The down tube stock showed up today and I got to work quickly after I got home....from work

Welding aluminum is difficult. I have yet to need to weld a straight line I think I finally got it dialed in. I also think that gun was not feeding uniformly so I fixed it

These are the last welds when I got the feed and the power correct. You have to weld fast!

Hey Mike, Get a stainless wire brush and clean all the pipe surfaces where your welding. Use a new clean brush that you only use for aluminum.

Edit: On second look I think I can see where you cleaned the 90's

Yup, I have a brush just for this that is stainless. I cant imagine how crappy the welds would be if it didnt

The first set was a PITA as it would randomly burn through. I think I was welding too much at a time. The metal would flow through the burn through and make nice, HUGE boogers that I had to dremel out If I could weld better, I would be done

good work mike! took me awhile to get the hang of it.
when you can weld a beer can back together you're getting good.

I started on the hard stuff with the smaller tubes. I just finished up the large tubes and my welds were going awesome! Then I ran out of wire I put my other role of 4043 in and it kept misfeeding.....it was .030 and the feed wheel was .035. Off to the store to get a new spool and all they had was 54XX or something. Welded very different. Nothing a sanding disk couldnt fix

I am taking a break for the moment to post pics

Alright, I am calling it a night. I am out of sanding disks anyway. I got one side almost completely done. I had to re-weld the one side as I noticed cracks when I hit it with the hammer (good test). Added material and ground it down again. All that is left on this piece is to throw a bunch of nuts in it and shake it around to break loose any metal boogers that might have formed with welding.

PROOF that I can weld in a straight line
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Second side
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Both done Click to view attachment

So, rattled some nuts around in them and got only a few little nuggets of slag. Then I leak tested them.......and went to repair some welds

Now to leak test the other one (yay).

Well, I was forced to take a break when a bolt broke flush in the adapter and the drill bit broke in the remnant Looks like I will be converting the welder over to ferrous metal to weld on it and hopefully get it out It almost came out all the way with the easy out, but then the top broke off the remnant so I tried to drill it further.
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The other side air box only had one small leak in it so now the boxes are all finished up and ready to be mounted.....then I found that they are a bit too short So, I will need to make 1/4-1/2" spacers for the air boxes

Here is the TB stand pipe Maybe I can finish the center connector pipe today.

Done for the day. Gonna have to raise the boxes 3/8-7/16. That damn broken bolt took way to long to fix. I had to drill and drill and drill. Then I welded up the big hole, drilled and tapped. Good to go.

The induction manifolds are turning out great. Nice welding job. Looking real clean.

Having helped with my FI system on the race motor, it's easy to understand the challenge you took on...and you had a lot of new ground to plow.

I'm hoping your arithmetic on the volume / air flow works out perfect.

Absolutely stunning work there Mikey your skillz amaze me. You seem to have the world at your fingertips. This will no doubt be the most successful bastardization modification of a VW bus ever. Your name will go down in the anals of VW greatness

Laying it a bit thick there, eh Scooter?

You know you are doing something good when you keep checking your own thread to look at the pics Looks so cool. I hope it works.

Scored a piece of 3"x0.5"x24" aluminum today. Too bad I was looking for 0.5" x 3" x 2'. I will make it into risers. I had to take a day off to get some DVDs made up. Huge demand lately

I have a part for the CIS that I won on Ebay 10 days ago....I still have yet to see.....it comes from a very notorious vender Called and got the usual today, "Uh, Bubba, they guy that handles that part of the biz, aint here right now."

Oh ya, we are past 43,000 views! And that was without boobies!

Everyone loves to look at a good train wreck

Why thank you. I do look hot today

Tonight I could not seem to drill a hole where I wanted to. I made due. Putting 2.5" holes in 1/2" Aluminum with a hole saw SUX. Its what I have and it cost me $0 so dont judge me.

I got the 1/2" sections drilled and almost completely welded to the feet of the boxes. Gonna pretty them up tomorrow. Then, install on engine, make TB center pipe combo, and make measurements for the fuel lines that I will be ordering. SS braided, goon look good. I hope it runs

I finished fabricating the center tube for mock up. It looks perfect I am not sure if I will have it horizontal or vertical, but I think vertical may be the best bet as long as it fits in the engine compartment, which I think it will. The aux air supply bung/CSV bung needs to be fabbed and welded on the center pipe still, as well as a mount to keep the center pipe in place. As you can see in the pics, there is the perfect amount of clearance now

I am questioning the need for a pop-off valve like on the plastic boxes in order to keep the back fires from damaging things if they should happen. Anyone have input on that? How to mount a plastic valve to the aluminum will be interesting as well.


Or, I can carry extra rubber sleeves

At this point, I am going to try to install the drive train this weekend and finish up any odds and ends over next week.

Wasn't the pop off to prevent blowing up the plastic 911 air box? I don't have a pop off on my CIS 928 engine.

Ya, for protection of the box. I guess since the V8 doesn't have one, I don't need one. It will just test my welds.

