Summer surprise
With summer here, I should be out an about enjoying driving my VW bus, but with the recent past still painfully fresh in my memory, it’s been important to me to make sure all the basics of the bus have been gone over, checked and are all OK – I really don’t think I could be going through all of that heartache again!
Stock carb
So with the engine out of the bus, the guys at Resto Classics are fixing the heads and getting the carbs swapped over. Off with the weber progressive 32/36 carb and Empi manifold, to be replaced with a manifold to suit the stock VW 34 pict 3 carb once it all gets cleaned up and rebuilt.
Although it’s summer here at the moment in the UK, it won’t be staying like that forever! At some point, I’ll need to be looking at getting the original heating system working. Unlike in sunny California, the basic VW heating system is pretty useful during the winter months here in the UK as my wife will testify to!! This will mean changing the 4 into 1 merged header and bug pack exhaust, and getting the heater exchangers connected up and working. Another job to get added to my winter to-do list…
Freeway flyer
However, on the plus side of having the engine out, I found out the bus still retains the ‘freeway flyer’ style of Rancho Performance gearbox that Gary at Two Larry’s Racing had fitted back in California. It’s still running its stock reduction boxes and if Gary remembers correctly, the gearbox has a 3.88 ring and pinion, hardened keys, and the same gear ratio as a stock 1967 Beetle. 3rd and 4th gears were welded, and he believes it has a super differential in there with four spider gears? All sounds very technical to me, but it does seem to drive well! It will be interesting to see how it performs when the engine heads are sorted and the stock 34 pict 3 carb is fitted…
New rubbers
Whilst the engine was out, it was the perfect opportunity to get the engine bay rubbers changed as they were showing their age a bit and not really doing their job of helping to keep the engine bay cool. So I got some new West Coast Metric seals and changed the fuel tank neck seal rubber…
…plus the all-important rear valence seal and with the engine firewall seal which can only really be accessed with the engine out.
Looking forward to getting the work sorted and the bus back on the road again, I miss actually driving it!
