Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi Louis

It is a Tuffex exhaust which has a similar chamber layout inside to a standard bus silencer. Outside is different as this silencer is rolled and welded together where as others are pressed. It sounds pretty much like a standard air cooled engine and it is not made to have any more power than a standard exhaust.

I managed to strip all the window frames this week. Some of the pop out frames were rusted beyond repair. As I managed to get some more (thanks Jolas) a total of 7 I managed to make 4 usable frames. All the screws were rusted beyond trying to turn out. I had to drill them but all came cleanly out and I was able to re-tap each thread.

I started cleaning the parts up with a wire brush on the angle grinder but quickly gave up. I rather took it all for sandblasting and powder coating. They even had a colour that is almost identical to my current one on the bus.

As the powder coating is electrostatically applied it gets into all those hard to reach areas that I couldn’t with the spray gun at home.
These will be returned next week and then I can reassemble and insert the new rubber seals and fit.

I received the window frames back earlier this week and they didn’t come out so bad. There is some pitting that shows through but overall the powder coating worked well. And it also only cost R220 for all parts. I can’t believe I even started with the wire brush on the angle grinder and I would have never got the same result.



Windows in the assembly process with new rubber seals fitted.





Other jobs that I have been busy with:
Installed the motor and started it up. It sounds a huge amount better, main reason for the leaking exhaust from before.
Wiring loom is almost complete. One problem here is my original ignition switch is burnt out, I got hold of another one but it was also burnt out. I am hoping I can find something very similar new that I can still retain the original ignition switch. I have to take the unit into a locksmith to have new keys made and hopefully he knows a switch that can work and fit.

I have these two speedo instruments, the left one I stripped from this Fleetline and the other one from a Fleetline panel van. Both have matching fuel gauges.
Does anyone know why these differ? Was it just a different style?

The blue one on the right has the Brazilian VW code on the back where as the other does not.

The one on the right is excacly like mine( single cab wide bed)

what was the 2 color scheme of the bus/ panel van where it came out?

Perhaps they used the white one with the light colors(right)
and the black one with the dark colors

ALL Fleetline speedos are the same,so the other one is............you guessed it!



Although,im almost positive im correct,check it up with FIG.

Just out of curiosity,can you post pics of the fuel gadges?

Well done Sean , lotsa hard graft in this thread , now get it done and start enjoying the fruits of your labour !!

Looking good Sean, windows look great. Is that ignition switch which is blown the one I gave you ?

Howzit Paul. Yes, only the cranking switch part works on it, it does not turn the ignition on. I checked the resistance with the multimeter and there is nothing going to the ignition circuit.

I heard that a Nissan 1400 barrel will work, but I'm not sure about this, perhaps the locksmith dude could check. Was there another one this side? I'm sure we looked at two ignitions ?

jolas wrote:I heard that a Nissan 1400 barrel will work, but I'm not sure about this, perhaps the locksmith dude could check. Was there another one this side? I'm sure we looked at two ignitions ?

The Nissan 1400 is exactly what I had in mind. I have stripped one before a few years back and have memories of this looking almost identical. I will go check it out next week.

Here are the different fuel gauges. Sorry about the second picture but that gauge is ruined. The ruined gauge came with the matching blue speedo.

All the windows are now fitted. This was very time consuming! The pop outs are all working with new inner and outer seals, front doors are complete but I have only so far fitted the outer seals which are on the doors.







I had managed to assemble some window catches for the sliding windows but only managed to make 3 left ones. I am on the lookout for a right hand one.

From the pop outs I only managed to assemble two of the catches from bits and pieces. I am also still on the lookout for two window catches. All the catches I have assembled I have polished up with the machine and the chrome work has come out stunning.

In terms of the electrics I have only been struggling with the fuel gauge. It appears to be a faulty sender unit.

I had to strip the rear drums as the RGB’s had leaked oil into the brakes. I can’t seem to see where this oil has come from. I have cleaned everything and going to monitor it to find the leak. Once I have found it I will have to have the brake shoes relined again as they have now been contaminated with oil.

I had to remove the motor as the alternator I fitted was not working. I took this to F4R last week and will pick it up on Friday again. Once finished I can install the motor again. I am hoping to be able to take it for a short drive this Sunday if the weather is good.

Just flicked through this thread now. Your bus looks amazing! The colour combo has to be one of the nicest I've seen. Congratulations on a top-notch project and best of luck with the rest of it.
I am insanely jealous!

Looking amazing with all the windows and rubbers in place