Hi all! I’m new here.

I’m restoring a ruined T3. I’m new to the game and learning on the job. I have immediately got the bug that I’m hoping we all share, and looking to connect with some VWbus veterans for advice. I have been documenting every step of the way. What classic mistakes do I need to be aware of? What do I avoid? And what tips have you got to make sure I nail this restoration?

If you want to follow please come get involved I need all the advice, comments and tips I can get. Also hopefully it’ll make you smile

Love to all

https://www.instagram.com/prjdonkey/profilecard/?igsh=eDl4aTdpcXRlaXo0

Hi guys well I unfortunately had a fire in my 77 bus this passed weekend luckily the initial damage doesn't look really bad as I was able to catch it early. I'm unsure of the cause though I lost my heater fan and tubes charred some wiring and some insulation and breather box melted. I did an oil change earlier in the day and started it up to see how she was running and she wouldn't stay idle was able to turn up the idle a bit to keep it going but it would backfire when you tapped the gas I went to move it and started to see smoke and then large flames out the driverside air vent not too much damage but im so confused as to what happened im assuming it overheated enough to cause a fire but still don't understand. Could the heater fan have cause this to happen? Like maybe it shorted out somehow? It doesn't seem to have come from the engine itself carb and air filter look ok. Any ideas?

I really like these Porsche style gauges. Anyone have any recommendations for the sending unit for the temp and pressure?

It would be installed on a 76 T2 type 4 2L (carbureted)

I replaced the steering box on my 78 with a rebuilt. Housing of the new is identical to the old but the shaft for the pitman arm is threaded for a different nut size. My original had M24-1.5 (36mm) which is too big. I tried a M20-1.5 (30mm) on the new, too small. I am guessing it is a M22-1.5 which I don't have but can order. Research suggests those are the only sizes used. I have a couple questions:

1. does anyone know if other sizes were used?
2. should I be concerned the box is not correct for my 78 bus?

Nut sizes (source Ratwell)

Old shaft/nut

New shaft/nut

Hi, guys. I have a question regarding oil. I'm getting ready to do an oil change. I was wondering of what weight would be a good recommendation? I've heard 15-40 from a lot of people.I've also heard 20-50 castrol is really good as well. I live in Florida for context for environmental temp lol

Hallo Zusammen,

Habe mit meinem Kürzlich erworbenen T3 ein Problem, die Rote Leuchte des Kühlwassers Blinkt und die Temperatur Anzeige steht auf Maximum, ebenfalls hat er Startprobleme.

Über Tipps und Infos würde ich mich sehr freuen

Motor: 50ps Diesel

English:

Hello everyone,

I have a problem with my recently purchased T3, the red light on the coolant display is flashing and the temperature display is at maximum, it also has starting problems.

I would be very happy to receive tips and information

Engine: 50hp diesel

Looking for a shop that builds or specializes in type 4 bus engines. Any recommendations? Bonus if they are on the east coast, extra bonus if they are in the Northeast. thank you.

Hello all i have a T3 Syncro 4x4 in very good shape here in europe where i live but a big trip around south and north america is definitely on my mind. As shipping back and forth the T3 from europe to america is too expensive and too much of an hassle i was wondering if it was still possible to buy a cheap rusty T1 or T2 in brazil for pretty cheap and drive it around some countries ? I have the impression that now they cost a lot more than before and they’re all full of bondo and quickly painted to look good and be sold at higher prices to US and European people. Am im wrong ? What’s the market here ? Is it still possible to find a beat up T2 for less than 4000$ ? Or are those days gone ? Even if its rusty and all, as long as its not falling apart and can be driven relatively safely. Thanks

https://youtu.be/78ym5pCaOp0

The story on how I found out that my lesuire battery exploded lol follow up from my previous post, thanks to everyone that gave me advice on what to do!

Hi, guys. I just wanted to give an update on my oil breather. Box issue. I will provide a picture below on what I ended up doing to the broken. Breather box to use as a temporary fix until I get the new one I ordered. What I basically did was being that the cap broke off the top of the breather box, I cleaned out the inside of all the gunk, and build up and figured out that thing diaphragm inside of the cap had gone bad because I could see it. So what I did was, I took a thin silicone ipod case and cut a circle out the same size as the diaphragm. Put that in place of the old diaphragm, and Took some RTV and basically glued the cap back in place where it had broken off. Although this isn't a permanent fix, it was temporary and a test to see if it would fix my vacuum issue and I believe it has because I tested it and it is running smooth as of right now.

