This is to document the restoration of a 1966 VW Bus - 13 window deluxe Lotus White. I already have been restoring the bus myself for 2 years, and want to show the progress and get feedback on some areas I am unsure of. Also for those doing their own DIY restorations, I wanted to document some things I have done right and wrong.
Full Bus Restoration Gallery: photos.app.goo.gl/DVcRd74k9fpHLDz69
Full Bus Engine Build Gallery: photos.app.goo.gl/mT1aMbDVEDeSV9CR7
Full Bus Transaxle Gallery: photos.app.goo.gl/JqAh5VUE3UdTjndJ8
The beetle is a 1968cc motor. I wasn’t able to get the AMR500 to work, because two of them delaminated the lobes as I was trying to tune it. Oh well - I think a more expensive centrifugal supercharger would have been the way to go.
Many people had two different keys if they had their cars long enough. Usually, the ignition gets replaced and had a different key, and it was just easier to carry around two keys rather than having then keyed alike.
Yeah - I have a door key and an ignition key on the beetle. On my bus I was able to file the lock cylinders so one key fits all - I had to alter two cylinders.
I believe for the full flow oil, I used 3/8 NPT to 8AN Flare. I have some straight fittings and some swivel and elbows. A company called “Evil Energy” makes good fittings and is available on Amazon…
Did installing Sand Seal with permatex work to keep oil in, and was the pulley a non grooved style? I think previous owner may have had a sand seal because i found spacer between crank and aftermarket grooved pulley, I dont believe this would be correct. Considering installing sand seal with correct pulley to try and stop wicked oil slinging in engine bay
I actually have a sand seal and a normal slinger steel pulley now. I got rid of the aluminum pulley because it kept getting loose. Nothing like a steel pulley! And the sand seal just sits there around the slinger and it doesn’t leak any - at least not from the pulley. I have other small leaks around the valve covers and over the heater boxes to deal with!
I feel like putting in a seal cant hirt at least press fit style. Really like stay with grooved stock steel pulley even though guys have said grooves will tear seal. Idk guess got to experiment solve it somehow
Probably, but I couldn’t figure it out. I had cut the original cable by accident. It seemed to be attached to the inside of the gauge…. Maybe someone else knows the answer to this…
Yeah - all of these things come in handy - the switch is good if you leave the key on with the motor off and don’t want your electric fuel pump to pump into your carb valve when the bowls are already full and no fuel is moving!
Sorry im late to the party,just got a beetle myself and its setup how yours originally was. so youre saying that the factory setup was the washer bottle and all the stuff to spray water but the switch/button in the car never had the push section ? Why did they do this ?
Yeah - my shroud and tins were a terrible fit, and I had to do a ton of work to get them pretty close. The alignment for the belt can take tinkering too! Good luck with your project - the good news with mine was that once I got it in place and aligned, it hums along nicely now! It is a really reliable motor, and as long as I can tolerate a few oil drips, I have no complaints!
Pretty cool system. I’m replacing my blown dash speaker with a new one. Gonna leave my original dealer added 68 am/fm radio and add a $18 Bluetooth unit that plugs into cigarette lighter.
Yeah, I left my Sapphire AM radio in there, and the Bluetooth is hidden up front under the bonnet. My 61 has no cigarette lighter, so I added a double USB plug to the right of the ash tray and I am good to go. Good luck with your project - balancing the volume of the dash speaker with the volume of the rear speakers is also tricky so the front one is audible but not overwhelming the sound coming from the rear with a tinny small speaker sound…
@@LarsonSplitBus- I have a 1960 with a 1600 single port. Debating what I could do to it with the current heads. Kind of want to go turbo but the Kompressor Haus kit price and simplicity is appealing.
