Central American and North American Roadtrip in a Lark!

Lark, happily going along Route 66: USA, North America,

Lark: Outfitted with a GPS (Garmin Nuvii) and a Dashboard Alter for Good Vibes

Classic Painted Ox-Cart, Costa Rica, Central America: Country of Departure

Lark: Back Country Roads of Costa Rica, Departure Day

Well, our trip through Central America, Mexico, California, across the US along Route 66 to the East Coast, including a big adventure up into Niagara Falls was a complete success. That’s not to say we were never challenged. In fact, when people ask me about how it went, I find myself saying: “It was an adventure”.

Recounting the “adventure” does not seem like a good use of virtual space, bandwidth or my time and energy. However, I will describe the general voyage and a few items that punctuated the trip.

The Lark was not without problems. I had replaced the fuel pump and filter due to failure While bringing her out of mothballs earlier in the year. However, the “new” pump started failing. I could get her running by beating the fuel tank with a rock. We went 1500 KM this way, beating the pump to life when it would quit and leave us stranded. Eventually in central Mexico the rock trick stopped working and we were towed back 120KM to the city of Pubelo, Mexico. I sought a hotel down the street from the Chevrolet agency and installed an OEM replacement pump for the 1990 Chevy Blazer drive train that motor the Lark. The hotel was really great about my wrenching in their parking lot.

Leon, Nicaragua:
Second Country and first border crossing and repair to the Lark's Shocks

Heidi in front of La Perla, a nice hotel in downtown Leon, Nicaragua, Central America

The rear shocks on the Lark never were very pleasing. I had installed them during the original conversion using “TLAR” engineering. For those of you who are not engineers, TLAR stands for “That Looks About Right”.

I had put the shock mounting points in too vertical of a position and ended up having to compromise on the selection of shocks. As a result, the shocks suffered from bottoming out easily when my conversion was complete. This shortcoming reared its ugly head early in our trip. The severe bottoming tore apart the frame at the upper right rear shock over and over. We made temporary repairs in Nicaragua and again in Honduras. Finally in Antigua Guatemala we took a day to repair the frame correctly. I had the shocks removed for the duration of our transit to San Diego where I installed air shocks that solved the issue.

Honduras and Nicaragua had some awful roads and the repair in Nicaragua had to be re-done in Honduras. Honduras: Second Border Crossing and Repair!

Guatemala Market: Fourth Border Crossing (El Salvador was third) and Third Repair to the body/shocks issue

Volcanos in Guatemala

Mexican Mechanics in San Cristobel, Chiapas: Mexico, North America
4th Repair due to Negligence at the Gas Station: 5th Country and Border Crossing

We lost a day leaving Pubela when a helpful gas station attendant put a quart of motor oil into the automatic transmission. We pushed the car across the street to a mechanic shop where 5 young men worked like a soccer team to drop the pan and clean out the offending oil. I had their work redone in San Diego, as the pan gasket leaked all the way.

I changed spark plugs and plug wires somewhere in Central Mexico, during a torrential downpour that caused misfires and stalling due to the deteriorated ignition system.

Plotting the route with Heidi's cousin, Scott-
who joined us in Antigua and stayed with us through Puebla

Admirers of the Lark in Mexico (and throughout the trip) were plentiful!

Above: Photos of Tlaxcala and San Cristobel, Chiapas, Mexico

Driving through Central America necessitates preparation for the chaos and confusion of border crossings. The border crossings are not well marked, and require standing in at least 3 (sometimes 5) lines to obtain your personal and vehicle documents for passage.

Heidi studied the process and document needs of each of the borders. She created a folder of packets for each border filled with original and copies of necessary documents. While we did well crossing the borders, there were still the confusing aspects of lack of knowledge, foreign language, deteriorated infrastructure and make-shift building usage to cause stress and tension. Sex Motels: they were cheap and often had garages for the Lark. We used them to crash hard for 8 hours and start again... Mostly in El Salvador and Mexico for about $20/night.

Knowing where to find resources allowed us to affect many good quality repairs in San Diego, before commencing our drive along Route 66: solar shading on the windows to reduce the heat load on the A/C, air shocks to solve the rear suspension puzzle, GPS for our ease, leak repairs to cure the Larks incontinence, and load lightening. Man, was it good to get out on good roads!

