1961 Microbus

[Mike Kever Kombi]

Disclaimer:
I am posting this on my fruit fone if pictures are upside down or sideways i recommend standing on your head, or turning your monitor on its side as to make them appear upright.

8 hours today, forgot to check prior total before posting.

For 8 hours i dont have a lot to show.
First i ground down the long rocker bead and got it sprayed. I don't know if it will come through in the picture but it looks like turd. The seam is a little proud of the panels, nothing a flap disc and some poly wont cure, bit this is how it will remain for this year until i do the paint and body prep in spring.

X

I also spent a few hours scrubbing the engine bay and a half arse scrub of the transaxle so i wont get all schmegly when i put the engine in. It will also make it nicer to work in as now i am focusing on mock up before i do the finish coat on the underside. I am adding some do dads for now, and some thinga majigs for later, and i want to make sure everything works as intended before i lay down a finish coat.

X

Then i crawled up in the loft to get some spare looms and fuse blocks, so i can get my future use cr@p wired up. I am going to try and stay as true to the original european wiring conventions as i can. The wiring job currently is a disaster. There are wires added in and spliced all over the place. The plan for tomorrow is to bust out the solder gun and get everything back to original, start pulling wire for accessories, add a fuse block and wire terminations, and fab up some holders for the new relays, pump, regulator, etc.


X

I am still waiting for my left rear quarter, and at this point i will probably order the bottom 8 inner and outer for my rear cargo door. The cargo doors are pretty much toast from both an accident and age. I will have to ( hopefully ) replace both doors, but for now i am gonna run with it. This will most likely be all the body work. I get to this year. I am planning on buying all the sh!t i need for the cab area (a pillar, cabin floor, dog legs, inner valance) over the winter, and installing that the first nice week of spring.

[heyed67]

dude the long rocker I think is the hardest to keep strait....it seemed to be more teedious work than a shorter run..I used a 6 in 80 grit disk to take my weld down as close as i could then steped it up to 220....dont go crazy grinding your weld down, take your time like when you were welding er up so you dont overheat and deform your work..220 when it wears and starts to curl makes it easer to get a good plain on the old and now rocker sheet metal....if you get that close it may be nessesary to weld up pin holes and regrind that spot...I also ground the inside as well becouse some of that long weld was raised a little..I was able to have someone hold a body dolly on the inside and work that seem a little from the outside....

[Marla]

I have been reading through the forum. This is an amazing project. I realized that this is a bus I drive
by on the way to the gym. I have been watching the progress from a distance over the past few months. Very cool. I reconized the
Bug...also a very cool car.

[Busjunky]

Great job so far Mike!! Ill be doing the same thing again over here in Norwalk. Glad to see your still trucking along and making it happen. Do werk!!

[Mike Kever Kombi]

Thanks guys.
With the Westy and other projects I have going on, the 61 kinda was set on the back burner while I was collecting parts.

now that I got most of the parts I will be focusing on this project again.

132 hours.

I got about 6 hours in on Sunday, new total 138 hours.

no pictures, and nothing major to report. Spent most of the day chasing down wires and doing continuity tests. I have the wiring back to about 90% original, still some things left to sort out in the cab with lights, switches, and gages, but everything ignition wise and back is good to go.

I also made up some leads for the fuel pump relay, I will turn them into a harness once I know the final location of the relay, which probably wont be until after the engine is in.

I also made a mount on the rail for the fuel pump, its basically just rubberized posts welded to the frame rail to help minimize shock and vibration.

the plan for tonight after work is to replace the fuel lines with new German braided lines. and try and square away the rest of the wiring.

I do have 1 question, the valve on the bottom of the fuel tank (tap for reserve?) has a braided wire next to it but is not connected to valve. Obviously this will not work as a reserve tap, but I cannot find any good pictures of the proper way to attach it. I don't know if my tap is broke or if I am just missing something. If someone has a good pic, or link, post it up please.

[toolbox]

I also made a mount on the rail for the fuel pump, its basically just rubberized posts welded to the frame rail to help minimize shock and vibration.

the plan for tonight after work is to replace the fuel lines with new German braided lines. and try and square away the rest of the wiring.

I do have 1 question, the valve on the bottom of the fuel tank (tap for reserve?) has a braided wire next to it but is not connected to valve. Obviously this will not work as a reserve tap, but I cannot find any good pictures of the proper way to attach it. I don't know if my tap is broke or if I am just missing something. If someone has a good pic, or link, post it up please.

Have fun with the crappy braided line. It is not speced to run our oxygenated fuel. Look for a multi-fuel hose even if it a bit off sized.

[Mike Kever Kombi]

Thanks toolbox.

I will have to look in my parts box because i am definitely missing some pieces.
As for the fuel lines, i thought all lines degrade, even the fancy new ones, with all the sh!t they put in gasoline today. I thought the bigger worry was the ethanol blend, and not the oxygenation.

[toolbox]

Thanks toolbox.

I will have to look in my parts box because i am definitely missing some pieces.
As for the fuel lines, i thought all lines degrade, even the fancy new ones, with all the sh!t they put in gasoline today. I thought the bigger worry was the ethanol blend, and not the oxygenation.

image.jpg

Ethanol is the oxygenator.

I have line on my truck that is from my Ford days working on emission lines. It is E85 rated and has been installed for 6 years without issue.

Do you replace the lines on a new car every year?

Most of the Samba "experts" are far from it on most disciplines.

[21window]

I would like to get some of this line.

What sizes do we need (what do they offer that is close) to cover our split buses?

[toolbox]

I would like to get some of this line.

What sizes do we need (what do they offer that is close) to cover our split buses?

It is Viton lined hose, was used in Ford Flex Fuel applications. Could probably get it from the dealer.

Or just go to belmetric.com and get some Flennor multi-fuel hose.

https://www.belmetric.com/metric-hoses- ... 4_662.html