57 Kombi

[Dubskii]

[Dubskii]

Center pin replacement is complete. Followed hazetguy's thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...highlight= .Great instructional thread! On with the pics...

Center pin prior to replacement.

Clamped the swing lever and pin tight, loosened the bolt and pushed the old center pin out. Note: my beam is a correct early 57 beam (as pointed out by 62DoKaGuy...Thx!) so all that was between the swing lever and center pin housing was 3 shims and a pressure washer. Note the watery, muddy grease.

Center pin appears to be OG. Some decent pitting appeared after some cleaning.

Pressed the bushings out which took about 30 minutes of solid pounding with a 5lb hammer, socket and extension. Was hampered by the fact that I didn't have my bus jacked up which left very little room to drive the hammer.

Cleaned up all of the OG hardware. Shims, washer and bolt were in great condition and reused with the new Febi center pin and bushings.

Took the time to clean the OG swing lever. What a difference!

Pressed the new bushings in the same manner as driving the old ones out. Again just as difficult as driving them out. Aligned the bushing grooves per the above-referenced thread and drove them in. Top and bottom flush for my early beam.

Lastly, the reaming. Started to ream the new bushings and it was super difficult. It squealed like a stuck pig! I was getting real worried because this thing was not moving all that well and I was beginning to wonder how the reamer was going to make its way back out of the bushings. I threw some gear oil on the reamer and that all she needed. Squeal went away and the reamer moved up through the bushings and back down with with some downward pressure. Tried the center pin and still felt too much resistance so I reamed again. This time it was smooth and solid!

New center pin all greased up! I will continue to spin the steering wheel and grease to make sure all of the grease is where it needs to be.

_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[BarryL]

Whew, bet that felt good to finish off. How much debris went in your eyes?

[Dubskii]

Not so much in my eyes but everywhere else. It helped lubing the reamer so those metal bits didn't get airborne. Bus must be 4 pounds lighter with all of the grease and crud that I removed. I took this opportunity to shoot a tube and a half of new grease in the beam as well.
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[Dubskii]

Dug into the spindle removal and wanted to post some progress pictures.

Bus jacked up and set on 4 jack stands. Never can be too careful.

Old Drums

Old Greasy Spindles. Notice the passenger upper bolt is shorter in length and placed from the top down. Not sure why.

Inner bearing on the passenger side had seized up. Had to use a 3 jaw puller to get it off.

Had my older son help me with the spindle/trailing arm separation. Loosened up the pinch bolts, tapped them and the link pins out. Grease was shooting out of the dust caps as we did this which amused my son.

Placed spindles on my bench and drove all of the races out with a socket and extension.

Link pins, races and needle bearings appear to be OG and in great shape. Here they are all cleaned up. One thing I noticed was that there were only 7 shims per link pin. Chart says to use eight per link pin so I contacted Greg (Campingbox) and he is shipping me out 4 shims. Thanks Greg!

Pressed races into the new Wagonswest welded dropped spindle.

New Dropped Spindle vs. OG Stock Spindle. Looking good!

Here's where I have run into an issue. All of the link pins and needle bearings have slid nicely into the races on the new spindles. However, the passenger upper link pin and bearing refuse to slid in. I have tried to work it and work it but it will not go in. I purchased a hone and have honed the race and have been able to slide it in some but by no means will it go in completely and still be "loose" enough to allow for some smooth spinning. There are no burrs or other hang ups on the race surface.

1) Do I just keep honing until it slips in?

2) Is it possible to over hone to where the race is too thin?

3) Are there any other tricks to getting a stubborn link pin to slide in?
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[mandraks]

[Dubskii]

Ha! I like the humor Mandraks. Made me think of the Austin Powers movies. BTW both rear wheel are chocked, just can't see it in this picture. Thanks for looking out though!

On to the improvements...Finished honing the one stubborn race. Each link pin slides in nice and smooth now. Measured my trailing arm offsets to get my shim counts and Greg Noble (aka Campingbox) came through in the crunch with some additional shims and correct length pinch bolt. Both welded drop spindles are mounted, greased, tightened, greased again and cleaned up.

I then busted out the Babystangs. Connected the adapter to the brake lines and threaded them into the Wilwood calipers.

Prepped the each spindle for the caliper mounting bracket, cleaned the spindle threads, used the supplied Locktite and torqued those suckers in.

Packed both inner/outer bearings, inside the hub, greased all races and spindle shaft. Placed the bearings and pressed in the grease seals nice and flush. Slid each rotor over the spindle shaft and tightened until there was no play in the bearings and then backed it off a bit. Spun each rotor to make sure of a smooth operation.

Couple Drivers side shots.

Couple Passenger side shots.

Drum vs Disc

Babystang installation was very easy and straight forward. Followed Nate's (Wagonswest) "How To" on his website. Excellent little setup, looks great and feels beefy!

I can't believe I have made it this far. Completing all of these items makes me feel more connected with my bus in the respect of understanding how these things are all interrelated.