Arriving in Nogales, Arizona after a LONG, GRUELING, but never DULL: Roadtrip!
First Destination: San Diego, CA

Along historic Route 66, we drove 90% along the major highway and dipped in to the old Route 66 to get gas and view attractions. If anyone out there reading this is an old car aficionado or a train lover, traveling Route 66 is a fantastic corridor for both trains and old car lots.





We continued on past Chicago (the Eastern terminus of Route 66) to visit the Studebaker museum in South Bend, Indiana. The South Bend Indiana plant made not only Studebaker cars like our Lark, but also the military trucks that interest me, the M35, known as the “duce and a half”. Studebaker built these trucks for the military, and later in 1964 when Studebaker sold their plant to Kaiser the trucks continued to be built there. Eventually Kaiser became a part of American Motors Corporation, maker of the Pacer, Javlin and AMX. American Motors was bought by General Motors in the early seventies, and General Motors spun off the military truck building, creating AM General, which is still in business today making the Humvee.


Before long, we arrived on the East Coast tired and intact, then headed up through New York State along the Hudson first, and then east along the Erie Canal. We took a boat tour through a working canal section and lock, learning the history of the canal and viewing the technology that is still functioning today.

Above: NY State and PA border along the Delaware River
Below: Eerie Canal Tour

Our visit to Niagara Falls was quite enjoyable. I had no idea about the carnival atmosphere being built there.

The Canadian side is really interesting and again, we got into the tourist things, taking in an IMAX movie about the daredevils of the Falls, riding on a boat right into the mist of the falls, walking in and around the town like tourists do. We continued as far west as New London, Ontario to enjoy the company of one of Heidi’s high school friends.

The Lark took us back to the East Coast in Marion, Massachusetts, where the Lark will be garaged at Heidi’s fathers house. We took the time to remove the Costa Rica Plates and install Mass plates. The Lark will be right at home, as Heidi’s father’s house is right on the water leading to Buzzards Bay. Ok, that’s a stretch, but a buzzard and a Lark are birds….. guess I just laid an egg.

Yellow Unimog's New Home: La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica: the only active volcano in Costa Rica with lava spew!

The Yellow Unimog that I originally imported in from Germany, along with a white and orange one, I was finally able to see in its new home: La Fortuna, Arenal, Costa Rica.

The La Fortuna, Arenal area has many, many natural attractions. Its new owner, Bill Brown, bought Yellow from Adventure Motors to start a tour company in this area. He uses Yellow for his tour company, aptly named: Adventure Tours, "Bigger than Yours!". Tours to the nearby Volcano: Vulcan Arenal, or just through jungles and rivers in a beautiful, wild environment.

I'll be posting a video, if possible, of one of his tours. Stay tuned!

Transportation in Cuba

Cuba has many, many antique vehicles and we enjoyed seeing them throughout our recent trip:

Empty highways, above, but maintained well.

Vehicles are often kept in excellent condition, and with the embargo, that has to be enormous effort.

We definitely did the tourist thing!

There are still, many old fashioned ways of transporting here. Most popular are the horse and buggy combos- we saw them everywhere, including on the major highways.

What a truck!

Chatting up some local mechanics, one had an old Studebaker...

Below, a video of our taxi ride on these 3-wheeled vehicles.

The vehicle eye-candy was better than reputed. Nowhere on the planet is there this many old cars.

Getting in the Mood for a Central America Roadtrip!

Here are a couple of video clips featuring the Studebaker Lark vintage commercials. To get you in the mood for our upcoming blog posts during our Central America road trip this summer. We will be departing in late July and driving the 1960 Studebaker Lark (featured in earlier posts in 2006) from Costa Rica through: Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico to San Diego, CA. Then we will drive it across the US to the east coast. We may need to make a few pilgramage visits to the Studebaker museum and Studebaker aficionados along the way!

First video below is the Studebaker '60 Lark commercial featuring Mr. Ed, their sponsor. Lark was promoted as a roomy compact car, which it truly is.





Second video below is a commerical featuring new Larks and their "performability".

New Project: Family Wagon! (part 4, conclusion)

6) Electrical system

At this point I was at a crossroads regarding the electrical system. The Canadian trucks are all 24v operating systems, while the California and all gas trucks are 12v electrical systems. I had done inconclusive research on whether I could create a “dual” system using both 12v and 24v systems by tapping one battery in the series. As a result, I was left with the known choices of either converting the 12v California truck to 24v or converting the 24v Canadian motor to 12v. Converting the motor to 12v meant another trip to Spector Off Road to purchase a 12v starter, alternator, glow plugs and related glow plug components. I would also need to make wiring modifications, as the wiring harnesses are very different.

