2.8L Chevy Adventurewagen

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:55 pm

EUREKA!!!!!!!! Clyde is smooth............. I installed the engine after work yesterday......... cause i couldn't wait any longer.........

........Today i finished buttoning everything down............taking time to finish painting parts and mounts as i went....... When i hit the key he started right up and idled smooth.................... Rev him up and no vibrations......... Only Good Vibrations.......

I also painted the front and rear bumpers with Rhino liner bedliner spray......... Made them black. That should make them durable and look good for a long time.....I'll install them tomorrow....

Tomorrow i will be installing the front bucket seats and getting him ready for a test run around the block.......... I can't wait......

Pictures and more report to come........

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 4:46 pm

Raptor Bedliner Spray was the brand i used on the bumpers....

Took Clyde for a drive around the block today........... Strong....

Here are the seats i got for it............ Made the mounts today...... I don't think i like them though...

They won't recline and they sit straight up..... I need to modify them if possible or their OUT !!!

regis101 · Post by **regis101** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:44 pm

I gutted our Westy for more room. It already had the passenger seat on a swivel. I sourced another swivel set-up from the boneyard and now have both seats able to face the rear. A keg-o-beer fits just right between them and the rear bench/bed. The upholstery is from TMI. This was the first fitting with the stock padding. Couldn't get the wrinkles out. I then reused the TMI foam stuff. The wrinkles are gone.

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:22 am

Yeah started to put the passenger swivel in....... I can't do it on the drivers side as my fridge and Microwave will be right there behind the seat......... I'm building a cabinet to enclose them...

Part that sucks is when i got the van someone removed all the front seat mounts and installed some seats from god knows what....They actually are seem comfortable .....just ugly....they sit tall too........ I might just put them back in and sell these seats.......

I wish i had the originals.........

regis101 · Post by **regis101** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 9:08 am

I can tell from the release arm that they are not factory.

If I stumble across some, ILYK

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:34 pm

I ordered all the 930 Cv stuff..

...I got my spindles in today......... They look cool.......Avery's Aircooled supplied them......... Looks like i have to convert due to my angles pushing the limits............ Clyde drives solid on acceleration but sounds like a bunch of Clydesdales when i let off the gas............ The joints talk when not under load.......

..

Clyde's engine pulls very strong in 1st and 2nd......... I had to get out of the gas .... since i'm in a subdivision...... Might Squish a Honda or something......

......gotta be careful......

I can't wait to finish.... I am going to try and drive him to Fredricksburg Texas to the Texas Vw Classic in April....... I hope i can finish.....

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:24 pm

Recieved all my 930 Cv goodies Friday but the rain slowed me down a bit....... Now the bus won't fit in the shop all work is outside......

Kind of sucks....

I started the conversion by removing all previously installed Cv's and stubs...... First i needed to fit the new stubs and check for clearance problems since they were bigger.......... WHA- LA---..

.. Ask and Ye shall recieve........There were clearance problems.......The stub axles CV Flange wouldn't fit in the CV recess on the trailing arm housing.

I had to get a new burr for my die grinder and get to work.......... I had to remove about 1/8" of metal so the stub CV flange would clear........ repacked the bearings and installed the stubs for the final check.......... Now they rotate and are fully seated and torqued........

I assembled the new CV's to the new axles and prepped them for installation... I had ordered race prepped 930 CV's since they will handle greater angles than the standard 930's...... These suckers are loose.... Anyway... all went together with no problems ...... I am only waiting for my rear wheel cylinders to come in then i will assemble for the test run...........

Right now with the bus on it's limit stop the CV's are at 26 degrees........ this will decrease when on the ground to about 21-22 degrees....depending on the load..........

These 930 race prepped are said to be good to 28 degrees if "Clocked" Properly......... Which i did during assembly......

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:12 pm

I took Clyde around the block yesterday for a new test drive..............Man he was smooth and no clicking....

....Quiet...... I can't wait for the longer workout this weekend and the upcoming weeks.....

I got insurance and plates today..... ....I couldn't believe i actually got "Private Bus" tags.... ...... My title lists the van as a "Vw Motorhome" and the DMV agreed........ If the van has water, fridge and a bed it's a motorhome........hence the motorhome tags.... . They asked how long was it....?........................................................... ........................ I said 14 feet................... ...............They laughed and said....... Approved.......

I'll be working on the "Z" bed and interior this weekend........

regis101 · Post by **regis101** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:40 pm

Yeah....and two stories tall

Post by **Daniel G** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:20 pm

So will you be rolling it out to the Birmingham Bug Blast this August? I would love to see it in person...

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:28 am

Don't know anything about the Birmingham Blast..............We'll see..... I am planning on being at the Volkfest in Eureka Springs at the end of Aug.......

I'm going to attempt to go to the Texas Vw Classic April 20th with Clyde but iI have lots to do before then......

