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By blobaugh, February 12, 2010 8:39 pm

My buddy Kevin sent me this picture. I thought it was great. I need to get one of these for my house!

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By blobaugh, February 8, 2010 6:28 pm

I ran across this pictures on The Samba and decided it was worthy of reposting. Never never never never jack your bus up like this. I bet I could go kick one of those supports and have the whole bus come crashing down. You should always use the proper jacks, jack stands, or hoists. If you absolutely cannot get access to them then please use something that is not quite so thin. Get a wider base.

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By blobaugh, August 22, 2009 9:32 am

I had a great summer, but unfortunately it is once again time to get back to Nampa for school :(. Road tripped it back with Jordan in my 1965 VW Bus. It was a good trip over all. We started around 3.30 PM and the air was hot! We sweated along for a few hundred miles before we gained enough elevation and evening approached to cool us off. The bus complained about the heat as well. Had to pull off a couple times to let the old lady cool down. Jordan snapped a fabulous photo after a short break.

As proof, I snapped this. We were going up hill at the time as well. Not really steep, but it was a long drag.

I figured the VWers will still be skeptical, so I shot a video cruising past a semi right after that picture.

Spent an amazingly hot next day pulling all my stuff out of storage and setting it up. I was sweating so much that my clothes were completely soaked! And the worst part was my shower drain was busted so I did not get to shower until about 11 that evening. Here is a video tour of my apartment. I really like how it turned out.

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By blobaugh, July 11, 2009 11:57 am

I have noticed a couple hits to my blog using the search term 'How to replace the fuel line on a VW bus'. I have mentioned fuel lines a couple times, which is why I assume the traffic is coming here, but I do not have info on changing them at all. Since people seem to be searching for it I may as well show y'all!

This was performed on a 1965 Deluxe, but should be similar for a large range of busses.

What you will need:
Slot screwdriver
Channel Locks
Box Knife
Large wire cutters
Tube clamps (not sure what they are really called)
New fuel line (get the size for your tank. if you don't know take the old line to the store. at least 6 foot, too much is better than not enough though)
Fuel filter (not necessary unless it is really gunky, but you may as well change it)

The VERY FIRST thing you should ALWAYS do when working on your fuel system is disconnect the battery. This can be done as easily as disconnecting the ground strap that is most likely near your compartment hinge. Make sure it is not resting on anything metal or conductive when you take it off. I usually set mine on top of my battery.

Now that we are not going to catch on fire(sadly this has happened many times before. Talk to Clara on The Samba to hear her heart-wrenching story) you have a couple options. First, you could drain out the gas by siphoning or drain it through fuel line, or second you could take the risk of dumping gas all over yourself and try to change the line with gas still in the tank. Personally, I choose to drain it out through the current fuel line. It's clean and you only need your wirecutters and a gas can to do it. It does take some time though.

Grab your channel locks and tighten the screw down till it will clamp and hold your fuel line. Now crimp the fuel line several inches above the filter. Cut the fuel line with your wire cutters as close to the filter as possible. Some gas may dribble out from the line now, and make sure the filter is tilted up or it's contents will be all over you. Regardless of how you drain the gas tank, there will be some gas in the line. Stick the end of it in your gas can and make sure it all comes out. Put the lid on the gas can and move it somewhere safe that you will not knock it over.

Now roll under your bus and find the other end of the fuel line. It will probably be near your starter, over the axle. Loosen the clamp with your slot screwdriver and pull the line off. If it does not come off take your box knife and make a cut lenthwise from as high as you can reach down an inch or so. Now it should tug off easy. If the line is still in decent shape keep it around marked as not for a fuel line. Small hoses can come in handy.

Since you are down there, you may as well see if you can get the post your fuel line connects to off and see if there is any gunk clogging your tank. I had that clog and I tried tuning everything on the motor before I realized what it was.

This is what the piece you take off looks like:

This is what my clog looked like. Hard for any gas to get through that!

Alrighty, you are halfway there! Thread your new hose. You want to make sure that you leave a foot or two extra near your fuel filter. Every time you take out your motor you will have to cut the fuel line again. Though if you do that often you may want to think about getting some disconnects to preserve the line.

Once your hose is all threaded, roll back under the bus and push that line back on to the post coming out of the tank. Sometimes this can be difficult. If you have trouble try heating up the end of the line to make the rubber a bit softer. If you still can't get it on heat it up again, and apply some lubricant to the post. Be careful not to get any inside the tank. Tighten the clamp down again and that side is done!

