Sadly it's time to part with the Samba as we're in the market for a tow vehicle for our vintage Airstream.
Here's a link to the Samba ad:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=964680
Pictures:
Click on the Picture to the right of this post to view the entire photo album on Picassa.
Dave
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Thursday, April 24, 2008
....And We're Back
Hey there again faithful reader(s) we're back after our cross country move from Tampa, Florida to Port Townsend, Washington. Yeah, corner to cover. About 4,000 miles give or take.
We actually brought the Samba out last September in an enclosed car hauler and she's been in storage until a week ago. Amazingly she cranked right up after sitting for almost 7 months.
I got the low down from the on-line Samba community www.samba.com for a good mechanic up here. John at Vintage VW in Port Orchard did great work replacing the shifting bushings and shift link pin for 350 smackers.
Getting it to him was interesting as she was stuck in third, but disassembly of the shift mechanism and some pushing and prodding got the bus into first so we could get it up on the two dolly. Fun, fun.
The adjustments and rebuild of the shifter did the trick though and the bus is now a pleasure to drive. In fact here in our fine new town she's all we need to get around and has become our daily driver.
We're now in the process of finding a wood worker and seamstress to design and manufacture a booth for the local farmer's market that uses the VW as it's framework.
Melissa is also working to design some distressed aged graphics which we'll apply to the bus to promote our organic, local & sustainable produce and prepared foods booth at the market.
I'll post a picture as soon as I find one that illustrates what I'm talking about shortly.
We actually brought the Samba out last September in an enclosed car hauler and she's been in storage until a week ago. Amazingly she cranked right up after sitting for almost 7 months.
I got the low down from the on-line Samba community www.samba.com for a good mechanic up here. John at Vintage VW in Port Orchard did great work replacing the shifting bushings and shift link pin for 350 smackers.
Getting it to him was interesting as she was stuck in third, but disassembly of the shift mechanism and some pushing and prodding got the bus into first so we could get it up on the two dolly. Fun, fun.
The adjustments and rebuild of the shifter did the trick though and the bus is now a pleasure to drive. In fact here in our fine new town she's all we need to get around and has become our daily driver.
We're now in the process of finding a wood worker and seamstress to design and manufacture a booth for the local farmer's market that uses the VW as it's framework.
Melissa is also working to design some distressed aged graphics which we'll apply to the bus to promote our organic, local & sustainable produce and prepared foods booth at the market.
I'll post a picture as soon as I find one that illustrates what I'm talking about shortly.
Monday, July 23, 2007
mmmm tasty
The van has been humming along just fine until the other day during the big move to New Tampa. I loaded her down with the computers and clothes and took off. Never had a quieter trip, I guess all the extra padding really dampened the noise. Well about 40 miles in the shifter started going all wonky spinning around when I was in 4th gear. It got a bit hairy there for a bit but I made it to Starbucks. That's when I realized she was running really hot. Turns out I chewed up a fan belt big time. There was only a few shreds left.
Got a call into Joe to get the low down on the size I need and what if any other damage I may have done when I nursed her home. I waited for the engine to cool down completely, got her cranked upon which she blew a bit of black smoke and then drove around 30 mph the 4 miles to the garage.
Didn't hear any pinging or anything so I don't think anything got cooked too bad. I guess we'll see.
Got a call into Joe to get the low down on the size I need and what if any other damage I may have done when I nursed her home. I waited for the engine to cool down completely, got her cranked upon which she blew a bit of black smoke and then drove around 30 mph the 4 miles to the garage.
Didn't hear any pinging or anything so I don't think anything got cooked too bad. I guess we'll see.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Under Pressure
Took the bus back in yesterday to Classic Camber so Joe could tighten everything down and look into the whine when the clutch pedal was fully depressed. Turned out that the pressure plate on the clutch was out of wack. He pulled the engine, replace the 200 mm plate and tightened everything down. He also spotted that I was running with an incorrect and consequently fairly loose alternator belt. He swapped it and shimmed up the alternator. No labor charges at all. Those guys at Classic Camber know their crap and are good guys to boot.
Wow what a difference. The shifting pattern is much more open. It's a breeze now. The clutch also engages in a much shorter range with the pedal almost all the way out. All and all it's much easier and smoother drive. Much more relaxing. A joy. Amazing ride really considering the bus is older than I am.
