Gill's BUS

[Ron&Gill]

I don't think I need anything, thanks. Maybe I need to replace the bush in the steering arm. I'll only know when I'm home again. Thanks a lot for the offer.

[Pine]

Blind man driving?

[karmakoma]

That is a really nice bus. Love the Banjo steering wheel.
"few things to tidy up", couldn't see anything wrong on the pictures, beautiful.

[Ron&Gill]

Always a few things to tidy up. One is never quite finished...

Old Ben, too cool, that guy!

[johanb]

Very nice bus Ron,, like the wheel and shifter,,
If you strip the bay suspension from the split,, can we smoke the peace pipe and pow-pow if I can take it over from you again..

[Ron&Gill]

The history: regarding the latest work....

I bought the bus with the original gearbox and a 1776cc engine. The engine revved far too high at any reasonable speed, even at 80km/hr. The 1776cc twin 36mm Dellorto carbed engine was also far more powerful than the original 1200cc 25hp engine that was in there, which is great for performance but not for the gearbox, I thought.

So I went to Villiersdorp to have a gearbox made up and my learning curve starts here, two years ago.

Andreno Motors made up a “Beetle” main gearbox, with reduction boxes (RGB), but it doesn’t fit, the Beetle box is 40mm longer than the split case box in the pre-58(?) bus. The RGBs on the longer gearboxes have 46mm castle nuts, not 36mm like the earlier RGBs. Arno came up with a very elegant solution, change the existing RGBs from a 1:0.75 ratio to 1:1 ratio. This was done and we got good driving results but not good reliability and we developed a rumble after only 3000km.

Drained the oil and saw that it was full of metal. In order to keep the bus on the road, I installed the insides of a spare set of 36mm RGBs which I had acquired and sent the 1:1 ratio RGB interiors away for “re-engineering”. (This re-engineering process has been taken away from the guys that did the original 1:1 conversion and has been given to Bugger, he will hence answer any questions on that.)

I had a persistent oil leak on the rebuilt reduction boxes to the point where I asked Bugger to fly down to come and help. We strip and rebuild, and discover that the one 36mm RGB driven shaft is in fact not the same as the other, the OD of the driven gear on the shorter drive shaft is 96mm and only 92mm on the long driven shaft. Phone The Fig… He informs us that halfway through VW’s transition from the 36mm RGB to the 46mm RGB, that is the transition from the 1200cc to the 1500cc, or the transition from the split case gearbox to the 40mm longer “beetle” box, they did make a lower ratio 36mm RGB with a longer stub axle. (My luck to end up with one of each…) Fig, feel free to add details to these transitions… they apparently occurred between 58 and 62?

The goal:

I want a drivable bus (original is no longer an option, it wasn’t original when I bought it, not is it desirable), with which I can tow. For that I need a strong tranny, a good engine and good brakes… er… and a towbar…

The solution:

I have to make that long gearbox fit into the short space, the one Arno built for me, with the long final drive (diff) ratio, flipped over, and beefy 46mm RGBs. The 2270cc (ex Razor Edge) 106kW motor has become available, so all the more reason for the stronger tranny. But before I even go there, I have to think brakes.

So I researched and finally imported a new remote vacuum assisted brake servo (or booster). The drums on the 46mm RGB are also wider, heavier, better, and the front bay window discs that are already on the bus and giving me problems are going to be replaced with ventilated discs by Dave Rowley. So I re-plumbed in the brake lines, all new and shiny, using the existing (not original) bay window dual circuit master cylinder. The dual circuit brake booster is mounted in the rear under the fuel tank next to the gearbox and clutch Bowden tube.

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The vacuum comes off the rear (only) of the twin carb inlet manifolds (ie numbers 1 and 3 cylinder). No one-way valves (aka check valves or non-return valves) were deemed necessary, as per consultation between Dave Rowley and Dave Ingle.

The backing plate on the 46mm RGB is of course different from the backing plate on the 36mm RGB and this requires the use of the later hand brake cables (it doesn’t have that infuriating little fitting which holds the hand brake cable Bowden tube, here the Bowden tube just slides in) Of course, the later hand brake cables are around 6 inches longer than the old ones, and I assume this is because the hand brake cables are adjustable from inside the later bus as opposed to underneath on the earlier bus. (Fig?) I just had them made shorter.

I replaced the slave cylinders with new, had the drums skimmed and shoes re-lined and built up the old 46mm RGBs with new stub axle seals and O-rings and new booties and a new starter motor and bush as the old one’s shaft is thicker than the new one so it didn’t fit into the Beetle gearbox (more about that later).

[Ron&Gill]

I was ready to install the gearbox. I had one of those special adapter plates that achieves this same conversion on Beetles.

