Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi all
I am new to this forum. I thought I should join, as I just recently bought a vw kombi and wanted to share my story and hopefully pick all your brains on what to know, where to go and all that comes with being an owner of an air cooled beauti in sunny south africa.

A month ago I found a diamond in the rough. I think she is an old 1976 vw kombi 1.6 . See pics..

The family I bought her off nick named her "to the tub" and converted her into a safari vehicle to use on there game farm .
The old man that owned her, picked her up as a scrap and redone her mechanically. After a month of completing her he passed away. His family left her in storage for 8 years gathering dust.

A couple month ago I was in the market for a scrap vehicle I could term into a food truck/ trailer. I saw her advertised on gumtree in Johannesburg. Being a durban based boy I was a bit hesitant in purchasing her with very little history or knowledge on the vehicle, but none the less I decided to go for it. I bought her voets stoets and I arrange a jhb mechanic to give her a clean up. I slowly learned of her tale and the mechanic reckoned she was mechanically sound to drive. No wind screen wipers, indicators nor ignition key.

BRAVE OR STUPID I caught a lift up to jhb and the very next day drove her back to durban. I arranged all the nessary permits to temporary legalise her. She averaged 67km/ hour, R2.80 per km, and took 9h30min to get her to durbs. She didn't give me one single bit of trouble the whole 590km trip.

When I got to Durban I left her to stand for a couple days while I started converting her into a mobile kitchen. I drove her to the police clearance station and around durban licencing a few days.

Once I had completed her she made her debut attendance at the sharks rugby open fun day last weekend. She was an absolute hit. The crowds loved her and she had fulfilled her purpose way beyond our expectations.

On the way back home from the big event, she started giving a few issues. Started to back fire infrequently and slightly, she then started missing and soon she stalled and could restart. I waited 10min, and she started up again and I managed to get her onto the open high way, which she was fine on. The minute I got her off the high way and onto urban roads she stalled again and refused to restart .

I went back home and received the A frame tow bar and towed her the rest of the way home.

So that's my story. Hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed the physical journey.

Please can anyone advise what the issue could be? Is Here anyone in durban I can take her to? I am eger to learn more about his vehicle and trying desperately to find all the necessary parts to get her through COR.

Welcome to ACVWSA and congrats on your aquisition of "the tub"

There was a German dude who sorted out my Westy when we visited Durban a few years ago.

I don't have his details anymore, but the company was called Stella Motors. In Clairwood. If you travel (south) along South Coast Road, turn left at Blamey Road, go under the M4 freeway, he was about 100m down the road on the right hand side, kind of opp Jacks Tyres, Falcon Motor Spares, etc, etc (not sure if they're still there iether).

Good luck - glad the Tub is saved and up and running again

Ask the mechanic in JHB if he changed the petrol filter when he did the service. After standing for 8 years I'm sure there will be some nasty stuff in the tank, fuel lines, carb, etc. Its a good place to start. From there move on the electrics

Do you have any pics of your trip from JHB to KZN ?

Where do you stay in Durban ?

check the idle cut-off switch (solenoid on the carb). If this closes, you wont be able to idle, but will be able to drive on the main jets and pump jets.
Also, I assume you are running LRP? If you are, then drain the tank, put in new spark plugs and fill up with unleaded. You;ll probably find your problems will go away now

When you drain the tank, clean the tank as well as the tank filter thats in the outlet, at the bottom of the tank, you will find its blocked and only allows fuel to slowly pass through. 8 plus years of gunk in the tanks is no joke.

Herman

Thanks guys for the advice..
Jolas :I will look up Stella motors most definitely. I have drained her fuel and there was nasty stuff in there. I presume the way you clean the tank is to keep filling it up and draining it and that should clean the fuel line at the same time right? Not to sure about how to clean the carbon though? I will post some pics of the journey after this post.

Tonyz: she idles fine when I first start her its just when I start putting power that she cuts out. Not sure exactly where the cut off switch will be located. I was using LRP so I have drained her and just bought new plugs and fuel filer. Will put unleaded in and see how that goes.
Retrovan: I have checked under Neath her at the tank, she does seem to have a tank filter, but while I was draining her here seemed to be a fair amount of pressure coming out.

Pics from the journey jhb to dbn

the_tub wrote: Tonyz: she idles fine when I first start her its just when I start putting power that she cuts out. Not sure exactly where the cut off switch will be located. I was using LRP so I have drained her and just bought new plugs and fuel filer. Will put unleaded in and see how that goes.

If she idles, then dont worry about the idle cut off switch. It is mounted on the carb btw.
It wouldnt hurt to check for vacuum leaks if you still have an issue after changing to unleaded.

HOWDY!
GLAD TO HEAR WE HAVE ANOTHER BUS RUNNING HERE IN DURBAN.
AS JOLAS ASKED....WHERE IN DURBAN ARE YOU? PM US IF YOU DON'T WANT THE WHOLE FORUM TO KNOW.
WE ARE INTO THE BUS THING SO GIVE US A SHOUT, WE MAY ALSO HAVE SOME BITS FOR YOU OR BE ABLE TO POINT YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

MARK & Cyndi

Congrats on the new purchase. You are welcome to bring her down to our shop in Toti we are vw air cooled specialists

Hi cydini ecbuggys and the rest, I still am having no luck with her, I have done everything everyone above has advised. she starts and idles perfectly, but when I drive her more than 1km down the road she chokes out and won't start unless I let her rest for 20 min. This is crazy. ?. I am sure it's something small just cannot put my figure on it.

Cyndi she is parked at 86 danville avenue in dbn north. Would love it if you could assist in pointing me in the right direction in getting all the accessories needed to get her road legal.

Ecbuggys , I would like to maybe bring her over for you guys to help me figure out what the problem could be. Please sent address and contact details.

when she cuts out, check how warm the coil is.
It it is warm its OK, but if you feel like you are almost burning your hand, then the coil is finished.
Otherwise, have you tried loosening the bolts that hold the fuel pump down? Loosen them, then tighten up a little past finger tight. If they are too tight, the pump base can get squashed and when hot, this can stop the fuel pump pushrod from doing its job

@ Tony Z
Please see below pic to check if I am feeling her coil in the right spot? Where my hand is I cannot touch it for longer then 3 seconds without burning too much

I am about to loose the bolts that hold the fuel pump down, please see below picture, is my finger pointing to the correct nut that needs to be loosened?

yip, those are the correct nuts - do the second one too

the coil however, that is your distributor....

this is a coil