Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:06 pm

Oh yes I did, with great anticipation did I bail out of the Pacific fog and clouds of Portland OR and beat it to Utah.

viewtopic.php?f=78&t=13878#p233409


Just up from Salt Lake City:

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And here we are, at rallybug appointment in Salt Lake City's northern burbs, painting his freshly opened timing scale after an amazing piece of toast. I mean it, it was a great piece of toast that once again reminds me that modern store-bought food is just so very very blah:

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As planned, we drew his son into the day's festivities:

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As grown-ups, we quickly determined that he is not quite ready for the real wrench-twisting.
"Do you want to play with me, my transformers, please?"
"No. we have to work, sorry."
Rallybug child one and two drifted in and out of our work area as we removed each push rod tube and installed green "Viton" seals, and I got to watch poor rallybug learn how to assemble rocker arms and stands and serpentine spring and washers and nuts with just about one hand

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And we did work. We adjusted the hydraulic lifter preload in the 100* heat with nary a complaint. Mrs. Rallybug plied us with water. Hey look, do you see a possible oil leak here? That is exactly how the valve cover came off the engine ... :

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Our test drive turned out to be a fascinating exercise in pluck. At a stop light, we noticed that the engine note had a new clatter. Based on the rapidity with which this clatter had arisen and was getting more nasty, I suggested that we pull over immediately. 100* day, 300* heads, valve cover off, discovered that #3 exhaust locknut had escaped and the adjustment screw was well on its way to following. Got it all back together, I praised myself for being insistent, hopped into the driver's seat, pulled out onto the thoroughfare and pulled smartly onto the onramp, where an unholy racket re-ensued and the engine started sounding distressed. We killed it right there on the onramp. No shade. 100* day. Hot oil. Car tilted to the left. WTF'sville. "No tow this time, rallybug," I swore. No more of that nonsense with this 1979 bus.

It was the same #3 exhaust. I leapt to crazy conclusions like, the rocker arm must be stripped out. But, no, in fact, the locknut had again not been tightened sufficiently. I tightened it mydamnself this time. Unfortunately, we did NOT wrestle the startling high CHTs down. I went through the continuum of mixtures on our test drive, no, nothing, nada would help. Rallyubug, you are now under the Itinerant Air-Cooled Guaranteed Results umbrella, that means we fix this or you don't pay. I like Salt Lake City, I'll do it.

We ended the day with a stunning shish-ka-bob and a beer, and I said,
"Well, guess I am going to Sacramento now." Such a pleasure to see this family, such a disappointment that Harvee The Bus isn't quite ready for prime time ... but you just wait til next visit. It will be a dedicated and focused attack (with your new flaps and cable and thermostat and pulley).

Salt Lake has a lot of salt:

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Guess what? My inverter is saying that battery voltage is dropping too far to run this piggy illuminated keyboard laptop and spiffy new wifi hotspot, we'll continue this tomorrow night.
(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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SlowLane
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by SlowLane » Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:54 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:06 pm

As planned, we drew his son into the day's festivities:

Image

As grown-ups, we quickly determined that he is not quite ready for the real wrench-twisting.
"Do you want to play with me, my transformers, please?"
My bet is that he's looking for the Transformer he just knows is under there: BumbleBee's big brother.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

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BusBassist
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by BusBassist » Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:54 am

I like the work gloves, snow boots, and apron string on Jr. Rallybug.

JC
Late 73 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Jul 26, 2019 4:11 pm

BusBassist wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:54 am
I like the work gloves, snow boots, and apron string on Jr. Rallybug.

JC

He was adamant to be fully suited up:

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... and what does a "fascinating exercise in pluck" look like just seconds before the pluck was called upon?

