My first Bus - oil filtration questions

wallacehartley · Post by **wallacehartley** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 3:17 am

Finally, after a lifetime of wanting one, I got a nice bus.
A '72 lurid-green 1600 walk-through in good enough rust-free nick but with a trashed motor. Paid about $ 750 for it from a deceased estate.
Took the motor out and stripped to find it been assembled without any end-play shims and the main bearing housing at the flywheel end was seriously hammered. Machine shop said it had already been well machined out in the past and was beyond spec for an oversize rebuild.
OK, no problem, I have another good motor from a beetle, an easy overhaul, and easy enough to fabricate some sort of bracketry to replace the cross member mounting at the rear end, right?( That was first question, did you notice it?)

Now, the vehicle is intended for trips into the Kruger National Park, which is on my doorstep and my home away from home. ( See type 4 forum about two years ago for a bit of history)
These trips mean long idles at high ambient temperatures doing the game viewing thing, so an external oil cooler makes much sense with a little fan. ( Second question there. I have trawled through the forums and have yet to find a complete set of instructions to do this job in terms of where to drill and tap in the case. )

More important than an oil cooler to me is a full flow filter set-up with an oil temp gauge. I mean, if it gets hot I can pull over under a tree and have a kip or watch for lions or listen to the hippos blowing, right? I need to know when it is hot though. And a full flow filter just makes sense to me on all sorts of levels.
So, third and most important question; where exactly do I drill and tap the case to plumb in a full flow filter and temp guage?
Remember, we do not have fancy adapter plates available out here to fit over oil pumps.This is Africa...we have to make a plan with what is to hand.
So, what's the verdict? Can I resuscitate this bus with my beetle motor, keep the motor from falling out, and give the old bus a new lease on life with a new family, complete with three year old kid and a penchant for the bush?
More importantly, can I keep it cool and comfortable in this new role whilst opening new vistas to the old girl and revisiting old ones?

wallacehartley · Post by **wallacehartley** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 1:57 am

Aah....no worries - found what I was looking for. I will need to machine a new cover plate for the pump, though. I can get that done....
Cool bananas!

wellington · Post by **wellington** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:16 am

How about you and I set up adeal to supply you with parts from North America that you want and you could supply us with parts that you have that are so desirable here. We call it a Vanagon here you Kombi?
Shipping arrangements would be awesome.

wallacehartley · Post by **wallacehartley** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 4:42 am

Wellington! There are parts here that are desirable there? Like what?
Seriously, if there are bits we have here that you guys can't get - someone let me know we can make some sort of plan?

We never had a Vanagon here, it has always been a Kombi from the Splitties to the 2,6litre 5-cylinder FI buses that last came off the line out here. The wasserboxer was not well recieved, but that was not the fault of the machinery.

If there are parts available here that you need, please yell!

wellington · Post by **wellington** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:54 am

YES, TONS. Give me a some time I'll come up with a whole list.
85 litre gas tank, mud flaps, console, I'll send you a link.

wellington · Post by **wellington** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:10 am

here is a link of some parts that are offered, however, the guy is apparently not easy to get a hold of.
http://www.southafrica-parts.com
Now if you want to take the ball and run with it, do a posting over on thesamba.com, in the vanagon forum and see what the intrest would be.
I tell you it will be GREAT, sorry for the yellow.

wellington · Post by **wellington** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:08 am

Wallace, still interested in swapping accross continents