Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Arkansas to Oklahoma
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 2:44 pm
Have just escaped the rain and saturated ground, and muggy air, and thunderstorms and rain showers that besieged our efforts in Arkansas, I am now in Oklahoma City.
You might have read about my preparations for the main lap of the Itinerary. I think Mother Nature read about them and chuckled to herself. It started raining within two hours of leaving Pensacola for Arkansas:
Yeah yeah YEAH it was pretty. I barely missed the shot here, the sun was disappearing as I was pulling over. This lake was glowing ochre with sunlit green trees and grey skies, but here it is just sort of muddy, still pretty, but . . . :
But when the windshield glass-to-seal started to trickle over there on the left side next to the chassis number plate, I knew we had a problem.
. . . and the rain would not let up, it would not let up. Inspected the area under a bank drive-through canopy. I think my 22ga Speaker Wire Windshield Expansion Trick of 2010 must have slipped off the edge of the glass back when I was chatting with jackstar at the Law Firm, fitting the seal/chrome and not paying exquisitely close attention:
I used two paper towels and played bucket brigade for almost four straight hours of laying each paper towel across the leak zone until it was saturated, stuck in the other one while wringing out the first one. Filled the coffee mug twelve times and emptied it out the driver's window. I did NOT want water trickling into the fuse box light switch area, I did not want it trickling down behind the driver's kick panel and warping it, this car has never never never experienced water leaks, I was heartsick and annoyed with myself for being a foolish Wrecker Of History, a frivolous sensation-seeking child who should not be entrusted with the very adult responsibilities of care-taking the last really fine original German VW bus.
At the Mississippi border, I pulled into a rest stop. The rain had let up for who knows how long. Pulled the windshield out to the horror of the security guy bored in the booth. I think it horrified the few onlookers who wanted to tell me it was a nice bus, but they saw me tearing it apart like a wolf at the bunny petting zoo and they left me to my urgent task . . . except for the clueless motorcycle couple who could not see that I was frantically busy laying a bead of Permatex Windshield Sealer along the bottom of the seal channel and stuffing it back up onto the glass as the clouds loomed. Almost blew my concentration trying to attend to their questions
( "what's that thing get for gas mileage?" "oh about three coffee cups full of water per hour")
while I attempted to avoid having Permatex Windshield Sealer splatted all over everything I touched while the clouds scuttled dangerously, and mockingly sprinkled a few drops just to watch me swear at the sky.
Windshield was removed/resealed/reinstalled in about 90 minutes. Security booth guy was jovial in his relief that my serious operation was over.
"Hey you! Yeah! You! Wanna trade?"
I walked over wearily, "where is your car?"
"Heh, just kidding, no it is that Hyundai, just kidding, haha that is a beautiful van, I was only kidding."
"If my windshield continues leaking, yes."
Of course the rain came back with a vengeance well within the curing time of the Permatex Windshield Sealer . . . but no more LEAK either, no more paper towel wring-bailing into the coffee cup, no more desperate apologies to the BobD for being such a fool as to kill it in this infernal water-logged drenching rain. The interior is now ripe, sodden, invaded, the side windows are seriously steamed up, there is water in this car somewhere. Pulled off US 65 south of Little Rock and removed the kick panel. Oh yes, there is a lake of water sitting on the cosmoline wax between the nose and the floor panel. Sopped it up with a hand towel. Dried the floor under the rubber mat. Checked underneath the mat under the side windows and under the rear seat. There is water all under the place. I am frantic with disappointment. These door and side panels are going to be warpy ruined in short order. God, I hate moisture.
Made it to Rtiller69 call. He has a moldy Westy on a rainy day in a damp garage. Water splats through the trees. White penicillin is dusted all over the sticky vacuum hoses in the dank engine compartment.
"Why do you think it loses power when it is cold?"
"BECAUSE IT HATES YOUR @&!* CLIMATE THAT'S WHY!" I scream to myself,
"I don't know, let's check."
We tune the bus and test drive (in the rain) and it drives FINE. On a hunch, we lean the heck out out of the idle and richen the black cog to overcome a weird leaning at higher rpm. I await his report.
You should all know that Rtiller69 has an original bus under the black mold. It has the Inspector Otto on the engine tin, a 920 emissions number, it is basically a very nice intact bus. We must all remind him frequently to finish the 3M Rubbing Compound + Mothers California Gold carnauba wax treatment that I barely started:
Then he can get busy on the all the other Volkswagens:
Different write-up coming up on our Luftwagon visit. It was impressive to say the least.
