Trials and Tribulations of the Orange Booger. A pile of bad choices, 2nd hand parts, and a large pile of beer bottles

[Mike Kever Kombi]

An odyssey of my life and times with a 1975 Westfalia.

since my time to work on the 61 is limited at best, as since I never did a thread on the 75, I thought I would do a retroactive account of what has gone on with the van since I got it. Besides this site really needs another build thread

it all started a few years ago at the first Urban Jungle Kamp Out. I got drunk, lost a bet, and ended up with this.

Chuck, feeling pretty bad for me decided to do me a solid, and sold me this too

It came with an unknown Type 4 engine. He had to charge me a little extra for the spoke hub cap, and the center mounted Weber progressive carb, but It was ok. Business is business. Chuck also threw in some departing words of wisdom, he said "you own 'em now, I don't ever want to see them again" Thanks Chuck! He really is a stand up guy! He didn't have any titles for them, so I plated the van as an 83 cavalier, I don't think anyone will notice. I now know why Bays and Vanagons go to Chuck's to die.

Once I got the vans to my place, I started the process of cleaning them up. The force was strong with the Orange Van. So was the stench of patchouli. Between the mouse turds and the hippie stank, I had my work cut out for me. getting the mouse turds out proved to be much easier than eradicating the hippie stank. That's 3 generations of burritos, granola, patchouli, incense, a green leafy substance, ball sweat and arm pit hair (from the hippie chicks). I needed a full tyvek suit, and some industrial cleaner.

The pop top was in amazingly good condition, just some mildew starting to form, so I mixed up a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water. The vinegar did a good job of getting rid of the last vestiges of hippie. now I had a clean interior, With a full size Z bed, and a fully functional Pop Top. It was time to get this puppy running.

stay tuned for the next episode, where we do a top end rebuild on they motor!

[blue71]

That is by far the prettiest Cavalier I have ever seen.

[Marla]

BOOGS!

I'm so glad to see this bus is finally getting the spotlight it deserves. Keep the posts coming.

[Six Volt]

I try not to mention the word hippie around Aaron. But I'm old, so I remember REAL hippies. I think Aaron would have liked the old REAL hippies. They actually wrenched. Ok, maybe only at my level of wrenching, but they tried. John Muir was so long ago.

[chuckspence]

I deny ever owning either of those vehicles, and ever selling them to you or anyone, you must have me confused with another VW enthusiast that brought them to my event and sold them to you...

[Mike Kever Kombi]

I never said chuck the a$$hole sold them to me.

There are many Chucks in this world.

[chuckspence]

Mike Kever Kombi asked me to send him a list of the parts necessary to rebuild a 2 liter fuel injected type 4 engine, here it is:

1) Gasket set 029198009,

2) Main bearing set (Std) 021198481A if possible find the Silverline brand these still come with the steel backed center bearing,

3) Connecting rod bearings (2 liter, Std) 039105701,

4) Cam bearings 021198541,

5) Piston & cylinder set (2 liter) 029198075 or K70980, buy the Brazilian Maile P&C set, do an internet search and you should be able to find these for about $350 with free shipping, Try EuroPortPart ($338 free ship)

6) Main seal 029105245B, There have been issues with the OE German seals not working of late, an alternative seal is the SKF/Chicago Rawhide 29526 which seems to correct the problem.

7) Crank seal (fan end) 021105247A,

8) Camshaft, (solid, Std) these have gotten hard to find and costly from OE manufacturers, European Motorworks make their own for $99 each P/N 054-106A, (hydraulic) 054-106AH, order direct or thru Bill Webner,

9) Lifters (solid) another OE part that seems to have disappeared of late, Scat Enterprises Manufactures their Lube-A-Lobe solid lifters P/N 20091 and sell them for about what a set of OE lifters used to cost.
Hydraulic, 022109309, Cip1 has sets of OE hydraulic lifters on sale now for $87.99 to $95.99 great price!

10) Push rod tubes (8) 021109335C,

11) Camshaft to cam gear screws, 5/16-24 x 1/2" low-profile alloy socket head screws, McMaster-Carr P/N 92220A231, I reuse the gear off the old camshaft and save $40, just grind the heads off the rivets, drive them out with a punch and drill the gear holes to 5/16", the self locking flange head bolts sold everywhere for cam gears have too tall of a head to clear the oil pump and need to be ground down to almost nothing to work, easier to use low profile screws, and on the subject of type 4 camshafts & lifters, DO NOT reuse your 40 year old camshaft and lifters, type 4 cam/lifter geometry is different from type 1 engines, I have seen type 4 cams wear to round with no lift remaining after being reused a few times.

12) Dip stick bellows 021119245, get a new one, your is shot.

13) Motor mounts (2) 021199231C.

Most of these parts can be purchased just about anywhere you can find them, Mick at Euclid Foreign Motors can hunt down almost anything, And so can Bill Webner, Next post I'll start on type 4 cylinder heads, and why they're the big dollar part of type 4 engine rebuilds.