Head back to the engine compartment. If you are replacing the fuel filter now is the time. A bit of fuel may still be in the filter or the line, so be prepared. Now slide the line on the end of the filter and tighten the clamp there as well. Do not over tighten it, if your fuel filter is plastic or you risk breaking your stem and will have to put another filter on.

Congrats! You did it! Replace the fuel in your tank and fire the old girl up. The fuel pump has to get the fuel moving again, so your bus may not start right away. Turn it over a couple times and you should be in business!

Happy Cruising!

Oh, by the way. If you catch on fire, blow up, get squished, or any other thing should happen to you while changing your line don't blame me. You should always take proper safety precautions and fully understand the entire operation before doing it.

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By blobaugh, June 4, 2009 10:29 pm

A more in depth post is to follow when the entire procedure is done, but I feel so silly about this I just have to post it for all the world to share in laughing at me as I am laughing right now.

My Bus has been having issues running, and a family friend who has worked on vehicles for years(longer than I have been alive!), stopped by for a visit and while he was here he looked at my bus. After messing around with some timing and tinkering with other things he started watching my fuel filter. I told him it seems to run pretty low. As he examined it he noticed that there were what looked like rust particles and other crap filling up the filter. He guaranteed me that the reason for my issues was because my fuel tank was rusted out and clogging up the hole in the tank. Because I am still a n00b when it comes to mechanicing I believed him without further thought. The next day I ordered a new tank and parts totalling in at $200. I was happy it was cheap. The parts are supposed to arrive tomorrow, so in anticipation of getting my bus out on the road again I decided to pull my motor and tank tonight. Pretty simple task in itself, but I had a surprise waiting for me!

MY TANK WAS ALMOST TOTALLY CLEAN AND RUST FREE!

The hole where the fuel line connects was simply gummed up. Oops. Classic example of leap before you look. I certainly learned a lesson though, check first, spend $$ later. Luckily the tank and parts did not set me back much, and now I have an extra tank!

I took some pics to help you laugh harder.

Tank upside down on the workbench before removing the receiving unit.

The root of my issue was this gummed up hole. I scraped crap of the top part to show how bad junk was.

Some pictures to show you how nice and clean my tank is! (Worked on a buddy's fuel injection conversion recently and his tank had rust flaking off while we worked on it. This tank is immaculate!)

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By blobaugh, May 17, 2009 8:35 pm

I call this an adventure because it was really more than a trip. A trip involves simply getting in your car, fueling up, and getting there. This is a tale of high stakes, deciet, drugs, and sleazy women...ok, maybe some of that is incorrect, but it was fairly crazy none the less. Follow along as I tell a tale which nobody(ok, probably every classic VW owner) has ever heard before. It all began on lonely dark evening in Josh and Bethany's garage...

The evening before taking off for home I headed of to Josh and Bethany's at 6 PM to once again abuse their hospitality and tools. There was a strange noise happening whenever I pushed my clutch in, and The Samba said it was most likely my throwout bearing. My best friend, Jordan, had flown in the previous night to drive back with me, so he came with. After we pulled the engine out we sat staring into the transmission for a moment.

The clips that hold the throwout bearing in place were gone! Ok, in that picture there is no throwout bearing either, but it was there, I promise.

We found these two lonely splinters of metal sitting on the bottom of the housing.

Seeing as I did not have any replacements, nor did Josh, we(and by we I mean Josh) started calling around trying to find someone with spare clips. Eventually Josh found some(Sean maybe? Thanks whoever you are, I owe you a drink) and Bethany stopped by and picked them up on her way home from the Chicken Run.

While we were waiting for Bethany, Josh got anal(Oops, I said Josh and anal in the same sentence!) about my coil being upside down and wanted me to turn it around. Someone had hacked a hole where the top screw goes in the shape of a square, then used a square nut sitting in the hole to hold the coil. It came out while I was unscrewing the coil. Josh wanted to put a washer or something on it to help is stay better, and in doing so he accidentally dropped it down inside the tin. So we had to take the tin off to retrieve the nut. Though it was a bummer, it was also kinda nice cause I got to see and ask questions about what I saw. We actually found 2 bolts, 3 washers, and 1 nut down there already.

As Josh was trying to get the tin back on Bethany drove up with the new clips. Apparently us three guys are retarded cause we couldn't get the tin to sit right and she just dropped it right in the first try. Back to working on the throwout bearing. By now the time was around 8 PM. Jordan and Josh were fiddling with something on the motor while I was putting the clips in. The right clip was really loose can kept falling out. I tried to get it to clamp tighter, but eventually Josh just took a hammer to it cause it wouldn't bend with pliers. Finally we got it all in and happy and started putting the engine back in.

