Aircooled VW South Africa

Hey Karma! You have a missing stud

Thanks again Blitz for pointing out there was a stud missing.

Got the last set required on friday, as well as some EMPI centre caps.

Bought some threadlock liquid and "locked" the studs into the drums today.

Word of advise to anyone else contemplating fitting studs. DEFINATELY use the threadlock.
I got the studs out of the drums WAAAYYY to easily for comfort. Strange thing, two of them WOULD NOT BUDGE.

Went quite quickly actually, take nut off, unscrew stud from drum, line of threadlock around the stud, tighten the stud back into the drum, nut and washer back on, tighten, repeat 20 times. Fit 4 x Centre caps and FINALLY, you get properly fitted Empi 5's !










The drivers side seatbelt I fitted in the bus was a little tight, fortunately the kits I bought had two long stocks and two short stocks. Fitted the longer stock today, and now its perfect. Comfortable with a bit of play.



Also bumped my knee for the last @#$# time today against the steering column, is this a special piece of rubber around the steering column edge or can I use window rubber to make one ------->

Can anyone shed some light on the function of all the black dash mounted knobs and the key slot (ignition ?) just visible on the LHS of the steering column? Before you ask, my bus has had some , shall we say, modifications done, and one or two extra buttons added, hence the reason I ask...

karmakoma wrote:

Can anyone shed some light on the function of all the black dash mounted knobs and the key slot (ignition ?) just visible on the LHS of the steering column? Before you ask, my bus has had some , shall we say, modifications done, and one or two extra buttons added, hence the reason I ask...

Where did you find that pic of my bus, KK?

From L to R...

Cigarette lighter, wipers, rear cab light control (speedo pod), headlights.

The rubber around the steering column bracket is a special moulding.

I suppose you could use a general rubber there though.

I also need to find a black one for the bus I'm currently working on. Will add it to my order list for later this year...

My ambulance is at Home at the moment. If you want, drop me a line and come past - I'll show you the rubber on that bus.

Cheers, Nic

Thanks Nic

You would be amazed at what you can find on http://www.theprecious.com (a.k.a. the samba )

Cigarette lighter, rear cab light controls! WOW, I would never have guessed.
Do you need a special key for the rear light control on the speedo pod? Bear in mind I do not have any keys for this bus
Yes, you read correctly, it locks from the inside with a house rifle bolt lock! On both front doors!

Has a hidden cut-out switch and starter button to get it going. So yes, no keys.
On that topic, what year type bus ignition do I fit to this bus?

karmakoma wrote:Thanks Nic

You would be amazed at what you can find on http://www.theprecious.com (a.k.a. the samba )

Cigarette lighter, rear cab light controls! WOW, I would never have guessed.
Do you need a special key for the rear light control on the speedo pod? Bear in mind I do not have any keys for this bus
Yes, you read correctly, it locks from the inside with a house rifle bolt lock! On both front doors!

Has a hidden cut-out switch and starter button to get it going. So yes, no keys.
On that topic, what year type bus ignition do I fit to this bus?

Hey KK,

@ the TS.

In the back you have a dome light, that can be activated manually. That switch on the speedo pod allows you to override that so that you can switch it on/off from the driver's seat. Nifty, eh?

No key - it's a toggle switch. ...and that toggle switch is different to a German bus. I have seen some German toggle switches on Fleetlines, but never the other way around, so I assume the German ones were fitted to replace broken Fleetline ones.

A Fleetline has an ignition key (long shaft), and another key for the doors and engine lid. Plus, there is a unique church key for the fuel flap.

A repro German church key will work fine though.

The Fleetline I am currently working on is also short of keys - it's some way down my priority list though, so I haven't yet started looking for replacements for it, but I will attempt to get a key made to fit the lock. Something that needs to be done for my bug too...

I am not sure what years this ignition is applicable to. Ask Fig.

Drop me a line if you want and I'll show you the ambulance, and take you to the Fleetline too.

Cheers, N.

Finally got a drivers seat.

Thanks VW-rules!! Much appreciated. I owe you one.

Seat needs a full restore, but I was very pleasantly suprised to see the mechanisms on it all still work.

Took out the current seat of unknown vintage, and this seat slid right into the rails.

The backrest adjuster still adjusts and it slides forwards and backwards like it should. Way cool.

Soon we can start the reupholstery of these seats.

Oh, and there is a pic:

Always nice to get the original parts back for your vehicle!

Are you gonna have them re-covered as they were originally, or something special?

Karma

I need a favour please. Can you remove your seats and then take a pic of the rails for me. Thanks Man, I knew I could count on you.

HR, will do when I get a chance to be at home in daylight again , you couldn't have asked three hours ago ?

Pine, you know how I love stock, but the fleetline's stock is but oh so boring. Thinking of doing something a little more special than the utililitarion fleetline interior, but not too over the top. Perhaps new panels like the original, but in a better colour, fake deluxe trim strip wont hurt either. Saw the red seats in the "Bullrun" bus and loved it, so that is also a possibility. So many choices, so little time

How about 'going sak' (hessian)? I'm serious!

Would fit the "budget" image of a fleetline , perhaps canvas, like those expensive 4 x 4 seat covers...

HR, specially for you, with the help of Beetlefanatic:

Thanks Karma. Sorry you had to go through all that. Now I've got an idea of what I need to do to my bus. And that is start from scratch. @#$#$@#$^%$

The hessian idea is quite cool. I built this African theme holiday home a while ago and made curtains from hessian. It looked awesome. I would suggest you do not drive with shorts thou if you go that route.



Let's start a Fleetline Owners' Club? But we don't invite Pine to join.

nice bus man, keep at it, looks prity good compared to the australian ones