Tony Z has a Baywindow Panel Van

[retrovan]

OK, so the Van has had its short hibernation, and had a great time here in Hippy town, but all good things must come to an end, and its off back home, with the "Z" Van.

Loaded her up for her final stage back home and with a tear in the eye, saw here disappear into the distance.













Have fun with her Mr.Z, she be a good looker.

Herman

[jolas]

That Kombi needs to come to Klapmuts, perhaps a deviation of sorts on the N1 ????

It is such a STUNNING example

Very very nice Tony ......















you gonna spray it matt black ?

[splitbusahollic]

i agree...Matt black with deluxe trim ! stunning !

[Tony Z]

OK, so the Van has had its short hibernation, and had a great time here in Hippy town, but all good things must come to an end, and its off back home, with the "Z" Van.

The Z-Van
I like that name....

Thanks again for everything Herman. I am looking forward to her arrival today.

[Thumper]

That is really a smart looking bus.

[Tony Z]

The bus was dropped off at my place a short while ago. She started up first time with a lekka puff of smoke from the exhaust. No photos or close examination yet, there is way too much going on at home to spare any attention to the bus.

[Gerlach]

Congratulation on the nice looking bus Tony!!! She looks really clean. Z-Van WP number plate can work for her Going on Leave from next week, so will come say hi when thinks calms down by your side. Will swing by with my beetle before i take her back to storage.

[Tony Z]

things wont calm down here until I go back to work, but you are welcome to visit anytime

[VW0007]

Great find and buy
Enjoy ..
I miss my splitty bus which I drove from wellington to 2mil for 2 years while doing my stint in the 80's
Still kick my dumb ass for selling her every time I see one ...

[Bugger]

You need to still make space for the new Brown Beetle with the Hideous rims to come home

[Tony Z]

space is ready Bugger... just waiting for the bug

[Gerlach]

Thanks Tony.

[acpaterson]

Let's Spray it BRIGHT YELLOW Boet...

[Gerlach]

Let's Spray it BRIGHT YELLOW Boet...

Hahahahahahahahahhaha!!!!! Are we talking about chicken YELLOW??

[Tony Z]

Well, today I finally managed to look into doing a few things to the bus
In true Zee fashion, things didnt really go according to plan.

Since the bus arrived without a engine bay seal, I decided that my first option is to purchase and install this rubber.

So, after helping a fellow forum member in Somerset West, I head to grandslam on my way home and ask for a seal. I get a seal and then cannot figure out how this seal is supposed to fit.
After much online searching, it turns out that the engine bay in my German panel van is/was designed for the type 4 engine and isnt the same as the usual 1600 engine bay. It has a 1600 engine and "conversion tins".
I looked over this setup and now understand why there isnt a seal in place... to get this one right, I highly doubt you can do this with the engine in place.... so it involves removing the engine to fit a seal. I am really not keen on trying to fit the correct seal behind the fan housing or trying to line it up as it should be when installing the engine, so I went off to Pro Auto Rubber and got hold of a seal which I think will fit. I can add one half of the seal to the engine bay and the other half to the engine, when fitted the two should overlap nicely and provide a decent enough seal.... but only time will tell

So today, I decide its time to remove the engine, as its nice a cool day, plus my SO is back at work and I cant leave home because i have builders on site.
And this is where things stopped going according to plan.

While disconnecting everything, I have a slightly closer look at my fuel hoses....
Fig keeps going on about this and I have to admit - he is right...
Inspect your fuel hoses regularly and replace them often. The hoses on this bus are all cracked and about to break
So new fuel hoses are added to my list of things to do. After I pull out the engine.

While pulling out the engine, I decided to check my end play... over 0.5mm which is 3 times what the factory recommends as the maximum wear limit.
So heck... I am planning on rebuilding this engine sometime, so it might as well me now.

I am still impressed with things here, but in all honesty, this engine is tired even though it starts first time every time.
When starting up, there is a huge puff of smoke.
Every part of the engine is covered in oil, except the visible part when you open the engine lid.

Once I got the engine out and onto the engine stand, took off the various bits and pieces to turn the engine from turnkey to a longblock.
The carb is in fantastic condition and even the choke still works properly. Anyway, after removing the inlet manifolds, I spot plenty carbon buildup in the inlet manifold, inlet ports and on the inlet valves.


I had to chisel a couple of exhaust nuts off as they were nicely seized in place and the exhaust didnt give the space to properly fit a spanner onto the nut without it slipping off.
Once getting the tins off, I found a whole lot of foam possibly from the oil cooler pressed into the heads limiting their cooling and also stuck between the barrels, stopping airflow down between cylinders.




As you can see, this foam is everywhere... I am really surprised that this engine didnt cook itself to death. I am also glad I decided not to go for a nice cruise until after I fitted a engine bay seal.

So I guess it really truely is time for a rebuild.... No more news for today.... I'll get stuck into the engine again soon.