Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:56 pm

Yaah Michigan, I think we gots you beat. There is a state with even worse roads.
But first,

I left Go! Big Emma & Compatriots just after a rain shower, and took off for Chicago to see locoqueso. Drove I-74 West to I-57 North, and this year because I am sixty years old, I said to myself, let's take the toll road around Chicago. It'll be an hour quicker, and maybe the road surface will be better. For sixteen years!!! I have refused to take Indiana or Illinois toll roads because I did not want to pay some exorbitant toll on top of the gas taxes too to travel down concrete slabs in lousy condition! I have cooled my heels in Chicago traffic for innumerable hours, crawled along the pitched and heaved pavement with all the other proletariats, to avoid paying those tolls. Why would I pay? Well, this time I paid! I drove the I-294 Toll Road and avoided Chicago for $3.00. Here is all you get for the 2019 Chicago Photo Exhibition:

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This year, because I am sixtydamn years-old, I don't care if I look like an idiot. The concrete here resonates with tires and it makes passing cars and truck tires just scream on the surface texture, so I sport lawn mower ear muffs and the Blue-Blocker sunglasses and heck, next year is black socks and sandals, and the year after that, maybe polyester pants up to my ribcage, who knows?

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Did not get any sleep, Dead1, did not get any sleep before my appointment with locoqueso on the 26th. I was at the Rolling Meadows ("Rolling Ghettos" chimed in Mrs. locoqueso) Motel 6, when I was awakened at 12:45 AM by a thump. Awakened at 1:30AM by a thump and a bash and swearing. Awakened at 2:00AM by a voice yelling "stop!" Called the front desk where I was wearily assured that they would look into it. Awakened at 3:30 AM by yelling, a thump, a bash, a door slam. I called the front desk to inform them that I was calling the police since they do not bother to pay for security on the property. Chatted with Mr. Officer Man, who chatted with a now very reasonable and mild apologetic drunk domestic abuser. Obtained my tight fury don't"f"withme refund on the spot, and I drove up to locoqueso's town and adjusted the AFM in the dawn's early light, and drank coffee in the local McDonaldsWithNoElectricalOutlets and arrived at locoqueso's house mostly ontime and bleary and discouraged by my fellow Americans.

We had an easy day, locoqueso and I, but I still managed to make it a dramatic mess. His brake pads were clonking in the calipers when you went backwards, then forwards. I helpfully gave him my spare set of ATE brake pads which did not clonk in the calipers, because ATE was the original equipment manufacturer of VW brake pads for ATE brake calipers. Our triumphant test drive devolved into a squealing chirping twittering concert of squeaking brake pads. We returned and removed the disks, sanded them, chamfered the new brake pads, applied a little sound-dampening Ultrablack RTV to the shims, noted that the caps are splitting willy-nilly across all Permatex home automotive products purchased from your FLAPS:

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We noted that the caliper pistons were in the exactly-correct orientation, and went on a chastened test drive to see if things were now quiet. Oh no no no. These pads got all squeaky again after getting heated, then allowed to cool a little. Truly awful. I have an order for new Pagid brake pads to install in both locoqueso's '78 Westy, Wilson, and my very own NaranjaWesty, who started the same sort of squeaky chirpchirpchirp today on my new ATE pads as of 1,400 miles ago. ATE pads are on my Don't List. They also seem to disperse a lot of black dust:

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Locoqueso sure does have a lot of patience. Three front seal visits! Three engine hesitation visits. Now we are going for two brake pad visits. What a nice car, though. Look at this carpet!

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Look at this nice Mercedes 300TD wagon's green interior!

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Look at this couple!

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I so do hope that the brake pads quiet down!

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Took off exhausted at 7:15 or something, and found the WORST ROAD IN AMERICA in WISCONSIN. Then it rained! Like it does every day! But the road, the road, the road was utterly evil, taunting me with jarring impacts and heaves and lunges and cruel concrete edges and worse than that! worse than that! the roads ALSO threw pieces of themselves at Naranja's tender little nose every time a truck would pass me at some ridiculous speed. Then, the road would suddenly stop pounding me and it would be repaved, thankgodthankgod, but this is Wisconsin! they do not know how to pour concrete just like Michigan and the road would jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle over every expansion joint. Then it would rain again. Then the mosquitoes came out in force and quickly coated the windshield and entire front end and finally, they were blasting out the fresh air vents. I finally lost all brain function after 44 straight hours and I "parked" at a furniture store and just gave out.

