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Colin in Canton

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 2:56 pm
by vwlover77
Colin stopped last night for what I thought was going to be "just" a social visit on his way from Pennsylvania to southwestern Ohio. He arrived a little before 5:00PM and of course the first order of business after saying hello was to finally meet Chloe, the unassuming and pretty little workhorse that has gracefully endured the many hardships of the itinerary.

The next thing I knew, I was in the passenger seat of my own bus while Colin was gathering data about its uneven rear braking problem (viewtopic.php?f=44&t=10988), warming the brakes by driving with his left foot firmly on the brake pedal while maintaning speed with his right, then frightening an unsuspecting runner with the sudden lockup of the left rear wheel and the ensuing slew! After returning to my home, it went something like this....

Colin: "How quickly do you think you can have the rear drums removed from this bus?"
Don: "Uh, maybe half an hour? 20 minutes?"
Colin: "I say we do it in 10 minutes"

Sure enough, within a few minutes the drums were laying on the driveway as we tried to assess differences between them and the original drums I had previously removed. In the end we chose to reuse the current drums, but switch sides to see if the problem moved with them. Then we found that the return spring was not properly installed on the driver's side shoes and were soon up to our eyeballs in brake dust reinstalling the shoes with the now corrected spring in place but minus the parking brake bar. "Hey, I'm just a consultant!" Colin said as he worked two screwdrivers patiently trying to coerce the spring-loaded shoes back around the hub while I tried to direct the light from my crappy work light to the right place.

A test drive showed hopeful improvement; stay tuned to the thread for further updates. The drive also took us to a local watering hole for dinner and a thoroughly enjoyable conversation - all I was really looking for from this visit!

By around 9:00, Colin and Chloe were on their way - heading southwest to Richmond, Indiana to avoid today's continuous rain in Ohio before heading back east again for his appointment with Muthashabubu tomorrow.

What a blessing this man is! :thumbleft:

Re: Colin in Canton

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 5:36 am
by Amskeptic
Enjoyed visiting with you, vwlover77. How rude that a guest should render the host not only blackened and disheveled in such a short time, but also rend his reputation in the neighborhood in tatters.

His beautiful golden retriever gave every indication of wanting to do the brake work for us.

Yes, we were locking up the left rear tire in a horrid slew of tire smoke in the presence of a hapless jogger as though we were just too damned stoned to even see the poor guy.

That was fun. I expect that the car now comes to a straight halt.
ColinThanksForDinner!

Re: Colin in Canton

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 10:13 am
by vwlover77
Hey! Here I was prepared to confess that my bad reputation extended beyond neighborhood garden tools to expensive automotive diagnostic tools (just ask Randy in Maine about his tool I forwarded to Poptop Tom instead of returning it to him), and find that the original post has been HACKED! CLEANSED! CENSORED! to protect my reputation! :geek:

The jury is still out on the braking as I've only driven the Bus since the visit with the golden retriever on board. Panic stops are not her idea of fun!

Re: Colin in Canton

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:57 am
by Amskeptic
vwlover77 wrote:Hey! Here I was prepared to confess that my bad reputation extended beyond neighborhood garden tools to expensive automotive diagnostic tools (just ask Randy in Maine about his tool I forwarded to Poptop Tom instead of returning it to him), and find that the original post has been HACKED! CLEANSED! CENSORED! to protect my reputation! :geek:
I had a Moment of Doubt, where I thought I was being too familiar . . .
and only NOW do I learn that you are a repeat habitual offender?

vwlover77 wrote: The jury is still out on the braking as I've only driven the Bus since the visit with the golden retriever on board. Panic stops are not her idea of fun!
I will check in occasionally in the Brake Forum where the true depth and mystery of your long-suffering inquiry has played itself out over the many months and pages . . . :blackeye: