wait until I put the flare on so I can measure how much I need to add. In the meantime I need to remember not to open the sliding door fully.








More soon.

Smiley 🙂

Geez Smiley don't you ever rest? I put some 31's onto an L300 Mitsi Van 4x4 years ago.Did a 2" body lift and 3" suspension lift,but had the same issue with the sliding door.I just lengthened that guide arm you had in your pic.In the Mitsi it didn't effect the closing-only moved the door out further when opened.

Good stuff Smiley! 👍

Houdini came equipped with dealer fitted aricon. But unfortunately it just doesn't give me enough head room. Me head tends to rest against it while I drive, or hit into it on bumps. So I made the decision to pull it out for the time being and decide if i want to mod it and refit or fit an under dash setup later.








This is at my friend's place just after we finished off the engine and he was running and tuning it. He rebuilt most of it and I basically showed up one weekend and cleaned the gunk off the tinware and other bits so we could paint and fit them.








Home again all safe in my shed.





While I was at the Gold Coast I picked up some cheap 33x12.5x15s for the back. They are a little worn and don't match, but for $50 each I couldn't complain. Going to see what the gearing is like and then make up my mind what size I want from there, and buy some new ones when I have money.
I fitted them up and rolled them down the hill to the house so I could give everything a good clean. The inner guards and underside of the chassis and engine bay needed a good degreasing. You can see in the next picture I uncovered some gleaming white factory paint under the guards.





I think it looks like a bit of a wacky racer with the bigs on the back and nose down attitude. I have borrowed a 4 inch lifted beam to try out and see if I like. Then I am going to make my own.





A friend said it looks lie a steamroller from behind with the big wheels, I like this 😀





The 33s are pretty close to the spring plate caps. They clear for now but I might have to do some trimming when I get new tyres that have more tread.





It was time to tow it back to the shed and start work on filling the big gaps in the inner guards. I started on the left side. I took the wheel off the opposite side and let it down and then jacked it right up to lean the bus over to let me do the overhead welding a little more easily.








I started at the top with the small flat section that I left behind. I basically just trimmed stuff to suit, made sure it was square and them made strips up to go in there. You know the drill.











For the back corner I trimmed the bottom to match the new guard line and the carried it down to the seam where the two panels meet on the inside. Turned out pretty good and I am happy with the look. Then I made a patch for it.











On the front it is pretty much the same. But I did it in two pieces, one straight one and then the little curved piece for the bottom.








One other thing the I might do it cut the bottom knob off the rear snubbers to give me a little more up travel. But that will depend on what shocks I end up with. I have been told that Patrol shocks compress almost the same as a bus shock but give an extra 50mm of extension, more research is required. I dropped the bottom bolt out of the shock and it has no more travel in it with the spring plate on the lower stop.








Then it was time to move on to the other side.
Make the plates.





Tack them in.





Found a heap of bog in front of the right guard, extended all the way to the next panel. I ended up buffing a heap of it off back to bare metal. No rust, but the panel is pretty rippled out of shape. This will get fixed later, I just want to get this driving for now.








Trimmed the back corner the same as the other side.








And all finished off and painted. Then I through the wheels back on and got it level.





Today I am hoping to the the engine in. The flares fitted up and the sliding door arm extended. Then I can start running the engine in 🙂

Thanks for reading, 4 inch beam lift and offroad action coming in the near future.


Smiley 🙂

Love your work Smiley. Whereabouts can you get the wheel offset changed?
Thanks, Greg

grinderman wrote:Love your work Smiley. Whereabouts can you get the wheel offset changed?
Thanks, Greg

Hey Greg

To be perfectly honest I don't know. I bought these wheels from another Baja Bus already done.
A mate had some done maybe 12 months ago somewhere down the Gold Coast, I think Labrador area. But I'm not certain.


Smiley 🙂

I got the flares all mounted up. They cover the wheels and tyres perfectly.











And as predicted the door goes no where near clearing them. It does for a little right at the start. But the further you go back the worse it gets.





So I removed the door mech so I could lengthen the arm. Found a few cracks in the door around where it all bolts in! Lucky I am planning to change this door in the future with a stock windowed door.














I sat the door on a milk crate and some lumps of wood so I could set the clearance to the flare and measure the distance to lengthen the arm. Turns out to be 100mm. So got some tube and added some in the middle.








The arm works pretty good on opening. But tends to kick the wheel sideways and jam when trying to slide the door closed. This is being causes by my bus's lack of the little plastic block that holds the wheel straight on the runner. It is half broken, and I have to source a new one. Another issue that I found is the arms stays in the locked out position because there is no stop for it where the longer arms should hit. So I have pulled a second stop unit out of another bus and am planning to fit it up too. Will put some more pictures of it as it progresses, there are a few things I don't like and may yet change some more things before it is done.





I cut the fuel injected airbox mount off the inside of the engine bay. Then started cleaning it up a bit while the battery was out and ended up giving it a quick spray with some paint.








A little bit of work after this and the engine was fitted back up. It starts but runs like a bag of dicks. I have since realised that I forgot to hook the booster line up so it has a massive vac leak. Will rectify in the morning and hopefully go for my first drive in a big bus!!





That back has come down some with the addition of the engine, and I have lost some of the guard clearance. It still sits a bit higher than the front. The rear torsions are sagged and I am planning to wind them up a bit once I work out what is going on up the front. I have a 4 inch beam to fit, so i will see where the back needs to be once that happens.





Thanks for reading.


Smiley 🙂

Awesome work Smiley.
👍
You get more done in a week than I do in year!

Well done Daniel!

Top effort as always. I see on one of the pics theres a blue bug eyed baja in the background. whats the story with that unit :P?

bajachris88 wrote:Well done Daniel!

Top effort as always. I see on one of the pics theres a blue bug eyed baja in the background. whats the story with that unit :P?

One that we bought off eBay mega years ago for my dad.
He drove it around for a few years. but it had heaps of rust and problems.


