Itinerant Air-Cooled's Annual Texas Interlude I

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled's Annual Texas Interlude I

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:33 am

Itinerant Air-Cooled pays a call to a junky MCI bus.

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Unfortunately, its air-cooling is past salvage:

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Why is the driveshaft laying in the luggage compartment?

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Oh, because the the entire drivetrain got displaced forward from that little rear-ender?

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Advances in electrical system design makes the dashboard wiring so much easier to deal with

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Note that this drag link is not made by Meyle.

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The steering wheel on this bus has steering gearbox that runs a remote relay shaft that goes back to the Very Big steering box which then has the drag link going back to the front axle.

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California Emissions labels harass everybody.

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Be happy that VW gives us cushier engine mounts:

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The Motor Coach Industry's answer to the BN-6 Heater:

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Yesterday, I found a beautiful little stand of trees. What a lovely spot to wax the car.

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But you know what happens when I see bubbles in the rocker panels . . .

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Dremel was roused from underseat slumber, and I attacked with gusto.

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The dust would fly white through the fiberglass or whatever it was, then it would change to a russet orange as I hit the hidden rust underneath.
You CAN'T just blop crap over untreated rusting rockers and paint it all "pretty-like" and wait for the compliments on what an outstanding paint job it is, not when rust is just spreading like a plague underneath.

I looked askance at the still-"perfect" front part of the rocker assembly, did a little investigation. See? Active tinworm underneath. I did not find primer between the paint and the metal (?)

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Once the tinworm was fully uncovered, I decided to go ahead and chop out the rocker sill where there were too many perforations. I got to see how far my Pensacola Pre-Trip rust-catalyzer and pressurized air treatment had made it down the rocker from the access plug holes at the front wheel well. I was gratified to find that it actually worked pretty well, it made it at least 3/4 of the way down the rocker and stopped the rusting in its tracks. The bad news, however, was that the pressurized air had made a glacial moraine of rust debris along the bottom of the rocker panel, the drains were clear, but the pile was pretty big. I would call it a moisture trap.

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So today, I am leaving Lamar CO with bondo and rust catalyzing primer and some Diet Coke cans and a new arsenal of Dremel Accoutrements, and I shall patch these holes and I shall make the rockers look new and I shall primer/sand/topcoat with my dwindling supply of Savannah Beige in the wilds of Texas.

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The left side quarter and rocker panels have bubbles too. They too, shall get "waxed".

I am on US 287 minutes from the Colorado/Oklahoma panhandle border. Then Texas Bodywork On The Fly . . .
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

71whitewesty
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled's Annual Texas Interlude I

Post by 71whitewesty » Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:35 am

Looking forward to seeing how this is done and how it comes out. I'm sure it will look perfect. The on the road fixes are real confidence boosters for me!
PS, we just returned from our trip to Yellowstone, 2 weeks, 2245 miles and no problems. Ran so smooth and I really enjoyed low idle through the campgrounds. Replacing the vacuum canister and dist and cleaning things up made a huge difference.
Sure hope I can get you again next time through! I have since acquired a twin 71 white westy that'll keep me occupied through the winter.
Looking forward to seeing how the rest of your trip plays out. Your service is invaluable. :cheers:

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled's Annual Texas Interlude I

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:03 pm

71whitewesty wrote:Looking forward to seeing how this is done

we just returned from our trip to Yellowstone, 2 weeks, 2245 miles and no problems. Ran so smooth :cheers:
The procedure is pretty hack. I am inventing as I go. Tomorrow morning, down here along the railroad tracks outside of Amarillo TX, I shall finish making holes in the left side rear panel, clear the rust out, rust-catalyzer prime, and start patching the holes on the right side.

Met another train that couldn't go. All day, in fact, it kept stalling on the tracks parallel to US 287 South. Some BSNF repair guy almost killed me when he missed his access road, and backed up, not along the shoulder, but in a sweeping, crosswise, roadway-blocking, ode to his own distraction. I could not believe it was happening. I had already moved into the oncoming traffic lane to give him room and he blocked it too! Severe application of drum brakes does slow a VW bus down but nowhere as efficiently as the later disk brake buses.
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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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled's Annual Texas Interlude I

Post by brandt » Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:41 pm

You shouda grabbed the rockers off that big bus and used those. How are you going to "weld" in the patches?

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MuedeStefan
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled's Annual Texas Interlude I

Post by MuedeStefan » Tue Aug 13, 2013 8:15 pm

Amarillo Texas -
My bus and I spent a long Saturday there in June '99, on the way to Phoenix from Mpls.
Getting a front end alignment at Sears and many libations @ Hooters.
Morgen Morgen, nicht immer Heute

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled's Annual Texas Interlude I

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:48 pm

brandt wrote:You shouda grabbed the rockers off that big bus and used those. How are you going to "weld" in the patches?
I shoulda . . . .

See Texas Interlude II for the secret method that had better work, after all of this sanding and putty and sanding and primer . . . . and more sanding.
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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