Next up is the DCMC installation and then the brake bleeding. Rims are being sandblasted and primered then I will paint them silver white. Tires have been ordered. If all goes well she will be back on all four feet in a little over a week.
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[Dubskii]

Bench bled DCMC and hooked up. Pushrod was already adjusted to have a 1mm gap. I then bled, bled and re-bled. Front right first, then front left, rear right and finally rear left all the while checking the MC level. Well, I didn't keep a close enough eye on it and ran into an sucking sound while bleeding the rear left with my sons operating the pedal. They were slowly and steadily depressing the brake and releasing when I heard the sound, It didn't register at first but then did and my heart just sank. Sure enough the MC was dry. Damn! I had to start over. Re-bled all and now have a very firm pedal. I went through (2) 32 oz bottles of Lucas DOT3 brake fluid. The system has been sitting for a few days and no leaks so far. Seems like a success!

Front rims and tires will be mounted this Saturday and toe-in will be checked/adjusted. Then the rubber will hit the pavement for the maiden voyage after all of this work I have done. I am going through withdrawals from not driving my bus...Can't wait!

EDIT*** I bled the rear wheel cylinders with the emergency brake engaged. Once down and off the jack stands should I bleed the rears again with the emergency brake disengaged?
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[mandraks]

[BarryL]

[Dubskii]

So front end is put back together. Got my rims back with the new rubber. I was planning on running 175/55/15 but wanted a little extra load capacity so I went with 185/55/15 up front. Only sacrificed 0.25" on sidewall height so I felt that was OK. Adjusted my toe-in to be approx 1/8". For the rears I went with 195/60/15.

Then it was time to bed my new pads and rotors. Read up on several threads here as well as several articles that were referenced in those threads. Everything feels great. Steering is much tighter, stopping has improved tremendously and it is amazing how well my bus rides with balanced tires and tight components! I feel much more confident coming to a quick stop.

Still need to drop the rear so as of now I have a decent stink bug look. Hopefully in a couple of weeks this will happen.

Below are a couple of measurements Pre vs. Post Lowering. Once the rear has been dropped I will post full view pics.

Wheel Well

Drip Rail

Front Nose

Love the way it looks and handles. She is looking mean right now!!!
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[Dubskii]

Now that I had a few miles under my belt with the new setup I decided to jack up the front end and check for any play and re-grease everything again. Did the 3 and 9 o'clock and the 12 and 6 o'clock jiggle methods and found a little play in the bearings so I tightened them up accordingly. Toe in looks pretty good. Since these are new tires dust shows up nicely on the tread right now and they look to show even spread across the tread. Steering is tight and brakes work well and stop straight.

I am dropping my bus off next week to the transmission shop to be lowered along with a hefty engine upgrade. Once that is done, I will focus on continuing the paint stripping and body work.
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[Dubskii]

So the lowering has been delayed another week so I decided to continue stripping more paint. In doing so I have discovered several more previous owner(s) sins. Overall, still very solid just some areas where the lazy bug hit and rather than do a correct repair or leave alone the PO decided to fill with bondo. No fiberglassing or other hacks but just things I wouldn't have done.

Driver rear corner had a thin layer of bondo with quite a few dimples filled in. Paint was removed for the placement of the bondo. Removed all of the bondo and hammer and dollied things straight. Not professional hammer and dolly but daily driver quality. You will notice from this picture that the wheel well is not correct. This was just tack welded and then bondoed over. Also, notice that the tail light holes are a little thick. Same idea here. PO tack welded some thin metal and then filled with bondo. Both of these repairs are in the near future.

Passenger rear corner was a little worse. Still working on it. Same issue with the passenger wheel well and tail light.

Ended up stripping most of the passenger side. Rearmost cargo door had a sizable chunk of bondo and unfortunately there were holes drilled for pulling and/or for the bondo to stick. Also, right now it appears that quite a bit of OG paint is missing from this door although I am not done with the paint stripping.

Gratuitous paint stripping picture.

_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[Dubskii]

My Kombi's transformation into a lowered split window bus is complete and I couldn't be more satisfied! It took about five months from when I ordered my Wagonswest equipment, me installing all the front end components and then handing it off to the transmission shop for the last piece of the puzzle to come into place. Very excited for sure! She handles and rides like a new bus and damn does she look sexy!

A review of the specs...

Front:
185/55/R15 Toyo Proxies
3.5" Wagonswest Welded Drop Spindle
Wagonswest Babystang Disc Brakes
No rubbing when loaded up and at full turn.

Rear:
185/65/R15 Toyo Eclipses (Changed from 195/60/R15 because of rubbing issues on the spring plates)
Wagonswest Offset Spring Plates
FF transmission with 3.88 R&P and 0.89 4th Gear
68 Bug Brakes and Machined Early Drums with 1/2" Spacers

Posted here as well.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=217649&start=980
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[Dubskii]

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I was a little disappointed in the power output of my 1600dp when I purchased it approximately 1 year ago with no one to blame but myself. I told my engine builder that was what I wanted and wouldn't listen to him when he tried to talk me into something with a little more guts. Once the 1600dp was installed, almost immediately I was wanting something with more power. I had it paired with a FF with a 3.88 R&P, 0.89 4th gear and small nut RGBs. It was slow and very loud inside the cab. So as I neared the final stages of lowering my kombi (ie dropping it back off to the transmission shop to flip the differential, etc), I began to chat with the builder on what we could do to "pep it up". So pep it up we did! I went from a single carbed 1600dp to a 2074cc beast and at this point I couldn't be happier! I feel I was robbed of a year of enjoyment with the 1600dp.