Smiley 🙂

Hey everyone. Has been a while since I posted.

A few small updates with the bus.
First was the vac line for the brake booster. This is the monstrosity that was hanging out under the back of the bus. Plenty of places for leaks to develop, which will cook the engine.





It was replaced with a single like that goes from the vac crossover tube on the engine to the tube that runs to the front of the car. And the one way valve was mounted back in there too.





On the Easter long weekend I drove down 800km each way with 4 others to my last camp as a Rover Scout. The bus was packed to the brim with all of our stuff. There was 5 people, 3 swags, everyone's bags, fridge, shelter, stove, boxes of food, etc. Houdini was a lowered big bus with everything on board!!








A nice picture my passenger took while the sun was going down.





All set up down at the camp site. I've said it plenty of times, but it is so lovely not to have to pack a tent or swag when traveling in the bus 🙂





A week or so later I took the bus out for it's first real offroad outing. Up the local 4WD beach/sand spot, 5 Rocks. There is a fairly difficult sand dune to get into the place and on my first attempt I got a little bogged down. Backed up and had a second crack, but still no go. When I when to back up the gearbox went plink and I had no reverse. I figured I had blown the reverse idler which is a common thing to go in offroad vehicles running Kombi or Bug boxes. With a little push from two mates I managed to get going forwards and got all the way up the hill. I figured from this point on I just need to go forwards!!
It wasn't long before we were to the top of the headland that looks out to 5 Rocks and 9 Mile Beach in the other direction.

















Made it home again with no worries. I still need a bit more practice offroading in a bus. I was trying too hard to drive it like my Baja. I need to slow down more and let the Type 4 chug up stuff.


Last Friday and it was time to fix the reverse for the weekend so I could drive 800km again for a VW show and swap.
The night before I pulled the drain plus and let all the oil run out overnight. The next morning I pulled out a little toy I got a while back but haven't had a chance to use, and endoscope camera. I stuck it up the drain hole and had a look around inside. Turned out that the idler gear was fine, but the circlip had come off the input shaft splined joint. The clip must had been hit by the diff once it moved cause it was bent and in the bottom of the case. The splined sleeve then slid back and robbed me of reverse gear! This was good news. I didn't have to get my spare box out to swap in, just fix this one.

The camera.





Up the drain hole





It's hard to see in the photo, but the camera is quite clear. This is a view of the slid back gear on the sleeve.





Now it was just a matter of pulling engine and box out, separating them, opening the box and fitting a new clip.











Here is the old clip that was in the bottom of the case.





And here is the sleeve back forward in the correct position meshed with the reverse drive.





I removed the input shaft and took it down to get a new circlip.





Then just bolt everything back together and in! What a massive fix for the tiniest problem. Everything was back as it should be by 4:30 Friday arvo. I also did oil and filter on the engine and checked the valves.





Then drove it 800 odd km down for the Gold Coast VW show. It rained a lot so there was a small turnout compared to most years. I had fun, didn't win anything 🙂
On the was back about 50km from home The CV bolts on one side of the gearbox came loose while I was pulling away at an intersection. I rolled to a stop at the side of the road and there was only one bolt holding the CV up and one bent and one broken one hanging out of the CV. I lost 3 bolts and one torque plate. I robbed one bolt ouyt of all of the other CVs and bolted it back up. I also checked the others over, they were all fine. I think this one in particular came loose because the seal in the CV cup on the gearbox has a small hole in it and was weeping oil. When I put the axles back in there was a fair bit of oil on the bolts etc. So I guess the extra lube allowed it to work it's way loose.
This morning I picked up a full set of new bolts as well as a new seal for the box. I'm going to pull the axles out and clean and repack the CVs and fit the new bolts up. Hopefully tomorrow.

That is all I have for now, perhaps I will get time to start some more mods soon!

Thanks for reading.


Smiley 🙂

Found a few more pictures from the 5 Rocks run on my friend's Facebook. He was driving the Toyota 80 series that is chopped into a ute.

Cruising up the beach.





Had just popped over the dune off the beach and it turned out to be mega soft. Unfortunately with no reverse I couldn't back up and have a second crack at it. Even the Maxtrax couldn't get me moving again in the uphill powder. So Luke gave me a pull to some firmer ground. And he had to drop his pressures waaay down and still struggled to get moving. It was soft!!!






Smiley 🙂

Nice pics Smiley. Did you go up the up track or up the down track at Big Sandy. I think that all cars do it tough. Nice place though.
Saw your bus at the Gold Coast show but missed meeting you. A bit wet too.
Neil

njg02 wrote:Nice pics Smiley. Did you go up the up track or up the down track at Big Sandy. I think that all cars do it tough. Nice place though.
Saw your bus at the Gold Coast show but missed meeting you. A bit wet too.
Neil

Ended up going up the down track, the right hand one. It's the first time I ever have!! Normally always go the left in the bug.

You have PM mate.


Smiley 🙂

It's finally time! Started fitting up the 4 inch beam to the bus today.

Laying in wait, ready to go in.





How he sits this morning. Stock height (possibly sagged a little).








This is jacked up 100mm from where it was. So it should be this high when we are finished 🙂





Beam out. Took a bit more effort than I first though. A lot of the cables and tubes are run through the beam between the tubes. So a lot of stuff had to be removed or disconnected, including, the clutch cable, handbrake cables, shift rod, vac hoses, brake lines, heater hose, drag link and speedo cable.








Next part to attack was the brake master/booster mount. Because it is mounted to the beam you need to change some things when you drop everything 4 inches. I have seen it in the past where people dogleg the pushrod and just run it like that. I have always though this looked a little dodgy so I decided to angle the booster instead.
This is the bracket that holds the booster in place. Al I did was cut the weld on the upper tube and the push the top of the bracket towards the rear of the bus. I fitted the beam up and test fitted the booster and pushrod before rewelding the bracket.





