'59 Panel

[WideFive]

Oh, also... you guys did the shift rod bushings while the trans was out, right?

I'd give you crap about making an already slow Bus even slower by running a big nut and a 40hp, but realistically this Bus isn't going to get driven on the highway, so it might be good enough for who it's for

[Dual Port]

Thanks for the tips on the shifter, I haven't run into the bottom of the stick being worn yet. I had the same issue with my Bus 2, it was an easy fix- loosen the mid-shaft coupler and rotate the front shaft clockwise (viewed from the rear) a few degrees and retighten it, which moves the whole shift pattern to the left a bit. Sean's needs the same thing but the design of the coupler won't allow much, if any, movement unless I drill and tap it in a new spot. It appears his rear coupler bolts are in line meaning the coupler is good, but a few degrees is hard to see visually. A stackup of tolerances is what I'm thinking, only 2-3 degrees in the shaft assembly will cause this issue.

Rear camber appears spot on, but front camber and toe is a mess. I'm going to adjust the link pins today and set the toe, which was way out causing severe tire wear on the insides in less than a thousand miles.

The tires not clearing the fenders has me concerned, I've never seen this before on a stock bus.

I have pictures in my camera at the shop I'll post later.

[Six Volt]

I'd give you crap about making an already slow Bus even slower by running a big nut and a 40hp, but realistically this Bus isn't going to get driven on the highway, so it might be good enough for who it's for

I'll have you know this bus gets driven on the freeway almost daily. I get on I-90 at W. 150th and get off at W. 140th. It's awesome!

[Six Volt]

We wrapped it up today. Bus ran great on test run. Monster 40HP blasting down Rt 237 like there was no tomorrow. Women seen pulling their children inside out of fear they would be sucked into the vortex of the 40HP powered panel. This bad boy will pull the shingles off your roof next time I'm rolling through Litchfield! Look out!

Ok, maybe not. But huge improvement on drivability. Just getting the wheels in a normal setting makes it better. This will be a fun panel to cruise around in. Even with a 40HP you can feel the difference in performance from having the big nut.

While you're waiting for Bruce's debriefing, here are a few more bus pictures. Because it is 17 degrees outside and what else do you have to do?

Bruce showed me how the pins (top and bottom) are adjusted. Yes, those are the disc brakes Kirk put on. (highly recommended)

Here's the underside of the great and all powerful 40HP. The motor 'The Rick Lang' and Aaron dream of!

Tranny mount

These locking plates were an education.

I got the coupler wired up. Looks like hell, but functional.

Bruce did the whole toe-in and toe-out adjustment. Made a huge difference.

The virgin dash

I can guess weight and birthdays at Cedar Point. I came closest.

[Dual Port]

I'm not sure why, but I can't quote Sean's post and have his pictures come up, it only shows the links.

Here's the bus with the driveline removed

And the drivelines on the floor. Out with the small nut, in with the big nut.

Here's the shit gas that was in his tank, I'm not sure if it was from crap in the tank or a bad gas station he bought from, but it was bad! It should be clear like apple juice, you should be able to see the bottom of a white bucket .

Sean putting the new VDO sender in.

Measuring the spring plate angle.

We had too much positive camber (about 3-3.5° on the rears) and needed to take some out.
Here's my notes- starting with about 3° positive and wanting to go to about .5-1° positive. Baseline on the spring plate was 20.4° down putting the spring plate target at 16.8-17.2° down. Refer to earlier picture about rotating the torsion bar 30 times to get exactly the target measurement you want.

Put it all together and drive it to level things out, and remeasure to find it exactly where I want it, about .5°-1° positive average of several measurements. I know Sean's picture above shows .1° positive but that's just one of several measurements on the tire and wheel that I average.

When you're bolting in the tranny mounts you want to make sure they're level. Not only does it look stupid if they're not but it upsets your shifter.

Big nut park cables, showing they're about 6" too long.

Sean testing stats with a heat gun.

Stupid bell bolts spun taking them out, I welded nails to them. No more spinning!

Severe inboard feathered tire wear after a thousand miles from way too much toe-out and negative camber on the front. Left side of the photo is inboard, we put these in the back to even out the wear.

[Dual Port]

Sean wanted to be involved with this upgrade as a learning experience and he was an excellent student. At first I had him do all of the shit work cleaning parts while I watched, that was great for me. After working numerous days together he escalated to the point where he could torque lug nuts. Here's his best side.

We drilled a hole for the gas gauge, installed it and I wanted to verify the sender was working correctly. I guessed 70-80 ohms with a couple of gallons, Sean guessed 60 making him smarter than me.

Voila! A working gas gauge!

After a road test the rear camber is spot on.

[Karl Kombi]

Congratulations -- well done, Sean (and Bruce)!

[Ken]

Nice work guys. I have a minor mis-alignment problem on the 68 SC. Your work will be helpful in correcting the problem.

[Dual Port]

Nice work guys. I have a minor mis-alignment problem on the 68 SC. Your work will be helpful in correcting the problem.

Your '68 will have IRS, if your alignment problem is in the back all of this does not apply.

[Marla]

Great Job!