Would appreciate any advice on our recent issue with our 1985 T25/T3 failing its UK MOT on emissions.

I wouldn't even know where to start with this and locally (east of england) we have struggled with finding mechanics who are confident working on our van. So far this year we have fitted a refurbed pierberg carburetor from a specialist, had the head gasket replaced and a load of rust work.

Now it's failed what is likely it's last MOT on emissions and I would appreciate some advice on what we might be able to do to solve this.

Appreciate this is an online forum and I am no mechanic but hope there are some options to fix this to pass an MOT recheck.

I have a 77 with 2.0 type 4 single carb. The cap on the oil breather box (pic for example) broke off and I tie wrapped it in place but was recently told it should be air tight that it being loose could be causing a vacuum leak. Which is causing it to sputter an die at idle. Any advice on how to fix could I use rtv and "glue" it back on?

Found this at a garage sale for $15. Can't find any information about it. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hi guys need some help on another possible issue. I have a 2.0 type 4 I was messing with a few things the other day and the round plastic cap of my oil breather box with the spring connected to it broke off. I was able to put it back on and have in tie wrapped in place. It has some space like it did before and everything seems to be running fine. Should I replace it and if so are there any aftermarket options I can go with because I don't seem to be having any luck finding an original replacement

Hi, guys. I have some questions. I have a 1977 bus. And at the moment, it's single carb i was told that they are not very good for the 2.0, type 4 engine, and I should switch it to dual carb. My question is, does anybody know carb setup would be best for that engine? And if anybody is currently running a setup, how is it? Did you switch from single to dual carb? And if so, was there a noticeable difference?

Just wanted to share a pic of my bus with the community 🤗. Working on restoring him and bringing my vision to life 🧟‍♀️ currently working on getting the interior together 🖤💚

Thank you for all the feedback! I haven't really found anything easily that fits my needs. Are there any vans or microbuses out there that are more reliable than the VW ones? I'm looking for a dependable van that can handle road trips and still look cool doing it. 17;18 age (canada ontario)

"I'm 17 and planning to buy my first car next summer. I really want something that looks cool, like a Vanwagon, and has a cool unique interior. I’m looking for a car that I can use for road trips, and that’ll last me a while without breaking down. Is it realistic to find a Vanwagon or something similar that's both affordable and reliable? Or do you have any recommendations for cars with a similar style? very broad "questions and statmeant if you wanna call it that im making I just cant find much info on this thanks! FROM ONTARIO CANADA

I've been mourning the burnt Busses and Vanagons lately, esp. Huge_Ad_6159's post on his torched '72 hightop. Does anyone have firsthand experience with the BlazeCut products? Not cheap, so I thought I'd check here first. Thanks all, stay flameless.

and wheres it go?

Okay. So. The Bus is a 79 that has had an engine swap, and a Carb conversion, so I Knew Something was had happened. But its run awful and I'm re-jetting the dual carbs for it (They are extremely lean, and I need it to be ready to move) so I Checked the Engine code. EA, which is the 1.7 from the Type 4 and the 914. But I know the thing has hydraulic lifters, and I was sure these did not.

So I checked the head code, which is 022.101.372 and something that looks like a C. Checking the head codes, the only thing It could be is a G. Which is the 2L head with the sodium valves. I also shoved a scope down the plug hole and the pistons look like they might be dished, which suggests 2L? I don't have the time, space or money to pull it apart, so i'm trying to just use part numbers to sanity check what I have.

I was really hoping it was a complete 1.7, but I'm thinking this is a 1.7 crank case with 2L pistons and head and hydraulic lifters for some ungodly reason?

https://preview.redd.it/hgzfmhjh8k0e1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=c61cf1271d4344eab3ef7ac1dbc494cb9950d7fd

https://preview.redd.it/jjid4qzh8k0e1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=b710450800dccc70766c527bdfd7d89dfa55fdd5

https://preview.redd.it/zzcio2ai8k0e1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=51a47d57d75d46ad7e4de9d666b2f6c79b940cfa

Had an engine fire 2 years ago and finally made the decision to part this thing out instead of rebuild. Anyway, the engine is stuck. Everything disconnected but it won't budge. I'm assuming rusted/warped/burnt, etc. I'm about to just drop it and the tranny as a unit unless someone has some advice for separating it?