Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Rhode Island

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Rhode Island

Post by Amskeptic » Mon May 10, 2010 8:22 am

What is with you northeast people who tolerate freezing nights on May 10th? That is not right. Showed up with cold feet:

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So the forecast called for a nice 55* day and to make sure to get a proper whinebaby attitude out of me, the winds howled just for this auspicious occasion of Replacing The Front Beam on thenexttownshend's 1973 bus, the famous bus with the famous home-rebuilt-on-a-stoop brake booster:

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It needed replacement:
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His description of the squirrelly front end sent chills down my spine. As we loosened caliper bolts, you could see the spindle and entire lower beam bend up and down and a little sideways (but he said the booster was working fine):
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This was a redux of any given day in my teenage years up in the neighborhood. Desperate to get out of the house I would be at a friend's house in the early spring cold trying to make some old Chevy II wagon wheeze back to life, the feel of grease and rust in the cold, the haphazard tools, the parts strewn just this side of total chaos, it was all there yesterday. So we had this beautifully prepared beam on the bench that had to build up and install:
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. . . with yet another beam for spare parts:
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I was taking advantage of thenexttownshend's gritty determination and youthful energy while I scuttled about trying to find sunny spots like a lazy old house cat. We did have a couple of classless moments like the desperate hanging up of the old beam on the clutch cable, and some victories like his easy installation of the upper torsion leaves while I spent forever trying to get the lower ones in one-by-one.

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By the end of the day, with my beloved sunlight failing and the icy blasts of wind pulling my body temperature down to below my automatic hibernation threshhold, we had to perform triage selection on the remaining operations. This guy and his bus, they have got to get to the point of being able to take off down the road to anywhere anytime. There is some inexplicable good energy coursing through this bus. This is the bus that took away all of my plan A plan B plan C No Brakes! contingency steps, this is the bus that has not required a dual carb adjustment in the past half decade, this is the bus that has that crazy brake booster that has decided to work after being pried apart and vise gripped back together, may it all come to fruition, I think it will:

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

thenexttownshend
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Post by thenexttownshend » Mon May 10, 2010 6:26 pm

Well I thought polishing the inner air vents was more pressing, Colin insisted on doing the front beam first. :cyclopsani:

I had a lot of fun yesterday. I learned alot more then I expected and got more done, the correct way, then I would have gotten done in two weeks the hard way. Well worth the money, a fraction of what you would pay a garage and you wouldn't really know what you got or be any wiser for it! Put your deposits in if you haven't already, it's worth it.

The clutch cable is back in its rightful place now, fear not.
-steve - 73 bus

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Tue May 11, 2010 8:44 am

Hippie wrote:That beam was scary!

The weather is that way everywhere. I am freezing, wind blasted, and wet.
Al Gore promised warm weather...how disappointing. :geek:
Tomorrow I get to do watercooled Vanagon head gasket replacements and it promises to be cold and rainy. I am in a fury.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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tristessa
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Post by tristessa » Tue May 11, 2010 1:25 pm

Amskeptic wrote:Tomorrow I get to do watercooled Vanagon head gasket replacements
While I'd assume actual gaskets are involved, do you have a tube of Ultra Black and a bunch of little clothespin-type clips as a backup?
:cyclopsani:
Remember, only YOU can prevent narcissism!

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Tue May 11, 2010 2:06 pm

tristessa wrote:
Amskeptic wrote:Tomorrow I get to do watercooled Vanagon head gasket replacements
While I'd assume actual gaskets are involved, do you have a tube of Ultra Black and a bunch of little clothespin-type clips as a backup?
:cyclopsani:
Of course. And some fine Diet Coke cans and scissors and a hose clamp and baling wire, and now a little Reassure'Em CD with Gary's voice, "it made it up the hill."
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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