I also had to extend the length of the pushrod by about 20-25mm. I had a bolt that was the correct thread. So I cut the old threads off and the head off the bolt. Welded them together, then sleeved and plug welded it too.











Beam fitted in. Then I just had to fit my spindles and brakes, and everything else that had been taken out.
Was a bit easier as most of it goes over the top of the upper beam tube now. So if I had to remove it again I wouldn't have to disconnect the clutch, shifter, heater or handbrake cables.





Have gotten it mostly back together and down on the wheels. Looking a lot bigger and better!








Still a few things to get tomorrow to finish it off. Needs new vacuum hoses for the booster feed and drain, they were too short and pretty old anyway. New fill line that runs from the brake fluid res down to the master cylinder. It was rock hard and I had to cut it to get it off. And I'm going to have some 100mm longer had lines made up for the front and rear brake circuit feeds too. They reach at a stretch But I would rather have them neat and not at their limit.
Just need to fit that lot up and the heater hose too, do a wheel alignment. And then I have to spin it around a do the back a spline or so to match.

Thanks for reading.


Smiley 🙂

So I picked up some new vac hose, and some hose to go from the res to the master for the brake fluid.
Had some new hardlines made up for underneath, 100mm longer for the beam drop. Managed to get everything to bleed up good. Had a bit of trouble at first but go there in the end. I think it is good that the fluid has been flushed through, the old stuff was very black.








This is how it was sitting this afternoon with the beam drop and small tyres on the front still. WAAAAY nose up! I have driven it for a few days like this but today I got time to attack the rear suspension. Some before pictures first. And one side comparison shot from before the beam lift.











You can see that the back is pretty low compared to the front.








So time to crank the back one outer spline, that is meant to give 2.5 inches of lift.
You can see here that the spring plate cover has been getting a bit of rubbing, and so has the edge of the plate a tiny bit.





I marked the bearing carrier to the spring with white pen before removing the four bolts that hold everything together.





You then need to push the axle assembly towards the rear of the car. Where the brake hardline runs through the axle bearing carrier it also runs through a hole/slot in the end of the spring plate. You need to slide everything back and free this hardline so you don't damage it. Then you can release the spring plate off the stop.








Then pull the covers etc and pop the plate off the stop. They are under bugger all tension in a stock height bus so it's easy. Then I took the cover to the vice and trimmed a little bit off to prevent further rubbing.








Didn't take many more pictures of the reassembly, it's all very straight forward. Move the plate around one outer notch. I also pulled them and lubed the splines and sprayed some Lanolin inside the torsion housing. Fitted new spring plate bushings while I had it apart and lubed them up with plenty of graphite powder.
I took a picture of the left side bar just to show you all how nice they were. For a poor ugly bus the torsions were immaculate. Clean, painted and not a mark on them. The housing was perfect inside and the splines slide freely with no crude or rust. Very happy with that indeed.





Put everything back together and refitted the rear wheels. And some after shots. I gained about 60mm in the back end with one outer spline. This may settle a bit once I drive it.








Then I decided to fit up the other front wheels I have for it (225/75/15s). You can see here the rims have a bit more offset and fill the front guards out better.














And of course the standard measure of ground clearance in my shed, the humble milk crate 😀





Not quite under the front beam.





Heaps under the middle.





And good under the engine.





That's all for now. I really need to save up and get some new tyres all round for it. The rears are not matching and bald, and the fronts are very old. It is sitting pretty spot on level at the moment. But when two people get in the front it drops nearly 50mm. I might try and remedy that in the future when I build up my beam. I have some center adjusters to put in that could solve that problem.
But for now I am just going to cruise around for a bit and look down at everyone 😀
Thanks for reading.


Smiley 🙂

Love your work smiley, I like a raised bus more than a lowered one. If your getting a bit of droop when you jump in a set of new leaves for the front beam would fix that and probably a bit more lift without adjusters.

Looks good. Seen you turn on to Yaamba rd yesterday.

A few little things have been happening.

I had the engine and box out a little over a month ago because the gearbox was leaking from everywhere so I decided it was time for a full reseal. It would appear that the only picture that I took was it bolted back up to the engine after it was all done.
But I basically changed all the seals that I could get to. Shiftrod seal in the nosecone, the input shaft seal in the bellhousing. The O-rings on the outside of the alloy diff adjusters in the sides of the box as well as the output flange seals and caps.





While everything was out of the way there were a few things to take care of in the engine bay.
Firstly I fitted up a fuel shutoff solenoid. I have had it sitting around for a while and threw it in while I had the extra room. It is wired up with the fuel pump.





Some of the edge of the engine bay seam was missing on the left side. I was told this is removed as a part of when the aircon is added. I figured I would put it back in to help seal the edge of the bay to the foam seal.
I just cut a piece out of a wreck, trimmed it to size then welded it in.











The final task that I wanted to tackle while the engine and box were out was the fabrication and fitment of an exhaust heat shield.
These are a factory fitted piece that are frequently missing from the Type 4 engine of a lot of buses these days. Because of the material they were made from and the constant heat cycling, a lot have rusted beyond repair. I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow one from the local VW shop that was still in one piece. Though only barely, some of the mount tabs were quite rusty and I had to be gentle lest I break one off.

Here is a the factory heat shield. You can see that it has three mounting locations that hold it above the muffler. A long bracket on each side that bolts to the tinware, and a small tab in the middle where a bolt holds it just behind the fan.














I started by taking a lot of measurements of the mounting brackets and drawing them out on paper so I had an accurate record for future use. Next up I laid the heat shield out on some sheet metal so I could make an outline copy of the main plate to use as a template in the future.





The original heat shield is comprised of two different sheets of metal over a woven chrysotile asbestos sheet that is sandwiched in between. I have decided to vary mine slightly by using a single sheet of metal to which I will attach some aluminium heat shielding material. It is what I could get a hold of, and I'm sure it will operate fine. I used my template to mark out the shielding material. I made it oversized as it is my intention to roll the edges around the metal plate and then rivet it in place.








Once that was done I marked out what was to be the main base sheet of my heat shield. You can see that I opted to raise the mounting brackets out of this parent metal instead of making them separately and welding them on. There was a few reasons for this. I figured that this would be a stronger design that would be less likely to develop cracks on the constantly vibrating engine compared to a welded design. And the gaps that I am creating would be covered by the aluminium heat shielding material anyway.
I also decided to change one of the mounts around too. On the factory shield the centre nut is on the top side of the tinware just behind the fan. The screw is intended to come up from the bottom, through the shield tab and thread into the nut. Unfortunately this process is close to impossible with the muffler bolted in place. So what I did was removed the nut from the upper tin and weld it onto the underside of the heat shield. so now the screw thread through from above and is far easier to install.
I mounted it to the engine to check the fit.











After the fit was deemed fit for purpose I proceeded to drill the rivet holes in the plate. I put a rivet in each end of the aluminium to hold it to the plate and then slowly worked my way around fitting all of the remaining rivets.
The rearward facing edge was rolled around the plate and some small washers were used to help clamp the alloy down with the rivets.











And here is the completely product next to the old factory heat shield.














Mounted up the the engine the fit is as good as before. I have included a picture of where I removed the nut from the pulley tinware and the screw goes through now.











I live in a part of the country that gets reasonably warm during the Summer months, so I am hoping that this heat shield will do a little to help keep the engine as cool as possible. The engine is back in the bus and I have been driving it around for the past month.
I'm hoping to have some more updates soon.

Thanks for reading.


Smiley 🙂

Looks great!
You can get heat shield stuff, it's just like the thermo wrap for pipes but comes in a sheet. Might help IF you need some more protection for summer.

I love this bus and how it keeps evolving.

Keep going - its awesome!

Well done Smiley - keep up that suspension work and you might get some altitude sickness.

Scottkombi wrote:I love this bus and how it keeps evolving.

Keep going - its awesome!

Thanks mate.

We are just getting started!


Smiley 🙂

A few other little things that have happened on the bus. Some today, some in the last month or two.

Added oil temp and pressure gauges to the bus. They are just temporarily through the speaker grill on the top of the dash for the time being. I intend to put them down in the dash at some point. Whoever cut the hole out for the stereo put it right in the middle of the dash and let no room top or bottom for gauges.
Also, my little elephant road tripping buddy has a better seat now 🙂





I have added a sandwich plate on top of the filter so I can run some hoses off to an additional cooler. I added a bit of heat shielding where the hoses pass under the tinware. And trimmed the tin back a bit to allow the air to flow out nicely still. Adding the hoses and fittings blocks the outlet up somewhat.
Then the hoses run down the side of the transaxle and switch over to the RHS of the bus.











The cooler is mounted between the chassis rails on a piece of angle that I trimmed one side off that would have blocked the leading edge of the cooler. It sits on the RHS of the bus between the heater hose and the chassis rail. It is mounted so the front edge of the cooler lines up with the back edge of one of the floor tophats. Then the hoses come out of the top of the cooler just behind the tophat and run to the back. I might mess around with shrouding in the future to see if I can encourage some more airflow through the cooler, but I think it will see plenty of wind where it is for the time being.








The view from the front. Don't mind the table under there. I was just using it to block the sun so I could take a picture that wasn't dark.





There may be room on the other side to mount a second cooler. But most of the lines and cable tubes are on this side and I think they will all get in the way.





Have picked up some steel to make a rear bar. Just need to get some more think wall angle. I thought I had a length at home, but alas I was mistaken.





Have a small(ish) To Do list that I am working my way through. I also adjusted the steering stops today, as well as tightened the handbrake cables and adjust the gearstick a little more rearward.





More soon.
Thanks for looking.


Smiley 🙂

Made a start on the rear bar this afternoon.

I want to to look basically the same as a stock one. But it will be 100x100mm box with the stock bar wrapped around it. It will also have a hole in the middle for the tow hitch. And eventually I will add the swingout tyre carrier for the spare too.





You can see in the next picture that I don't want to drop the bar at all from its currently position. It will foul the exhaust tip. I might even raise it slightly so I can redo the exhaust at some point to get a little more clearance under it.





It's official, buses look completely weird with the rear bar removed. Gives a bit better view of the new heat shield though 🙂











Here is the box sitting in place. It is currently too long. I am going to trim it back to the same width as the chassis rails in the back, 1115mm for those playing at home. Was actually a lot easier than I thought to cut through it with the 100mm grinder.














Bar sitting back in the stock location...





...but now it has the box insert sitting inside it 😀





That's all I got done today. Hoping to get the mounting plates fabbed up tomorrow so I can mount the box up to the chassis.

Thanks for looking.


Smiley 🙂

Got a little more done this arvo on the rear bar.

I noticed when I removed the factory bar, that the brackets bolt to the underside of the chassis with two M10 bolts. But there is a third threaded hole in the chassis a little further forward. I ran a tap through all of them and will be using all three for the mounting plates. Does anyone know what the factory used the third hole for?
I am using some 40x40mm angle that will bolt up to the underside of the chassis and weld to the bar.





In addition to the angle I am making some side plates out of 6mm plate that will weld to the ends of the box and cap them off. I am basically copying Andrew's bar he made for his bus but changing a few things. His build here http://www.manxclub.org/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1582&start=60
The plates will bolt through the chassis with some M12 bolts and crush tubes. Just have to make sure that it clears the rear engine mount bar.





While I was lying under the car looking at how I was going to mount the bar I noticed that the flange for where the exhaust tip bolts to the muffler was cracked on the underside. I removed the muffler and gave the crack a cleanup, and then laid a bit of weld in there to fix it up. I was lucky enough to have some new exhaust gaskets left over from my dad's bug (we ended up with two sets for some reason). So I refitted it back up with the new gaskets.