We just got a contract on the house and we're going to be moving in a few weeks. Don't even have a place yet. So probably not going to be doing much in the way of upgrades for a bit. But a lot of driving.
Wow what a difference. The shifting pattern is much more open. It's a breeze now. The clutch also engages in a much shorter range with the pedal almost all the way out. All and all it's much easier and smoother drive. Much more relaxing. A joy. Amazing ride really considering the bus is older than I am.
We just got a contract on the house and we're going to be moving in a few weeks. Don't even have a place yet. So probably not going to be doing much in the way of upgrades for a bit. But a lot of driving.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Number of the Beast
Picked up the bus Monday and have been a drivin' fool ever since. Been down to Sarasota twice, Ybor, all over town. We've put nearly 300 miles on since Monday. Running like a champ although I'm still having a bit of trouble finding first, lol.
I'm taking her in Wednesday for Joe to lock everything down. There's a bit of an oil leak and the brake pedal is starting to soften up. He told me to expect these things to happen since we replaced so many parts and systems. It's a normal part of the break in period.
A bit troubling is whining sound when the clutch is all the way in. Joe thinks it's the throwout bearing. So he may have to pull the engine and re-seat it. Depending. It may go away as it wears in over the next couple of days.
All and all though. She stops strong and I can keep up in traffic. Even so I'll probably go for dual carbs and the disc brakes at some point. Every little bit helps out there on the road with the SUVs.
I checked out the M Plate codes on Samba and everything seems to synch up fairly well there as far as I can tell.
VIN 256 008 739 - Build Date August 1965
M Plate
10 8
425 002 081 091 114
UB 2512 424271 6008409
November 8
425 - North American Export Package. Seatbelts and mounting points.
002 - USA Sealed beam headlights
081 - Split front seats (walk through)
091 - Whitewall tires
114 - 6 pop out side windows
UB - Export Destination - USA, Boston, Baltimore (changed to Columbus)
251 - Microbus Deluxe - Cargo doors right, left hand drive, short middle seat
2 - Paint finish - Nitro-lacquer finish
42 - Lotus White lower paint
42 - Lotus White lower paint
71 - Aero Baltic / Sienna Beige Interior
6 - Built 1966
008409 - Chassis Number?
Vin / Engine Compartment Number
256 008 739?
25 - Microbus Deluxe
6 - Built 1966
Now off to plan the stereo....
I'm taking her in Wednesday for Joe to lock everything down. There's a bit of an oil leak and the brake pedal is starting to soften up. He told me to expect these things to happen since we replaced so many parts and systems. It's a normal part of the break in period.
A bit troubling is whining sound when the clutch is all the way in. Joe thinks it's the throwout bearing. So he may have to pull the engine and re-seat it. Depending. It may go away as it wears in over the next couple of days.
All and all though. She stops strong and I can keep up in traffic. Even so I'll probably go for dual carbs and the disc brakes at some point. Every little bit helps out there on the road with the SUVs.
I checked out the M Plate codes on Samba and everything seems to synch up fairly well there as far as I can tell.
VIN 256 008 739 - Build Date August 1965
M Plate
10 8
425 002 081 091 114
UB 2512 424271 6008409
November 8
425 - North American Export Package. Seatbelts and mounting points.
002 - USA Sealed beam headlights
081 - Split front seats (walk through)
091 - Whitewall tires
114 - 6 pop out side windows
UB - Export Destination - USA, Boston, Baltimore (changed to Columbus)
251 - Microbus Deluxe - Cargo doors right, left hand drive, short middle seat
2 - Paint finish - Nitro-lacquer finish
42 - Lotus White lower paint
42 - Lotus White lower paint
71 - Aero Baltic / Sienna Beige Interior
6 - Built 1966
008409 - Chassis Number?
Vin / Engine Compartment Number
256 008 739?
25 - Microbus Deluxe
6 - Built 1966
Now off to plan the stereo....
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Get back in the bus...
I got the call from Glen yesterday and after nearly 3 months in the shop the blue boy should be good to go by this weekend. Everything went according to plan and fairly smooth. Only thing we hadn't planned on was replacing the starter and it got knocked around a bit due to the old tranny or possibly when the bus was converted to 12v. In any case I can't wait to finally start driving her around.