Trying to sort out my 61 taillights. I think my turn signal switch is the right one but it may not be working correctly glad to know the trailer thing is an option. I guess you had it at the start of the video as you mentioned the fast blinker problem but it kinda sounded like you had just gotten it I'm the middle of the video. Thanks
The key was - I got the turn signal switch I wanted - but since this is a 12 volt conversion I couldn’t use a 1961 switch anyway, so I got a good one in the style I wanted. Then I realized that snowflakes need an interruptor and it wasn’t clear what I needed given a full aftermarket rewiring for a 12 volt converted car - so I got the trailer switch and tinkered around and finally got it to work perfectly. The fast blinker problem is easily fixed with an LED relay of the exact same type - the 6v to 12v and burnt out bulbs drive you craze on the normal relay
I scanned the QR code on your bus and it led me to your channel. Did you modify your bus? It was going pretty fast! P.S. I saw you at the waste convenience center if you are wondering how I saw you.
Funny! Yes the QR code is for anyone wanting info on VWs or my 2 projects. I have a 1966 bus and a 1961 bug. The full home restoration of the bug as well as the 2 motors I built are on the channel. The bus has a 2332cc motor and pretty much can haul ass for a bus. 0-60 in 11.2 seconds! Maybe I’ll see you around Chapel Hill!
I had a similar issue. A garage put the handbrake lever on the inside of my brakeshoe in the past. So I was not aware that mine was assembled wrong. I had constant adjustment issues, hopefully I can solve them now .
Silly question. Should all these boxes have a foam insert? And also are they sealed with a gasket? I have one mounted on the upper fire wall. It has nothing insode and is drilling oil in my beatiful engine bay. It was installed ehen i got the motor put in and i have no idea of it supposed to bave a filter or foam inside. Would it be bad to use a liquid gaslet type product to seal it?
The breather box usually has some sort of sponge material in there and is open at the top. This allows the oil breather tubes to breathe while absorbing any oil mist. But they are not sealed in my experience, though I have only installed two of these with tubes to the valve covers and the filler tube.
I bought the doghouse for my 2332 from Scat VW and had to cut and bend it a lot to get it to fit my aluminum case. For my 1968cc I bought an old stock shroud and painted it black. The old one was thicker metal, and fit better, but the newer Scat one is smaller and in some ways I like it better despite having had to cut and bend it…. Good luck with your project!
I haven’t had any issues with the aluminum pulleys. I do however open the center up just a bit so the slide on the crankshaft with just a little resistance.
I had 2 aluminum pulleys bend out the center and become wobbly. Steel is steel, and harder for the crankshaft to bend - steel on steel. But it may be because the pulley bolt came loose
No - I used a stock 7” pulley in both cases so I used the stock 905 V-belt. If you change the pulley size to be a power pulley or something then you would have to adjust….
The replacement of the original 1970 T2 flasher relay with a new one works perfectly for LED bulbs. But since the spade pin connectors are not aligned I had to make short wire jumpers with a male and female spade connectors. Then make sure the jumpers are connected to the same pin connections; 31, KBL, 49 and 49a.
Ok right. The issue I had was that the blink rate depends on the current in the original relays, so if a normal bulb burns out it was the wrong rate. Then for LED depending on what you get, it might impact the blink rate. So I got the one intended for LED and then you don’t have to consider that at all…. Thanks for the comment!
@@mikelarson6305 Ive looked at the whole thing several times. You cant see what Im referring to. On jbugs film clip “installing the transmission, right at the end you see the right way. Im not gonna comment anymore. Good luck
Ok, no problem - I’ll look at that video. I thought you just meant looping a safety wire around the rod and through the hole in the square screw - since I made sure to do that on both the beetle and bus (bus has 2 while bug has 1). Let me check out the JBugs video and see what I am doing wrong…. Thanks for the info!
G'day, I think you've done an awesome job. I'm just about to start my 67 splity. I'm going to be using ply much the same as you have. So thanks for sharing man ✌️ Peace from Melbourne Australia.
@LarsonSplitBus- Thanks man. I've been member of your channel for ages now. The content you put out is always great. Q. What's the latest on your beetle.