Then I spent a while taking a lot of measurements and working out where I want the box and rear bar to sit. I have decided to lift it up 15mm higher than factory. And the gap between the rear or the body and the box will be 30mm. Then I drew this all out on a cardboard template to see if it would fit. I like to write the measurements straight on the template for a quick reference. Then I tried it on the car, I had to adjust a few dimensions to get it to fit perfectly. Also sat the box in place on jackstands to offer the template up to it.














Last thing I got done this afternoon was to let the hole through the centre of the main box for the tow hitch box to go into. First I marked out the centre point on the main box and marked out where the hole needs to be for the smaller box to go through.








You can see in the previous picture that the corners of the small box are very rounded. I didn't want to be filling up large gaps with weld. I wanted to make the join as snug as possible so the welds can be airtight and strong. In the future I would like to used the large box section of the barwork as an air compressor tank.
With that in mind I measured the radius of the corners and used a 20mm drill bit to put the curves in that I needed. Then I just cut the straight edges with a thin cutting disc and tapped the waste out with a hammer. Ended up with a nice pair of home made Iron Crosses at the same time 🙂








With the holes cut I just had to tidy the perimeter up a little with the die grinder until the small box was a nice fit. I can tap it through with a hammer and block of timber. The final length still needs to be worked out. It will need to protrude through the stock bar enough that I can get the hitch pin in it. I will be sticking it about 5mm through the front side so I can get a nice weld on it.








As always, thanks for looking.


Smiley 🙂

Smiley,you have gone pretty quiet.The big trip across the Nulla bor slow you you down a bit???

nbturbo wrote:Smiley,you have gone pretty quiet.The big trip across the Nulla bor slow you you down a bit???

No more than my usual snail pace! Trying to get a few things sorted for the run down to Warwick.


This is the rear bar bolted up in the factory location. I was messing around trying to work out where to fit the trailer plug on the rear bar. I am aware that there is currently one in the engine hatch but there is no wiring to it and I don't want it there, I also think that the tyre carrier might get in the way of plugging the cable in.





I though maybe I could fit in in between the box and the rear of the body. But with it in place that gap to the back of the vehicle looks horrible. The bar is stood off a mile. It doesn't look so bad in the pictures, but in the flesh it looks like the bumper is falling of the back of the bus. Way too much gap.











Even with the box pushed in to where I plan to run it has more gap than I thought it would. The next picture the box is gapped to the back of the bus and the bumper is pushed as far over it as possible. But hoping that the tyre carrier will mask some of this gap.





I cut out the mounting plates that will be welded to the ends of the box section. I have also cut some 40mm angle that will be bolted to the underside of the chassis too. Will get some more pictures of this tomorrow.
When I cut the plates out I drilled some 10 or 12mm holes at the inside of the radius of any corners. I didn't want to cut squarely into the corners with the thin cutting disc and create a stress area that cracks could start at. Has to be strong enough to snatch 4WDs out when they get stuck, so don't want it snapping of the back of the bus!








I dropped the 100mm box off to get sandblasted inside and out. I am planning to use the box as an air tank so I wanted it clean inside. Prior to welding it up I will spray some oil in it for the time being to stop it rusting up. Then later I can add fittings and pressure relief etc.

Next up I started work on the cold air intake for the engine. I bought some tube and bends off eBay. And was trying to work out the best way to mount them to the side of the engine bay.





I was around helping someone with a few things on their bus and noticed that it had factory mounts for an intake pipe. Because my bus is injected it had the airbox mount but not these two intake brackets. So I went and had a look in the back of one of the Bay wrecks that I have and sure enough, it has the mounts. Cut them out with a cordless grinder and they happen to be the perfect size for the 2.5 inch tubing. And the hose clamps I have fit nicely into the back of them.











Started mocking up where I wan the intake to run. I wanted it a bit higher in the bay than this to get it up clean of the battery and out of the way.
I ended up cutting one side of the 45° bend as short as possible. This brings the bend closer to the intake where it clamps on and further away from the side wall of the engine bay. So it angles up for longer and tucks up higher out of the way.








I cut one leg off the alloy tubing to shorten it up to hug around the corner of the firewall above the battery. The piece I cut off happened to be the perfect length to put between the 45° and 90° blue bends. This is the intake pipe all assembled how it goes in the car.





I fitted the intake mounts using nutserts. I figured bolting them it was easier than trying to weld in the engine bay. And they are super easy to take in and out now too. The first one is basically where the factory had it. And the one above the battery I moved further out to the right of the car to support the end of the tube as much as possible.





I clamped the intake in place before getting a picture of the second mount. It is under that hose clamp there.





Intake all fitted in place.





Looking down the hatch in the back.








Heaps of clearance above the battery.





And that's how you fit a cold air intake to you bus 🙂

Thanks for looking, more soon.


Smiley 🙂

Got some more work done on the rear bar before the Warwick VW Drag weekend.
I cut the hole in the rear bumper for the tow hitch to come through. I drilled the corners first with a 10mm drill to get the corners of the hole a nice radius.








I decided to fit the trailer plug through the box section. But because I want to use the bar as an air tank this means keeping it all airtight. So I picked up a length of heavy wall tubing, sliced a bit off and will weld it in place to create a void for the plug to go in so I don't have to space the rear bar a km off the back of the car.
The tubing I got is seamed. So when I cut the slot in it I made sure that I cut the seam out of the tube. One less weak point to worry about.
I worked out where I wanted it on the box and marked and cut it out so the tube was a nice hammer fit.














A little tidy up and you can see where the plug will sit. I have some 6mm plate that will also get welded on top of the bar. This is so I have something to bolt the plug down to without drilling holes in the box section. Still needs to be trimmed to shape and welded on.











