Bumblebus Restoration Thread - '72 L11H Campmobile.

[BumbleBus]

Realizing since day 1 that I'm no OG saint I finally installed my cheap chinese voltmeter. Had a similar unit in my old '89 Westy and it was invaluable when camping. I found the VDO oil temp in my 70s parts bus so in she goes too even though I need to buy a sender still and bone up on the taco plate install. Not really a gauge-a-holic, but definitely want some sort of trending information over time. Contemplating a tach and DD CHT also, but money is uber-tight (as usual).

To do to get it running again:
Install rotary fuel pump.
Re-attach intake runners/carb.
Re-attach tin.
Hoses/wires/connections.
Start it up.

[BumbleBus]

Got the Bumblebus running again today for the first time since last fall. Started right up. Belched some smoke for a minute and then settled into a nice, happy idle around 900rpm. Dwell still 47 like last fall. Time for a test drive around the block.

Bits and pieces back on the motor after deciding not to deal with the (kind of) rusty gas tank until next year.



And then my left rear wheel decided to fall off.

I'm hopeful that in my haste to get it running I simply over looked tightening those particular lug nuts. I vaguely recall slapping the hub cap on for a photo op for the parents and probably forgot to take it back off to tighten. Hopefully that was it. Anyway... I made it all of half a mile and started hearing this godawful clunking in the rear left and immediately thought it was a bad CV install as that was the one I replaced. I turned the bus around to head home in 2nd at a gingerly 15-20mph and it got worse and worse so I popped open the door to look back just as the wheel popped off into the wheel well. BRAKES! At least my brake job seems to be legit. Hoofed it home, hoofed it back with jack, put wheel back on, drove back into garage, called it a night with a cold beer.

Do my wheels look excessively toed in (or out???). I'm really hoping nothing got bent out of shape on the left side. Visually it all appears okay.





PS - If you hear mild "wheezing" in the engine bay is that a tell tale of a vacuum leak or is that normal? Seemed to run swell with good throttle response. Tiniest bit of spittle/back firing when releasing the gas, but I haven't tweaked anything yet.

[Oregon72]

Brings new meaning to the phrase "drive it 'till the wheels fall off" - glad nothing appears to have broken.

My bus also has that camber?/toe? issue. especially on the right side - might be due to the extra weight on that side from the westy cabinet.

Good to see you driving it.

[Amskeptic]

I have to take this opportunity, tasteless though it may be, to warn everybody,
Do Not Try To Nurse It Home!!!!!!!

If you hear something weird, stop. Investigate.
If you see an oil lamp come on at speed, kill the engine instantly whilst de-clutching, then figure out how to get off the road.
Colin

[BumbleBus]

If you hear something weird, stop. Investigate.

Sage advice and appreciated certainly. My only problem is more often than not I don't know what isn't normal since I'm so new to these vehicles. Sometimes you really do have to learn by making the same mistakes as countless others.

[BumbleBus]

It's alive! She's purring now to the point where I took her to the lake for a photo shoot.



PS - Quick curiosity... until I figure out my fuel venting situation (read: there is none currently) is it safe to just close off all the vents lines if I only have a few gallons in the tank?

[Amskeptic]

It's alive! is it safe to just close off all the vents lines if I only have a few gallons in the tank?

Absolutely not. Gasoline changes volume far more radically than water under thermal change. Close them off and you will have a pressurized gas vapor bomb. You have to keep them breatheable. What lines are talking about? I am not up to speed on your fuel tank/vapor situation. Are the vapor lines intact behind the firewall from tank to separators in the vents? Are they just not plumbed to the charcoal tank and then to air cleaner? You can stick a hose on the vapor line at the ceiling and just stick it in the air cleaner port utilized for the charcoal tank or something.\
Colin

[BumbleBus]

Thx for the reply Colin. Here is the Solex 34 TCIC progressive carb that came with this bay:



And the left vent line dangling:


And the right line dangling above the test connector:


Just left/behind my coil is this empty outlet that looks lonely:


I did find one of these in my '70s parts bus, but don't know if it's viable still nor how to hook it up with my setup. Obviously the Bentley isn't applicable here.


The bus is running very nicely. Just got back from a 15 mile drive around town, which (don't laugh) is my longest to date. Almost runs too nice for my anemic skill set so I'm uber-paranoid I'm missing something. Valves re-adjusted cold this morning are .006, idle is ~800rpm at about 1 3/4 turns out of the mixture screw, throttle response is excellent with no flat spots. Timed and dwelled (47). Etc.

[Oregon72]

Try blowing through the charcoal canister. If you can blow through it, it should be good enough to hook it up. I'm out of town for the remainder of the week, but when I return home, I'll snap a few pics of how it should be setup.

[BumbleBus]

but when I return home, I'll snap a few pics of how it should be setup.

That would be super-duper appreciated thanks!

[BumbleBus]

Try blowing through the charcoal canister. If you can blow through it, it should be good enough to hook it up.

I can blow through the canister easily.

I re-adjusted my rear brakes again after driving around and a bunch of random moderate to heavy braking. Everything seems nice and tight now and the handbrake bites in hard after only 5-6 clicks now. I'm tempted to try locking up the tires braking as hard as I can just to see if my first brake job ever can handle an emergency situation... or if they'll even lock up at all, which I've read they should.

One thing I'm noticing though is that my hand brake cable springs are making scraping sounds.. against the back of the wheel hub I assume. Should I be concerned about this? I installed them picture perfect to the Bentley etc. It's not annoyingly loud or anything. When I brake the scraping goes away.

Current obsession: way excessive rear tire camber/toe-in/out???

[Oregon72]

hose connecting left shroud nipple to left side of canister



right side of canister has T fitting to split off from small nipple to hard lines. You can see one hard line goes around the front (front is front) side of the canister.




hose connecting right side of canister to the nipple on side of the oil bath air cleaner



Left side of canister - you can see the hardline coming around the front of the air cleaner



Have you replaced the small 2 inch hose sections that join the hard lines up under and behind the spare tire well on the left side and the one up in the same location on the right side. Those are prone to rotting. those sections just crubled in my hand when I replaced mine.

Hope these pics help. Not sure on the brake question - My knowledge and expertise on brakes is not very good. I'll leave that one to Colin or someone that actually knows what they are talking about.

[BumbleBus]

Thanks for the photos!!! They are super helpful! One last question (reference photos below). In your setup the blue and red go to different ports of your air cleaner. Are they both inputs or is blue input/red output etc. I'm guessing they're both inputs. I ask because I only have one port into my single carb and am thinking of creating a Y connection for my setup. Would this work? Thanks again for all the help! Looking forward to less fumes.

Yours:


Mine:

[Oregon72]

Ya know - that is a pretty good question. The red one is ventilating the crankcase and the blue one is ventilating fuel tank and fuel evap system. On my original setup, they both go to the aircleaner in one way or another so your logic makes a lot of sense, for fear of me giving you a wrong answer, lets see what others might chime in with.

Anyone have suggestions?

[tristessa]

Anyone have suggestions?

Get rid of that Weber and put the stock carb setup on there?

On a serious note, I don't see any reason *not* to tee those two lines together and connect to the air cleaner. I'd look at using the straight-through of the tee for the line from the charcoal caniser to the cleaner, with the breather coming in the side of the tee .. just for neatness' sake. There's probably some reason that's not a good idea though...