vanbloke wrote:Hi again Mike, looked at that book, really nice, i see on the net there is a history of NZ Volkswagen as well Website is very informative, our van doesnt have high vents, and on birth certificate says imported to New Zealand M code 454 ckd to NZ, it doesnt have any Australian makings ie kangaroos on anything, NZ history a bit thin then but thanks for info anyway

Mike1973 wrote:Well, been toying with the idea for a long while now. I love my little 30hp motor to bits. It's absolutely smashing, especially since the rebuild with Andy, 20,000+ ish miles ago already. Does everything it was designed to do and more. Will chug along at 50mph all day, doesn't overheat or drink oil, returns at least 29 to the gallon, as per the manual, and that's usually with a bloody great big roof tent up top as well.
But boy is going up hills a drag ... Has never bothered me, I like life in the slow lane, but any hill knocks the stuffing out of it. Not helped by having poor compression on one cylinder. And getting spares is getting increasingly difficult, with consumables like dizzy, points, rotor twice as expensive as later engine parts ...

So ... I'd quite like to see what the Kombi would be like with slightly longer legs ... and for the stock nazi in me that means stock late model running gear. At the end of 2012 I picked up a 1500 bus gearbox hub to hub. Cheap, but untested and in bits. I've not checked but I'm hoping it's a big nut.
Next up was an engine - 1500 of course. I was tentatively looking, but didn't have big bucks to spend, and a few slipped through my fingers. After the house move I put it on hold as I didn't have any spare cash at all.

Then in steps BJ1 on here, who knew my predicament and had been keeping an eye out for me. He knew what I was after, and had found an ideal candidate. It was a non runner, but he thought he could fix it, if I was interested? I have known Brian for a few years now and have always been in awe of his years of VW knowledge and experience. Yes, of course I was interested! I just needed to stump up a small amount to cover the cost of parts involved, and I had to sell our faithful old roof tent to cover this, but this would get the overhaul moving in the right direction again!

The block appeared to be fine, but the heads and B&P's were not, so Brian replaced these with a 1600 set he had. Good heads were put on with new exhaust valves. Brian also included a 12v generator, dizzy, manifold, like new 30/31 carb ... I was a very happy customer!

We picked this up on the way back from Johnny K's in North Devon at the weekend.

image by zombikombi1959, on Flickr

So now the fun begins, as I search out the rest of the parts I need. I'll go through it all at the weekend and start a list ... I only have old 30hp and 6volt parts here!
(Just tonight I've been offered a lot of the tinware I need. Original but rusty. I'm hoping it will be OK after a blast)

So this turns into a project thread again, nearly 10 years after it started ....

miles wrote:I know what you mean Mike. I loved my 30 horse in the 57, but with a top comfy speed of just under 50, driving on the motorway was no fun. Especially with overzealous national express.

Buying a later bus, with a bigger engine was the key.

Just got to fix the engine, stop it drinking oil like it was going out of fashion.....

miles wrote:Buying a later bus, with a bigger engine was the key.

Mike1973 wrote:I'm quite happy sitting at 50 all day Miles, doesn't bother me at all.