Dang!

That looks real nice. Hope it works as good as it looks.

Make sure none of that ground aluminum dust got into anything vital.

Clean up the ground aluminum. Produces oxygen in a fire and has been used for that purpose in some solid rocket fuels.

Ya, no kidding. With all the rust and Al shavings in my garage I have a huge thermite reaction waiting.

Don't worry about it. The flapper valves I've seen are used to protect plastic air boxes. I'd hazard a guess the aluminum is a bit stronger, and less sensitive to getting brittle when cold. If not, it may be a weld test.

FYI- If the aluminum used is heat treated (T4, T6) the welding will kill the heat treat near the weld and knock it back to dead soft (T0).

TO is better, then. More elastic and less brittle.

Jeff,

This is looking like the best setup for the intake. How did you make the connecting tube? I will need to know so I can copy it

I welded it up just like you did your intake!

I made a wooden block in the shape of the cut end of the intake boot and formed the metal to match the block by bending it and hammering it. It was a bottom piece, two end pieces to match the wood block, side pieces and a top piece all bent and welded to create the shape. I had to do the two end pieces seperate to match the boot pieces and then attached to bottom and filled in the remaining metal. The fill pieces didn't need to be perfect just air tight! Then I ground all the welds sanded it smooth and powder coated it to match the car!

I felt the powder coat was the best way to get a smooth surface for the boot to clamp snug without leaking!

I hope that helps!

Right on. I think mine will be easier as I may be able to make a straight pipe with the oval shape being the only fun part. I was looking at sheet metal that I may be able to make into a tube and then hammer into shape.

Stay tuned.

PS: I used two different boots so I could cut extra material on each end to allow me to grind off the humps on the boot surface and give me plenty of clamping area!

Here it is in raw form and powder coated!

What gauge and material did you use??

Thicker than I planned for the two end pieces and thinner for the filled in section! I was planning on doing it again in aluminum or thinner gauge steal, this was my test one but it worked so well I just used it!

The end pieces were 2" straps bent and shaped then welded to get the clamping area correct!

I just bought a 24x24" 16ga sheet to attempt to make a tube with. I will bend it around a piece of pipe and see if that works. I have two boots to use.

Thats a good start. I found it easier to bend a 16g 2" or 3" strap into the shape you need and it will only take two welds to connect the two pieces. Then build your tube to connect the two by mounting them with hose clamps the two boots and put the boots on to the intake and the throttle body. Then make a template using a piece of cardboard to get the basic shape and length. That way you wont be guessing.

Mine was tough because it was not a straight shot and the 90' angle was not exactly 90'!

Luckily, I can go in a straight line. It is the height that I was worried about and with the CIS boot that is cut down significantly.

Good progress today. Made up the tube by hand bending and beating the hell out of some 16g steel. That was fun. I will finish it when I know how long I need it to be.
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Here is an idea of the total height of the TB and stuff. I think this will fit just fine
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Here is the center section with the bung I made and welded in for the cold start valve and aux air tap.
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Next, I need to fab up some sheet metal for the tins. I finally used some power shears that I bought for this a long time ago. They cut the 16g pretty easy Last tie I made the tins I did it with hand shears and it was painful.

Tomorrow I will try to button up all the small stuff and by Sun night this stuff will hopefully be in the bus and my order for the fuel lines will be submitted

So, I finished up some welding on the setup, then leak checked to find out some of my welds suck Its my first time. What really sucks is that I am OUT of wire. So, I have to wait until tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I have the transmission and diff all reassembled and ready to mate up to the engine, I have the remove-install cart out and need to air up the tires, and I am making up the very simple wire harness.

I had to get inventive today, too. The air lines are 3/4", 5/8" and 1/2". The 3/4 and 5/8 are connected directly to the plenum where they will experience maximum vac. I could not find any large vac hose locally and quickly, and the OE stuff is actually welded aluminum tubing with special ends that would not fit my setup. So, I bought some throttle pedal return springs in a package for $2.49, took the one about the right dia and stretched it out. I cut it to length and slid it into the hose. No way that they will collapse now

More tomorrow.

grind it back before you try to weld it again or it may reappear over time. oh, and tig is ideal for this fix, just give it enough buzz to get it flowing and push the ally around with the gas flow. I can't imagine trying to mig it closed.

I pushed a piece of copper pipe into my lines to keep them from collapsing!

Brer, I will not be Tiging, but thanks for the tip to grind it out again. I will to that.

Jeff, I needed to be able to bend the hose without it collapsing Copper is good for a straight line, or a subtle bend, though

Its under the bus......then it started to rain

Do I get to drive it at Hershey?

Yes, you can drive it at Hershey....if it makes it

Drive train assembled on the purpose built trolley:
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Under the bus.....damn rain. It looks like it may stop

I wanna drive it!!

That dolly is going to make one hell of a downhill skateboard someday

Perhaps you can recycle it and build some trailer ramps?