Category: VW

I’m still recovering from yesterday’s revelry – it sure helped that my safari windshield kit came this weekend!  Unfortunately I also haven’t fully figured out the new noise I’m hearing from the right-hand side of the bus.

I’ll start with the good (and might just end with a rant).  I bought this safari kit from EIS parts, the kits are some of the newest on the market, and have a v-shaped frame similar to original factory installations. They’ve had decent reviews, and I’m looking forward to making this upgrade to the bus.  I was thinking I want shiny chrome frames, but the options for this kit were primer or powder coated white.  I went with primered so that I can either paint them, or have them chromed.  Although it will be a while before I get these bad boys installed, they are going to look cool, keep us cool on the road, and thats cool!

Ok now the bad – I noticed on Friday that the bus is making a new noise on the right side – it started as a swooshing/ squealing noise, and seems to be getting worse.  It’s not engine related, and I think its coming from the right rear wheel.  I started to try to diagnose by jacking up first the front, then the back passenger-side wheels.

The front spins freely, the back does not.  I can spin the wheel by hand, but it takes quite a bit of force – not good! I’ve also noticed the outside of the drum is a lot dirtier than it was before I drove it to the shop.  I run inside to do some research on what could cause the brake drum to stick – first culprit – brakes need adjusting. Didn’t I just pay a guy a bunch of money to adjust the rear brakes?!  It turns out its extremely easy to adjust the brakes; Thanks to Noelle for these great and exciting action shots.

I turned the little adjuster stars until the drum would rotate nicely with just a little resistance, had Wifey help me test that the brakes still work to stop the drum, and took the bus out for a spin in the parking lot.  The swooshing noise has now turned into more of a rapid clicking noise, and is very noticeable even just creeping along. Clearly there is more wrong than just a brake adjustment – again not good!  From the research I’ve done, it might be the wheel bearing, but doesn’t sound quite like they say it should; it could be something with the axle nut, or maybe the CV joints.

Either way, it’s really disappointing that I just waited six weeks and spent the better part of a grand to get the bus back and have it break after 1 day of driving!  I should expect a bunch of gremlins like this though, and honestly it just motivates me even more to get this thing fixed up… and by using my own knowledge and labor!  I’ve said before that I don’t/can’t trust car people in business – the nice folks at the local auto stores are so clueless I’m surprised they can get their pants on in the morning (maybe they just don’t take them off?) – the car shops around here are very pricy, and now my bus is broken a day after leaving the local VW expert.  I’m definitely not blaming Darby at this point – I know this bus is a jumble of mismatched and rusting parts, but its disappointing none the less.  Looks like I’ll be learning how to replace some brake and axle parts!

I went to a VW air-cooled show in Oskaloosa, IA today. Had an absolutely amazing day with a bunch of awesome people!

My friend from work has a beautifully restored 23 window Samba that I’ve highlighted in an earlier post – he wanted to take it to this show, so thats what we did.  We gathered at his house at like 5 in the morning – loaded the bus onto a U’haul car trailer and set off for Iowa.  5 hours later, we roll into the little town of Oskaloosa.. not quite sure what to expect. What awaited us was a wild day of VW’s, friendly, fun people, drinking, sunshine, and more drinking!

The show was put on by the owner of the Cellar Peanut Pub, and was an absolute blast.  The pub is set in this old train station house, and has a massive selection of craft beers – they are working on setting up a micro brewery in a train car out back.

We met a bunch of awesome people and saw a lot of sweet rides – including two fully stock ’67 busses – looks like I need to soak up some inspiration! I dig those wide tires and sweet fog lights.

One guy brought a completely stock, unrestored ’51 split window bug – super rare, and word on the street is that this dude has a warehouse full of bugs and busses!

We finally got back to Chicagoland around 1AM after a day full of awesomeness – we’ll be back Oskaloosa!

Had a great time with the bus today, drove it to work, took it out to lunch, drove it home, and took the wife out for dinner.  Lots of bus driving = good times!

The first dinner spot for the bus happens to be Buffalo Wild Wings – and we all know that people who love Vdubs love Bdubs! haha well I just crack myself up.

I gassed the bus up again today – I’m not quite sure how many miles per gallon I’m running right now – the fuel gauge doesn’t work – but I put around 6.5 gallons in last night – drove probably 40 – 50 miles total, and put another 3.5 gallons in today.  Its a 10 gallon tank and I never filled it completely full.  I’m thinking its probably around 10 – 15mpg, and I’ve read that healthy engines run around 20 – 24 mpg’s – I’ll try to start tracking this better going forward

Unfortunately, I noticed a swooshing/ grinding sound that started up sometime during the day – it sounds like it might be coming from the front or rear passenger-side wheels.  I’m hoping its not anything major, but I’ll try to check things out this weekend.

But it will have to wait until Sunday, because tomorrow I’m heading to Oskaloosa, IA for a VW show with a couple guys and a fully restored 23 window!

After many weeks sitting outside the shop, we finally got the bus back!  Yeah I mean I ended up driving it the 35miles home at midnight, in a rainstorm, with no window wipers… but hey, we got it back!!

I got the call that the bus was ready on Tuesday, but it was a busy week at work, so I had to let it sit a little longer.  Thursday night, I decided screw this I want that bus back, and I’m going to go get it – even though it was like 10:30 and rain was on the way.  When we set off for the shop, it was still a clear night – but of course, 5 minutes before arriving it starts pouring down rain!  Noelle and I debated for a while if I should try to drive it home, and we decided to try to drive it around the block – I get in, fire that bad boy up, and pull out into the street.  With the near vertical windshields, I could actually see pretty clearly, so I just kept driving towards home – sweet!

Stopped on the way for some gas – the first time I’ve actually added gas to the bus via a gas station. only $4.50 a gallon – thanks Illinois

Even though the skies really opened up along the way, we made it back with no problems – this whole bus thing is starting to work out.

While I wasn’t happy with how long everything took, Darby’s a busy guy, and we may still end up doing the transmission swap with another ’67 bus.  For now, he fixed a few things on the shifter, changed the gear oil, adjusted the brakes, greased everything he could, and did a full mechanical/ bodywork inspection.  I didn’t end up having him to anything to the engine – it’s running fine now, just leaking oil, and I’ll keep working on that myself.  The shifter feels much tighter, and I’m getting the hang of driving this thing around!

I finally got around to completing the second Hehr jalousie window.  It feels great to get this project wrapped up!

Like I mentioned my earlier resto post, cleaning and restoring these windows is a big, tedious, PITA – but its definitely worth it. They are looking good! I will add the silicon sealant right before installing on the bus – I’m hoping for no water leaks and no cracked glass.

I’m also planning on getting the bus back this week.  As I mentioned before, I’ve heard this shop does good work, and I certainly trust Darby on his abilities… but its been like 6 weeks with no progress at all…. We still may or may not be swapping transmissions with this other guy – either way, I need that bus back this week.  Without that stupid bus, I’m going a little stir crazy. I just can’t wait to get it back so I can drive it until it breaks down – yay!