Spill blood not oil

Heater box

OCD1 SUNSET BOULEVARD

Vibrating Syncro and Drive shaft velocity

As JimBob pointed out last weekend, we got significant vibration coming into the SIKA cab at 35 to 40mph... I could just get s decent sterio system, but this is worrying if left unsorted as can damage diffs, etc... Found a great video via the Samba.com:-







But first thing is to get the wheels balanced, hubs and disks checked, rubber mounts checked on the  engine. front diff and gearbox, then drop the shaft out and take it for a spin to see if it is the shaft at fault.



If it's no longer vibrating with the shaft out, could still be the half shafts or CV joints at the front (as they may only vibrate under torque). Swings and blumin roundaboooots! but at least I understand drive shaft alignment and the importance of high speed balancing of the shaft (greater than 2,500 RPM!)



Oh and it turns out that VW didn't fit the rubber bush to the syncro pickup drive shafts as they didn't really give a shit about noise and vibrations for the working classes!!! Which means I can't get mine re-coned without paying over £240 surcharge, ouch!



Once vibrartions sorted I need to do the Viscous Coupling to stop it wearing out all the diff and CVs! https://youtu.be/slujJmXoSAo

Paint Ideas

 Really possibly the best way to finish off that old bug??

Bonser mate

The Bonser truck arrives.

tinware off.

cylinder head off.

valves lapped in

honned the barrel

black paint to help release heat

removed the old exhaust manifold and tapped the threads.

Birthday Gathering

fantastic weekend

disorder

1961 Split in local garage.

I dropped into my local garage to p-p-p-p-pickup my passat (new brakes and pipes all round, steering C joints, upper control arms, tyres, locking wheel nuts, drives like a new car now :) Every time I've been down there he's had a type 2 in there of one sort or another, but this one was special... thought I would post a pic as it's a rare beast in deed!

But.... is it original? right hand drive?!?!? in the UK?!?!? Must be an import!

Reckon I'll trust him to rebuild the front beam on my bay, seeing as he started working on them when he was 16!

Betty's Beetle Gearbox swap - Completed!

Brazilian Bay - Gearbox Replacement!

This is a summary guide of my Gearbox replacement.

The Brazilian Bay Kombi gearbox is made in Brazil and is known to have reliability / poor quality manufacture and is best replaced by a German Gearbox.

Here is the progress summary of my Gearbox replacement. Basically its a Late IRS Beetle Gearbox from a 1300-1600cc Late Beetle (1302/1303s Models with the 1600s being the best)

In this case I swapped the RP code Brazilian Bay Gearbox with a 1302s 1600 AH code gearbox

Firstly find and select a suitable gearbox here is my AH code gearbox (new CV joints or Beetle CV joints are required as beetle Gearboxes have a 94mm Diameter CV joint and Bus / Brazilian Bays use a 100mm so you will need to have Bus Outer & Drive shafts and Beetle Inner CV joints)

You need to clean the gearbox and remove old CV joints.

Remove rear bumper & Valance:

Remove Engine:

Remove Old Gearbox:

Swap Over Nose Cone & Hockey stick from Old to new:

Install Beetle CV Joints on van:

Install new gearbox & connect up:

Refit engine. Test gearbox while still on axle stands to ensure all gears work.

Once satisfied away you go with a German Quality Gearbox.

Full comprehensive write up of each phase of my install is on my T2bay bay blog.

http://t2bay.blogspot.co.uk/

The new gearbox is Fantastic. Loads of long gears and low rpm in 4th!

Betty's Broken Gearbox ;-(

I have broken Betty's Gearbox!

Pile of Brazilian Rubbish and it deserved to die!

Anyway found a nice AH 1302s Beetle gearbox and purchased it 12 hours after breaking it.

Here is a full write up on my blog.

http://t2bay.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/broken-gearbox.html

Here is the video of the broken one in action! Listen to the clunking sound!

Anyway progress is well. New gearbox cleaned up, engine out and old gearbox is being dropped tonight!

Its going to be a Brazilian Bay / Beetle B**stard Hybrid (Gearbox and inner CVs from beetle and Brazilian Driveshafts and outer CVs)

Type 2 VW walk-through propex heater box

Lucia is home!

Great to see 4 and a half generations of van alongside each other! And to take delivery of Lucia was the icing on the cake :) Thanks to Ben and Elliot for putting up with the noise for over 2 hours and getting her home safe.

A very proud looking OCDP1 giving her a final once over.

Raquel Peggy Mitchell looking very at ease in the drivers seat. The Round RobINN Pub Co. is almost on the road!

lupines and vans, what a pretty picture! Oh and the two hotties of course! ;)

Aluminium flooring

An outing

https://youtu.be/Oh_uLSdJzY4

Niel's Bus or NASA's??

 With all that aluminium going in it reminds me of this fantastic and classic piece of "art school" graphics - honest and memorable!! Cashing in on what was at the time "state of the art" technology and associating VW with Wernher Von Braun....oh sorry, wrong beetle era, er NASA!!!!

This was another marketing campaign by an America VW dealer ship called Al Sagar Volkswagen. He encouraged all his recent buyers to meet at the local Mall where he provided a packet lunch for all your passengers and a sticker, then off you went to The Kennedy Space Center to witness the launch of  Apollo 11. Was this the first real Busfest??

Aluminium door card sliding door Type 2 VW

VW Type II T3 Vanagon Syncro promotional video

Dirty syncro video for Darren!

New aluminium inner roof skin

Can we make one of these for a bus?

New Dawn

 A beautiful morning arrives.

 After years of work she emerges under her own efforts.

 Still tweaking details.

 Nice and straight panel van that is.....

Gary and Darren finishing off details.

 

We will have to wait a while until shes ready for a road run for an MOT unfortunately, but a little drive on the drive was fun!

New view