In the end, I decided using more time over more money. I had the entire 24v conversion “kit” sitting there, in the Canadian truck. I called Heidi and asked her to change the date of my return ticket to Costa Rica, adding another week to the project window.

My first step in the electrical swap was to pull all the wiring from the “donor” diesel truck. I first pulled the under hood wiring back in through the firewall on both sides, then pulled the main harness from the inside behind the dash, keeping as many connections together as possible. At the junction where the wiring passes to the rear, there was a big plug for the rear lights and lift gate. I followed this back and grabbed as much wiring as possible. However, the rear lamp assemblies were in an advanced state of corrosion and could not be removed, much less reused! My solution was to obtain all the rear 24v bulbs from the local NAPA store and reuse the clean non-rusty Cali lamp assemblies!

Next I stripped out the wiring from Red. This doesn’t take too long, but the slight adaptations that are necessary for the year model and fuel differences between the trucks gave me a few moments of study as I pieced together the routing and connections. For information I had access to Mitchell Manuals wiring diagrams, which proved very valuable in the process. As the system came together, I was also able to diagnose and repair broken wires to the rear window wiper and washer system. I used all the Canadian relays, switches, resistors, modules and instrument cluster.

Here's the diesel harness, laying in it's approximate configuration when installed in the truck. Note the heavy concentration of relays and control boxes in the portion of the harness in the upper center of the photo. Those controls are for the glow plugs, charge lamp and wipers.

The vacated Diesel truck. The interior was pretty decent and matched the Silver truck in color. I used a few pieces to upgrade Silver. Bonus!

The vacated dash on Red. There's an extra box under the dash where the air conditioner evaporator resides. The A/C has a seperate loom and connects to the climate control panel and passes out to the compressor. Other than that, the truck has been brought to the point of commonality with the diesel truck. That ugly non-factory wiring to the left of the column are radio power leads. I'll clean it up when I figure out how to power a 12v radio with a 24v system.

Carpet is kinda faded, huh? If you do this process, be sure to remove the seats to give yourself room to move.

Testing dash functions before final assembly. The dash went together slower than it came apart, 'cause there's a sequence that must be followed. Get it out of order and you have to back up and correct your mistakes. With all the ducting, it gets packed.

7) Results, remaining issues and problems

After doing the electrical conversion the truck was ready to be driven. I drove the truck around the San Diego area, running errands and enjoying the remaining days of my stay in the San Diego area. At the very end of our stay we delivered the 2 trucks to a shipper for their overseas journey to Costa Rica. I call the swap a complete success and look forward to tackling the remaining issues very soon:

A) I have a drivability issue to solve: The diesel truck has a heavy surge at light throttle, especially in the lower gears. I posted this issue on the IH8MUD.com forum and received some great potential solutions. I’ll get after the problem when I see the trucks again. I should see them in another month (Jan ’08)

B) The tachometer and fuel gauges are intermittent. I believe the fuel sender is failed and poor connections are the culprit for the tachometer.

C) The Canadian trucks don’t generally come with air conditioners for some reason. So I am going to need to source the pieces missing from the motor to mount and drive an air conditioning pump. The Red truck has a complete A/C system otherwise.

D) When I chose to convert the truck to 24v, I created further problems to solve: The Warn winch is 12v and needs to be removed, find a replacement, or refit the existing unit with a 24v motor.

E) The ARB compressor and solenoids are also 12v. So the air lockers are dead weight until I get that sorted out. I discovered a factory 12v tap off the first battery in the series. This tap powers the headlights! With this discovery, I have an opportunity to research a solution for some small accessories, like the radio (also 12v), the ARB compressor and the cigarette lighter.

8) Summation and recommendations The entire project, starting with the flight to Vancouver and ending with the delivery of the trucks to the shipper occurred within a span of 3 weeks. I like what I have accomplished. To me the truck is as close to factory as can be. With the exception of the FJ VIN#, this truck is a Toyota HJ60. For our principal “daily driver”, anything less would have me doubting myself. I have a sense of security and look forward to OEM reliability and ease of service.

