Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Northeast chchchchchill

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Northeast chchchchchill

Post by Amskeptic » Sat May 08, 2010 10:37 am

Holed up in the Starbucks not a mile from where I "lost" my virginity and gained a lifelong beautitude, here in Storrs Connecticut, home of UCONN.

It has been a tripping down the stairs feeling since Atlanta. Had to drive hard up the seaboard to catch the Maryland calls.
Look who now has a baby blue/white interior/gorgeous engine soulmate to the Squareback!

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That would be Cheesehead, one of the perennial IAC customers and a fellow journeyer through Time. We're doing good, Cheesehead, these cars will keep us vital.

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Had a deep deep scare on frenetic I-95 in Virginia, a cop had pulled a car over to the shoulder with his Crown Vic's rump right at the edge of the roadway. I was tooling along in the left lane at 65 after having slowed 10 mph, the car to my right got spooked and slowed dramatically and then decided to pull into my lane at about 25 mph. Well dammittohell you idiot, the signs say "pull over OR slow down for emergency vehicles"! If you cannot safely merge to the other lane, then slowing down is the option.
I had to slam on the brakes violently while looking in the rear view mirror to see who might not being paying attention behind me, and seeing if I could clear this idiot in my lane now. People were locking up brakes behind me, but thankfully no one hit anyone else. The BobD looked like it had been in a crash in the interior, everything strewn about, but what excellent brakes. I had to sit at a gas station to bleed down my anxiety.
"HEy, that's a rad van!" someone calls out
"If you want to die, punk."
"Say what?"
"If you want to dye it pink."
"Oh . . . yeah."

Here in Connecticut, I worked with Iwantmybustorun's beautiful 1973:

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We had an exciting day of rear backing plate replacements and pushrod tubes and at 7:23PM we decided to replace front calipers before it got dark:

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And right under the wire, we got it done:

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This is the visage of a man in his youth who expects a lifetime of bonding with a car he prefers above all others who has discovered that we might have replacement part dimension creep disease with those backing plates that are grinding against the brake drums:

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I look forward to your update, Christian, and I owe you $20.00 for that scale!!!!

Reflective in the chill here in Storrs today . . . this is where I started my adulthood. Though I deeply and sensorily loved life as a nineteen year-old, and my back hurts today, I could not give back a day.
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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Hippie
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Post by Hippie » Sat May 08, 2010 12:46 pm

Great vehicles. Hope it isn't a let down working on my beater. :blackeye:

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hambone
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Post by hambone » Mon May 10, 2010 8:13 am

How the HELL are you in the NE already? Quit messin with my tidy mind.
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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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Tue May 11, 2010 8:47 am

hambone wrote:How the HELL are you in the NE already? Quit messin with my tidy mind.
Massachusetts next two days, 54/33* rain, then Vermont, then western New York, then upstate New York at Canadian line, then Ohio, Chicago, it is ridiculous. Haven't even changed the oil.
Today is a chilled windblown CV repack boot replacement in a parking lot of a closed mall store.

I shoulda shoulda shoulda gone counterclockwise this year.
:alien:
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 May 11, 2010 8:51 am

And here I am futzin about having to replace a boot in my nice cozy driveway. I aspire to have nerve like that. I guess it's like fallin off a roof for you now since you've done it so often for so many years.

It's been chilly and rainy here too. But nice weather is coming, which of course heads east from here. Mid 70s in a couple days.
Hang in there! :flower: :flower: :flower:
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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BellePlaine
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Post by BellePlaine » Tue May 11, 2010 9:03 am

Amskeptic wrote:

I shoulda shoulda shoulda gone counterclockwise this year.
:alien:
I am grateful that you didn't.
1975 Riviera we call "Spider-Man"

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Tue May 11, 2010 2:22 pm

So, I found a parking spot and got the bus off three of the four tires so I could also rotate the Firestone "Who Said They Had To Stay Round?" tires:

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We have a 4X4 allowed to cock a little against the nose cone mount:

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. . . and a bottle jack under the front shock mounting area of the lower torsion arm:

Image

The road repair of the ripped CV joint included a plastic bag wrapped in a cone shape duct taped to the axle with a little strip of duct tape tightly wrapped around the cap under the bolt heads. Gave me 120 miles:

Image

Mid-surgery, Mr. Company Owner tools up in his Lexus SC430,
"what ARE you doing on my property?"
" I AM replacing my outboard CV boot."
"Why here?"
"Because I cannot allow my original high quality German CV joints to suffer any intrusion of dirt and it shall rain tomorrow."
"Oh. OK, good luck."
"Thanks. Enjoy that 4 cam 3UZFE V8."

