Itinerant Air-Cooled

I love this time of year. It's just like getting a new bus. Colin arrived and we began with the preliminaries. I didn't know how much work I"d be able to do with a banged up knee, but we discussed it over coffee and some kind of donuts (mine was purple inside.) My main concern was to determine if Sweet Pea could be trusted for a long distance trip. At the end of the day, we had our answer.
First thing we did was drain the fluids- differential, auto-trans and motor oil. Motor oil was pretty black but the diff wasn't too bad. Transmission oil was in nice shape- no burned smell and a nice reddish color.

Moving on, we fitted a new oil filter and reinstalled all the fluids. Plugs were replaced some 200 miles ago, along with Bosch plug wires.
Next step was to check the brakes. The right rear brake pads look great thru the inspection window, but the left ones were questionable. Removal showed quite a bit of wear. Hmm. Colin quickly deduced the problem- a skewed emergency-brake-cable tube. At some point, someone put the jack underneath the tube, distorting it, causing the cable to tug on the brake & cause premature wear. Fixed the tube but I"ll need new rear brakes later this summer.

Colin demonstrated proper removal & replacement technique which probably saved me two days of fumbling around. We then checked the front brakes, which look fine. New moly grease in the front end and then AFM tune. We're some 2000 ft higher in elevation than Portland, OR. and so a little adjustment was in order, something I had forgotten about. Colin, I just looked it up- we're at 2200 ft, not 5000 as I told you when you were here. (it just feels like it 'cause its so frikken cold allla time.) Oh, and what distributor should I really have in there? I have forgotten. Just look for one with a vacuum diaphragm on the side?

A very short test drive and already Colin has found yet another problem and fixed it- the brake booster vacuum valve was on backwards! that sucks.. err, not! Switched it around and now I have brakes. Forget that hand assisted thread I started awhile back, now I can tippy-toe on them and we can all taste the windshield.
Finally, a compression check: 120, 130, 120 & 140. With all the major systems checked & looking good we have a verdict- she's been neglected but not abused. Looks like we have a few road trips in our future.

At the end of a long day I was starting to fade but Colin was his usual Diet Coke self. How he does it, I don't know. Sweet Pea runs terrific and I couldn't be happier. Thank you again, Colin!

justgimmecoffee wrote:Forget that hand assisted thread I started awhile back, now I can tippy-toe on them and we can all taste the windshield.

Barry, I'm so happy for you! Does this mean we'll see you in Maupin after all? When we rolled in last year, you were one of the first people that I met and it sure would be nice to see you again.

Either way, I'm glad Sweet Pea is feeling better, hopefully your knee will do the same!

really wish I could say yes, but its just not in the cards this year. We'll be there next year for certain!

justgimmecoffee wrote:a skewed emergency-brake-cable tube. At some point, someone put the jack underneath the tube, distorting it

Did it look something like this:



Yeah.. both sides like that on mine. Got the replacement cables, but still a little cowed about how to bend the tubes back down and re-do the whole thing. I found a 23 step procedure for it online. Haha. I think I'll just use my usual Rube Goldbergian methods.

Glad yours all worked out! Beautiful bus there!

BumbleBus wrote:
still a little cowed about how to bend the tubes back down and re-do the whole thing.

Pull the inner cable out entirely and remove the sheath. Stick a something inside the tube that can keep the walls open and supported as you bend the tube down with just the right "english" to restore the correct bend from the frame to the flexible cable. It should sort of point to the hole in the backing plate at ride height.
Colin
(I'd love to post some pictures, but my internet access has sucked almost as bad as the temperatures here in the northwest 45* this morning? Are you kidding?)

Only a lunatic argues with (excuse me)

HEY YA DAMN %$#@%)#% RAIN KNOCK IT OFF EVEN MY KID SAYS THIS JUNE SUCKS HEY SCREW YOU, WHAAAT, WHAAAT YOU WANNA PIECE OF ME????????????

the weather.

This weather has indeed been t3h sux0rz.

If I thought animal sacrifice would do any good .. put it this way, there'd be a large variety of meat for the first BBQ of summer.

Barry just show up since your brakes now work. Allyagotta do is sit on yer ass all weekend.
Come on yer a tuff nut.

pshaw. I remember it rained every other day into mid-july in '91 when I was helping my dad build his house outside of Springfield.

If'n you don't like the rain, why ya'all livin' in Stumptown?

I mean, take your two Pac 10 schools there. The mascots are a Duck and a Beaver. Them's water-livin' critters.

Kind of like when I move down here to Irvine. I called my Sis-in-law (long-time SoCal resident) and asked her if it was normal to have a billion ants in my house. She answered me like this:

Sis: "So, what's the mascot over at UC Irvine?"
Me: "It's an anteater. Why? .... oh."
Sis: "Yeah."
Me:

Colin, I got a surprise for you...

Lanval

Lanval wrote:pshaw. I remember it rained every other day into mid-july in '91 when I was helping my dad build his house outside of Springfield.

If'n you don't like the rain, why ya'all livin' in Stumptown?

I mean, take your two Pac 10 schools there. The mascots are a Duck and a Beaver. Them's water-livin' critters.

Kind of like when I move down here to Irvine. I called my Sis-in-law (long-time SoCal resident) and asked her if it was normal to have a billion ants in my house. She answered me like this:

Sis: "So, what's the mascot over at UC Irvine?"
Me: "It's an anteater. Why? .... oh."
Sis: "Yeah."
Me:

Colin, I got a surprise for you...

Lanval

uh, that's really sweet and all, but I just don't have room for a five foot fuzzy UC Irvine mascot stuffed anteater . . .

You're funny.... did you know they actually have one? I mean, there's an actual 5 foot stuffed Anteater on campus!

But that's not the surprise. No my surprise involves something more, well, Colin-esque. But you'll have to wait. When it's ready, all shall be revealed...

*grins devilishly, then looks around, and sees no one is looking. Feels foolish*

L.