New Project: Family Wagon! (part 3)

4) Preparation of Red

After wraping up the 1985 "freebie", the next step was to clean out all the parts and components in Red that would not be used for the conversion. All the smog components, ignition, brackets and other unnecessary parts were removed. The goal was to reduce the truck to the point where there is commonality with the diesel. In this swap, that means removing the gas specific inner fender panels and engine frame tabs. I used a plasma cutter to clean off the frame, following with a grinder to clean and prepare the frame surface for the diesel specific frame tabs.

5) Diesel Installation

I removed the diesel motor from the Canadian truck and prepared the motor with the parts from Spector Off Road. My plan for the install was to follow the method I had read on the IH8MUD.com forum. http://forum.ih8mud.com/ IH8MUD.com contributer Wayneraintree accomplished the motor frame tab installation in truck by installing the diesel motor with the frame tabs bolted to the motor. However, his method necessitated the removal of the motor for a second time to weld the frame tabs. I was encouraged by Walter to measure and pre-install the frame tabs to speed the process. This method worked out well and I would definitely suggest this to others, as there is an abundance of datum points for an exact installation.

With the motor in place and mounted, it was time to start installing all the pieces that connect the motor to the vehicle. This includes the intake, exhaust, starting and cooling systems. This process my starting at the fuel cap and working my way forward on the fuel system. Anything that was diesel specific was installed. Heat shields, brackets, everything was scrutinized for compatibility. I changed out the foot pedal and the special hand throttle cable special to diesels. I installed the inner fenders to obtain the brackets to support the air cleaner.

Overall, this swap was 99.99% nuts and bolts. I recall drilling only one hole to fit the diesel throttle linkage up high on the firewall. This was easily accomplished and there was even a access hatch plate next to the location, making the backing nut installation a snap.

Here's Red stripped down to the essentials. The inner fenders have brackets and holes specific to the diesel, so they are removed for the conversion as well. 2F gas motor frame tabs are still present.

The power steering lines are removed all the way to the gear, as the pump is mounted in a different position on the diesel motor and the hoses are routed differently.

On Red I took a few extra minutes and resealed the transmission front retainer. It was a good thing too. The seal lip material was hard as ceramic!

Right motor frame tab cleaned and the area prepped for the installation of the diesel motor tab. I put a small hole in the frame on this side, but I'll fill it up with weld. It wil be just fine.

Left side prepped. This tab gets a greater amount of movement. Note all the holes to act as datum points for pre-installing the tabs before dropping in the diesel.

Here I hot glue gunned on the right side diesel motor tab to the frame. The heat color indicates good penetration and I was pleased with the results.

View of left tab from the front. These mounting tabs were cut off of the "donor" truck and cleaned up for installation on Red.


Right tab from the rear.

Left tab from the rear.

With the frame tabs welded in, I had a place to set the motor. After painting the new frame tabs, I placed the motor in place and got busy with the fuel system, exhaust piping, clutch hydraulics, cooling system and throttle cabling. This is the "glory" work and goes pretty fast.

The fuel system required the greatest amount of materials transfer. Without a whole donor vehicle there is no way I would have had the correct pieces on hand to accomplish the conversion. The fuel filler, vent tubing, and the fuel feed line were all distinct to the diesel.

The vapor recovery device in the rear quarter panel is the same part number. This was good news for me 'cause the diesel rig unit was rusted piece of refuse! The filler neck and filler cap were something I never would have thought of if I tried to do the conversion by ordering parts.

New Project: Family Wagon! (part 2)

1) Creation of Gas truck

My first action was to make the “spare” 1985 truck operable and finish getting the title and registration complete. To do this I removed the gas motor from the '83 truck and installed it in the '85 truck. This was fairly easy, as the 83 had been the recipient of the 85's motor sometime in the recent past, and the parts were all there. I was able to get the title, smog inspection and registration complete on the '85 in a few days. Having the '85 is a complete bonus! We are shipping the “spare” truck here to Costa Rica where we will use it as a spare and I’ll have another project for conversion!

Here's the gas motor in "Red" (1983), ready for removal. This motor has already passed the emissions testing, so after installing the motor in the '85 (Silver), we can expect an easy pass!

Red has a bunch of drive train upgrades. My favorite is the ARB air shifted locking differentials. At the center of the photo is the compressor and solenoids for the iar shift system.Where we live, a rear locker is essential when it's raining heavy and traction is poor. The front locker is a bonus!

Red, in pre-op.

Red, post-op! And a little lighter...

The 2F 6 cylinder gas motor destined for Silver. I did nothing to the motor, other than chinching the oil pan gasket bolts. This motor will eventually be replaced with another diesel conversion when the truck is in our possession here in Costa Rica.


