Category: VW

I picked up my new tire today. During the process of putting it back on the bus, I managed to slice my hand.  I’m sure my dad would agree that its not really a project until you are bleeding a little, and this is officially first blood for this project.

After looking at the current tires on the bus (all four are different brands and sizes…), and doing some research online, I ordered a Hankook RA08 from Wal-mart Site-to-Store.  It looks like the tires need to have specially reinforced sidewalls, but yet be small enough to still fit in the wheel well (14” tires).  WMT had the tire I needed online, and they were able to put it on the rim and balance it.

It was quite a struggle to get it back on the bus though.  If you can see from the pictures, the tire actually sits up inside the wheel well.  As hard as I tried I could not fit that thing back on the mount.  I kept cranking the bus up higher and higher, and each time it sort creaked ominously!  Finally, it was up high enough that I could wiggle the whole tire into the well and fit it over the bolts.  Success!  Of course I then lowered the bus too fast, and it came bouncing down and almost killed me, but it’s all good.  I’ve now replaced my first tire, and the bus is mobile again (even though I still don’t know how to drive it – I’ll get there).

I’ve also noticed the real wheels have a decent amount of positive camber (they bow out at the top).  I know VW’s have independent torsion bars, and are supposed to be slightly positive, but I’m not sure by how much.  Another future project for sure.

Also, did you notice the brand new brake drums?  I didn’t know they were there when I bought the thing – Sweet!

More progress, more projects. This weekend I had an epic battle with the bus spiders; I fired up the engine for a while, and watched it run with my new friend Leo who owns an air-cooled bug and lives in the area; I drained a few more hours into electrical work, and started making a list of parts purchases I will be making soon enough.

My bus came set up as a transporter with a full bench seat in the back, and a 2/3 middle seat.  I don’t think they are original, and are probably not 1967 because they don’t have the handles across the top that identifies that year’s seats.  I won’t need them for the camper conversion, so I’m hoping to sell them at some point.  However, before I can do that I need to get them out of the bus and cleaned up… starting with the middle seat. I mentioned the intrepid bus spiders in an earlier post, and the middle seat is their home base.  From the pictures you can see that I have an infestation.  I was able to get the seat out of the bus easily enough, and set it up in front of the garage.  What followed was a few hours of cleaning out decades of spider nest and squirrel poo – fun times!

I started by soaking the seat in spider killer,  then just starting cutting and pulling the fabric off.  I had it about half-way done when I first spotted her… the mama spider…  This thing was huge and as soon as she realized I had spotted her, she dug her way deeper into the filth.  I kept going, and eventually got most of the debris cleared away…That’s when Mama came back out.  This time she crawled up to the top of the seat and just stared at me.  I apologize to all animal lovers out there, but this was a battle fo real.  I grabbed the rubber mallet that I just happened to have lying around, swung at Mama and… totally missed.  She falls to the ground, starts scurrying back towards the bus – I’m screaming (probably at a fairly high pitch), and finally ended things with a solid stomp on the garage floor.  Mama spider is dead and I am now able to claim the rest of the bus as rightfully mine!

On a lighter note, I found this tool buried deep in the nest.  I figured it was valuable because it was heavy and had “Germany” stamped on the side – I know, my immense intelligence sometimes amazes. Turns out it is a Hazet 2595 clutch cable adjustment tool, is worth some money, and is supposed make adjusting the clutch mechanism much easier.  Sweet!