Volkswagen Type 2 Musings

 This weekend, we took advantage of the last days of summer and cruised the countryside. We took various pics of the fading sunset and our Volkswagen Bay Window Type 2 at different locations. As our weekend was wrapping up, we headed out to tackle the 20 mile journey home. We were travelling at 50 mph for a good 10 minutes. All of a sudden, the bus "blipped", that being, it felt like the bus lost all power for 1 second. Hesitantly, we carried on at the same speed as all seemed instantly well again. Five minutes later, it felt like we were only firing on three cylinders, again, for about a second. At this point we were 5 miles from home. The rest of the drive home, culminating in a 600 ft climb, the bus ran perfectly. Engine sounded fine and no weird noises or leaks. Now at home, we checked all the usual on the VW Bus and found  nothing too obvious. However, on popping off the distributor cap, we discovered the Accu-spark ignition module looking a little worse for wear. For a ...

This blog does not focus solely on the mechanical repair aspects of our Volkswagen Bay Window Type 2, but also on the supporting equipment that we will be taking on our epic (to us) journey south to Route 66. Part of that equipment a drone to help document our journey, both for the blog and for personal memories. To whit, we now own a DJI Mavic Air drone (MA). We took our drone out yesterday and, for the first time, attempted to use the Active Track ("follow me") feature of the drone. Here's what happened. Attempt 1 : We arrived at our test location - a quiet farm road - and pulled the VW Bus over to the side of the road. With the MA fully charged and 200 ft in the air, hovering, my daughter set off driving the VW Bus at 15 mph. First mistake, as sen in the video, due to fear of losing the drone, we had set the MA to a top speed of 12 mph and so the VW Bus gradually pulled away from the drone until the drone lost the targeting of us. Bye, bye, VW. Attempt 2 : After a turn...

When we bought our Volkswagen Bay Window Type 2 back in April, 2020, we had the not-so-pleasurable experience of the bus pulling harshly to the left when applying the brakes. We poked around on the ultimate forum for all things VW Type 2, TheSamba.com , and the recommendation was that a full brake inspection and refresh should be the path forward. We took off the front wheels of the bus to reveal the front disc brake calipers, and all looked well. The calipers and discs appeared in great shape, though dirty from years of non-maintenance from the previous owner. After a general cleaning of the front brake area, we moved to the rear brakes. For the rear brakes we mistakenly believed that we had to take the large center axle nut off to remove the brake drum. This was not case and we wasted at least an our looking for a socket big enough, and then trying to apply enough pressure to move the stubborn nut. We then discovered that by removing the two, small drum screws, and adding a few l...

 Hello and Welcome, We are the proud owners of a 1976 Volkswagen Transporter, equipped with a Westfalia interior (cooker, sink, fridge, etc.) We purchased our bus with the understanding that to get the vehicle fully functional would take time and funds. Repair issues such as brakes, non-working gas gauge, missing door trim, non-working sink and cooker, welding, and multiple other issues, would have to be addressed. Join us as we work our "rolling resto" and take aim at our ultimate goal: a 2200 mile trip to touch Route 66 in Summer of 2021, while it's still there.