QuestionI bought a 1977 vw bus which has been sitting in a driveway for 7 years and i would like to know how to restore the engine and get it running?
Answer
bus_in_flames
Well, that's a very general question which requires a broad answer.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the easy answer is if you are inexperienced and unwilling to learn, then take it straight to a qualified shop. But I don't believe you meant this. So if it was mine, and I had good reason to believe the engine was generally OK but just not used in 7 years, BEFORE ever trying to start it, I would:
- Open the engine compartment and clean it good. Remove all the spider/rat/bird nests. Call the ASPCA if you have issues with disturbing the cute little creatures.
- Remove the spark plugs, inspect, clean or get new ones. Do not reinstall them yet.
- Shoot a good lubricant into all 4 cylinders via the removed spark plug sockets, in preparation for soon cranking the engine for the first time in years. No guarantee, but this may avoid scoring the cylinder walls because of lack of oil/surface rust on the first crank. This will cause a lot of smoking when you first start it; this is normal and should go away after a few minutes, unless the engine was already in bad shape (bad valve guides or piston rings.)
- Get a new set of spark wires, cap, rotor. They look good? So what, you would probably do this every couple years as regular maintenance anyway, so just do it. You could do the points too if they look bad, but you'll need to adjust them afterwards or the engine may not start.
- Remove the injectors, including the cold start injector and clean them with solvent and replace.
- Dump the oil and replace it. I don't care what it looks like, do it anyway. Oil deteriorates and/or gets contaminated over time regardless of usage.
- Replace any old belts and vacuum hoses. These are vital, so once again, just do it.
- Remove the gas tank and get it flushed. Old gas is bad gas, in fact it may not even be gas anymore, but something more like Jello. Also long sitting gas tanks rust, and rust in the tank can cause many future headaches.
- Remove the fuel filter and all rubber fuel lines. Throw them away and get new ones. Many great buses end up on the side of the road in flames because of cracked, old rubber fuel lines.
- Flush all gas lines with solvent and compressed air.
- Now install the new fuel filter and rubber fuel lines. Maybe even replace the fuel pump. Use hose clamps everywhere, otherwise a flaming engine may still be your fate.
- Get the battery charged/replaced as required.
- Clean to battery terminals and cables with baking soda or other appropriate chemicals.
- Change the air filter as required.
- While you have the air filter off, reach into the air box with a 6 inch screw driver and feel for the "stator" flap; make sure it seems to open and return close by spring tension freely, otherwise you need to take off the air box and disassemble and lubricate/fix any issues.
- Some people might want do a cylinder compression check at this point, it's up to you, this but won't fix or prevent any other problems, only tell you if you need to do an engine rebuild at some point.
- You can replace the spark plugs now.
OK, I think you are ready to try to start it.
Don't forget about the fact that if you do get it running, and consequently moving, you'll need to stop it. Another words you should go through the brakes as well, but that's not really the scope of your question. Good luck!
