Carleton, MI Visit

[drober23]

The bus is ready for Colin's visit tomorrow, even if my driveway isn't. I have the bus on jack stands, and the rear brake backing plates are off at the moment. The forecast calls for a good chance of rain. I'm hoping it will hold off until we can get the brakes back together. I have an alternate, covered, location if it rains, but moving the bus there with no brakes is not high on my list.



Excited about what the day will bring!

[sped372]

You should still have some meager front-brakes-only braking ability. I wouldn't do anything more than nurse it slowly to another spot along a level path, but it should be possible. I just redid the rear brakes on our bus and drove it out into the street, turned it around, and put it back in the driveway with no rear brakes. It is not confidence inspiring when the pedal only has about 1/2" of action, though. Be safe.

[Amskeptic]

The bus is ready for Colin's visit tomorrow, even if my driveway isn't. I have the bus on jack stands, and the rear brake backing plates are off at the moment. The forecast calls for a good chance of rain.

Excited about what the day will bring!

It will bring Chilled Crab in a blanket.

I have been a cold drowned rat since Atlanta. Chloe is even rusting in weird places. The only sunny day I have had since May 22, was 56* and wiiiiiiiindy. Right now it is 54* and raining outside of Cleveland where I visited a gallant Sean Gallagher in the middle of an engine installation. Where is SUMMER around here? It was 42* and raining all the way from Scranton PA to Woodstock NY to Rochester NY. Enough already!
CrankyColdinCrab

[SlowLane]

I have an alternate, covered, location if it rains, but moving the bus there with no brakes is not high on my list.

Ya might want to have a tarp, rope, tent-poles and some bricks handy.

[poptop tom]

The bus is ready for Colin's visit tomorrow, even if my driveway isn't. I have the bus on jack stands, and the rear brake backing plates are off at the moment. The forecast calls for a good chance of rain.

Excited about what the day will bring!

It will bring Chilled Crab in a blanket.

I have been a cold drowned rat since Atlanta. Chloe is even rusting in weird places. The only sunny day I have had since May 22, was 56* and wiiiiiiiindy. Right now it is 54* and raining outside of Cleveland where I visited a gallant Sean Gallagher in the middle of an engine installation. Where is SUMMER around here? It was 42* and raining all the way from Scranton PA to Woodstock NY to Rochester NY. Enough already!
CrankyColdinCrab

Indiana promises warmth and sun!

[Amskeptic]

Indiana promises warmth and sun!

Be right there . . .
ColinCarletonRain

[drober23]

Should be warm in Michigan today, just soggy. Thanks for the tip Slowlane, here is the setup. Should be good for a bit of tinkering!

[Jivermo]

Great minds at work! Looks pretty nifty for work, unless it's cold. Then get a burn barrel cranked up...

[hambone]

Colin LOVES the gray wet damp. ASK HIM.

[drober23]

Colin arrived to off and on rain. It was a bit cool in the morning, but things warmed up quickly.

First on the agenda was the Backing Plate installation. The surface where the castellated nut meets the drum showed evidence of pounding damage at some point. The nuts had been very secure, so perhaps it had been in done in the past under a previous owner. We cleaned up the damage with a file and a Dremel tool. Colin explained the importance of cleaning up the places the new backing plates would mount to, and we used a little "ultra copper" RTV between the plate and the mounting surface.

When we put the drums back on, we were completely shocked when there was some rubbing between the drum and the backing plate. (Ok, we weren't even a little bit surprised). After a brief consultation, we decided to grind down the edge of the drum rather than trying to bash the backing plate into fitting. This was done fairly quickly on a bench grinder, and the rubbing was gone.

Sometime during the process, we inspected and lubricated both emergency brake cables. The tube that brings the cable under the rear axle on the passengers side showed signs of having been damaged, probably by careless jacking. But the cable moved well enough, and we put it back together and called it good.

New wheel cylinders were installed as well. I had some new rubber hoses, but it looked like we might destroy the metal lines near the rear trying to get the rubber lines free. This sparked an intense inspection of the rear rubber lines. We decided that they looked good, and had not given signs of trouble. We also noted the brake fluid looked clean and declared the existing lines "good enough for now". It will revisit them in the future when I am ready to replace the metal lines if needed as well.

While I was tinkering with the emergency brake cables, Colin was investigating my complaints about opening the rear liftgate. The rear gate did not like to close securely, and it also did not like to open once closed. Turns out there was a lot of rust under the seal, pushing the seal out. This kept the door from closing securely. We cleaned up a lot of rust and adjusted the latch. Eventually, with a good solid push, we got the door to close to the "2nd latch". I will have to clean that area up, and do some rust eradication / painting before calling it good. But at least the door closes, and I understand what is going on back there.