Sounds beautiful I’ve just sold my 66 split , I had a 1641 in It was no good . What’s the spec on engine? What’s the 1958 like on fuel ? Would u need a bigger gas tank? What front suspension set up do u have, ? My steering was so hard a knob wouldn’t have made it any easier? 😅😅
The 2332cc is great - 94 with 84 crank, FK42 cam and dual IDF44 and CSP Python - it is ok on gas but the 1968cc in the beetle is great - it just sips gas. I upgraded the bus from the 10 gallon to the 15 gallon bay window tank. Suspension is stock on both the bus and bug. As for your steering - you probably need to check your steering box, tie rods and spindle setup. Something must be binding if the VW steering is hard to turn
So I can’t get the steering column shaft out of the steering column tube. It catches on something. I’ve got the whole tube out with the steering column in it. And got the new rubber grommet installed at the tube and firewall. Do I install the tube from in the trunk and push it into the car? Or from in the car and push it into the trunk? The reason method 2 perplexes me is because of the horn tab on the tube.
I can tell you how I did it - it is a tight fit with the grommet! I pushed it in from the driver side, making sure not to mess up the horn tab. But I needed soapy warm water after trying it forever cold and dry. I had the entire thing disassembled, and the column pulls out of the tube toward the driver, once you remove the attachment hardware to the steering box….
@@LarsonSplitBus- argh!!! This might be impossible. I was trying to isolate the horn issue and needed the missing rubber grommet at the firewall for the steering column tube. And my gracious I’ll never get this tube back in!! And it’s heavy, because I can’t seem to get the steering column itself out of the tube LOL! 🤦🏼♀️
Yeah - getting a Kennedy stage 1 or stage 2 is pretty affordable if you ever get the motor out. There are non slip plates as well - where you know it will never slip!
2332cc with 84 crank and 94 pistons. Weber IDF 44s and Tim’s Cylinder heads, FK42 cam, CSP Python exhaust. It is a really nice motor with low end torque. I made a video series building that entire motor from scratch, and there is a playlist for it…
I think it came with 4 small “L” brackets and 8 screws. So I put 2 on each side, first attaching to the bamboo, and then holding it in place and drilling into the car. Unfortunately drilling through the carpet pulled a few rows of the carpet and messed it up - I should have used the punch and hammer earlier…. Good luck with your project!
What material did you use for sound deadening? I've been watching some different videos on hinge pins, seems like the best way to get them out is by using an air chisel with a pointed tip. Which i don't have... I do have a big ass hammer though!
Yeah - I saw the air chisel too! I used one of the clamp style pin removers, but it was rough. I used Siless deadening material and then stick on foam from B-Quiet, and then in some places a Jute material that was a half inch thick or more.
Enjoying your channel.. Need to change out my drivers side hinge pin to install the same mirror, Did you go oversize on the replacement pin or the stock size? Thanks for any feedback!
I used stock pins and they worked great - still a tight fit. I wish I had taken care of the pins before painting the doors and installing them - I didn’t realize how close the pin removal tool has to get to the body, AND I didn’t realize that penetrating oil completely dissolves paint! Good luck on your project!
@LarsonSplitBus- Thanks! As well as the tip about penetrating oil which I assume is PB Blaster etc. Have been hitting it with lots of wd40 which I don't think is as harmful and trying to keep it off the actual door. Looking forward to more of your videos..
On my bus I wired it into the auxiliary on the Bluetooth and it works. On the beetle I didn’t wire it in. I am not 100% sure the beetles Sapphire I works, but I suppose I could try. I don’t use the Split Bus AM ever - it was more of a novelty. Bu the time I got to the beetle, I didn’t bother…
I had assumed they would be super slow, but thats clearly not the truth! This game GTA san Andreas has a fictional car based on the real life VW Bus, but they made it super slow.
