Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Desert SW

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Desert SW

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:20 am

Yes the itinerary has officially begun. I backed into it willy-nilly in a stubborn sunshine-seeking search, and very nervously with crash flashbacks, but the terrors have been dying down with this good severe road life, camping in the desert cold, dealing with blasting winds AGAIN, and best of all, people are connecting with me again. I guess sometimes my aura fairly glows with a radioactive Stay Away From Me, and I have to ride it out. But right now the walls seem to have dropped. I had a Mexican Real Estate Guy who I spent the afternoon with going over his report last week (ran into him again unexpectedly three towns over the next day), and yesterday I ran into a retired PanAm pilot who hung out with me hidden behind the ArcoAMPM mini-mart to get out of that blasted windstorm. 71 years old, he was sharing bemused observations about the fall of the American Empire "At least I'll be gone soon." "Thanks, pal."

Visited our very own Velokid1 in AZ near my favorite camping spot in the country. He is in a new house with his VW prominently displayed in the driveway. Now please, if you tell me "it's not running" well then you can expect that we're going to try to get it running. And so we did:
Image


Ever just have to . . . wax the floor pans? Me too. This was in the service of lubricating the accelerator pedal pivot and adjusting the stop plate under the shifter. :
Image


But behind the ArcoAMPM mini-mart, I had to see why the fresh air wasn't shutting off all the way. The damper doors were closed, so whattup? It was the factory closed-cell foam (that looks like a very skinny piece of engine compartment seal material) all deteriorated. So, I removed the doors and waxed the intake . . . :
Image

. . . . and removed the old foam and 3M glued new open cell air-conditioner surround foam from Ace Hardware in its place. Had to do some longitudinal cutting and edge trimming, but no big deal:
Image


Then I treated the plastic screen with vinyl/plastic conditioner and waxed the inside (photographed here) of the fresh air grill, my God, what a pleasure it is to have a new car to catch in time and try to bestow the kiss of perpetuity upon it:
Image

This is the accelerator cable sheath between the chassis and the front engine tin, accessed when I disassembled and lubricated the accelerator/clutch group (including that beautiful pivot with dust seals for the clutch pedal). Note how VW put its logo all along the cable sheath:
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Well, it is an honor to have an original car to enjoy bringing up to IAC Road Warrior standards underneath and inside, I just hope that I can keep the road rash to a minimum as we tour the country. And I also hope to grow up some more out here on the road. This road life is a gift that I need to allow to infiltrate my nervous mind. After all, nothing lasts forever, and it is best to leave the old era well sated so you can embrace whatever the new era is going to bring.
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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grandfatherjim
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Desert SW

Post by grandfatherjim » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:31 am

Amskeptic wrote: ..near my favorite camping spot in the country"
et où est-ce, s'il vous plaît?

Jim

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Desert SW

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:34 am

grandfatherjim wrote:
Amskeptic wrote: ..near my favorite camping spot in the country"
et où est-ce, s'il vous plaît?

Jim
Pasque, el viejo Camino Route 87N claro que si! The old road has little trees growing up out of the pavement, but makes a nice stable campsite. It is the starlight display that makes me religious out there. (this is not there, but it will do as a rough approximation)
Image
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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hambone
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Post by hambone » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:35 am

Godspeed gentle freak. May you go off ornery into the peppered night.
(waxing the $#))$#%)#%)#%$#$#@$ floors he is #@%$)#@%$)
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Velokid1
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Post by Velokid1 » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:41 am

Our visit was a delight, mi amigo. Thanks for stopping in to see us. Alza Mae is smiling again!

I forgot what it was like to get a neverending string of double-takes from other drivers on the way to work.

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sped372
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Post by sped372 » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:46 am

hambone wrote:(waxing the $#))$#%)#%)#%$#$#@$ floors he is #@%$)#@%$)
When he's waxing the inside of the ashtray I'll start getting worried.
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

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grandfatherjim
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Post by grandfatherjim » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:50 am

Why would you have replaced the foam with open cell stuff? Availability?
I would have thought it would hold moisture right there against the metal, causing grief later on - even though it is freshly waxed.

