Category: General

After many hours of looking, thinking, looking and thinking some more, I have opted to remove and replace the entire front floor in one piece in my 1973 Volkswagen Camper. Here are several pictures depicting the removal process of the front floor.

After checking and double checking everything, time to find put some power to the ignition for a light check. And unbelievably, all lights illuminated on first attempt.

Considering I unplugged the entire rear wiring harness, rewired a good portion of the engine compartment, it was truly a miracle that everything worked on first try.

Before I dropped the set screw and started this entire update process, I had picked up a set of complete insulation boards. They weren’t perfect, but I could use them as a pattern.

I used 1/8″ masonite (or hardboard) and traced out the pattern, cut everything out and then used a drill press and Forstner bit to begin drilling the holes.

I sprayed them with semigloss black paint and never got to install them. I also scored a complete set of the original insulation in great shape. The plastic protectors were dry-rotted, so I purchased clear trash bags and used the manufactured seams as much as possible. Then, I trimmed them to fit, used a lighter to melt the edges and pressed them together to form a sealed package. I even saved the original VW papers and inserted them into the insulation plastic(as seen in one of the pics.)

They turned out great. I should have taken some pics of the insulation before installing it, but I was too excited to get them installed.

The insulation boards have lasted more than five years in the garage with the Charleston humidity and still look the same as when I made them.

After ordering and installing the new intake gaskets and silicone boots, I still have a leak, and the carb is acting the same. It will start every time but will not idle.
While installing the intake, I was able to torque all of the intake nuts to 13 lbs on each of the new ones and the old ones, except for one. One of the old ones started feeling like it was pulling the stud out, and the aluminum gasket looked crumbled.

So I loosened up the driver’s side boots and removed the driver’s side intake to find that the one stud that wouldn’t tighten partially was coming out. I also discovered hardly any threads are holding it in, AND it was a stepped stud, meaning someone before me had done some work on it. Some mechanic did a lousy job on this engine.

I took the step stud out, cleaned the threads with a die and ran a tap in the hole to clean any leftover metal.

Then I cleaned all the parts with alcohol to remove any grease and applied some Loctite Red Threadlocker stick, reinserted the stud and tightened it down as much as possible without stripping. There was little thread in the top of the hole, but hopefully enough in the bottom to hold. I would drill it out and retap, but it has already been drilled out to accept the 10 mm stud. So I would have to go up another size. We’re going to let it sit overnight, and then we’ll try and reinstall the manifold to see if we can get a good seal.

Then, I’ll have to address the carb issue. I may try to pick up a spare Weber from someone for troubleshooting. I hate to spend too much on it, as I have the original duals but have yet to have the time to rebuild the second one.

I started looking today for aluminum intake manifold gaskets (021-129-707D-4) and silicone intake boots (113129729BSI).

I had ordered intake boots recently, but they were black, and from what I understand, the black boots are urethane and not silicone. Therefore, they are not as heat resistant as the silicone.

So, my search for the best price and shipping begins.

Finally have made some progress…at least I hope so.

The past couple of weekends I’ve had a friend over to help me with retapping the intake holes on the heads for the new studs. Finished installing them today, and also reinserted another stud where the previous owner was using a bolt.

So, we’ll give it 24 hours or so and then we’ll reinstall the intake …very carefully. And hope for the best.

It has been a rough week regarding the rebuilt (or cleaned up) Weber. I have installed it, uninstalled it, and reinstalled it about 30 times in the past week and have had nothing but trouble. As I installed it the first time, I couldn’t get the bus to start correctly—very sporadic results. After troubleshooting, removing and reinstalling multiple times, I tried reinstalling the old float needle, readjusted the float, and just everything I could think of.
I finally thought of something in the middle of the night. The PO had installed a gasket sealant thicker than average gasket between the manifold and the carb.

Why? Because I took the carb off and found that the bottom of the carb was warped. So, I had some 180 DA sandpaper and attached it to a piece of straight sheet metal, set the base of the carburetor on it and started to slide it back and forth to attempt to remove some of the warpage. After about 10 minutes, I could see all of the low places on the carb were now gone. Then I reinstalled the carburetor, and the bus started consistently and still does. The warpage was causing a vacuum leak.

Now, the only problem is that it WILL NOT idle. I must continue giving it gas to keep it running. I have removed the idle screw, recleaned it, and blown compressed air with no change in idle. Also, I removed the jets and cleaned and blew them out—still nothing. I am out of ideas.

After having some problems after I connected the charcoal canister to the carb, I decided to take the carb out and clean it. One thing led to another, and I decided to go ahead and take out the manifold and give it a good cleaning, new paint, and went ahead and rebuilt the carb. After shopping at several local auto parts stores, I decided to go with the Autozone kit for around $20.00. I also started to clean the engine up some from the years of muck and grime.

I really wanted to take the engine tins out and sand down and paint, but I decided to draw the line at leaving them in. I’m still debating to finish cleaning up the area and maybe spraying them black. It’s too much trouble to remove them without removing other things—a few pics of the carb before rebuilding. The strainer was corroded terribly. I’m removing it for now until I can find a replacement.

It’s a wonder that fuel was even getting through the carb.