67 Panel.....finally finished

Shaven · Post by **Shaven** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:23 am

yes. plan i motion

kombi1976 · Post by **kombi1976** » Sat May 09, 2009 9:48 pm

Good.
Hopefully they'll be on in time for the Nats.
Only 3 weeks away!

I thought I'd post a little stuff on my Panel to show people how it's going since it has just passed rego again after 12 months on the road since rego.
We drive it everyday and many of you would have seen it about.
You would also have seen the pin striping it has.
It's a brilliant daily driver and I've never regretted using it as one.
Sure, it could be quieter but even in summer it isn't too hot, even without safaris, and it has to be the hippest daily driver in town.
It also made the trip to Melbourne for the Jamboree in March and managed to sneak into the background of a couple of pics of the event in this months VWMA magazine, something which delighted me no end.
In this one it is behind dubbindan's 11-Window and the Bus'n'Bug SC cruising into the event (p36-37 VWMA May-June'09):

It also made it to Berry last weekend and that was good fun.
This afternoon we headed out to a friend's farm, which involved a lot of dirt road driving, for a church get together.
Unfortunately we took a wrong turn and ended up descending a hill meant for vehicles with a lot more ground clearance!

Getting back up it was, well, interesting but the Panel pulled straight up it despite scraping the steering box a little in one or 2 places:

And these pics of it at the farm show why Desert Yellow is a good colour for a split that spends most of its time in the country.

We have had our mishaps.
The starter motor went late last year unfortunately in the same week that our 2nd car, a '68 Series IIa Landrover ute, blew the indicator arm.
And on Boxing Day we threw a fanbelt while driving to Sydney when I accidentally shifted from 3rd to 2nd doing about 100kmh.

We've also had speedo cable issues and I'm yet to sort out why it keeps snapping them but with a good tacho it's easy to track your speed so long as you're aware what it is in each gear.

The biggest single issue however is the amount of oil the motor has been pushing out onto the crank pulley and then throwing about the engine bay.
Initially we thought it was due to excess pressure in the case and Steve fitted a breather box to fix the problem.
But the breather has made no difference and recently the Panel has begun to run very rough at times, particularly lacking power between 2000rpm and 2700rpm.
After at chat with Guru Muller at Berry it seems most likely a compression ring has gone south.
This was probably caused by the fact that the motor sat for 6 years and in this time it could easily have got water in one of the bores through condensation.
So the decision has been made to do a top end rebuilt.....new pistons, rings and barrels.
They'll be exchanged for a 87mm set to push the motor out to 1641cc and give it a tiny bit more zip.
While the motor is pulled the gearbox will also be sent to get a new reverse gear as the current one is getting worse and I don't like the thought of it failing when my wife is driving it and being stuck at the bottom of a slope or the like with our soon-to-be 4 boys.
I'd like to go a new 1776cc but that's more than 3x the cost of the new barrels, etc. so a 1641cc can do for now.
For the moment we're limping her around and not pushing her too much although she'll live.
She had definitely done the ring before I went to Melbourne and she did fine on that trip.
Due to the demands on Steve to get other buses to the Nationals she's booked in to go down that weekend, turn up to Dino's Pizza Cruise and the Show & Shine and then I'll leave her at Kombi Rescue for the repairs.
I'm looking forward to the improvement in performance!

byronbus · Post by **byronbus** » Sat May 09, 2009 9:59 pm

Good story, even though not a fan of the desert yellow, i do like your bus and the adventures and stories...

It does look good all dusty...

kombi1976 · Post by **kombi1976** » Sun May 10, 2009 1:45 am

Thanks Bruce.
I realise the colour divides people but then there are a heap of red/white or dove blue buses out there and my wife will tell you I just have to be different.

But yeah, it looks funky with dirt on it.
When I loaded the pics onto the PC at home I have to say I seriously thought about winding the suspension up to standard height, getting some wheel adapters to make it wide-5 again and fitting a set of black powder coated standard 15" rims with nice chunky tread tyres and some black hubcaps.
Wouldn't have to slow down on dirt then!!
Here's a vid of me climbing the slope:

http://volksculture.ning.com/video/67-p ... ky-incline

byronbus · Post by **byronbus** » Sun May 10, 2009 8:23 am

Desert yellow doesnt sound as good as poo brown though...

D-Train · Post by **D-Train** » Sun May 10, 2009 11:56 am

Nothing wrong with a daily driver, my 67pv is one as well..
its what they were made for so they should be used.

Shaven · Post by **Shaven** » Sun May 10, 2009 1:07 pm

andy... mate love the little write up you did on your bus

even if it is poo brown

kombi1976 · Post by **kombi1976** » Sun May 10, 2009 3:50 pm

Thanks, Shaven.
I appreciate that coming from someone who isn't a legitimate split enthusiast.......

Nah, just joshin'.

I just wish I had more Kombis to play with.
The '55 will be a blast.
A slightly jacked up Lowlight SC or perhaps a HighLight Panel with Desert Duelers on 15" wide-5 rims would rock.
I'm still cut with my brother for making me sell my '72 SC years ago.

hjsimpson01 · Post by **hjsimpson01** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:16 pm

Hey mate. Poo Brown, Desert Brown, Fools Gold, whatever you want to call it, not a fan myself either... But It's not mine now, is it? So long as you are happy with the colour that is all that matters..

And spot on with using that colour for a country vehicle... Defo the right colour! No dust on that at all!

hehehehe

If we all painted out Kombis the colours everyone else wanted we would please everyone else... But not us!

Looks the goods mate.. I hadn't seen this thread before, glad someone brought it to the top again.. Like all good cream should be!

Shaven · Post by **Shaven** » Sun May 10, 2009 9:13 pm

hjsimpson01 wrote:not a fan myself either... But It's not mine now, is it?

i wouldnt like having two heads either...

But i'm not from tasmaniiaaaa

hjsimpson01 · Post by **hjsimpson01** » Tue May 12, 2009 9:45 am

Thanks Shaven... I knew that one would have to crop up some point...

But... 2 Heads are better than one?

That's why I need a split screen, one windscreen for each head.... Bay window Kombi just don't cut it with us Tasmanians...

Shaven · Post by **Shaven** » Tue May 12, 2009 12:04 pm

hjsimpson01 wrote:Thanks Shaven... I knew that one would have to crop up some point...

But... 2 Heads are better than one?
That's why I need a split screen, one windscreen for each head.... Bay window Kombi just don't cut it with us Tasmanians...

LMAO... haha, well said

D-Train · Post by **D-Train** » Fri May 15, 2009 12:20 pm

andy, the vdo guys in newcastle will service ur speedo, stopping the cables snapping, recalibrate it as well to factory specs.
all for around $120ish. not inc parts. had mine done an it works better than ever.
if ur bus is off the road for a bit, could be worth wile doin it to save u cables.

kombi1976 · Post by **kombi1976** » Fri May 15, 2009 1:35 pm

Sounds tops, Dion.
There's no way you could drop it off to VDO if I bring my old one up to the Nats?

FrankenCab · Post by **FrankenCab** » Fri May 15, 2009 2:49 pm

there's also a guy in unanderra (south of wollongong) that does speedo's
Humfrey instruments.
Your bus turned out freakin sweet , it used everyday even on the ruff stuff and it's different what more could you want , except 200+hp.
with mad opp lock along a dirt track with screamin kids in the back.