If like us you fancy taking your Volkswagen Bus on a long journey and want to explore the not so beaten path then just like us you will probably want to ensure your vehicle is up to it.
There are many paths you can take but which one you go down is dependant on budget, your vehicle, how confident you are with mechanics and where you are planning to go. I am all for jumping in the vehicle you have and hitting the road, but in reality this can be a strain on your time, money and resources should something go wrong.
In the UK and Europe you can get breakdown cover easily and cheaply but if you are going further afield, have a schedule to stick to or know you will be out of phone signal it’s better to know your vehicle can handle whatever you throw at it.
Luckily for us our vehicles are simply made and tough. From experience the main issue with big adventures spanning different countries, languages and currency is not getting your vehicle towed or even repaired. It’s parts.
In the UK we are extremely spoilt with some of the best general VW parts stores available in the entire world in my opinion. There are many that will ship worldwide which is totally awesome but that being said if you rely on said stores when you go adventuring you need to factor in three big things. The first is postage costs, you will need to work these in to your budget as well as have a parts fund in reserve. The second is time, expect the unexpected and accept that your parts will take time to reach you. Lastly be prepared to hustle, if you are living on the road you will have no permanent address so getting parts sent to you means you will need someones help (read : their address).
Alternatively you can get your vehicle to a garage, it solves a number of the above issues and after driving 8000 miles I did that only once. But it will also dent your wallet. Many garages are not happy with you sleeping in your vehicle in their workshop so you will need to find and pay for accommodation whilst you wait for parts and repairs, you will obviously need to pay the garage for their services and well….does the garage know what they are doing on old school aircooleds?
In one fell swoop you could blow a big chunk of your entire trip budget, so what is the alternative? In the next few blog posts I will go through what I did to keep our bus on the road, on budget and safe whilst driving from coast to coast of North America.
Get to know your bus
We bought our bus, Rocky, with the sole intention of shipping it from the UK to the USA. Our main goal was to find a dry bus that was structurally sound. Mechanics can all be replaced fairly easily, however metal work and rust removal takes a great deal of time, effort, skill and money.
If you have a rust free, structurally sound and safe bus that’s awesome. If not it’s time to get it sorted!
We found Rocky and could see straight away that the previous owner had looked after him well and used him regularly. The first thing we did when we got the bus home was check, clean and wax any potential rust areas, usual spots or bare metal. We then moved on to mechanics.
Engine
Our engine was a 1641 with unknown history and a mis-matched carb. It had j tubes, a few pieces of mismatching tin, and a 009. Despite the above it ran well so we decided to check it over to ensure it would stand up to a long journey
What did we check?
We checked compression of each cylinder and they were pretty even and within limits. 120,115,120,125.
We checked endfloat and the engine had minimal.
Oil leaks – the engine had a leak from the breather, this was due to not running a stock air filter.
In all other aspects it ran ok so we decided to get it in tip top condition and get the best out of it for our trip.
Upgrades / Replacements
⦁ Replaced non original tin to ensure correct sealing
⦁ Added original heat exchangers
⦁ Replaced clutch and release bearing
⦁ CB oil pump and full flow cover for external oil filter
⦁ Twin weber ict’s csp linkage (breather plumbed in to both filters)
⦁ Pertronix SVDA with electronic ignition and vacuum take off for carbs
⦁ Breather
⦁ Electronic fuel pump to match fuel pressure on cars and allow a cut off switch
⦁ 4-1 header
⦁ Firetec system
⦁ Original stock gearbox had oil drained and replaced.
⦁ I also added oil pressure & temp, cylinder head temp and voltmeter gauges to keep an eye on how everything is running.
⦁ Whilst the engine was out I replaced, the leisure wiring with a VSR and 120 ah battery from Tayna. I also cleaned up any wiring that looked suspect and replaced the main battery earth strap.
Brakes & Steering
Overall for its age the bus stopped and steered pretty well. However it pulled to the left on braking and had slop in the steering. It was also really tough to turn at low speed and the horn went off whenever I was on full lock.
What did we check?
We checked the functionality of all the brakes and found that two cylinders and one hose were faulty. We also found that the handbrake cable sleeves were split and the master cylinder pin rubber was falling apart.
We checked for play in all ball joints, link arms, idler pin, draglink, steering box, coupling and play in all bearings. We found that the steering box needed a refurb and that the ball joints were very stiff as they were recently replaced with a brand known for being tight.
Upgrades / Replacements
⦁ Rocky already had new suspension, ball joints and commercial tyres on stock rims when we bought him thanks to the previous owner.
⦁ Renewed all brake shoes and hardware, two rear flexi lines, fully bled and renewed fluid and cylinders where necessary.
⦁ Complete rear RH hub, bearings and seals to reduce play. Several front bearings and seals.
⦁ New hand brake cables, steering idler pin, draglink, damper, reconditioned steering box (Midland Early Bay), steering coupler, master cylinder pin seal, pedal floor seals and Inspected cv joints.
⦁ Removed steering column and replaced wiring, reset steering wheel with new bearing.
⦁ Inspected and re-packed cv joints.
Overview
Having owned several buses and numerous beetles, I consider myself a competent mechanic when it comes to aircooleds. However I am never afraid or above asking for advice or help which I frequently do. There are always new challenges and problems that I haven’t come across before, I secretly enjoy this…just don’t tell my wife! VZI and TheSamba are great resources but so are Haynes, Bentley and John Muir manuals which I always carry with me.
I am a great believer in keeping things simple and stock, its so much easier to repair issues and get parts if you are dealing with stock especially when travelling in a different country. However its not always possible and there are certain products I have had experience of that I am happy to use / avoid. An example of this would be the 34pict 3 carb. Its what I wanted but I refused to get a repro empi and although original refurbished are available they are costly and have a long waiting list. In that instance I opted for a genuine twin carb setup with the best linkage available and they have run great.
My main concern with our bus as it should be with yours is safety, ensuring the brakes are good and the bus is structurally sound could save your life. When you are planning a long journey you will be covering lots of miles so don’t cut corners.
In the next post I will cover interior checks and upgrades as well as what tools and parts I took or left behind.