We got the engine all back in happily and started hooking stuff back together when we ran into another snag. My fuel line was old and dry. We hoped to stick it back on and be good for the drive home, but it wasn't destined to be as easy as that. The line cracked every time we tried to put it on the fuel filter.

By now it was 10 PM and not auto stores were open, so Josh started calling Pilots again. He finally got a hold of Troy who was drunk off his rear in Boise. We dressed up in our ninja costumes, hit his dog with a tranquilizer, bound and gagged his wife, then smashed our way into his garage(Ok, maybe not, but Josh was wearing a ninja suit!), took the new line and booked it back to Josh's. Josh and Jordan did a remarkable job of changing out the line. I doubt even two ounces of gas came out of the tank before the new line was on it. Jordan heated the new line up while Josh cut the old one off. The old line came off quicker than Josh anticipated so he has a finger plugging the hole. Somehow by feel Jordan managed to slip the new line past Josh's finger and onto the tank without spilling anymore gas.

We were happy and set to go when Bethany came out and did not like how my distributer was sitting. Turns out what I thought was a vacuum leak was really my distributer about 90 degrees off. So she twisted it till she thought it looked about right then popped the cap off to line up the notch. Turns out there was no notch. No timing marks at all actually. At this point we were committed. We tried to find Top Dead Center, but instead I think we lined up 4. After a ton of fiddling and guesswork Josh and Bethany were both inside trying to find someone awake and Googling. I think James was still up at that point and Bethany picked his brain a bit. Now it was 1 AM. While they were inside Jordan stuck his finger in the #1 spark plug hole and had me bump the ignition. Did this a whole bunch of times till he was certain he was feeling correctly being pushed out and we managed to find TDC by static timing and a finger in the spark plug hole. Of course by this time the engine was completely flooded out and it took a good 15 minutes to get it to catch and fire. Boy was that a good sound to hear. After that we rotated the distributer back and forth trying to figure out the best timing. Finally around 2 AM we decided it was pretty close and rolled it back to campus. The next morning we packed the bus up and rolled out of town.

The first decent hill we came to dropped us from 55 to 35 in a half a second it seemed. We chugged our way to the top of the hill then got out and advanced the timing a little. We did this three times before getting through the first pass. I was amazed at how much quieter and smoother the bus seemed with timing closer to where it should be. I was even able to go a lot faster. I was able to get it up to 70mph and hold it there with no issues whatsoever.

Before we left both Jordan and I had stopped by Jack-n-the-Box and ordered their largest caffienated soda to help keep us awake. We needed to pee something fierce. Stopped at a rest area and took turns using the toilet. While I was using it Jordan took the bus for a spin to feel it, and adjusted the idle a bit. While I was waiting for him I checked my tires and guess what I found. The seal on the rear passenger side is in fact blown beyond any doubt.

When Jordan came back he mentioned that it was pulling when he applied brakes. It apparently was not enough for me to noticed over the normal squirelliness of a bus. After looking at that wheel I was more than confident he was right and sure enough, when I paid attention I could feel it. And it just kept getting worse as we went. By the time we got home it looked like that tire had a fresh coat of wax on it. Didn't have a jack or the tools to change the seal with me(but I do have a spare in the cab!) so there was nothing else to do but roll on, so we did.

Later we stopped for gas. I thought a guy there was going to have a conniption, he was so excited to see a bus. I talked to him the whole time I filled up and tried to get him a Bus Pilots card, but he had driven away by the time I found them under the mess in my dash. I hopped back in, turned the key, and nothing happened. Sure, the electrical fired up, but I was more interested in the engine roaring to life. It seems that on long trips my starter stops starting. Jordan thought maybe the starter was too hot, but after we got home it was exactly like last time. Pull out the fuse, stick it back in, up she fires. Since the gas station was on an incline I popped the clutch in second, it fired up and we rolled. A few miles down the road we stopped and ate at Burger King. As we neared the bus to leave Jordan mentioned the high gas smell and popped the decklid to find gas dripping down into the engine compartment.

Turns out the automatic shutoff at the gas station hadn't worked properly and over filled the tank. Since I was talking to the guy and not paying attention I had not noticed. Jordan rigged up a siphon with a water bottle and a small piece of hose laying in the back of the cab.

Still no go with the key so we pushed started it and were off again.

We stopped at the Apple store in Tigard so Jordan could pick up a part for his laptop. The bus was struggling to stay running so I sat in it the entire time he was in the shop. The Apple store in Tigard is in a very crowded shopping area. There were tons of people milling about and I cruised around the parking lot for a while, but found no place to park. I almost ran over this guy and took his spot.