Woke up this morning in the furniture store parking lot.
There was a busy day in front of me ....
(to be cont)

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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

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by NewBeginningsAgain » Sat Jun 29, 2019 3:02 pm

His brake pads were clonking in the calipers when you went backwards, then forwards.
This “clonking” sound, does it sound as if there is a pebble in the hubcap?
NewBeginningsAgain


1978 Westfalia, Dakota Beige, 80k miles
1969 Transporter, Savannah Beige - Sold. Regrets
1966 Deluxe Microbus, Lotus White - Lost in New Mexico

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by Curtp07 » Sat Jun 29, 2019 8:42 pm

Sounds like you’re having fun? I’ve seen major cities in every continent and ours are pretty far down on the list.

Keep on truckin!

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by BusBassist » Sat Jun 29, 2019 8:57 pm

You could try the foam barrel style ear plugs. I use them all the time for loud concerts (sitting in front of the trumpets), mowing the lawn, or driving my bus with the windows open.
Late 73 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:59 am

NewBeginningsAgain wrote:
Sat Jun 29, 2019 3:02 pm
His brake pads were clonking in the calipers when you went backwards, then forwards.
This “clonking” sound, does it sound as if there is a pebble in the hubcap?

I must put on my pedantic pedagogue cap, hang on a sec ......... OK, I wrote "clonking" when you go forward, then backwards. When you apply the brakes, the pads get kicked in the direction that the wheel is turning as they try to slow or stop the wheel. It is a one-time tonk, that only happens again when you reverse direction from the last time you applied the brakes, clonk.

A pebble in the hubcap is a tinny rattly clink, not a clonk, a CLINK, a clinkytaclinkaclinkityclinkitytinkle-ta-clink.

This will be on the exam.
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 Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Jun 30, 2019 7:33 am

Woke up in the furniture store parking lot off of some interstate somewhere. Fielded a call from my Mule Mentor Donkey Whistler, Kit Whisperer. We talked about how truly odd civilization really is, and we talked about how you adjust the timing at road speed rpms (3,400 rpm) and NOT AT IDLE, to 28* at 3,400 rpm and NOT AT 10* and then, and then, you don't have to take apart the distributor to wonder why the timing keeps going up to 40* with the hoses OFF. Then it was 10AM.

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You see traffic lights on a busy boulevard with trees approaching a lovely Capitol building in Wisconsin. I see a marathon of brake-booster-less leg presses:

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OK, OK, Madison is pretty, and the boulevard IN FRONT OF THE CAPITOL is smooth, but take a corner, any corner, and that is all DONE WITH. The road surfaces have jangled me into PTSD winces and explosions of irritability, "d*@# that pothole, sorry Naranja!"

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Winced my way to Verona WI, and found an industrial park, and found a little trail leaving the cul-de-sac, and took the dirt incline at a smart velocity to avoid wheel spin and ducked into a freshly planted pasture where two love birds were eying each other with interest:

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This is the used booster from Ken at Bus Co:

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Began the laborious process of melting off forty years of cosmoline and who-knows-how-many subsequent applications of undercoating:

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There was welcome sun, peaceful ambient bird talk, occasional wafting puffs of breeze, and I felt one or two of my irritated two and a half trillion neurons relax a bit. See the drum stand felt washer from BusBassist? It has a whole new life of exciting non-percussion air filtration ahead of it. How could it have ever known that life was going to change so dramatically? :

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Treated the accordian boot with Gummi-Pfledge then a dousing of talcum powder:

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Yeah, that is when I got a call. "You coming today? We have an appointment .... "
Oh my, listed on the forum "Dead1" but not even in my computer that was reset back to a prior state after my brother blasted it into a confetti of exploded files and "this copy of Windows is not genuine". What could I say?
"Ahh, I have a pile of excuses, but I don't want to share them with you."
"Sure, can you come back? I am about twenty miles from your last call."
(WHAT? WHAT? AND DRIVE MOONSCAPE RT 12 ALL OVER AGAIN, ARE YOU KIDDING? OVER MY DEAD BALL JOINTS ...)
"No, I am so sorry, but I am already front-loaded at my next call with my booster in pieces."
We talked about his bus, a lovely red camper, and I really do want to drive it some day.

Me? I was sanding and assembling and painting during our conversation, I did not see what was coming:

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A fierce wind just slammed into the car and deposited an entire pasture's worth of dirt, twigs, dead leaves, chaff, dust, more dead leaves, chaff, twigs, dirt, and dead leaves all over the interior. The booster rocketed off the tool box along with the paint and the Gumout and a bucket of soapy water. I dove in after them and shut the sliding door and jalousie window, and the other jalousie window, and the passenger window and the driver's window, all in slow turn as the rain just pelted us.
You know me and God and weather, right? Pick One:
a) ( * ) "oh goodness me, You Silly Cosmic Jokester ..."
b) ( * ) "what did I do to deserve this? may I re-dedicate to a life of sober reflection and good works."
c) ( * ) "You f##k@# jack@$$ SERIOUSLY??wind too? WHAT? #%@monster F**ckitallupEVERYtime SOITSGOINGTOBEATORNADOTOO?HAAH??"