Back to the bar mounts. It was suggested from a friend that I drill the mount bolts through the chassis and clamp through the whole thing. He said the thread in the chassis isn't the strongest. He has done the same thing on his bus and tows a car trailer with it so no arguments from me.
You can only do it with the front two bolts. The rear one is inside the pillar at the back of the engine bay so you can't get to the top of it.








Then I bolted up the mounting plates. They are only tacked together at the moment. The large side plate will be bolted through the chassis in three places. Only one for the time being. There was one 10mm holes in the chassis already that I am using. But the engine needs to come out to drill the other two, these will be 12mm. I will also enlarge the other one to 12mm too. And the 40mm angle is bolted up through the chassis in the 3 factory holes. I made some plates out of 6mm that sit on the top in the engine bay.











You can see in the next picture how the box will be welded to the mounts. The side plate caps the end of the box and the angled piece will be welded to the side of the box. I tacked it, then removed the angled piece so I could fully weld around the end of the box and make an airtight seal with the end plate. Then the angle was welded on second.





I took the box section and had it blasted. So it would be a bit cleaner inside and nicer to weld up.





Smiley 🙂

I fitted the tow hitch box section into the main bar. Then level this up behind the bus. I used the blue screw jackstand to tune in the angle of the tow hitch. I measured the roof gutters of the bus with an angle finder and made it the same angle on the tow hitch. So should be level if the bus is.





Then I tacked it up so I could see how it looked before I welded it out. I Trimmed the hitch back too, left it a little oversized so I can set the right length later.

















I welded the hitch in first. Then both ends. Then fitted it back to the bus so I could tack the angled pieces in place and then weld them on too. I think it pulled a little when the angle was fitted. It was a little tighter on the chassis and needed some hammering to get on. This doesn't really bother me. Once it is finished and on for the final time I don't intend on removing it again.

















I welded a couple of nuts on the ends so I could bolt the bumper in place to head down to Warwick (900km each way). Will make some better mounts now that I am back. The towball is just in there for show. I hadn't drilled the pin hole at this point.
I am happy with how it looks. It has spaced the bumper out a bit. But I think the tyre carrier will cover this up. It is super strong and that is what is most important.








Drove the car down 900 odd km to Warwick for the VW drags. I am fortunate that my grandma lives 30km away the next town over. So I always have somewhere nice to stay every year when I go down for the drags. I gave the bus a good wash the Friday before the show.





Bus setup next to the drag strip watching the racing. Was going to put it in the show and shine, but we liked having the shade a lot more. Plus he doesn't exactly shine 😀





This afternoon I finished off the trailer hitch on the bar. I marked then drilled the holes through for the pin.








Then I trimmed off the excess length I didn't need.





I slid the towball as far in as it would go and used the hitch as a guide to add a new set of holes in it. So now I have two different spots it can be at. But I think I will just use it on the holes that have it furthermost in.

















So now we have towbar! Just need a plug and it should be good to go. That's all for now folks.

Thanks for looking.


Smiley 🙂

How many times have you lost your knee on the towbar so far? 😂

Every time I read this thread I get the Kombi itch BAD!

I noticed the green door and yellow sides, then remembered the John Deere sign over my back fence.
Just an observation......... 😁

and what are you towing?

modnrod wrote:How many times have you lost your knee on the towbar so far? 😂

None so far, but I know it is coming.

modnrod wrote:I noticed the green door and yellow sides, then remembered the John Deere sign over my back fence.
Just an observation......... 😁

He'll be all one colour some day!

rocknrob wrote:and what are you towing?

Trailers, dragging wrecks out at home to be stripped, 4WDs out when offroading and anything else that I want. You know, the usual things you use a towbar for.


Smiley 🙂

I put my trailer on the bus the other day to see how it looked. I was expecting it to be a lot more nose up. But I think Houdini's saggy butt has it sitting fairly level.








Took a mate that was visiting for a day for a run out to 5 Rocks. Haven't been out there since the bus has been lifted so was interested on how he would go. Was a bit softer than last time but made it up the big dune to get in no worries. This is us at the top. Had to air down a bit though 🙂











Drove up through the small township and out onto the headland. Got some good pictures. Scott had a far more fancy pants camera than me. So when I get some pictures off him I will post them up too.




















Headed down to the beach and cruised around some more. Found some rocks to flex on. Houdini is a little lacking. But when I get back in the car the front right compresses up a lot more.






































I was very happy with the way the bus performed in the sand. With the tyres down and the mass balanced a little more to the rear with the new back bar he got the power down nicely. You have to back off with the grunt of the Type 4 otherwise he just wants to spin wheels. Have to just let him chug of through.
Was a great test run before Fraser this weekend to check things and get a feel for the bus.


Smiley 🙂

After the beach run I got started on fitting up another oil cooler. With the Summer heat already getting up around here and the Fraser trip looming I thought it would a good addition to keeps the temps down. Longer term plan will probably be to swap one or both of these small coolers out for a large one with a thermostatically controlled fan.

The new cooler is mounted to the same frame as the first one.
I also added an extra support bracket to hold the centre of the frame up and stop it sagging in the middle.











All plumbed up. You can also see the extra brace. It bolts through an 8mm holes that was already in the tophat frame.











Last time I had the engine and box out I noticed some play in the front mount. This demonstrated itself on the sand with the engine revving itself up and down slightly at points. So I ordered a new mount when I got some other parts.

Here is the old mount removed.





Unfortunately the new mount was a different shape. Slightly smaller and more rounded on the corners that face towards the front of the car. I thought that perhaps my mount cradle was beginning to wear out. So I grabbed another cradle be came up with the same result, the new mount is just the wrong size.
You can see the gaps in the corners of this picture.





The old mount was actually still in good condition. Just a little loose in the cradle. So I decided to deck the back of the cradle where it sits against the gearbox. This will clamp the rubber up tighter and take the slack out of the mount.
I trimmed about 2-3mm off the cradle with the grinder and then flattened it out with a hand file. You can see the inside is polished up from the rubber moving back and forward in it.
This did the trick and the mount bolted up far more firmly in the bus.