2F motor and accessories installed in Silver. Turns out there was a hitch in our plans. The origonal emissions was performed in a area where static (2 speeds with out being loaaded on the dyno) was allowed. When I tested the same motor in Silver, the emissions test was on the dyno and guess what? She failed!

The emisions failure was due to high levels of Oxidies of Nitrogen. We diagnosed the problem (headers installed with improper provisions for EGR) and effected repairs. The retest resulted in a clean pass.

New Project: Family Wagon! (part 1)

Latest Project: Family 'Cruiser!

These three Land Cruisers are the subjects of our most recent conversion! On the left is a 1986 Hj60 from Canada. It has the diesel engine with an automatic transmission. It will be the "doner" for our new family wagon (the Red 1983 FJ60 on the right). In the center is the "free" 1985 FJ60, sans motor. Our plan is to build our Red '83 truck into a diesel rig, then install the gas motor from the '83 into the '85, giving us a free Land Cruiser! How cool is that?

My wife and I, after living in Costa Rica for a couple of years, have experienced the generally poor condition of both the roads and the vehicles, particularly out in the country where we live. The combination of bad roads, wet weather, developing nation economics, high import taxes restricting access to quality goods and services around vehicles all affect the vehicles. As a result, vehicles here are generally damaged, worn out and inadequately repaired and maintained.

Heidi, and I are in the process of adopting children and we were looking forward at our vehicle needs. We decided on the Toyota Land Cruiser, specifically, the 60 series for a number of reasons.

• You sit nice and high in these trucks with great visibility
• You’re able to tell where the corners of the car are giving you the ability to maneuver the vehicle, although large, in tight places
• 4 X 4
• Absolute simplicity and durability of diesel power
• Efficiency of a diesel vs. gas motor
• Mechanics know these engines well in Costa Rica
• The early 60 series had manual windows, less electronic gadgetry = less overall failures and expenses in maintenance
• Toyota diesel engines can run up to 300-500,000 miles

The 60 series trucks exist here with the diesel engine, but for the above-stated reasons, almost all are both very expensive and really torn up! Always looking for a solution, I came up with the idea of purchasing a clean, straight, rust-free California Toyota Land Cruiser truck and converting it from an FJ (gas motor) to an HJ (diesel motor) and shipping it to Costa Rica.
On a recent family visit to San Diego, California, I made a special one-way trip to Santa Cruz, where I purchased a Red 1983 FJ60. I had been searching Craigslist for weeks looking for this opportunity: This truck had some great features already installed: it has a 4” suspension lift; aggressive 33” tires; 4.88 differential gears; front and rear ARB differential lockers, Warn winch and more. As a bonus the seller included a complete second vehicle for parts: A stock 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser, missing its engine. I drove the ’83 with the ’85 in tow from Santa Cruz back down to San Diego and left them with my family. This purchase would be the basis of our new family wagon.

After returning to Costa Rica, I started researching where and how to obtain a diesel engine for this potential project. Motors here are hard to find, as resources are so precious that there are really very few recycle yards. The worn out trucks are just patched and patched over and over! Australia is a better potential resource, but after shipping and taxes, it’s no bargain.

It turns out that on the west coast of Canada there’s a 6 cylinder diesel Toyota Land Cruiser for sale, almost every week of the year. I kept searching for a reasonably priced “donor” vehicle. Something I could get at the lowest possible price, yet obtain all of the running gear that I wanted. I wanted a whole truck so I would have every nut, bolt, and piece to do a complete conversion. However, the Canadian 6 cylinder diesels were all unfortunately delivered with an automatic transmission. So I would have to buy some pieces to adapt the diesel to the gas truck.

1) Project Commencement

For a few months of checking Craigslist and reading about this particular type of engine conversion on an internet forum called: “IH8MUD.com” http://forum.ih8mud.com/ , I was ready to purchase a donor vehicle. I contacted two diesel Land Cruiser owners in Vancouver, British Columbia. I let them know I was planning to come to Vancouver specifically to buy a vehicle. My wife booked me a one-way flight and on November 6th, 2007, I flew from Costa Rica to Vancouver.