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Headed out into the beautiful warm snowy saltscape:

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While pumping gas west of Salt Lake City, I noted that the stupid Utah highway department had done a miserable job of "defining lanes" through a construction zone that had displaced everybody a lane or so over on the main drag of this little town. Exactly as I hung up the gas dispensor back in the pump, a terrible crash unfolded on the other side of Naranja. I could see the roof of a vehicle briefly appear over the poptop while another came crashing through the hedge along the curb of the gas station. A tire gushed out air while the smell of coolant and tire smoke wafted over. Somebody had selected the wrong "lane" and did a head-on. Nobody was hurt, but I ghoulishly determined that if NaranjaWesty was the head-on recipient, I would likely be legless right now. I waited out the emergency responders at McDonalds where a cashier proudly announced that he had seen the whole thing and invited the other employees out to see the mess.

Drove the night to Wendover UT/West Wendover NV. I was happy to be in the warm night air under the stars with a late-night moonrise. Stayed at this superb little motel, really, much better than your typical Motel 6. It was quiet here:

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Scoped out a sad "executive" bus:

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I think someone got lost in a little electrical troubleshooting, and just threw up their hands, "I don't care if it cost a half million dollars, I can't figure this out." :

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I'll do a comparative photo essay between the engineering of this thing and the Transacontinental 10, but here's the parting shot:

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There is art everywhere:

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(to be cont)
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 Went To Salt Lake City

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:33 pm

And off towards California went I, along I-80 towards Reno and the Donner Pass beyond. I do love night driving (now unfortunately graced with blue-blocker sunglasses to cut down the idiot bright headlamps of people who have no idea or don't care what they are doing to their fellow drivers) amongst the silhouetted mountains, the late night dusk in the summer northern sky, and the festive lights festooned on the big rigs. NaranjaWesty settled right in at 60-65 and knocked out the miles from Salt Lake City to Reno. Gassed up at some late hour:

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Reno was ugly this time through, 8:00AM commuter traffic, and the photographs were just pedestrian. Reno is attractive at night when approaching from the west, coming down off that big ol' divide. This time, it was up from Reno, a steep up to the California border:

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That is a fricken railroad up there. People had to make it that first time, tunnels and bridges, too.

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All I had to do was sit there and watch the pass happen. Thank-you, NaranjaWesty:

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The descent was gradual from 7,000 feet, so I availed myself of some spirited 60-70 with head temps below 300* on the Dakota Digital gauge:

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And somewhere along the I-80 mountain corridor, I sensed a familiar landscape ... ... ...

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2013
viewtopic.php?f=67&t=11515#p201167
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2016
viewtopic.php?f=70&t=13140

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... ... ... and parked in my usual spot:

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This year, though, getting to the spot was something. I could not do my usual banzai up the path because it was eroded pretty badly. I went around. As I came up around to re-greet it further up, I was committed to two badly eroded gullies that used to be the tire grooves. I had to take it, avoiding a big log on my right. The left front wheel went off the ground, the cabinets cracked, then the right rear wheel lost contact but we just made it through, and NaranjaWesty just motored on up to where we did heater valves and spring plate bushings. This year, I thought to take it real easy, just some dusting and tidying:

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I tore apart that cheap tachometer from ISP West using my finest crimp-release tool:

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It desperately desperately needed to have that damn dust cloud removed from the inside! of the glass since the day I bought it, AND I desperately needed to paint over that lousy "ISP" branding:

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I also had a maddening scratch through the "0" mark that I dabbed a little Krylon white paint on.

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Took the occasion to paint in a little redline at the 5,500 rpm mark, too:

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Cleaned the other instrument lenses as well. Oh yes, I love me a clean instrument cluster with clean organized wires and a polished intake plenum:

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Four and a half hours later:

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Since I had gravity assist, I just had to photograph that turn out of the ruts. God, I love these cars for their amazing abilities:

Full Rebound
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Full Jounce
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It made me laugh the way this car managed that path with aplomb.

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Tonight, here in Sacramento, I am staring at this:

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A real levee:

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California! We're here!
Colin

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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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SlowLane
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by SlowLane » Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:38 am

Welcome back to California! Did you bring some rain? We sure could use it.