First of all the adapter plate bolt holes didn’t line up with those on the bus front gearbox mount (which is, like the old beetle, like a cup into which the nose cone fits through a large round rubber with a backing plate to hold it all in.). Also, the Beetle box nose cone is not the same, but I had one for a later bus which fits onto the Beetle box. Getting there… So, TonyZ and I offered the box up to the bus and indeed, as expected, it hung over the rear mounts by 40mm, and the hockey stick was also 40mm short of the selector coupling. What stopped it going in was the rib on top of the nose cone.

So I got out the dreaded angle grinder and cut a slot in the top of the gearbox mount cup. We offered the gearbox up again and we had gained 20mm. Not wanting to cut anymore on the bus than I absolutely had to (the front mount can still be used with an original gearbox and rubber even though it now has a slot cut in it), I now proceeded to cut away as little as I could get away with off the top rib on the nose cone. Offering the gearbox up again gave the correct result, we gained the remaining 20mm. The rear mounts lined up perfectly and, lifting the front of the gearbox slightly (a millimeter or two), the selector coupling slid effortlessly into place over the hockey stick.

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[Ron&Gill]

Now I had to modify, or re-fabricate the front mounting plate to fit an early bus. I took a pic of how the bolt holes didn’t line up and from the pic, the Beetle adaptor plate and the bus front mount backing plate, I redesigned the front mount, also making it 5mm thinner than the Beetle adaptor plate (so that the rear gearbox mounts sit exactly in the middle of the bolt holes of the gearbox rear mounting cradle). Plus, I thought better to make the spacer from nylon in stead of steel to minimize vibration and noise. Dave Rowley made the plate for me, and after another slight modification to the right side of the plate to clear the nose cone, TonyZ and I installed the gearbox with the new plate. It fitted perfectly, and the gears are selectable, it all works.

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[Ron&Gill]

Next, I connected all the brake pipes and bled the system (the old front discs were still there as at this stage I was still waiting for the new brakes from Dave Rowley.) I connected the clutch cable and installed a new release bearing to match the 2 stage Kennedy clutch on the motor. (The one with the Aluminium sleeve in the bell housing).

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(I also installed a fuel level sender unit in the fuel tank and a gauge up front. And removed the reserve valve because the outlet was way too small, like 2mm or something, certainly not enough for those two 44mm IDFs to be sucking on! I now have a normal 6mm Beetle outlet out of the tank.)

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From here on it was easy. I received the ex-Ghia motor from Dave, who had installed Type 1 engine tin and a mechanical fuel pump (the Porsche cooling shroud is staying with the Ghia on the turbo motor) and after completing the fuel system, I installed the engine without too much effort. However, I have made a comment a few times on the forum that if you want to work on the engine, just whip it out and for this I apologise. I am, you see a beach buggy builder/owner, and yes, it’s fine on a buggy, but very different on a bus. What a pain! (Relatively that is.) I had some difficulty with hoses and hose connections to the existing fuel filter and oil cooler and I made a mental note to change the oil cooler at a later stage.

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With the motor in, exhaust all hooked up, rear valence and bumper back on and a new battery, I was ready to swing her into life. Well, the starter motor can just about get the 2270cc engine to go round. I needed a high torque starter so I retrieved the one for the Ghia (VR6 starter with a planetary gear system) but that doesn’t fit, not right way up (fuel tank in the way) nor upside down (swing axle in the way). “Oh bother”, I said, or words to that effect . Anyway, I put the “new” starter motor back in and persisted, and sure enough she fired up. Just took a while… sounding terrible. But when she ran, she ran beautifully. Very civilized with the bus’ exhaust on the loud motor. Now I was able to drive her a little and check the gear selection and all’s fine.

[Ron&Gill]

On the last available work day, Dave dropped off a rebuilt front beam for the bus, new king and link pins, needle bearings, rubbers, seals, and the ventilated discs and caliphers. I was very tempted to install it but found the bolts supplied by the supplier of the tie rods and pitman arm do not have the same thread as the ball joints, and of course my tools and workshop were in a mess, so I opted to leave that for now and tidy up instead.

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[Ron&Gill]

To do from here:

Time to relax and contemplate the next steps…

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Install the front beam, bleed the brakes and enjoy driving the bus. Fabricate a towbar and get a high torque starter motor before the one in there shits the bed. And then give the body work a little TLC, like installing the semaphores and a little minimal rust repair.

For those of you only reading this last post, go back about five posts...

[calooker]

WOW nice work man. Realy good to see that there is someone who is prepared to take on some hefty modifications and improve on an already great ride. Keep up the good work.

[johanb]

Like the work on your bus,, will have to visit and have look for myself

[Tony Z]

good write up and some interesting posts. Was only too glad to help you where I could.

[Chris]

Awesome work Ron.I'm sure that engine is going to give the bus a lot of shove.

So,tell us,was Tony,the appy,of any use?