Colin
(ever parked at a tornado-ravaged RV store? I have . . . . )
You might have read about my preparations for the main lap of the Itinerary. I think Mother Nature read about them and chuckled to herself. It started raining within two hours of leaving Pensacola for Arkansas:
Yeah yeah YEAH it was pretty. I barely missed the shot here, the sun was disappearing as I was pulling over. This lake was glowing ochre with sunlit green trees and grey skies, but here it is just sort of muddy, still pretty, but . . . :
But when the windshield glass-to-seal started to trickle over there on the left side next to the chassis number plate, I knew we had a problem.
. . . and the rain would not let up, it would not let up. Inspected the area under a bank drive-through canopy. I think my 22ga Speaker Wire Windshield Expansion Trick of 2010 must have slipped off the edge of the glass back when I was chatting with jackstar at the Law Firm, fitting the seal/chrome and not paying exquisitely close attention:
I used two paper towels and played bucket brigade for almost four straight hours of laying each paper towel across the leak zone until it was saturated, stuck in the other one while wringing out the first one. Filled the coffee mug twelve times and emptied it out the driver's window. I did NOT want water trickling into the fuse box light switch area, I did not want it trickling down behind the driver's kick panel and warping it, this car has never never never experienced water leaks, I was heartsick and annoyed with myself for being a foolish Wrecker Of History, a frivolous sensation-seeking child who should not be entrusted with the very adult responsibilities of care-taking the last really fine original German VW bus.
At the Mississippi border, I pulled into a rest stop. The rain had let up for who knows how long. Pulled the windshield out to the horror of the security guy bored in the booth. I think it horrified the few onlookers who wanted to tell me it was a nice bus, but they saw me tearing it apart like a wolf at the bunny petting zoo and they left me to my urgent task . . . except for the clueless motorcycle couple who could not see that I was frantically busy laying a bead of Permatex Windshield Sealer along the bottom of the seal channel and stuffing it back up onto the glass as the clouds loomed. Almost blew my concentration trying to attend to their questions
( "what's that thing get for gas mileage?" "oh about three coffee cups full of water per hour")
while I attempted to avoid having Permatex Windshield Sealer splatted all over everything I touched while the clouds scuttled dangerously, and mockingly sprinkled a few drops just to watch me swear at the sky.
Windshield was removed/resealed/reinstalled in about 90 minutes. Security booth guy was jovial in his relief that my serious operation was over.
"Hey you! Yeah! You! Wanna trade?"
I walked over wearily, "where is your car?"
"Heh, just kidding, no it is that Hyundai, just kidding, haha that is a beautiful van, I was only kidding."
"If my windshield continues leaking, yes."
Of course the rain came back with a vengeance well within the curing time of the Permatex Windshield Sealer . . . but no more LEAK either, no more paper towel wring-bailing into the coffee cup, no more desperate apologies to the BobD for being such a fool as to kill it in this infernal water-logged drenching rain. The interior is now ripe, sodden, invaded, the side windows are seriously steamed up, there is water in this car somewhere. Pulled off US 65 south of Little Rock and removed the kick panel. Oh yes, there is a lake of water sitting on the cosmoline wax between the nose and the floor panel. Sopped it up with a hand towel. Dried the floor under the rubber mat. Checked underneath the mat under the side windows and under the rear seat. There is water all under the place. I am frantic with disappointment. These door and side panels are going to be warpy ruined in short order. God, I hate moisture.
Made it to Rtiller69 call. He has a moldy Westy on a rainy day in a damp garage. Water splats through the trees. White penicillin is dusted all over the sticky vacuum hoses in the dank engine compartment.
"Why do you think it loses power when it is cold?"
"BECAUSE IT HATES YOUR @&!* CLIMATE THAT'S WHY!" I scream to myself,
"I don't know, let's check."
We tune the bus and test drive (in the rain) and it drives FINE. On a hunch, we lean the heck out out of the idle and richen the black cog to overcome a weird leaning at higher rpm. I await his report.
You should all know that Rtiller69 has an original bus under the black mold. It has the Inspector Otto on the engine tin, a 920 emissions number, it is basically a very nice intact bus. We must all remind him frequently to finish the 3M Rubbing Compound + Mothers California Gold carnauba wax treatment that I barely started:
Then he can get busy on the all the other Volkswagens:
Different write-up coming up on our Luftwagon visit. It was impressive to say the least.
Colin
(ever parked at a tornado-ravaged RV store? I have . . . . )