3 prong LED version. Worked great - let me see if I can get the wiring description for you. The important part is to get the LED version so you never have the double speed blinking when a bulb burns out - and you don’t have to care about 12 volt and 6 volt bulbs
Very good video thanks, I have the original one am radio on my bug just wondering if it is possible to add another speaker as the original one is designed for only the dash speaker. I will appreciate your help ty
Well - I have 2 6x9 speakers in the back and the one 6 inch round in the front. My Bluetooth had a setup for 2 back, 1 front so it was perfect. Not sure where you would put a second speaker in a beetle dash without going under the dash or mangling it…
@@LarsonSplitBus- thanks for the reply I made the original radio work with the original speaker on the dash I want to add another speaker not in the dash I was thinking in the right door, my question is if i can connect the second one to the original radio? As originally it was designed for only one speaker. Thanks for your reply
Ok I see. The original radio if it is pretty old is almost certainly not a stereo radio with a left and right channel. So you can just split the wire and run two mono speakers - but I doubt you could get a stereo left and right without a newer radio…
I appreciate your reply I will give it a try spliting the cables , I do not intend to make it stero just increase the sound a litte bit . I enjoy your videos ty@@LarsonSplitBus-
Nice upgrade. I want to add the same type of shut off switch for the electric pump on my 64 for the same reasons. Hard to trouble shoot electrical gremlins with the fuel pump running, Would it be necessary to run the switch through a relay? Thanks for any feedback.
I just had the electric fuel pump always on when ignition was on. I had a relay but got rid of it. There is a situation where if you crashed the car and the ignition was still on it could keep pumping gas - so the relay is for safety. I don’t have a relay on the bug - only a switch so I can turn on the ignition and not have the pump pressuring the blocked carbs when the car isn’t on…. So the switch was just a new feature in between the 12v and the fuel pump - and it allows me to just turn it off manually…
Rigid. I have never installed a spring plate. There are times when the clutch seemed to catch a little to hard, but once worn in it seemed ok. What are your thoughts on a spring plate versus rigid?
You installed the fuel tank breather line incorrectly. The two clips on the left side of the trunk near the fuel filler are the retainers for the breather line. It should run from the filler neck, towards the rear of the car about 15 inches, bend 180 degrees and run back towards the front of the car to the hole in the trunk floor.
Stock is great. Mine looks pretty stock but it has a ton of new stuff on it - big motor, etc…. But since mine is a 1961 body on a 1965 chassis, it is already a Frankenstein - but an untrained eye wouldn’t know it!
Man that's bad luck. I looked at your pulley sizes and seems well inside the max rpm for these blowers. I've only had experience of draw through set ups with superchargers not blow through as yours is and this made me wonder if the fuel going through the blower cools it. Also wondered if having the blower under constant boost might have heated it up, this isn't the case with a draw through set-up. As you say though could be just a Friday night special (poor build quality). Hope you have better luck going forward. Cheers C
Yeah so the blow off valves should have eliminated or almost eliminated boost at idle and big deceleration - but it does seem like blowing gasoline vapor probably would cool it enough to prevent delamination. I only wish I had a centrifugal blower because I think the simplicity of the fan probably would be better than the roots style…. Live and learn
That’s a lot of wires you got there . Remove the original stereo. Put a nice Kenwood Bluetooth. They sell a kenwod per amp that controls everything. There called high mid and lows You really wanna hear that symphony put that on
Yeah - too many wires. I would love to organize them like some of the photos I see online. But that was the first wiring harness I ever did and some of it was just learning. As for the bluetooth - I put in a Kenwood marine system - the newer version of what I have in my Split Bus. 1961 VW Beetle (65 Pan) - Installing the Bluetooth Stereo - 137 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ME7BukSV2lo.html
Ah - good idea. Just to see if it would sit right if the hinge attachments were perfect. I wonder how warped it is. Maybe I will try this and make another video on hood fitment. This bug is getting worked over! But it is a very practical and fun car - most importantly is everything functions (except the Sapphire AM radio) and there is zero rust anywhere on the car…