Today I also added a plug under the back seat for the fridge. Still have to run some wire to it. Will be 6mm straight from the battery.








That's all for now. Will get some pictures on the Fraser run.

Thanks for looking.


Smiley 🙂

Nice photos on the beach. Love the idea of using the RHS as an air tank, mind if I pinch it for my bus. Was going to use RHS on the rear bar but never thought of using it for an air tank.

Also if you are snails pace I must be catatonic.

Yeah!, Thanks for posting,.. it's a great read.
Your fabrication skills are something to envy. 👍

Smiley,,Rob here,,very impressed by your work. Just wondering how your oil coolers are going and why you felt the need? Have you figured out what revs you are doing at 100 klicks with those big tyres? that when a vw engine is working hardest,,,just curious to whether i need an oil cooler...Rob

rocknrob wrote:Smiley,,Rob here,,very impressed by your work. Just wondering how your oil coolers are going and why you felt the need? Have you figured out what revs you are doing at 100 klicks with those big tyres? that when a vw engine is working hardest,,,just curious to whether i need an oil cooler...Rob

Coolers are going great mate. Normally sits around 80°C while cruising on the highway. We are about to have a hot week up here so I will see how it goes. It tends to slowly creep up a bit if you push it along hard.

I am planning to remove one of them and fit a larger one with a thermostatically switched fan on it. I found at Fraser that chugging around slow on the inland sand tracks that the temp was getting up near 100°C at times. An 80°C switch for the fan would combat this low speed heat soak by getting some airflow through the cooler.
I have a spare RX-8 cooler so I might end up using that if I can find an IP67-68 fan to put on it.

Don't have a tacho yet, but putting much numbers into a calculator gives around 2800RPM at 100km/h with the 33s.


Smiley 🙂

Thanks for that Smiley. I,ve been reading up on oil temp and its a complicated topic. 80c may even be too low...anyway have fitted and oil temp gauge and will start keeping track...cheers

rocknrob wrote:Thanks for that Smiley. I,ve been reading up on oil temp and its a complicated topic. 80c may even be too low...anyway have fitted and oil temp gauge and will start keeping track...cheers

Was more like 90°C on the way home today. Came up very quickly too. It was bloody hot today!!


Smiley 🙂

A few pictures from a Rover Scout camp I went down and helped out at last weekend. Was held and Awoonga Dam near Gladstone and we went out to Boyne Island/Tannum Sands Saturday.
I took a canoe down, towed my trailer down with a tent in it and took 3 people down and all their camping gear. And Friday's temperature was like a firestorm from hell. Probably the worst conditions I could have towed in with all that weight. Oil temp was at about 100°C most of them time but did come down a bit on the flat and coasting down hills. Very happy with how it went, but would still like to add a fan to one of my coolers.

This is Friday Afternoon when we showed up.





Saturday morning down at the beach. I nabbed a good spot right next to the sand and put the awning out for everyone. The shade was most welcome.





I backed into the park. People were guiding me over next to the gutter but no one was looking behind me. I stopped the bus and got out to set up and thought, "That ute is a bit close". Probably could have just put a feeler gauge between them! Lucky I didn't go back any further. In my defense though, I am in my park 🙂





A nice picture from the canoe.





Was a little windy but the awning stayed put all day. Lucky I had some big sand pegs to hold it down.





Saturday afternoon we went down to the dam for a swim. We were camped at the Scout grounds about 500m away so I took about 10 people down in the back of the bus. I drove all the way to the water's edge.








A few other people came down as well in 4WDs. None of them could drive back up the bank to camp because the ground was a little loose and rocky. They all had to put it into 4WD. I offered them a tow 🙂 Gee they make easy shit look hard sometimes. Houdini chugged back up there without even a hint of wheelspin, even with the extra bodies on board (the extra mass might have helped!)





If anyone wants to know what the tent looks like. This is why you need a trailer to move it 🙂





All loaded back up and ready to cruise home Sunday.





Thanks for looking everyone


Smiley 🙂

Looks like it was a great weekend. :-)

great pics Smiley! I know those places well. Igrew up in Gladstone. The Boyne is a mighty ferocious river in full flood. Is it time to slap some wethertex house paint on houdini with a brush?

Weathertex with a brush?!!?!?! That's a bit rough isn't it?

Killrust or Solagard with a foam roller for a quality finish.
😀

Thks for the write-up Smiley.

I'm a little further South than that I'm at Warana.

[/URL][/img]

Hey Smiley i was resetting the rear torsion bars to accomodate the extra weight of a holden V6 and i remembered your milk crate test....yep...nearly an inch to spare!

Very nice Rob!

I'm liking that tyre carrier too. I have to make one for my bus to go on the rear bar. Do you have any more pictures??


Smiley 🙂

Cutting and making Kombi"s into Baja Kombi's!!! Is nothing sacred!!!😂

[/URL][/img]

Hey Smiley, its just 25mm rhs...two posts welded to the bumper supports or towbar...just check the geometry make sure everything opens...the bumper actually supports the weight of my spare

[/URL][/img]

oh and the hinges just drop in like the rudder on a sailing dinghy...once the catch on the other side is undone the whole thing just lifts off

Gives me some ideas. I was going to go the stub axle route that most of the 4WD rear bars use. Should make it nice and stout. But I love your system of just being able to lift it off.

Smiley 🙂

Has been a busy little holiday period with a few trips away in the bus. But before that all happened there was a few things that needed to be attended to first.

Houdini back in the shed once again for some maintenance and upgrades.








Pulled both the axles out because I will be changing all of the CVs over.





But the first port of call was the rear brakes. Got some new shoes and new rear wheel cylinders as one was leaking. Also replaced the rear flexible lines, have been meaning to do this for a while and it was a good time while the fluid was out of the system.