I stayed in a hotel and negotiated a purchase the next day. What I bought was a 1986 HJ60 with an automatic transmission. I spent the next two days driving through Washington and Oregon and all the way down to southern California. On the drive down, I stopped at Specter Off-Road in Hawthorne (Los Angeles area) http://www.sor.com/ Where I met Marv Specter and his team. We toured his facility and I purchased a flywheel, bell housing, clutch kit, and all related nuts, bolts and pieces to make a complete conversion kit for adapting the diesel automatic engine to mate to a standard 4-speed transmission.

My former employee and friend, Walter, was kind enough to allow me the use of his work space for this conversion. I can’t say enough about the generosity of Walter and his family. I had given myself from the 6th until the 20th of November to do the conversion. As I had some rather large objectives, I did almost no socializing and worked late hours. Walter was informative and generous with his tools, space, home and helpful suggestions, all of which provided a improved process and final product. Thanks Walt!

Electric Volkswagen Conversion & Restoration Project

'57 Volkswagen Type II Electric Conversion

1) Electric vehicle concept and rationalization

In the mid to late ‘90’s I was living a mile or so from my at the time business, Sunset Garage. I didn’t need a car for my commute: I would ride my bicycle, walk (occasionally) ride my motorcycle or drive my car (mostly) if I was lazy or needed to do some running around during the day.

At the same time, I wanted to build something new and distinctive. Different concepts and ideas presented themselves, but the idea of an electric car, now that was something! I started digging around for info on electric cars. Production cars like the EV-1 were still prototypes or existed in the imagination of engineers. But during my internet researching I discovered the existence of a whole world of electric cars. These vehicles were made “green” by taking production vehicles and removing their combustion engines. Then an electric motor and batteries are installed. What’s more, I discovered there was an electric car club with a very active Chapter in San Diego!

2) Study of body styles and subsequent purchase

After researching the available electric conversion technologies and resources, I began to look at host vehicles. I had envisioned creating something that would be fun to drive around the neighborhood, loaded with my buddies and our surf gear. I had always admired the Volkswagen Bus, (known as a “Type II) with the safari windows and “cool” surf culture status. There was a particular variant that I thought looked most excellent, called the “Double-cab”. That’s a crew-cab 3 door bus with a second bench seat behind the driver, with a little pick-up bed behind the cabin.

My chosen source for the motor package, Electro-Automotive, had a really nice set of adaptations to convert a VW to electric. So I started searching for a “host” VW Type II Double-cab, but there was only a few, and the selection seemed to be either rusted out husks or pricey show pieces with nothing to choose from in between.

At the opportunity to attend a gathering of Vintage Volkswagens, I made a key realization. The Strictly Vintage Type II’s San Diego chapter had convened at Deer Park in Escondido, Ca. Strictly Vintage Type II’s is a club dedicated to the first rendition of Volkswagen busses from about 1952 to 1967. While I was admiring and inspecting the various versions of the earlier busses, I learned that the pick-up model, with the single bench had a HUGE storage “chest” under the bed. This was where the batteries would go! With that discovery, I knew that I could have an electric Type II that would look very stylish with a lowered stance, fat rims with wide skinny tires, chrome, safari windows and a big killer stereo!

Not too many weeks later I spotted the perfect bus. It was an incomplete project left by a young man who was tragically killed in a driving accident. The 1957 truck was in pieces and was missing its engine. His parents were selling the truck for a fair price to get it out of their sight and out of their garage. It was a somber day when I came to collect the truck.The 1957 Type II bus was nearly perfect for my needs. I was going to forever alter a classic car, and I didn’t want to take a good representative of the breed for my purpose! It had rust everywhere: Around the wheel openings, battery tray, floor boards and a long deep scrape along the driver side that was covered by 40 pounds of plastic filler. The impact had actually pierced the side of the truck. The side gates of the bed were Swiss cheese from rust through and the rear gate was MIA. The rear engine cover looked like it had been run over. On the positive side, the truck also came with lowered suspension, bigger brakes and a ton of extra stuff. In my opinion the truck was fairly priced: I got all the modified suspension goodies and a rusty truck attached!

This photo above was given to me by the parents of the young man who had started the Volkswagen restoration project. Behind the subject of the photo (the aircraft) you can see the Volkswagen when it was in an operating condition. Note the incorrect era bumpers and taillights. Part of my restoration project was to correct these non-conforming modifications. Approximate year of photo would be early-mid-'70's.

