LEAKOIL Forum

New shocks are installed. Steering seems to be a little loose. I've replaced the tie rods, drag link, & steering damper. I've been able to put about 8 miles on it driving around to get the bugs worked out. Still no turn signals. I bought a 6 volt 9 pin relay hoping that would do the trick but no such luck. I'm also gonna have to pull the engine back out. I converted to the dog house cooler set up including new fan and it (the fan) must be rubbing on the fan shroud. Also, the gas gauge isn't working, the sending unit seems to be the problem. Never had the sending unit out of the tank, but since the bus has been sitting since the early 80's I'm hoping the float may be just gummed up? I'm still hearing the vibrating sound, its actually more of a higher pitch than a rumbling. When I put the brakes on it stops. Maybe one of the brake shoes hanging up?
I had big hopes of driving my bus to Tune Up Day, but will probably just come in my daily transportation since I'm an hour and a half away. I'll for sure be ready for Pataskala. Its just a shame that the Shawshank show got canceled again since it is so close by for me.

65Westy wrote:Thanks Philip.... I actually just got an email back from her. I had inquired about shipping costs. My wife & I have been looking at her curtains trying to decide if we should do it or not. Do they look as nice in person as they do from her website?

Hi Craig, They do look really nice in the flesh so to speak i know a few people who have bought them and are really pleased , a very very good copy , go for it
This is mine with the japanese ones and Joanne's are exactly the same




Love your westy by the way Pearl White is always nice but then im biased , have you got a paint code sticker behind the passenger seat ? if not ive a spare one & will send it off to SixVolt with the rest of the stickers

Philip, your Westy looks pretty sweet, too. Your curtains look great. I have just a few remnants of the original curtains from mine. The years of being out in the sun sure made them very brittle and faded. The bungee cords are gone and we were trying to figure out what color looks best. Looks like you have white?
The paint code sticker on my Westy was long gone by the time I got it, thanks!

Hi Craig, had the same problem as you with the curtains also my bungees were white but decided to try & go as original as possible so ordered a set from Josh
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... ?id=985081 i went for Tan colour as they seem to blend in just right with the curtains if you ever need any help UK wise please give me a shout more then willing to help ps i see you have the correct clam shell light covers are these og to the bus ?

Philip, thanks for the recommendation on the curtains. I'm gonna get them ordered soon and the tan bungee cords, too. Yes, the clam shell lights are original to the bus. When I bought the bus, it had been apart for some time. This is my first attempt with a bus (last year I finished a 3 year restoration of a 56 Beetle) and it was challenging to sort thru all the boxes of "stuff" that came with it trying to figure out what goes where. I still have a few things that I'm not sure of. About the only thing that was missing was the rear facing seat & icebox. I located a 66 Westy that was pretty rusty, but the interior was complete. When I first got the bus, I nearly thru out this old, faded canvas piece of material that was folded up at the bottom of a box. Turned out to be the child's cot! My wife & I are anxious to go camping with it now with our 5 year old grandson.

65Westy wrote:New shocks are installed. Steering seems to be a little loose. I've replaced the tie rods, drag link, & steering

Check you swing pin for play, you may need new swing pin bushings.

By the way, here's a thread on how to change them that I just remembered.
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=147&start=0

Thanks for the link, Ken.... I'll put that on my to do list ...

Engine removed and checked clearance on the fan. It doesn't seem to be rubbing. Engine back in and still have a noise. Getting pretty good at it. 35 minutes out or in.......
I did notice the generator spins freely in the proper direction, but makes a ratcheting sound if you turn it in the opposite direction. Are there bearings in the generator that might need replaced?

The ratchetting sound when you turn the rotor in the opposite direction is probably the brushes clicking against the armature. The are not designed to work in the opposite direction, that is normal, no harm done.