Checked into some cosmetic stuff a bit but I'm going to hold off for now as there are only a few paint blemishes. I'll probably just design the exterior logo / decoration we're planning to cover those spots for now.
Next step tunage... I checked with Joe and the alternator is a 55 volt Bosh which from what I read on Samba should drive up to a 350 watt amp. I think I'm going to try to go for a hidden system and also install an 12 volt "accessory" adapter for my Garmin GPS / inverter to charge the laptop and iPod.
The plan is to leave the stock head and mount a fairly inexpensive head unit under the postal tray with am/fm/xm/cd and aux input for the iPod. Figuring out some way to mount and dress the iPod, XM Antenna and GPS up nice. I'll either split the stock antenna input to the second head or maybe the xm antenna will pull double duty I'm not sure. The safari's do leak so water will be a minor issue to keep in mind.
The amp and capacitor, if necessary, direct attach to the battery so I'm thinking about a small box under the back seats for the sub and amp, and hang a pair of mids and highs under the front seats. That way none of the door panels have to get cut.
Checked into some cosmetic stuff a bit but I'm going to hold off for now as there are only a few paint blemishes. I'll probably just design the exterior logo / decoration we're planning to cover those spots for now.
Next step tunage... I checked with Joe and the alternator is a 55 volt Bosh which from what I read on Samba should drive up to a 350 watt amp. I think I'm going to try to go for a hidden system and also install an 12 volt "accessory" adapter for my Garmin GPS / inverter to charge the laptop and iPod.
The plan is to leave the stock head and mount a fairly inexpensive head unit under the postal tray with am/fm/xm/cd and aux input for the iPod. Figuring out some way to mount and dress the iPod, XM Antenna and GPS up nice. I'll either split the stock antenna input to the second head or maybe the xm antenna will pull double duty I'm not sure. The safari's do leak so water will be a minor issue to keep in mind.
The amp and capacitor, if necessary, direct attach to the battery so I'm thinking about a small box under the back seats for the sub and amp, and hang a pair of mids and highs under the front seats. That way none of the door panels have to get cut.
Monday, March 26, 2007
The Dammage
Well after the complete inspection by Classic Camber here's the mechanical list....
Engine
Valve Adjustment
Oil & Filter Change
Fuel System
Remove Tank, Evaluate for Rust. Install New Inner Bladder
Install Fuel Sender Unit (Yea, gas gauge will work)
Exhaust
New Tail Pipe
Clutch
Adjust Clutch
Replace Clutch Cable
Replace and Adjust Shifter Rod Bushings
Transmission
Remove Engine and Transmission
Replace Transmission with Rancho
Suspension
Adjust King and Link Pins
Install Rear Sway Bar
Front End Alignment
Brakes
Install Dual Circuit Master Cylinder
Upgrade Brake Lines to Braided Stainless Steel
Complete Restoration on Drum Brakes
Misc
Correct Drivers Door Strike Plate & Lock
Replace Passenger Safari Latch
Install Proper Middle Seat Hardware
Fix License Plate, Speedo Dimmer Light
Ground Passenger Headlight. Align head lights
Fix front dome lights
Just under 6 grand for the works.
Will still need some cosmetic work as well.
Should be back in the driveway by June.
Engine
Valve Adjustment
Oil & Filter Change
Fuel System
Remove Tank, Evaluate for Rust. Install New Inner Bladder
Install Fuel Sender Unit (Yea, gas gauge will work)
Exhaust
New Tail Pipe
Clutch
Adjust Clutch
Replace Clutch Cable
Replace and Adjust Shifter Rod Bushings
Transmission
Remove Engine and Transmission
Replace Transmission with Rancho
Suspension
Adjust King and Link Pins
Install Rear Sway Bar
Front End Alignment
Brakes
Install Dual Circuit Master Cylinder
Upgrade Brake Lines to Braided Stainless Steel
Complete Restoration on Drum Brakes
Misc
Correct Drivers Door Strike Plate & Lock
Replace Passenger Safari Latch
Install Proper Middle Seat Hardware
Fix License Plate, Speedo Dimmer Light
Ground Passenger Headlight. Align head lights
Fix front dome lights
Just under 6 grand for the works.
Will still need some cosmetic work as well.
Should be back in the driveway by June.
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