As we were pulling up to the light we drove up at a fairly steep angle. My parking brake does not work so I had a hard time trying to keep the bus from dying and also not run into the car behind me. I was tense there for a couple minutes as Jordan laughed at my predicament. When the light finally turned green and I could go I breathed a huge sigh of relief and joined in the laughter. What a crazy trip it had been so far.

At milepost 51 I suddenly lost power. Pulled off to the side of the freeway. So close! We only needed to go to 68 to get to our exit! We hopped out and popped the decklid hoping it was an easy fix. Turns out the coil wire came off. Jordan pushed me along the side of the freeway(in the grass!), she fired back up and we kept on truckin. As it started getting dark I got a little nervous because I do not have a license light and I have been pulled over twice in my Mazda for that reason. I was still pretty confident until a trucker came past and let me know I did not have any rear lights at all. Dang it. In a state that likes to pull you over for not having any lights I knew I would be screwed. Exit 62 came up so I got off, and between Jordan and I we were able to navigate enough back roads that whenever we saw a car we could turn down a different road and get away from it.

Finally we made it! And check it out. Didn't even loose much oil!

The next morning after unloading I took a picture in my driveway to show y'all that I made it safe and sound.

And now she is just sitting there looking awesome in my driveway while I am driving my Mazda waiting for a couple checks to come in. Before I get her back out on the road I want to redo the brakes, and fix up the timing. I got it to turn over again, but she won't stay running without the gas down for longer than 3 seconds.

All in all it was a good trip. Got to hang out with my best friend whom I had not seen much since leaving for school, and the privilege of driving an old school VW Bus rocked. Since we were not in much of a hurry, not that you can be with a bus, we took it easy. Our stops probably totaled about an hour and a half, and our entire trip time came out to about 13 hours. That is 13 hours bus time. My Mazda does it in 7.5 hours.

I don't want to end by saying Mazda, so VW Bus!

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By blobaugh, May 4, 2009 9:38 am

Yesterday was the Bus Pilots annual May Day Show and Shine, this year at Lakeview Park in Nampa Idaho. It was a great time of hanging out with other Bus Pilots, eating great food(Thanks Josh!), and enjoying the dubs.

We were featured on Fox 12!

Download the video clip

Click on any of the pictures below to be taken to the gallery. (I may have stole a couple from John(folf) )

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By blobaugh, April 22, 2009 1:00 pm

I caught my bus out enjoying the sun with is windows popped today. Snapped a couple candids.

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By blobaugh, April 6, 2009 11:54 am

After Josh and Bethany helped me to patch up my brakes and steering, I came back to watch/help Josh and Alex take the engine and transmission out of his bus. I got to see Bethany working on the brakes on her bug and learned a bit more about how brakes work. Trying to take the castle nut off the rear passenger wheel on Josh's bus was a chore. He broke a breaker bar while standing on it trying to get it off. We managed to rustle up another socket wrench from another Bus Pilot, and that one broke too! Bethany picked up a tool that allows you to hammer on the nut, still nothing. Finally Bethany and Alex went and picked up a Torque Meister. Even with that it took a while before the nut began to move. Taking an engine out of a bus is surprisingly easy. I had read many posts about how easy it is, but really, it is easy! I can take an engine completely out a bus by myself. Unfortunately after Josh transferred the parts of the old transmission to put the new one in he found out it was slightly different. Just enough that he does not think he can use it. So the main goal of swapping the transmission did not happen, but I feel like I learned a ton. Hopefully I can remember it. I took some pics below, but not really very many. I should have taken more as they showed me stuff to help remember, but oh well.

Click the pics to see the gallery

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By blobaugh, April 5, 2009 1:00 pm

I went to visit Josh and Bethany of the Bus Pilots to have Josh help me tighten up my steering. Turns out the steering is fine, just needed to adjust the worm drive a bit.

Bethany was walking around looking at the bus and noticed some leakage around the rear driver wheel. It has been getting worse. She was worried about what it may mean and had Josh pull the wheel off. Turns out the seal had blown and there was fluid all over my brake shoes. Luckily they had what I needed to get it patched up for now. I need to do an entire brake change, but there was not enough time or parts available so we cleaned up what was there, put a new seal and gasket on, and put 'er back together. I stop much better now. Oh, do not use brake cleaner to clean painted surfaces...it took the paint right off my wheel. Check out the pics below, click one to go to the gallery.

This was basically hand tight :S

Gooey Goodness

All Clean!