The very first VW Bus?

No doubt you've seen it before but here's the design for the very first VW van! Designed by Ben Pon for discussions with VW management, 23rd April 1947.

Rat bus anyone?

Ben, remember that yellow rustbus on You-Tube doing a burn out? Shall we buy this for some yard antics? it's only a £150. The bloke had a whole load of repair panels with it... (including full rear corner sections!!) unfortunatly even they were rusty lol !!!

VW Engine... cont

Volkswagen Beetle motor, 1131 cc, 25 PS (DIN) from 1945, cut up for better view on the interior; orange colour: cut surface, green colour: inlet; no exhaust, no cooling fan, no alternator

Link pin woes.... ol' Jerry knows!

Ok so the MOT man says you've got excessive play in your steering and shows you a nasty wobbling link pin, considering thats the central pivot point of your bus's steering, where about a ton of weight sits, it's little wonder that it wears out over time!! Pic below shows original installation in my bus, missing seals and dust covers, no wonder the link pin was corroding, bushes had disintegrated inside also!



Apparently the splitscreen suffered wear in this area with catastrophic results sometimes! So, VW beefed it up for the Bay window but it's still an area (like any moving parts) that is subject to wear.
The kit required to sort this is the Link pin repair kit, readily available from German and Swedish for £17.50 or you can pay more for the same kit from Heritage, Kampers or even ebay where I spotted a guy trying to sell the kit as obselete parts for £55 plus postage!! some people hey!
Well anyway the long and short of it is that it's a big job and I wouldn't recommend it unless you've got an inspection pit or lifting ramps! Check the before and after photo's - it's in (after 3 days lol) and my steering seems much better already!



Jerry says -
IF YOU CAN LIVE WITH THE PLAY, DO IT ANOTHER DAY !

VW ENGINE

Helps to see the enginge in a better light especially breathing and the benefits of a deep sump!

DOH! should have done it in the workshop!

Still it will be on the road saturday....wont it?...?

Torsion Arm..Ball joint

Right Grease Monkey on hand...prep fro MOT..All good...hmm ball joint some play

..right Discs calipers etc off...front shock off...remove pinch screw from top torsion beam...welt the torsion arm out of the front axle/torsion beam....easy peasy!!!!

Right Grease Monkey has fucked off home on his motor bike cause its raining....right now what? I know stare aimlessly at the front suspension lying in tatters on your lawn...
hmmmm hope I can remember how it all bolts together again...not too mention that ALL the bolts slip on again as easily as they did off.

Must remember that when they put it back together agin these bits line up...apparently : }

Thoughts and dreaming

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160233083092&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=006
isnt she pretty.

what do we recon to just paying for a nice tidy van???

New air!

Just fitted some new opening quarter lights. They are brilliant and allow a fantastic air flow onto the driver and passenger. They are not as nice as chrome, but alluminum never rusts and is ultra lightweight for added speed!!

VW Myth No.467

All VW T1 & T2 engines built AFTER 1969 (end of) were already converted (for the forseable future)to run on either leaded or unleaded petrol. This is VW Myth No.467: that you need new unleaded heads to run a bus on unleaded fuel (and rather conviently for certain companies who dont tell you of this fact). There are thousands of these VW Myths, so if in doubt...just ask the Bus Doctors at OCD.

Been around for ages...

New uprated heating system

Just uprated my heating to a new modified system that works unbelievably well........loads better than before!!!!

Devon pop top

Same result as Neils only tidier. It just supports the weight of the pop top.

Grateful dead bus

Me tinks he will like this idea...

Whats going on here....?

Bus Competition

If you fancy doing a bit for charity this month, "The Who" are offering a '65 VW Panelvan as a prize in their competition for the Teenage Cancer Trust, it's a £5 to enter and it's being drawn in July '08... gotta be worth a punt!

VW Bullibus!

Ok it was first revealed as a concept back in 2001 at the Detroit motor show but it looks like there is a strong evidence that VW are actually investigating ways of re-inventing our much loved campervan! Apparently the problem is making it at a cost that will make it accessable to the majority... They need to sell 100,000 of them a year for the first 3 years to make it a viable product. Be good to see it in the flesh but it's just not quite the same somehow :)

They have said "The Who" and their track 'Magic bus' will be used to promote it should it get to the market. They recently helped promote the 60th birthday of the bus in Hanover Germany.

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!

Something i have been considering for a while.............would also be a bit of fun and easy to achieve!!

PEACE KEEPING BUS?

A cheap and quick way to jazz up neils bus prior to it being properly sprayed. Fun for summer!!

Snowy

last chance to change your mind!!!.........

Bus Minatures...

OCDPatient1 - found this on Ebay earlier, looks like someone is selling little minatures... Here's the link, they are asking about £10 plus postage.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Amazing-COAL-VOLKSWAGEN-KOMBI-CAMPER-VAN-Model-Cars-Car_W0QQitemZ150236626680QQihZ005QQcategoryZ43047QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

SNOWY!!! ....I can see the bug from here....

Here's to "Elcie" another bus succesfully towed back to the shed and congrats to Neil may you have many happy hours behind the wheel !! Check the pics out it's in really nice condition with only minor stuff to do for the MOT :)

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Neil as he is soon to become the proud owner of a type 2. Time to also buy a set of overalls!!

This bus currently is nameless so put on ya thinking hats!!

Straw Bale Storage

Remember we had that chat a while back about straw bale vehicle storage, and we discussed lime render being as tough as concrete for secure storage?

Hempcrete is here!!!

Our favourite plant is being used as a bonding fibre with lime to create a material as tough as concrete, and with better insulation! Hemp also locks in carbon when it grows (in East Anglia ;) so is actually carbon negative! The more you build, the more carbon you save, meaning building projects could be invested in by carbon offset companies - a massive emerging market.

Checkout the article below:-

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/property/donnachadh-mccarthy-the-home-ecologist-806196.html

OCDPatient1: Let's get that dodgy old shed knocked down and build a decent one in it's place ;)

Edited hempy piccy

Thought ya might like this hempy............

Entropeas dreams

Found this little beauty featured in last months camper and bus magazine..........thought it might make a good april fools joke......as in your bus is restored!!!

Just some food for thought for entropea.....sweet dreams.......................

Royal convoy

Cool convoy around the queens estate in Sandringham.

What on earth is this...........Neil is this your cup of tea? I think its going quite cheap as it has had a very subtle modification....can anyone spot it???

For sale Bay Panelvan with BRM's £3000 no bids - in Loughborough !!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/vw-panal-van_W0QQitemZ120245295101QQihZ002QQcategoryZ18303QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem