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As of today the bus runs beautifully!  I can start it, warm it up, drive it around, park it, and start it back up again.  While I’m still not 100% convinced that the engine is bullet-proof, it ran better today that it ever has before.

I started by swapping the power jet and idle jets.  Last week, I noticed that I reeked of exhaust fumes (more than usual) after working on the bus.  This is a sign that the carb is running rich – research suggested that these new 30Pict carbs come jetted incorrectly.  Sure enough, I noticed that the thing has two removable jets on the left side – idle and power jets, and one was slightly bigger than the other – I switched them around.

I also got some white paint and marked 30 degrees on the crank pulley – got out the timing gun, and revved the engine.  If it was timed correctly to 30degrees, the white paint should line up with the middle of the crankcase – however, when I revved that bad boy, the paint line was way off.  I twisted the distributor until the line shifted to the center – almost immediately, the engine idle smoothed out – Success!

To cap off a very successful day, I drove Noelle around the parking lot a few times.  It started up with a bump of the key, and shifted gears beautifully.  I did manage to stall it once (because I can be an idiot, but that should be obvious by now) but it started right up afterwards so I could keep going. Basically, she thinks I am awesome and well I can’t really argue with that – I am very happy with the state of the engine now – I just hope the bus is still in a good mood tomorrow!

I was able to get a little more work done this weekend in between bursts of rain and wind. I left the bus last weekend with an ill-fitting carburetor, and a starter that sounded like it had died.  I tried starting it up mid-week, and noticed that it wouldn’t run at all, and after a couple turns of the key, the starter stopped turning over.  I also noticed a slight burning smell coming from the ignition with – not good!! Thankfully, I had just bought a bunch of VW parts from a local craigslist add – they ended up being all ’60’s Beetle parts, but the ignition switch is ’67 and might just work for the bus!

However, when I went to start the bus today, I didn’t have any issues.  In fact, the thing starts with the slightest bump of the key, and runs beautifully!  I guess the bus is in a good mood today!  I ended up not replacing the ignition switch, but I’ve got it if I need it.  Instead, I pulled the carb and manifold off the engine… again… to try and fit the thing on there so that it isn’t leaking air.  I’m getting pretty good at this by now, but its still a big pain. Ok, manifold filed down flat (I still think its crazy that it came so jacked up), carb bolted on tight, everything put back together.

I also noticed that the choke wire leading to the carb was burnt crispy – not good!  I replaced the wire, and will check it frequently to see if it happens again – I’m thinking its connected to my ignition switch issues.

Start the bus, it runs… but its still just not that great.  I still have some kind of air leak at the base of the carb – I spray the carb cleaner, and the engine changes speed.  It idles slow and gets rougher as the engine warms.  It lasts longer than the old carb/manifold, but after about 10 minutes or so, the engine finally dies if left to idle.  Once it dies, it is impossible to start.  I’ve heard about this problem – some call it heatsoak. Basically, everything heats up to the point where either the electrical connectors aren’t working, or the engine is vapor-locked.  I also think somehow that the engine could be flooding. So I suppose this is progress, its improved to a point where I could drive it around for a while, so I’ll be taking it out for some more parking lot circles in just a bit!

Quick update on my carb progress – I haven’t made any!

I pulled my problematic 34pict 3 carb off the intake manifold again this week.  I’ve noticed a large air leak through the throttle plate bolt, and I tried to fix it.  It didn’t work – I pulled all of the jets and adjustment screws out, flushed everything I could with carb spray and compressed air.  I tried to tighten the bolts around the throttle plate, and sprayed the crap out of it to see if that helped.  Bolted it back on the engine – fired right up, ran beautifully…until it didn’t anymore. The engine starts to idle rough, and will eventually die as it warms up.  I can keep it running if I spray the carb cleaning fluid at the throttle bolts, or the blocked off intake ports.  Its all junk!

I feel like I have given this carb my best efforts, and Noelle is ready for me to finally get this bus on the road – i bought a new stock intake manifold and a replacement 30pict carb from a shop in Cali.  I went with the older style 30pict instead of the 34pict based on some internets research, and the advice of the dude who sold it to me.  I don’t want to assume everything will just work when I get it all put together… but that would be awesome – the stuff shipped today, so I’m hoping my next post is all good news!

So I found the air leak that was causing the engine to backfire aggressively. I was pretty nervous that I would have to pull the whole intake manifold back off, but that wasn’t the case.  I also spent some time this weekend on a couple of non-engine related projects.

First, the engine – I loosened the heat risers, and right end casting, I wiggled it around a little, adjusted the rubber boot, bolted it back down securely.  Fired up the engine – its started right up and ran beautifully – Success! However, as soon as it warmed up, the idle became more erratic to the point that it died.  So it obviously still has issues.  It dies when the engine is warm, and can be difficult to start back up.  On Saturday, it died to the point that I couldn’t get the thing started back up – I gave up for the day, but came back renewed on Sunday!

The bus still wouldn’t start, so I tried something new – spraying carb cleaner (starter fluid) into the carb fuel bowl.  This worked, the bus fires right up!  This probably means that I have some kind of fuel delivery issue.  I have a new pump, but I’m pretty sure there is gunk in the gas tank – I don’t know if this is causing all of my problems, or just adding to them.  Either way, as it was warming up, I sprayed that carb cleaner on everything I could to find any signs of vacuum leak – thats when I finally found it (them).  The engine revved everytime I sprayed the throttle arm bolt, and the two plugged hoses coming from the intake manifold.

I removed the old hoses and tried to plug the manifold holes with these ingenious solutions – but of course that didn’t work – so I ended up cutting the broken ends of the old hoses, and reinstalling them with tightened clamps.  That definitely stopped the air leak there, however I still have the throttle leak.  According to my research a leak in the throttle area usually means the end of the life of the carb, but I’m going to pull the thing off and try one more time to clean it, and tighten everything up.  If that fails, I’ll be getting a new carb set-up!

I also made some progress on the e-brake.  The little piece of metal in the handle wasn’t catching on the teeth at the base.  I sprayed penetrating blaster, and smacked everything around with the hammer.  That worked – I can now engage the emergency brake handle – progress!  Unfortunately, the cable ends aren’t actually attached to the rear brakes.  I don’t think re-attaching should be that complicated, however I would need to pull the back wheels off, pull the brake drum, and adjust the tension of the cables.  Given how difficult it was to get the back tires on and off (the bus has been lowered, and none of the rear suspension is stock), I will pass on that job for now – maybe get the shop to do it once I take it in.

Finally, I tried attaching the front bumper.  By the end of the day, I have it on the bus, and it fits great!  The bumper itself has quite a few scrapes and dents, and is missing the front overrider tube gear.  I haven’t decided if I’ll try to restore that one, or just sell it and buy new.  I also struggled to figure out what size bolt is needed for installation (yes I looked in my Bentley manual – it mentions 8mm, but that didn’t seem to work).  Finally, a few extra bolts from an IKEA piece did the trick – go figure!  I’ll pull those bolts and see if I can find some automotive grade versions, but in the mean time I’ve got the thing looking good – Another fun weekend making tiny incremental steps towards a fully functioning VW camper bus!

I’m working to get the engine put back together.  I’m really hoping I can get this thing to work soon; I want to be driving around before the Chicago weather takes a turn for the worse (and then stays there for 5 months).

I started putting the manifold back on.  The gaskets that came with the new rubber boots to connect the end castings to the cylinder heads don’t fit… at all… but the original aluminum gaskets are still in place. I eventually got everything to slide into place, and snugged down securely.  It’s very possible that something on the manifold was causing my vacuum leak, and the cleaned up parts look solid.  I then moved on to the generator – got it shimmied back into the fan shroud, and strapped down.  I filled the carb bowl w/ some gas, replaced the top, and placed it on the manifold.  After dropping the front tightening nut underneath the newly secured manifold (and spending like 2 hours trying to get it out) the carb was set up and ready to go.  The last step was to reconnect the electrical wires to the carb and generator – easy!

Except that as I tightened the DF ground terminal on the generator I heard a SNAP, and the thing started spinning around with my wrench…uhoh… I broke the little wire inside the generator that grounds it to the voltage regulator. Not good! For a second I freak out – I’ve just spent all night putting these stupid engine parts back on, this was the last step and it should have been easy, I don’t know what I’m doing, I can’t do this!! Ahhh!!

Ok, so after I went inside in a huff, I realized that I can probably fix it fairly easily by re-securing the terminal, and soldering the little wire back to the connector end.  So thats what I did – I’ve never soldered before, but I bought a little soldering iron a while ago – watched a couple YouTube vids and went to town.  It probably isn’t the prettiest solder job, but it seems to have worked.  I hooked the generator up to the battery to polarize it, and it spun around quickly, just like it was supposed to. Success!  I carefully attached the voltage regulator wires and called that project complete.  I’ll finish hooking everything up, and finally test the engine this weekend.

This picture is pretty much every night for me right now, but honestly, I can’t complain.  Even though this bus has been one problem after another, I have thoroughly enjoyed working on it, and learning everything as I go. While I’m spent most of my time troubleshooting and fixing, I’m really looking forward to the day when we’re out there road-trippin to some campsite!  My motto: Keep calm and carry on!