Specs:
Full flow AS41 case with doghouse cooler
78mm CW Crank
AAs 92 Thick walled P&Cs
40x35.5 Empi GTV heads with hi rev springs chromoly retainers
Engle 120 camshaft
Dual HPMX 40s
Stock ratioed rockers with swivel feet
Lightened and balanced 8 doweled flywheel
009 distributor with Compufire electronic ignition
8:1 compression (a little low but wanted it to run cooler)
1.5" A1 header and bus exhaust
30mm HD Schadek oil pump

Night and day difference. It's unbelievable! This thing is so much fun to drive now! Gets up and goes with ease and has tons of torque. I am really enjoying my cruises now and much, much, much quieter inside.

Special Thanks to my man Rick Wright with Wright Gearbox in Riverside, Ca. Dude is legit!

With the power plant, stance and braking all dialed in, my focus will now be on body work (welding, dent repair and paint stripping). If anyone wants to teach me how to weld feel free come on over!
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[Dubskii]

Over the weekend I was finally able to finish off a long overdue project. I had a buddy of mine come over to do some minor welding of a hole in the luggage area above the engine. This allowed me to lay the final pieces of FatMat RattleTrap soundproofing.

3"x3" Hole

Welded, ground down and treated.

Whole luggage treated (old pic before anything was laid down).

Finished!

Placed a few pieces on the rear hatch as well.

A few other items completed were the installation of the weather stripping for the rear hatch to eliminate some of the rattling and hopefully keep some of the engine noise outside and the draining of the gear oil and filling of the steering box with a mixture of the John Deere Cornhead grease and 90W gear oil. No more leaking (Still need to replace the seal though).

So on another note. I have been putting in the miles both on and off of the freeway in an effort to continue the breaking in process. On local streets she handles really well, feels tight, etc. On the freeway at 60 to 65 mph she seems to wander a bit more than I am comfortable with whether it is because of me passing, people passing me or wind. All front end components have been replaced except the steering box (see previous posts). As it stands now I have about 1-2" of play in the steering wheel. I have videoed the front end components as I work the steering wheel from side to side to make sure some of the new components aren't faulty. They check out.

So

1) Is this an acceptable amount of steering wheel play?
2) If so, good. If not, tighten down the adjusting screw on the steering box a bit? If still too loose time for a new box?
3) Is this a reality of split ownership? I read in posts of people going 70+ mph in a split which sounds maddening to me now!
4) Or sounds about right so quit being such a p***y?

One last thing...I lost a hubcap on my journeys near the 15 and 91 interchange in Corona. If you see it PM me!!!!
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[Dubskii]

Finally got a round to grinding some more of the patch work that was recently completed.

Driver's side seat belt. When purchased this was a piece of aluminum caulked on top to hold it in place and a steel bar above the tire with a hole for the seat belt bolt.

Misc holes that were repaired.

All patch work was primered and then sprayed with WW Dove Grey rattlecan. Either going to get some paint colored matched or take my chances with an online source.

More metal work to come.
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[Dubskii]

Finally. After 8 months of on-again off-again stripping I have completed the exposing of the OG Dove Blue! I am proud to say that she is 100% Bondo free! Still a lot of cleaning up work but the bulk is done. During the paint stripping process I uncovered some interesting metal work and very little cancerous rust. One downside is that I discovered that he driver's door was replaced at some point so it does not sport the OG Dove Blue. Very pleased with how much and the quality of the OG paint still left. I am spraying a clear acrylic on the exposed metal to stop further rusting. For being two months shy of 60 years old she is looking' purdy!!!

At basketball.

At work.

All shitty PO metal work has been removed. Pictures of PO metal work to follow in future posts as I begin repairs.

I have been practicing welding with a borrowed mig welder (flux core wire) and feel pretty good about my work on scrap metal. I will purchase a mig welder with gas this Christmas and get to the body work early next year.
_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia

[cdennisg]

Nice work!
_________________
nothing

[Dubskii]

I finally got around to installing/modifying my e-brake cable. Apparently, when you lower the rear end of an early bus the stock e-brake cables do not the work anymore. You need to purchase 64-67 e-brake cables, cable clamps and e-brake spacers. Once installed you need to then cut and clamp the cables together. Seems like a jerry-rigged hack and I am not happy with it. My e-brake does not seem to engage as well as it did before. Nate at Wagonswest indicated this is the only wayhe knows how to do it. I am surprised no one manufactures e-brake cables for lowered buses.

_________________
69 Sunroof Deluxe - Montana Red/Cloud White (Sold)
57 Kombi - Dove Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648240
WTB Early Dove Blue Bus Driver's Side Door
WTB Joe Heishman VW Arlington, VA License Plate Frame or Other Memorabilia