So wait: a bit of dust and a near invisible scratch in the '0' drives you to disassemble the tachometer, but you're perfectly fine with said tachometer registering at 1100-1200 RPM with the engine off? :scratch:

Persevere in your perversity, my friend.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

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BoltonFTW
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by BoltonFTW » Sat Jul 27, 2019 9:41 am

Yes, welcome back to California.

I assume you are taking dirt roads because the traffic is so lousy everywhere else here with our (over)population and the need to drive 85-90mph everywhere. :compress:

Looking forward to our first visit! Though your perfectionism with that tach is scaring me a bit for when you see my bus.
-Drew
'78 Campmobile Deluxe
'77 Tintop Weekender (SOLD) - first car!

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 27, 2019 10:46 am

SlowLane wrote:
Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:38 am
So wait: a bit of dust and a near invisible scratch in the '0' drives you to disassemble the tachometer, but you're perfectly fine with said tachometer registering at 1100-1200 RPM with the engine off? :scratch:

Persevere in your perversity, my friend.

Sheesh. In order of priority:
A) Glass was dirty since purchase
B) ISP logo was annoying
C) while there, touched up the nick in the "0"
D) this tach shuts off at last rpm and does a self-test to max at each power-up.
E) Let's not presumptuously pervert perseverence prematurely.
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 Went To Salt Lake City

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 27, 2019 10:48 am

BoltonFTW wrote:
Sat Jul 27, 2019 9:41 am

Looking forward to our first visit! Though your perfectionism with that tach is scaring me a bit for when you see my bus.
Be afraid ... be very afraid.
Colin :blackeye:
(we utilize terror at Itinerant Air-Cooled to inspire more careful work)
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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SlowLane
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by SlowLane » Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:12 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Sat Jul 27, 2019 10:46 am
D) this tach shuts off at last rpm and does a self-test to max at each power-up.
Wooooooo. :bounce: Faaaannnnncy. So is Naranja idling fast when hot then?
E) Let's not presumptuously pervert perseverance prematurely.
Prithee, pardon my impudent presumption. :joker:
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 27, 2019 8:42 pm

SlowLane wrote:
Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:12 pm
Amskeptic wrote: D) this tach shuts off at last rpm and does a self-test to max at each power-up.
Wooooooo. :bounce: Faaaannnnncy. So is Naranja idling fast when hot then?
NaranjaWesty ... is ... idling ... perfectly ... of ... course ... @ ... 1,000 rpm =/- 50.
The position of the needle as photographed, may have been due to *moving it* so I could paint the "0".
SlowLane wrote:
Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:12 pm
Amskeptic wrote: E) Let's not presumptuously pervert perseverance prematurely.
Prithee, pardon my impudent presumption. :joker:

Paah, petty impertinence prevails around these parts ...
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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covelo
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by covelo » Sat Jul 27, 2019 9:24 pm

BoltonFTW wrote:
Sat Jul 27, 2019 9:41 am
Yes, welcome back to California.

I assume you are taking dirt roads because the traffic is so lousy everywhere else here with our (over)population and the need to drive 85-90mph everywhere. :compress:

Looking forward to our first visit! Though your perfectionism with that tach is scaring me a bit for when you see my bus.
I think after 22 years in California I am still getting over living and driving in New York City. It all depends on what you are used to. I find most of my drives here very relaxing and I never feel the need to go faster than 60-65 in my ancient air-cooled Vanagon. My stepson and I had a delightful trip to Tahoe two weeks ago. I thought the other drivers were very considerate, even on parts of US 50 where they couldn't easily pass us. But maybe I'm just good at ignoring hostility from other drivers. (And I do pull over whenever I can to let people pass me).

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‘80 Vanagon Westfalia - 54,400 miles
'91 Toyota Pickup (4WD long bed) - 199,960 miles
1987 Alfa Spider Veloce - 166,400 miles
2017 VW E-Golf - 5,600 miles

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Went To Salt Lake City

Post by Jivermo » Sun Jul 28, 2019 4:46 am

I’m here for the usage of the English language. Prithee, aplomb and then, pedestrian, used in a manner other than the guy walking down the sidewalk...yes, here for the language.

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