Post by **Daniel G** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:16 am

Here is the info...Registration Form

I know it's a good drive from LA, but the show is definitely worth it...It's getting bigger every year, and the more cool cars we have the better...

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 12:10 pm

Well, I had to replace the racing 930 CV joints ........... they made lots of noise at cruising speed............ way too much slack for the street........ I swapped them out for Lobro 930 Cv's and no more problems............Very quiet on the road.......... glad my parts guy took back the other ones.......them suckers is expensive......

........

Clyde made a short trip yesterday with my Vw Club........35mile roundtrip....... He drove fine with the new joints....... A lot quieter than before............... It was 36 degrees that morning and i have no heat......... so i set up my propane heater in the back for the trip....... it warmed up nicely.......

We did a cruise to a local truckstop for lunch and then a local flea market for some scrounging............Clyde did great on the highway at 70 mph or so...

.......Though i could only get 1/2 throttle on the carb.....

.... I need to fab a better lever for the linkage to achieve full throttle .........The water temp stayed at 195 degrees all day...... The fan really never did come on........... I have it set for 200 degrees. The oil pressure is a bit high i think ............70psi @ 3000 rpms.... but still good....... I'mm changing oil today and going thinner for now........ bearing clearances are tight.... New motor and all...

The wind wasn't too bad but the occassional 18 wheeler still let's you know he's there..........

I did have a oil leak though.............. Clydes valve covers both were leaking pretty good....... I tightend them down and it almost totally stopped.................. Friends said it was a Chevy trying to be a Vw ....By leaking oil....

Here's a couple of pics........... one has Clyde and Mike-Buggsbuggy's Herbie in it....I thought it was a cool pic....

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:40 pm

I got a few things done to Clyde... .. Installed the Surround Sound "system" , the JVC dropdown DVD system and made some temporary upper cabinets to close off the roof and mount speakers in.................

Clyde had his first movie played today..... I thought appropriate for a "Redneck " bus..... " Talladegga Nights"........

Man it sounds awesome through the surround system..... ... I need to hurry up and get the fridge and bed in and i'll never leave......

I had to change the front KYB shocks out and installed coil over shocks..... Now he doesn't rub except for driving over curbs and such which is not bad really.........

The Lobro 930 CV's work well.......... they do make a little noise when i get off throttle and coast to a stop..... in gear only......it's not bad though....

The engine has been running well at 195 degrees all the time......... Fan seems to do the job and only comes on occassionally in stop and go traffic and when i park..... I am noticing some ping on hard acceration....so i need to look at timimg and jetting some.....

Talk about power............ dang this thing is fast from 2nd gear to 4th..... 1st is quick but too short to really get on it....... He's got around an 8 sec 0-60 speed........

... When i shift to 4th the rpms drop down to around 1800-2000 at 55 mph.... it pushes around 2700 at about 70 mph....... and very quiet until i stomp the 4bbl and it walks......has that Holley throaty sound under hard acceleration......Does have some slight tire hum....

Clyde doesn't like wind much........ I put a 7/8" swaybar on the front to help and i'm going to order a rear bar just because.....

More to come.......

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:58 pm

Hey Gang, The show in Nacogdoches, Texas was great as usual.......... We left Shreveport about 7:30 am for the drive down....It was cold and rainy but i've learned to not let that stop a trip..........especially to Nac......every year it has some sort of Forcast for rain, hail, Locust and tornados and always seems to be nice there...

Clyde did well on the trip down........we took my bug also....I let a friend drive it....... We had 7 Vw's making the trip because we are diehards..... It's 105 mile trip.... Clyde got approx 18 mpg......at around 65-70 mph on hilly highway 59 in East Texas..... Not too bad for a wind hog......

Clyde's water temp was 180 going..... but the outside ambient temp was fairly cool early in the morning.........Coming home it was 85 degrees outside and Clyde's temp was at 205-210 constant...... never any higher. I am going to up jet the carb as i think it's running a bit lean.......
Oil pressure stays a constant 70psi under power and idles at 40 psi hot. Not a leak anywhere....

Anyway there were about 15 busses that showed up and i'd say 45 or so other Vw types....... it got pretty warm and muggy like always this time of year when the sun came out....

I ended up getting a Top 30 trophy for both my bus and bug and all my other club members recieved a trophy for theirs.............. Nice sweep.....

I had tons of favorable comments and some not so favorable.............. A couple of purist couldn't believe i did that to a bus..........If i didn't it would still be sitting in a pasture and rusting to oblivion.........but you know.......

I've been a Vw Fanatic/Purist for over 30 years........... but damn it....... It's my truck and i wanted to do it one time .......Can't please em all...........

I had more people tell me i couldn't go very fast and i would overheat because of the big tires..........then they went in back and changed their views.........when they saw the engine..........

Anyway.... Here are some pics.......... Clyde definately stands taller in the crowd......... We had fun......