[Six Volt]

Mike Kever Kombi asked me to send him a list of the parts necessary to rebuild a 2 liter fuel injected type 4 engine, here it is:

1) Gasket set 029198009,

2) Main bearing set (Std) 021198481A if possible find the Silverline brand these still come with the steel backed center bearing,

3) Connecting rod bearings (2 liter, Std) 039105701,

4) Cam bearings 021198541,

5) Piston & cylinder set (2 liter) 029198075 or K70980, buy the Brazilian Maile P&C set, do an internet search and you should be able to find these for about $350 with free shipping, Try EuroPortPart ($338 free ship)

6) Main seal 029105245B, There have been issues with the OE German seals not working of late, an alternative seal is the SKF/Chicago Rawhide 29526 which seems to correct the problem.

7) Crank seal (fan end) 021105247A,

8) Camshaft, (solid, Std) these have gotten hard to find and costly from OE manufacturers, European Motorworks make their own for $99 each P/N 054-106A, (hydraulic) 054-106AH, order direct or thru Bill Webner,

9) Lifters (solid) another OE part that seems to have disappeared of late, Scat Enterprises Manufactures their Lube-A-Lobe solid lifters P/N 20091 and sell them for about what a set of OE lifters used to cost.
Hydraulic, 022109309, Cip1 has sets of OE hydraulic lifters on sale now for $87.99 to $95.99 great price!

10) Push rod tubes (8) 021109335C,

11) Camshaft to cam gear screws, 5/16-24 x 1/2" low-profile alloy socket head screws, McMaster-Carr P/N 92220A231, I reuse the gear off the old camshaft and save $40, just grind the heads off the rivets, drive them out with a punch and drill the gear holes to 5/16", the self locking flange head bolts sold everywhere for cam gears have too tall of a head to clear the oil pump and need to be ground down to almost nothing to work, easier to use low profile screws, and on the subject of type 4 camshafts & lifters, DO NOT reuse your 40 year old camshaft and lifters, type 4 cam/lifter geometry is different from type 1 engines, I have seen type 4 cams wear to round with no lift remaining after being reused a few times.

12) Dip stick bellows 021119245, get a new one, your is shot.

13) Motor mounts (2) 021199231C.

Most of these parts can be purchased just about anywhere you can find them, Mick at Euclid Foreign Motors can hunt down almost anything, And so can Bill Webner, Next post I'll start on type 4 cylinder heads, and why they're the big dollar part of type 4 engine rebuilds.

This is priceless information that the average Jane or Joe late bay bus owner might not garner in a lifetime. I saw the work Chuck did on Smitty's motor and it was impressive.

[Mike Kever Kombi]

Mike Kever Kombi asked me to send him a list of the parts necessary to rebuild a 2 liter fuel injected type 4 engine, here it is:

1) Gasket set 029198009,

ordered

2) Main bearing set (Std) 021198481A if possible find the Silverline brand these still come with the steel backed center bearing,

ordered Silverline

3) Connecting rod bearings (2 liter, Std) 039105701,

ordered

4) Cam bearings 021198541,

ordered Silverline

7) Crank seal (fan end) 021105247A,

ordered

8) Camshaft, (solid, Std) these have gotten hard to find and costly from OE manufacturers, European Motorworks make their own for $99 each P/N 054-106A, (hydraulic) 054-106AH, order direct or thru Bill Webner,

ordered through Bill, hydraulic with FI grind

9) Lifters (solid) another OE part that seems to have disappeared of late, Scat Enterprises Manufactures their Lube-A-Lobe solid lifters P/N 20091 and sell them for about what a set of OE lifters used to cost.
Hydraulic, 022109309, Cip1 has sets of OE hydraulic lifters on sale now for $87.99 to $95.99 great price!

ordered OE hydraulic lifters through Bill

10) Push rod tubes (8) 021109335C,

ordered

13) Motor mounts (2) 021199231C.

ordered

Piston & cylinder set (2 liter) 029198075 or K70980, buy the Brazilian Maile P&C set, do an internet search and you should be able to find these for about $350 with free shipping, Try EuroPortPart ($338 free ship)

ordered

Most of these parts can be purchased just about anywhere you can find them, Mick at Euclid Foreign Motors can hunt down almost anything, And so can Bill Webner, Next post I'll start on type 4 cylinder heads, and why they're the big dollar part of type 4 engine rebuilds.

Still need the following. Then on to heads and fuel injection components.

Camshaft to cam gear screws, 5/16-24 x 1/2" low-profile alloy socket head screws, McMaster-Carr P/N 92220A231, I reuse the gear off the old camshaft and save $40, just grind the heads off the rivets, drive them out with a punch and drill the gear holes to 5/16", the self locking flange head bolts sold everywhere for cam gears have too tall of a head to clear the oil pump and need to be ground down to almost nothing to work, easier to use low profile screws, and on the subject of type 4 camshafts & lifters, DO NOT reuse your 40 year old camshaft and lifters, type 4 cam/lifter geometry is different from type 1 engines, I have seen type 4 cams wear to round with no lift remaining after being reused a few times.



Main seal 029105245B, There have been issues with the OE German seals not working of late, an alternative seal is the SKF/Chicago Rawhide 29526 which seems to correct the problem.

Dip stick bellows 021119245, get a new one, your is shot.

[wwebner]

"Dip stick bellows 021119245, get a new one, your is shot."

an alternative is to use a Vanagon dipstick tube and dipstick. Just need to drill a hole in top of case. Eliminates the rubber bellows that connects the T4 dipstick tube to oil fill nipple.