3) Build up of drive train

Having selected my host vehicle and figured a general configuration of the layout of the batteries, I started by restoring the brakes, suspension and steering. I was fortunate to be the shop owner of Sunset Garage. I used all the resources available: tools, shop equipment, information systems, parts resources and most important, Herbert English and Walter Gates, my employees and friends. Without these two good friends/employees, this project would never have happened. As it was the project moved at a slow pace. I worked after hours and on weekends. In addition, the parts sources I used for our ordinary business were not able to assist me. I had to find and use numerous mail order companies that specialized in old Volkswagens. In about 4 months time I had assembled a “rolling chassis”, or in other words I had a rebuilt chassis with a nasty looking truck on top! I had the lowering kits correctly installed on the front and rear suspension, had the transaxle rebuilt, replaced the brake hydraulics in total, including half the steel lines and all of the hoses. I installed the largest brakes I could fit on the ’57 front and rear axles. Everywhere I worked, I cleaned, sandblasted and repainted parts and sub-assemblies to put the beauty back into the beast!

4) Fabrication of wiring harness

As I decided how and where to route wiring and battery cables, I cut as few holes in the truck body as necessary. By this time in the build, I had taken delivery on the motor kit I had ordered from Electro Automotive. The kit consisted of the 9” brushed DC motor, adaptors to fit the motor to the transaxle, controller, a charger, gauges and throttle potentiometer. Both the kit and the instructions were complete. The electric motor mounted to the transaxle quickly. I mounted the throttle potentiometer and fabricated linkage to operate from the stock gas pedal. I then ran wiring from under the dash to the potentiometer and on back to the motor controller. After mounting the charger and controller, I completed the wiring for the entire control and monitor circuits. At this time I also cleaned up the wiring in the engine compartment where the unused wiring to the gas engine was no longer needed.

5) Construction of battery boxes, battery inter-connects and cabling

With the guidance and advice of my friend George Gall, I decided on making the battery containment system in a cassette fashion. Our goal was to create a 120v supply system installed in “cassettes” to feed the motor. To shorten the cable leads and interconnections between batteries, we made the battery boxes out of wood and fiberglass such that there were 4 cassettes containing 5 individual 6v batteries connected in series. George laid the fiberglass over the plywood boxes to strengthen and protect the wood from battery juices. Each battery had its own screw down containment clamp and I must say, the result turned out very sexy! I fabricated the battery inter-connections using 1’ by 1/8’ copper strap. I put reverse curves into the strap design to give flex to the connections. The batteries were supplied with a vertical lug for accepting the strap with a 5/16’ bolt through the center. After installing the battery pack. I made and installed the cables between the motor and batteries using welders’ cable and cable eyelets that were both crimped and soldered.

6) Road test power train. The moment had come.

The batteries were charged, all the connections were tight and all systems were go. Remember this was still a very rusty and incomplete truck. I had the doors, bed sides and all the window glass out of the truck. It was a stripped hulk! I threw some wood into the cab, to replace the missing seat I had stored at home. I started with short trips, first around the block, then increasing in duration and throttle application. It was so cool I decided to drive it home that afternoon. I almost made it too but I stopped at George’s house to show him my progress. While it was parked out front a tire went flat. I had no spare. Thus her maiden voyage ended. She was broken and had to be temporarily left abandoned, a good walking distance from my house.

7) Disassembly and body prep

Once the operational status was confirmed, I could move on to the body restoration. We stripped the newly installed battery power system, gauges, lights and electrical system. We left the axles and wheels on the stripped chassis in order to move it around. I did some early grunt work on the body metal, including sand blasting the body and some major structural metal replacement in the front wheel wells. During this period I purchased all three used bed sides and the engine apron across the engine compartment.

8) Body work and painting

When the rough work was done, I called for an expert to bring the truck body back to its former beauty. Gene Sheppard, a client, former city firefighter and friend agreed to do the body and paint. All I can say is WOW! He had the most amazing skills. He could use heat and quenching to shrink the metal in a damaged area. His hands found minute waves that the eye could not detect. Gene worked long and hard to put as little plastic filler on the body as possible. The work he did to remove the huge gash down the side was incredible! Gene, more than all the other people who assisted in this project, made the largest contribution to the truck’s beauty and value. After many weeks, the day finally came to where Gene began painting the truck. First spraying the entire tough-to-reach areas, then the inside of the cab, and finally, finishing with the outside. The doors and bed gates were sprayed with the same strategy, but separately on a spray bench. Although I picked Volkswagen paint codes from the early 60’s, the 2 tone red and off-white paint scheme was not an original color option. I always liked the red/white combo and I picked the colors carefully to create both a vintage look and a modern touch.