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Cindy
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Post by Cindy » Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:17 pm

sped372 wrote:
hambone wrote:(waxing the $#))$#%)#%)#%$#$#@$ floors he is #@%$)#@%$)
When he's waxing the inside of the ashtray I'll start getting worried.
I'm sure he's done that.

Cindy
“No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side.
Or you don't.” ― Stephen King, The Stand

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glasseye
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Desert SW

Post by glasseye » Tue Apr 06, 2010 3:59 pm

Amskeptic wrote:...but the terrors have been dying down with this good severe road life, camping in the desert cold, dealing with blasting winds AGAIN, and best of all, people are connecting with me again.
Ahhhhhh. Sigh. :cheers:
"This war will pay for itself."
Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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Runamuck Bus
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Post by Runamuck Bus » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:07 pm

Colin,
Waxing floors, ashtrays, vents? You may be the reason I can't get my bus on the road!!
Endeavor to Persevere.
'72 Weekender

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:39 pm

Cindy wrote:
sped372 wrote:
hambone wrote:(waxing the $#))$#%)#%)#%$#$#@$ floors he is #@%$)#@%$)
When he's waxing the inside of the ashtray I'll start getting worried.
I'm sure he's done that.

Cindy
Oh hahahah HAHA everybody, no, I haven't waxed the inside of the ashtray. I have 400 grit sanded the inside of the ashtray, I have washed the inside of the ashtray. I have dried and painted the inside of the ashtray with high temp clearcoat. I have lubricated the little wheels on the sides of the earlier VW ashtrays so they glide noiselessly. I have painted the gearshift pattern back on the ashtray. So hahahaHAHA, WAX THIS!
Colin :geek:
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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satchmo
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Post by satchmo » Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:01 pm

Nice car there, Colin. But I'm wondering what those hideous round vented black things are hacked into the lower part of your front doors?

Just teasing of course. A man's gotta have his tunes.

Tim
By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
second, by immitation, which is easiest;
and third, by experience, which is bitterest. -Confucius

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:08 pm

satchmo wrote:Nice car there, Colin. But I'm wondering what those hideous round vented black things are hacked into the lower part of your front doors?

Just teasing of course. A man's gotta have his tunes.

Tim
Oh they came with the car, and were hacked in by monkeys. When I replace the door panels, I will go back to TripCity floor speakers.
ColinTEASETHIS
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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Sluggo
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Post by Sluggo » Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:58 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Cindy wrote:
sped372 wrote:
hambone wrote:(waxing the $#))$#%)#%)#%$#$#@$ floors he is #@%$)#@%$)
When he's waxing the inside of the ashtray I'll start getting worried.
I'm sure he's done that.

Cindy
I have 400 grit sanded the inside of the ashtray, I have washed the inside of the ashtray. I have dried and painted the inside of the ashtray with high temp clearcoat. I have painted the gearshift pattern back on the ashtray.
Colin :geek:
That ashtray now graces my Bus. I always look at that shift pattern with pride (for someone else's work)
:vwgauge420:

1977 Bus with Sunroof - "Lucky '77"
2000cc Type IV w/Dual Weber 36s,
Aircooled.net SVDA w/Compufire,
Redline Weber Fuel Pump,
Holley Regulator,
Half Ass Brush & Roller Rustoleum Paint Job,
Incomplete Custom Interior,
Dual Batteries,
Crunched Slider Door.
------------------------------------------------------

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Cindy
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Post by Cindy » Wed Apr 07, 2010 4:22 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Cindy wrote:
sped372 wrote:
hambone wrote:(waxing the $#))$#%)#%)#%$#$#@$ floors he is #@%$)#@%$)
When he's waxing the inside of the ashtray I'll start getting worried.
I'm sure he's done that.

Cindy
Oh hahahah HAHA everybody, no, I haven't waxed the inside of the ashtray. I have 400 grit sanded the inside of the ashtray, I have washed the inside of the ashtray. I have dried and painted the inside of the ashtray with high temp clearcoat. I have lubricated the little wheels on the sides of the earlier VW ashtrays so they glide noiselessly. I have painted the gearshift pattern back on the ashtray. So hahahaHAHA, WAX THIS!
Colin :geek:
Toldja. (Close enough.)

Cindy
“No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side.
Or you don't.” ― Stephen King, The Stand

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