I have a 1947 VW Camper Bus. I’ve rebuilt the engine and chased a leak which I hope I have finally tracked down and fixed. My question is that I’ve had a spark plug I think may cross threaded. I’m trying to check my compression and I can’t get the tester to thread either. Is there anyt way to fix it?
you need to chase the threads
I’m not sure exactly what size plug you have, but go to the auto parts store, sears, etc., and match up your spark plug with the appropriate sized chaser
Good luck
By the way, I’m sure you meant 1974 VW Camper Bus, not 1947, correct?
Don’t think VW actually had a camper bus in 1947 . . .
They had the prototype sketches for it in '47, but didn’t actually build it until '50 when they came out with that fantastic split window bus that I really want to own some day.
@Shadowfax Correct! A guy by the name of Pon, the Dutch distributor for VWs, visited the factory and was impressed with a VW Beetle chassis with a load platform used to transport parts around. He sketched a minibus based on the chassis on a napking and told VW that such a minibus would sell in the postwar market. It did.
Tom McCahill tested the Microbus in the mid 50s or so and deemed it practical as well. It subsequently was made into a camper van with a tilt up roof. That was probably in the 60s. A friend of mine went to teach in Germany for the NATO forces’ kids and bought one there to tour around Europe with.
Everyone I have met, however, who owned one of these creations, liked them but complained about lack of reliability and slow performance.
My parents had a VW bus in the 1960s and 1970s, and they were constantly complaining about the anemic engine performance
One time, the engine physically exploded. Pieces of the engine block actually broke off while driving
After that, they started buying Toyotas and never looked back
Looking back, they acknowledged that the VW bus was certainly practical. But it had many drawbacks, not enough to justify keeping it
In the 60’s I missed the first two innings of a Dodgers-Giants baseball game b/c the VW bus couldn’t go fast enough to keep up with traffic… lol …
Is there any particular reason you’re running a compression check on a rebuilt engine? Compression readings on these are normally low even when things are right so it may come as a culture shock to see them.
Thread chasers should always be used on these motors after plugs are removed. As to the tester not fitting is there a chance of an adapter fitted to the tester which is not allowing it to screw in?