The bus when it was a little more than a year old - in November of '79

Two of three kids, Janine and Marjorie (same age as the bus) and Giff's mom, 11/79

The bus in October of 1997

The bus just recently, in November 1998 - still the original paint

Several years ago I had to replace the original front axle beam

The right rear wheel assembly, after renewing the bearings, rehabilitating the backing plate, and installing new wheel cylinder and shoes

I refurbished the engine several years ago. This is a 2.0 liter engine of the "pancake" type. Here the cylinders and heads are exposed.

And here the "cooling tin" - the sheet metal shrouds that enclose the cylinders and heads, has been installed.

These two pictures show the cast cooling fan shroud that attaches to the rear of the engine. A squirrel cage type of fan is attached directly to the end of the crankshaft, and pulls air into the shroud from where it is directed over and around the cylinders and heads, and through the oil cooler.

The exhaust manifolds, which are unique to the '78 models, were originally jacketed in sheet metal and an asbestos-like insulation. That was replaced by header wrap.

It can be seen here that the exhaust is directed forward by the manifolds. Each manifold then has a "U" pipe attached, which turns the exhaust back 180 degrees so it can be directed through the heat exchangers.

This picture shows the intake air distributor and the runners leading to each intake port of this fuel-injected engine.

The throttle valve assembly. This is an Air Flow Controlled port-injected engine. An air flow sensor will be attached to the throttle body. It detects the amount of intake air flowing into the engine and feeds that information to the ECU, which determines how much fuel the injectors should deliver.

The right side injectors and the fuel lines that feed them

The left side injectors

Just about ready now to go back into the bus

Send Giff e-mail

You say you want more  headroom ?

Take a look at a saguaro high-top loaf.

For a real good list of air-cooled VW links, check out the Dubworld Links.

See the guts of the EGR valve.