9) Reassembly and fine tuning

It’s a monumental amount of work assembling a car. Even though this Volkswagen Bus was vintage and therefore very simple, there were a gazillion details to sweat. Finding replacement parts like window gaskets and floor mats were easy, since there are a few mail order companies who make their entire business selling Volkswagen parts. For hard or nearly impossible to find stuff I would go to the semi annual swap meets. Here I was able to source obsolete and rare used parts. In addition, I learned that there are collectors and enthusiasts all over the state and the country. Some individuals were practically walking, talking parts catalogs. My truck had a few particular characteristics that when described to these few people, would indicate to them that my truck was built exactly mid year in 1957! These guys were tuned in to the subtle changes in manufacturing over the entire 15 year production run! My progress reassembling the truck went by advances and pauses: my method was to order everything I could need, work on a given task until I was either done or needed something additional. Then that task was put aside while re-ordering and waiting for more materials. It wasn’t too long of an assembly because it had been built up and tested before. So while it wasn’t exactly “Fit tab A into slot B”, it wasn’t all that laborious either.

10) Stereo system

As the truck became drivable, my buddy Jim Hull came and measured the cab total volume and space available for a stereo installation. Jim worked for a major car stereo company doing production work. His involvement for my project was done after business hours at his job. What Jimmy created for me was absolutely exceptional. The system he assembled was a radio head and 6 disc CD changer with remote infra-red access. These played through twin 12” woofers mounted in a tuned, ported enclosure, a pair of 6” directional mid speakers and a pair of 2” tweeters, also directional. These were driven by a 600 watt amp through active and passive crossovers. Jim did the whole thing, computer designing and building the custom enclosures, install, wiring, tuning the amp, the works. I loved the sound, and I’d say I’ve never had such a beautiful sound system. Mettalica never sounded so good or so loud!

11) Conclusions and suggestions

I almost completed this project. I had a fully functioning battery powered low riding red and white chariot! What was missing was the front and rear bumpers. I had located the bumpers, but I was satisfied with the way it looked without them. Installing bumpers would have been a step backward in my opinion. Not to mention that the correct bumpers were very rare. In addition they were WAY expensive! The truck worked really great within the design and the intended use. I was completely satisfied with the function. I enjoyed driving it for a while. But my life was changing. I found a buyer for my business. I started the new millennium with time for extended travel. There was no more 1 mile commute to work! There was no more commute at all! I no longer had keys to a shop with a hoist, compressor and all types of tools. I was ready to move on. Within months the electric Pickup no longer served as my main vehicle. I advertised the truck and sold the truck to a teacher up in Los Angeles. Eight months after selling my business, I delivered the truck to the school teacher in L.A. He e-mailed me once or twice after taking ownership with questions, but I don’t know if he’s still driving it or not. In conclusion, the project matured me in a few different ways. I now realize how extremely important it is to be surrounded by people who have skills and are generous in spirit and with their abilities. Relationships are important for the completion of a project, but they are also important for giving and to receiving contributions of specific skills from good friends. I was surrounded by very generous people during this period of my life, and the experience is a treasured memory. The second point of maturity is more pragmatic. Given the monumental amount of hours and cubic dollars spent on the restoration and conversion, it was surprising to find out that expenses were fractionally valued when it was time to sell! I am now completely clear that projects are to be appreciated for the enjoyment of the process more than anything else. Given these two points of wisdom, my future projects will be for the fun and enjoyment of the contribution of accumulated skills of those around me. This and the process of group creation will be my rewards.

The VW in a corner tucked next to my business at the time, Sunset Garage, Ocean Beach, San Diego. Down the street at the end of the block is the Pacific Ocean!

This was my first documented conversion process. On reflection, I notice and have made the corrections, so that my subsequent conversions will all be better documented. I did not take many technical photos of this project. That is my only regret.

Unimog 4 Sale! "404"

UNIMOG 4 SALE! "404"

We are offering for sale in good condition, 1962 Unimog 404 on consignment. You can learn more about this vehicle, its history, its owner, by clicking on our website directly: www.advmo.com .

Coming Soon: Volkswagon Truck goes Electric!!!!

Coming Soon:

How did this '57 VW Truck become a Tricked-out Electric Vehicle?

Find out in our next set of posts: pictures and descriptions of the conversion.