While I had the CVs off I ran a tap through all the threads with a drill. But on one the stub spun around on me and snapped the tap off. Decided it was easy enough the undo the four bolts and drop the hub out given that the brake lines and handbrake cable were disconnected. I was fortunate that the tap was able to be knocked backwards out of the hole with a cold chisel.








While I had the hub off I could resist trying it in the "mega lift" position. You just bolt it on with the upper holes in the hub matched up to the lower holes in the spring plate and trailing arm. Gives some mighty big lift. A little out of the range of my CVs though I think 🙂

















New brakes fitted up. And new soft lines.








Now it was onto the CVs. The CVs that I have in the bus at present are a bit of a mix. I think I have two original bus ones and two aftermarket fake Porsche 924/944 ones. I had a few dramas with the fake Porsche ones falling apart on Fraser Island. So I decided to pull the genuine Porsche ones that are in the Baja out and run them in the Bus for the time being. Getting decent CVs seems to be a real problem at present. Same goes for boots that don't want to split after 2 months (a story for another day)
So I pulled the axles from Alyce and pulled the CVs off. I cleaned one up to show the difference between the genuine ones and the cheap fake ones.
Cheap on the left and good one on the right.





Comparing the stars you can see the heat treatment marks on the good one.





In the cages there is a massive difference. The genuine one is about twice as thick and very stout. I have broken a number of the fake ones in the Baja and it was always the cage that broke apart.





The balls in the genuine CVs are actually smaller than the fake ones. They are supposed to be, smaller balls gives more angle. The balls in the fake ones are smaller than Kombi ones but not as small as proper Porsche ones. They are a weird in between size.








Lastly the main body of the genuine CV is a little bit wider, only a mil or two, but it is there. You probably can't tell from my shoddy camera work.





With the CVs and brakes sorted the next item on the list was oil cooler.
This is the second additional oil cooler that I have mounted up under the bus. It hasn't been in there for very long but it is coming out and getting changed to bigger one.





The replacement cooler and thermo fan. I wanted to change to a larger cooler simple so that I could fit a fan on top of it. I found at Fraser that slow chugging around on the inland tracks where you would be going slow with a moderate load on the engine would cause the oil temp to slowly creep up. I want a fan so I can keep some air flowing over the cooler even when I'm not moving very quickly.
Fan is 200mm and I presently just have it wired up to a relay with a switch on the dash. So I can turn it on or off. I am planning to add a thermostatic switch to the oil lines so the fan will come on at 80 or 85 degrees C. But in the meantime I keep a pretty good eye on the temp and flick it on when needed. I can also turn it on beforehand if I know a big hill/obstacle/whatever is coming up.





Made up some mounts but it seems I didn't get a picture of it under the bus. It mounts in the same spot as the other one but horizontally with the fan on top. The fan is setup to push air down and through the cooler. I might even try some shrouding later on to create some low pressure below and behind the cooler to assist airflow.





One other thing I did was fit new front and rear shocks. Turns out that the front shocks that were on the bus are too short. Looks like they are bug ones going by the length. This would have been limiting my downtravel slightly on the front. And probably the reason why the front shocks quit working day three or Fraser 😀





Smiley 🙂

For Christmas I drove mum and dad down to my Grandma's (mum's mum) house, about a 1600km round trip to Killarney in southern Queensland. The bus performed flawlessly and the new cooler and fan combo kept the oil temp at a good level despite the hot temperatures we had.
Once down there we went for a bit of a drive out to Carr's lookout. Went via the Condomine River Road which has about a dozen creek crossing on it. All of them were rocky and firm and I don't think I barely go the hubs wet, the water level was quite low.








Stopped in at the Queen Mary Falls.





There is a large hill overlooking the small town of Killarney. It has the local phone tower on top of it. I have taken the Bug up too the top before so I was keen to see if the Bus could make it. The track up was quite a bit more washed out and eroded since I last drove it (about 4 years ago), but the bus managed to chug his way to the top. Got some outstanding pictures of the entire town.




















The next day on the way home in the next town over we stopped and got a pictures of the trucks parked up at the Fraser depot. They were all washed and lined up perfectly with Christmas hats on the wipers. Was very well presented for the holiday break.









After the Christmas trip with the family the girlfriend and I turned the bus north and headed about 400km up to Mackay to visit some friends before New Years. From Mackay we headed west out to Eungella National park for a day trip and I little bit of mild offroading.
My friend drives a Hilux, I told her I would drag her out when she gets stuck 🙂
We went and did a track called the Diggings Road, which was actually pretty pissweak but I think it would be a hoot after some more rain. Was some steepish climbs (carbies suck the big one) with a bit of mud on them but I got through everything no worries.

On the bank of Broken River.








Coming through the creek crossing.








A little mud puddle. Not too deep and very firm.





The view from the pub where we had lunch. The platform is where they launch hang gliders down into the valley.








We then trekked back down the mountain to Finch Hatton Gorge for a bit of a swim. We had some inflatable boats so went for a little paddle. Should have brought the canoe!














Was a good little trip, I think there are plenty of more tracks to be had in the area too. Next day we drove back home for New Years party out at a friends dam on his farm. Took the mobile bed of course 🙂


A few pictures from this afternoon. Houdini dragged this poor little fella down next to the shed to be emptied out and then stripped down. Didn't think we were going to move it for a little bit. Had to drag it a couple of metres before the rear drums unlocked. The big tractor did well 🙂











That's all for now folks, thanks for looking. Plenty of more adventures and upgrades planned for the future so watch this space.


Smiley 🙂

Great work on the bus mate... your cars are always an inspiration! 👍
Check out what i found on Google Maps 😉

well spottted...you into promo work Smiley?

adlbeetle66 wrote:Great work on the bus mate... your cars are always an inspiration! 👍
Check out what i found on Google Maps 😉

That's so awesome!! Must have driven past while I was inside!!
Good spot mate.


Smiley 🙂