Itinerant Air-Cooled

Bus Boys generator bushes - down to nubs in less than 2 years. Probably Brazilian but not sure. Maybe Chinese?
I think I will be writing them a letter for what good it will do...
12,000 miles on a set of brushes! My my. Now I get to do lower brush gymnastics.

Ouch. Replace slotted screws with philips. Make sure your commutator is still round without a flat spot. Fingers work best, with of course the engine not running. I took off the fan belt to clean up mine, trying to do it with the engine running seemed just a bit too much, and didn't notice the flat spot until I got in there with my fingers.


neal

Hmm not sure how to categorize this.
Genuine Bosch rebuilt in USA starter for my '69 bus. First one installed, motor drew too much amperage and fried my battery, then stopped working completely. 2nd one installed seems to work OK so far.
It was nice of Autozone to exchange my 2 year old battery for free though.
Thank God it happened 1/2 mile from the parts store...
Also found out that many of my connections were a dirty corroded mess, but that's another story.

NWbuspilot wrote:

Sluggo wrote:Bus Depot "OEM Quality" Spark Plug Wires. Could feel the charge when I rub my arm over the wire.

I'll second that. The shoddy insulation on these wires caused my coil output voltage to arc the the #1 negative terminal and fry my ECU.

Dang! Wish I had read this before ordering a set of BD "best available" wires. Just installed them tonight. Engine runs smooth, no light show in the engine bay. And it's too early to tell, but my chronically high head temp on #3 cylinder seems to now track the other three cylinders within a couple of degrees.

Guess time will tell.

SlowLane wrote:

NWbuspilot wrote:

Sluggo wrote:Bus Depot "OEM Quality" Spark Plug Wires. Could feel the charge when I rub my arm over the wire.

I'll second that. The shoddy insulation on these wires caused my coil output voltage to arc the the #1 negative terminal and fry my ECU.

Dang! Wish I had read this before ordering a set of BD "best available" wires. Just installed them tonight. Engine runs smooth, no light show in the engine bay. And it's too early to tell, but my chronically high head temp on #3 cylinder seems to now track the other three cylinders within a couple of degrees.

Guess time will tell.

Black wire insulation, or the grey with "7mm" written in white along their lengths?

The black wires shock the heck out of me when I run across them. The greys work fine, but the insulation is so delicate that it has been known to tear as you try to insert the wire in the plastic clips (always use lubricant when inserting wires into clips).
Colin

Amskeptic wrote:The black wires shock the heck out of me when I run across them. The greys work fine, but the insulation is so delicate that it has been known to tear as you try to insert the wire in the plastic clips (always use lubricant when inserting wires into clips).
Colin

I've experienced both of those issues with Bosch wires from many sources. The ones I get at local auto parts stores seem to be good though. How many countries are making how many types of wires anyway?

Bosch parts are failing way too frequently, it's sad. I used to be proud to see that funky old logo, now I just hope it works. I'm surprised these once-respected companies would risk tarnishing their image.

Just had a set of new Bosch points that were so mis-aligned there was no way to salvage them.

With less/lower/no salaries, people will once again start demanding quality. We just can't afford the waste anymore.

Amskeptic wrote: Black wire insulation, or the grey with "7mm" written in white along their lengths?

The black wires shock the heck out of me when I run across them. The greys work fine, but the insulation is so delicate that it has been known to tear as you try to insert the wire in the plastic clips (always use lubricant when inserting wires into clips).
Colin

The new ones are darkish grey, not black. The brand is "Prenco", made in Canada http://www.prencocorp.com. They have pretty gold lettering on them saying "7.0mm Premium Silicone copper core cable". The set comes with two coil cables: one 13" and one 23". All cables are copper core. The quality seems to be at least as good as the Bosch ones they're replacing. The connectors are quite a snug fit into the distributor cap, and the plug ends grab onto the plug with authority. The plug ends themselves say "Bremi Germany" on them. Interesting: the long Bremi plug end is labelled as 1 kohm, whereas the long Bosch plug end is labelled as 1.4 kohm. The insulation seems rugged enough, but I don't use the factory clips, as they've never seemed to me to route the wires in a natural fashion.

The wires I'm replacing are the Bosch grey ones labelled "Bosch Ultra-premium 7mm Opti-layer copper core". The coil wire is not a copper core, but is also ultra-premium and opti-cored. I had no reason to believe that the old Bosch ones were bad. I'm just trying to cover all bases in getting prepared for the smog inspection. They haven't had many miles put on them, as my van has sat in storage for the last five years. If the new wires turn out to be a bad choice, well, lesson learned, and I can re-install the od Bosch ones.

May I add Pertronix brand distributor from bus depot? Rebuild your old one... it's cheaper, and it will work better.

luftvagon wrote:May I add Pertronix brand distributor from bus depot? Rebuild your old one... it's cheaper, and it will work better.

They make an actual distributor? Or are you talking about the points replacement. I am a fan of their points replacement system. Never heard of a pertronix dizzy but a stock dizzy is always best.

"SKP" Brake light switches. Had two blow out in a brand new MC and squirt brake fluid everywhere as soon as the system built any pressure.

DjEep wrote:"SKP" Brake light switches. Had two blow out in a brand new MC and squirt brake fluid everywhere as soon as the system built any pressure.

I had the exact same experience. Mine were leaking from the wire terminals. Found two very old & dirty ones with VW logos on em and they've worked perfectly since.

DjEep wrote:"SKP" Brake light switches. Had two blow out in a brand new MC and squirt brake fluid everywhere as soon as the system built any pressure.

Is there any way we can go up the supply chain and give 'em hell?
Colin

Finally located a good proper year headlight switch for my Westy. I had bought the standard BusDepot made in somewhere POS a few years ago. The problem with that switch was the headlights would cut out as you drove so you had to wiggle the switch to get contact again. Drove us crazy at night as also it would dim the lights some making it hard to see. I had taken it apart twice trying to improve the contacts and tighten the spring to no avail. Just had too much slop it the design.
Yay for Ken as he found a good one and I just installed it. Wow, click, click and smooth and no slop in operation. Dimmer works perfectly too! Headlights at a tap brighter and the alt light doesn't glow anymore with the headlights on.
Stupid POS repo item and find a German made OEM one if yours go out.

Bleyseng wrote:Finally located a good proper year headlight switch for my Westy. I had bought the standard BusDepot made in somewhere POS a few years ago. The problem with that switch was the headlights would cut out as you drove so you had to wiggle the switch to get contact again. Drove us crazy at night as also it would dim the lights some making it hard to see. I had taken it apart twice trying to improve the contacts and tighten the spring to no avail. Just had too much slop it the design.
Yay for Ken as he found a good one and I just installed it. Wow, click, click and smooth and no slop in operation. Dimmer works perfectly too! Headlights at a tap brighter and the alt light doesn't glow anymore with the headlights on.
Stupid POS repo item. Find a German made OEM one if yours go out.

Time to stash up on all the old quaint parts you can, folks. Looks like the new stuff is not getting any better.
Colin