And here is the layout of salient parts, thank goodness the ball joint puller was able to remove the inner hub from the driveshaft, because it was stuck on there pretty tight:

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So?
Which is the new boot?

Right Side:
Image

Left Side:
Image

Took about an hour and a half. The CV is happy now even if it rains.
Not me.
Irritated-Whine-Cooled
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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aopisa
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Post by aopisa » Tue May 11, 2010 8:42 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
hambone wrote:How the HELL are you in the NE already? Quit messin with my tidy mind.
Massachusetts next two days, 54/33* rain, then Vermont, then western New York, then upstate New York at Canadian line, then Ohio, Chicago, it is ridiculous. Haven't even changed the oil.
Today is a chilled windblown CV repack boot replacement in a parking lot of a closed mall store.

I shoulda shoulda shoulda gone counterclockwise this year.
:alien:
With the crazy exception of snow on a Wednesday and then 90 degrees on Saturday two weeks ago, we have had an early and warm spring here in VT. Lots of 70's and 80's which we generally don't see until July. Now we are paying for it with March like cold rainy weather. Fear not, all 5 of the weather sites I am tracking are showing sunny and mid 60's for Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed. Looking forward to our appointment.
1977 Westy 2.0L F.I.

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate. - Chuang Tzu

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airkooledchris
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Post by airkooledchris » Tue May 11, 2010 10:00 pm

right side inner boot looks the newest
1979 California Transporter

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justgimmecoffee
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Post by justgimmecoffee » Wed May 12, 2010 4:51 am

keep going, you've almost convinced me to tackle the same CV boot on my own.
So when you arrive, we can do important stuff like waxing the shocks.

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Wed May 12, 2010 4:56 am

Well detectives, it is the right outboard, as photographed with the big boo-boo duct tape bandage. The joints look new inside, so I am saving any notion of criss-crossing them for a 100,000 miles down the road or so.
ColinToAndoverForthwith
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 » Wed May 12, 2010 7:01 am

How do you feel before a project like this?
AWWW crap.
or
YAY!
or
Both?
I guess it depends on the moon.
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 » Wed May 12, 2010 8:17 am

hambone wrote:How do you feel before a project like this?
AWWW crap.
or
YAY!
or
Both?
I guess it depends on the moon.
I'm curious, too. Because you always seem about 75% happy and 25% disappointed to have to work on your vehicle on-the-road.

Great update and even though you probably don't agree a good portion of the time, I will reiterate that you are quite fortunate to have carved out for yourself this life on the move.

Is Cheesehead's bus a (much nicer, apparently) version of mine? Mine looks a little like that when she's had a good wash/wax/polish.

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Thu May 13, 2010 5:06 am

hambone wrote:How do you feel before a project like this?
AWWW crap.
or
YAY!
or
Both?
I guess it depends on the moon.
75% Yay!
An opportunity to say "thank-you for loyal service" (most true for the Road Warrior).
25% AWW It Better Not Be Due To Lousy New Aftermarket Parts crap.

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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iwantmybustorun
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Northeast chchchchch

Post by iwantmybustorun » Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:58 pm

Amskeptic wrote: I look forward to your update, Christian, and I owe you $20.00 for that scale!!!!

Reflective in the chill here in Storrs today . . . this is where I started my adulthood. Though I deeply and sensorily loved life as a nineteen year-old, and my back hurts today, I could not give back a day.
Colin
Colin, sorry for the lack of an update.
Looking back, a lot has happened since your visit back in May, but not much having to do with my bus. My sister was in a car accident days after you left and unfortunately my uncle lost his battle to cancer this past Saturday. I'm just now sitting down to figure out if my trip across the country will still be possible and I re-read Colin's reflection... "I could not give back a day." I hope my uncle had the same thoughts.
73 Westy
1700
Weber single progressive
[Crane ignition system out]
SVDA and points

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