Aircooled VW South Africa

You guys know the great feeling of getting up on a Public Holiday and boosting energy levels with an good breakfast.

Know in full well that this energy will be transformed into some serious labour to bring/keep the old aircooled top of its form.....

Well that was my start, and with full gusto, headed down to my Aircooled stash.

On opening the 1st garage door, the smell of petrol hit me like a ton of bricks.

On opening the 2nd door, a puddle of fuel on the floor made my hair stand on end.

The 3rd door revealed the horror of the night before.

The Bay had decided to dump its full petrol tank on the floor of the garage, flooding all 4 my Aircooleds as well as the wife's Audi.

Running and shouting to all not to use any electrical device, and tripping the main switch,

I managed to calm down to a panic.

The 1st thought that came into my head was, "no way am I starting a 1952 Beetle project from the start again"....

The fact that the new house is not insured did not even cross my mind.

So all well that ends well, with the doors open , all the carpets outside well away from the house or cars, the fumes still a bit strong, but the fuel has evaporated thank goodness.

So.... How was your Day.....???????????

Herman

Hell!

Wow man scary.
Thank heaven all ended without incident

Glad all turned out OK.

I had one this week where I drained 5L of petrol into a 10L jerry can. Well, thats what the owner said was in the tank.
While it was draining, I went about doing something else and then spotted it overflowing... wasnt quite 5L.
Hose clamped. Fire extinguisher out. Rags to soak up the fuel ASAP and then threw it all outside to evaporate.
Could have turned bad so easily...

All is good and well and hopefully we all learn and dont make each others mistakes.

What was the cause of your leak Herman?

Scary stuff.

What do you guys use as a safety device against fire in the engine bays?

close call Herman !!!!

Very close call,, glad all is good

Tony Z wrote: ↑Fri Apr 28, 2017 6:02 am ......What was the cause of your leak Herman?

Not sure Tony, I need to take the engine out so that I can remove the barrier between engine and tank.

Its not from the outlet, so i would guess maybe a rust hole, or chafed through on the body.

1st thought was the filler pipe. but that would not drain the tank, also if it was one of the breathers, it would stop very quick.

Only time will tell.

brucet wrote: ↑Fri Apr 28, 2017 6:55 am ....What do you guys use as a safety device against fire in the engine bays?

Faith........

Just make sure the filter is out of the engine bay, that the pipes are certify fuel pipes, and not just salesman's say-so

Fit an electric cut-off solenoid to the fuel line to stop fuel flow when key is off. you must remember that most VW aircooleds gravity feed from the tank to the engine bay, so if you have a fire, NO fire extinguisher will put it out as you constantly supply it with more fuel.

And a Fire extinguisher in the cab near the door on a grab mount.

Herman

As Tony said, will post findings here so others can prevent the same thing happening to them,

next time may not be so lucky.

Herman

I once read about the bus;s having an age old issue with the fuel line where it passes through the bulkhead and into the engine bay.
The heat from the exhaust destroys the grommit and this leads to chaffing of the fuel line on the front tin, leading to fuel leaks.
I re-routed mine to come through a hole higher up in the compartment on the body, not the tinware to avoid this problem.
I have just done another bus and routed the fuel line the same way as I did on mine.

Any news about the cause? You do'nt have to remove the type 4 engine to remove tank cover. Just remember to remove the two screws from the bottom on the sides. Even the tank can be removed with type 4 engine in place, just remove carbs. Although... this might be easier if engine is out.

Once had a fuel line sprung a serious leak while driving on the highway. Caused by a cracked hose, only 6 months old, from Midas. Happened on pressure side of fuel pump. Sprayed several litres of fuel over the engine. What probably saved the situation... was that ignition wiring was uprated. At the time i found "heavy duty type 3 end fittings" to put onto the new wire when making up the leads. This was an old trick from the guys who rallied beetles. New German Bosch distr cap as well, and the plastic thingie inside was present. I could wash the engine and it would still start when wet.

Dawie wrote: ↑Mon May 01, 2017 1:48 pm Any news about the cause? .....

Thanks for that Dawie,

Yes the engine out is easier as I have twin carbs and with the CRAP gearbox I bought........(lets not go there)... the engine has come out so often that all I do is stand aside and whistle, then the engine jumps out buy it self..

No I find taking the engine out by my self a lot easier then working over the motor, and dropping nuts into the ports.

Besides the gearbox had to come out to send to Bugger transmissions....

The breather pipes are old and suspect, and will be replaced, but the cause was the outlet of the tank had a crack in it maybe from the straps being loose.

Will be replacing all the pipes at the tank with clamps on them, as they where all just pushed on, no clamps.

Thats maybe why the light smell of petrol was in the van on the way back from KKK.

So now with the ass of the van in the air, I will be doing the tank area, pipes and re-routing the pump and filter and shutoff valve.

Will also do the steering shaft that I got from Terry,

Then we wait for the most expensive gearbox to come back with a new start in life.

Thanks for looking.

Herman