Light at the end of the tunnel...and it's not a train!

Bus, Microbus, Transporter, Station Wagon, Vanagon, Camper, Pick-Up.

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TrollFromDownBelow
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Location: Metro Detroit
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Light at the end of the tunnel...and it's not a train!

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Thu Aug 05, 2021 7:34 pm

It only took me 15 years....nay.....16 years to get my bus (almost!) to truly DD reliability status. For the last 13 years, good 'ole tripod has been limping along on a used engine I bought as part of a package deal with another parts bus off of ebay. After I sold stuff separately, engine cost me a net of $250. That engine lasted me nearly 20k miles, so I felt I got my use out of it. That darn engine ran well right up to the end. Did she burn some oil? Sure. Was she noisy b/c of a broken exhaust stud boss (e.g. completely unfixable) and a couple of other stripped exhaust studs? Yup. Did it have a Heli-coil with a death grip on a spark plug that probably had 50k miles on it? Yup. But, she would always start.However, there was more than one occasion that I had to tow it home, and to be frank, I would not drive it more than 200 miles from home for fear of having to tow it back.

Finally decided to pull the trigger, and do a top end refresh. Had the engine on the stand when Colin came over in 2018, and he was like "That camshaft is toast, you need to do a total rebuild." So I bought the Tom Wilson book, and read it diligently...lots of high-lights and notes. But in the end, I decided to farm it out. I don't regret it...I figured that it was highly probable that I'd have to pull the engine and have to redo something, and as I don't see that this is a skill set I will need in the foreseeable future (face it...I'm 51 years old, and I only drive the bus a couple of thousand miles a year...probably won't ever need another rebuild). FYI - Rich Sadoris do the rebuild/assembly - top notch work!

Did a lot of "while you are in there" work. New fuel sending unit, all new rubber vent lines on the gas tank, new rubber gasket on the fuel filler, new vacuum line kit from German Supply, etc, etc. Got the engine fired up this winter and have been slowly breaking it in (since covid, I don't drive much at all, as I've been working from home up until a few months ago....3k on my DD in 15 mos).

It's amazing at all the stuff you will put up with/neglect when you know the engine is running subpar. For example, my sliding door handle has been sloppy since I bought it 16 years ago. $25 for a good used one, and voila! no more sloppy door handle....it was one of those mild annoyance things that you don't notice until after you fixed it.

Over the past few months I've fixed squeaky front brakes, flushed brake fluid, replaced the center link pin and steering dampener, replaced the pop top seals. To get it regionally road ready (e.g. round trip of 1000 miles) I just need to replace a failing (Chinese!) CV boot that was replaced back in 2017 or 18...probably has 1k miles on it, and the bus is garaged kept...shows how poor the quality is....anyway... also need to change the transmission fluid. Suspension is fairly tight (new center pin and dampener made a big difference) however, all of the rubber boots are cracked/shot including the ball joints. Before I make an 'epic' road trip these would have to be replaced. Then, it's a matter of getting new heater cables (repaired heat ducts when I rebuilt the engine) and replacing front shocks (note ... don't buy Monroe's....I put these on ~ 12 years ago, maybe 15k miles, and the fronts are leaking).

And that is about it mechanically. I could do some cosmetic things, but also don't want to take away the patina. Think I'll start with what bugs me most (right now, chipped laminate) and go from there.

Just thought I'd share my bus story...felt appropriate to do it here, as I've been a member for so long.

Cheers, Mike
1976 VW Bus aka tripod
FI ...not leaky, and not so noisy...and she runs awesome!
hambone wrote: There are those out there with no other aim but to bunch panties. It's like arguing with a pretzel.
::troll2::

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asiab3
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Location: San Diego, CA
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Re: Light at the end of the tunnel...and it's not a train!

Post by asiab3 » Mon Sep 13, 2021 10:54 pm

Heck yeah Mike! Maybe next time I'm in Royal Oak I can see the bus in person!
Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

TrollFromDownBelow
IAC Addict!
Location: Metro Detroit
Status: Offline

Re: Light at the end of the tunnel...and it's not a train!

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:05 pm

asiab3 wrote:
Mon Sep 13, 2021 10:54 pm
Heck yeah Mike! Maybe next time I'm in Royal Oak I can see the bus in person!
Robbie
Absolutely! Let me know when you're going to be in town again.
1976 VW Bus aka tripod
FI ...not leaky, and not so noisy...and she runs awesome!
hambone wrote: There are those out there with no other aim but to bunch panties. It's like arguing with a pretzel.
::troll2::

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