And the answer, of course, was:

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Slid down the muddy pasture path with huge brown-gobbed muddy tires that barely got us out of there.
I got to huddle in a rain-pelted sarcophagus of damp paint-drying chaos because, because this IS my life ...
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 Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by BusBassist » Sun Jun 30, 2019 7:44 pm

I wondered how your servo rebuild was going Colin and glad to see its progress documented in your write up. Too bad the rains follow you around like an incessant, loyal dog. Did you have to lay in the mud to install the servo?
See the drum stand felt washer from BusBassist? It has a whole new life of exciting non-percussion air filtration ahead of it. How could it have ever known that life was going to change so dramatically?
I think this felt washer is probably enjoying its new job assignment. After all, in its former life its job was to be sandwiched between a small metal washer and a large metal cymbal that was crashing and vibrating all night long. I would think its new job inside of a nice quiet servo boot is probably a welcomed upgrade.

If any other servo rebuilders need this part - let me know, I have whole collection of them.
Late 73 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by NewBeginningsAgain » Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:29 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:59 am
NewBeginningsAgain wrote:
Sat Jun 29, 2019 3:02 pm
His brake pads were clonking in the calipers when you went backwards, then forwards.
This “clonking” sound, does it sound as if there is a pebble in the hubcap?

I must put on my pedantic pedagogue cap, hang on a sec ......... OK, I wrote "clonking" when you go forward, then backwards. When you apply the brakes, the pads get kicked in the direction that the wheel is turning as they try to slow or stop the wheel. It is a one-time tonk, that only happens again when you reverse direction from the last time you applied the brakes, clonk.

A pebble in the hubcap is a tinny rattly clink, not a clonk, a CLINK, a clinkytaclinkaclinkityclinkitytinkle-ta-clink.

This will be on the exam.
Colin
Ahhh, I see. In that case, the sound I hear coming from the rear wheel area of my bus, is not a dysrhythmic clinkytaclinkaclinkityclinkitytinkle-ta-clink sound of an object bouncing around in the hubcap, but a rhythmic tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tinking sound, the rate of which increases and decreases with the vehicle, as if something stationary is hitting a rotating part.

I’ll continue my investigation.

NewBeginningsAgain
NewBeginningsAgain


1978 Westfalia, Dakota Beige, 80k miles
1969 Transporter, Savannah Beige - Sold. Regrets
1966 Deluxe Microbus, Lotus White - Lost in New Mexico

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by Abscate » Tue Jul 02, 2019 9:33 am

BusBassist wrote:
Sun Jun 30, 2019 7:44 pm
I wondered how your servo rebuild was going Colin and glad to see its progress documented in your write up. Too bad the rains follow you around like an incessant, loyal dog. Did you have to lay in the mud to install the servo?
See the drum stand felt washer from BusBassist? It has a whole new life of exciting non-percussion air filtration ahead of it. How could it have ever known that life was going to change so dramatically?
I think this felt washer is probably enjoying its new job assignment. After all, in its former life its job was to be sandwiched between a small metal washer and a large metal cymbal that was crashing and vibrating all night long. I would think its new job inside of a nice quiet servo boot is probably a welcomed upgrade.

If any other servo rebuilders need this part - let me know, I have whole collection of them.
Its a new Ziljan Booster from Turkey!!!

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by BusBassist » Wed Jul 03, 2019 7:47 pm

Yes, a highly sought after and rare Turkish Booster!
Late 73 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine.

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greets Worse Roads Yet ...

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 06, 2019 7:19 am

NewBeginningsAgain wrote:
Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:29 am
Ahhh, I see. In that case, the sound I hear coming from the rear wheel area of my bus, is not a dysrhythmic clinkytaclinkaclinkityclinkitytinkle-ta-clink sound of an object bouncing around in the hubcap, but a rhythmic tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tinking sound, the rate of which increases and decreases with the vehicle, as if something stationary is hitting a rotating part.

I’ll continue my investigation.

NewBeginningsAgain

Why hello, thank-you for your clarification. If it is not a clinkytaclinkaclinkityclinkitytinkle-ta-clink, but rather a tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink, then it is likely a brake part that is catching on the drum at each rotation.

Please jack up offending wheel and rotate by hand to see if you can hear it. Then, if you can hear it, apply the ebrake a few notches. Does the noise go away? Adjust brakes and adjust ebrake cables. If the noise does not go away, remove drum and investigate. Do not disturb the dusty crime scene by cleaning it willy-nilly, until you have closely inspected for contact marks. An ebrake cable spring with a shiny little section, for example, that has polished the wheel stud heads ... something like that.
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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