Lastly, we examined my "bad blue wire" that I had discovered during my overcharging drama (outlined in the Electrical forum). It all started when I wanted the fresh air fan to run. The previous owner had it disengaged, and when I put it back together it did not want to work. I read the wiring diagram, and did a little research, discovering that the brown/white wire was a switchable ground. So, being all smart and stuff, I replaced it with a permanent ground and was happy that my fan worked if the engine was running and forgot about it for a long time.

The result of this, of course, was to provide a permanent path to ground for the blue wire that also leads to the generator light. I suspect this may have been involved in my overcharging drama. I had cut the part of the blue wire that led to the fan relay as part sorting out the overcharging problem. Turns out, if you connect all the wires just the way VW tells you to in the wiring diagram, that it works! Imagine that! We repaired the cut wire and all seems to be working well.

We drove the bus a bit, and were pleased. I was admonished to replace my CV joint boots before my upcoming trip, and to get to work on the rust problems. But otherwise the bus is pretty solid. It was a good day, and I always enjoy picking Colin's brain for a day.

Thanks again Colin, and hope to have you out again on your next tour.

[Amskeptic]

The tail gate did not like to close securely, and it also did not like to open once closed.
Turns out there was a lot of rust under the seal, pushing the seal out.
This kept the door from closing securely.
I will have to clean that area up, and do some rust eradication / painting before calling it good.

Turns out, if you connect all the wires just the way VW tells you to in the wiring diagram, that it works! Imagine that!

Thanks again Colin, and hope to have you out again on your next tour.

"I will have to clean that area up, and do some rust eradication / painting before calling it good."
"Turns out, if you connect all the wires just the way VW tells you to in the wiring diagram, that it works"

That rust was traumatizing. Godspeed on your path to calling it good.
Here's our intrepid drober23 fighting the good fight at the ebrake cable adjusters:


The one moment of sun captured by your itinerant heat-seeking missile:


And here is an installed backing plate adjacent to a CV boot-which-shall-be-replaced, a project described by drober23 as "a fun day of mucking with grease." Which it is. Shall we crab about the brake hardware that would not allow us to use the retainer springs because the pins were just too short?



We, as engineering appreciators, looked at those little parts laid out, the little shoes, the little lug nuts, the spindly little driveshafts coming down from the transaxle, and had to have a moment to honor their hard work under the bus while the party continues on
. . . unabatedly .
Colin

(p.s. thank-you for the fan and thank YOU Sean Gallagher, for the fuel pump and the generator. Sean Gallagher was in the middle of his own party when I crashed the homestead. I am on a high-speed vibration eradication mission, and will update when I have something to report:

[drober23]

Following up... I received the new CV boots. I pulled the old boots off. 2 seem like they were still in pretty good shape. I'll stuff those into the pack-rat pile. The others were badly worn. There did not seem to be any water intrusion into the boots though, and there was plenty of grease in all 4 joints.

The new brake shoes came. I hope to have enough time to swap them in before we leave, but time is fleeting. If not, I will bring them with me, and perhaps swap them in on the road one day.

Thanks again for the visit Colin!

[Amskeptic]

Following up... I received the new CV boots. I pulled the old boots off. 2 seem like they were still in pretty good shape. I'll stuff those into the pack-rat pile. The others were badly worn. There did not seem to be any water intrusion into the boots though, and there was plenty of grease in all 4 joints.

The new brake shoes came. I hope to have enough time to swap them in before we leave, but time is fleeting. If not, I will bring them with me, and perhaps swap them in on the road one day.

Thanks again for the visit Colin!

Seems so long ago.
Replace the shoes before you leave. Replace the shoes before you leave. That lining material was horrid!
Replace the shoes before you leave.
Have a great trip. Will we cross paths?
Colin

[drober23]

So... let me get this straight... You think I should replace the brake shoes before I leave?

I suspect I will be South of you, depending on how you get to Montana from Minnesota. I will be at Mt. Rushmore on June 9th, while you will probably be taking I-94 from Eagen, MN to Montana.

[Amskeptic]

So... let me get this straight... You think I should replace the brake shoes before I leave?

I suspect I will be South of you, depending on how you get to Montana from Minnesota. I will be at Mt. Rushmore on June 9th, while you will probably be taking I-94 from Eagen, MN to Montana.

I will let you know. I am a meanderer. We might be good for a half hour hello. I've been known to drop 200 miles one way or another to avoid "clouds".
Colin