Amskeptic and Adventurewagen, Take Two - Seattle

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Adventurewagen
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Location: Seattle
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Amskeptic and Adventurewagen, Take Two - Seattle

Post by Adventurewagen » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:51 am

I might not have had a half torn apart bus I just rescued from a field this time but I made sure we had plenty to do. I've bolded the highlights since I seem to be rambling today :)

With three VW's sitting outside ready to play with I was ecstatic to see Colin as he rolled up into my driveway. This years goal... Use less Gum Out than last year and spend less time running trips to parts shops for various nuts and bolts.

I wanted to get some basics down this years to help me in the long run. So I had Colin walk me through a full tune up on the 63 notch. It was great! He was glued to the really nice Bentley workshop manual I have as I adjusted valves which he critiqued. Now I've adjusted valves a million times on the bus but it's always nice to see the little differences and adjustments I should be making when doing it.

Then came the third best part of the day. Replacing the 009 with the stock vacuum advance distributor. I've been wanting to do that since I bought the notch but the parts aren't easy to find in good condition.

Next up... Static timing. I'd never done it before. Read about it lots, sure, but never actually done it with somebody that was able to verify what was right and wrong. Sure enough just adjusting the valves was interesting. 10* BTDC on the pulley is where you did it? Colin helped decipher the manual and the minutia while we plodded along.

We then tackled the carb a bit but with not much adjustment it was time to roll. Now came the second best time of the day. Driving the notch through second gear without finding a flat spot from the distributor!!! YEEEEESSSSSSS. Little did Colin know but that made the day right there for me. I used to drive the notch daily to work until other VW's got in the sights and that flat spot drove me nuts.

Anyway, moving on. Colin also figured out why the choke wasn't working properly along with actually hooking it up. We took a look at the 71 camper and fiddled with the shifting. After one overly confident attempt at adjusting it which only hit 3rd and 4th, hehehe, he got it on the money and now the 71 shifts oh so nice.

We determined the Brake booster needs a rebuild and that my rewiring in the back has just a smidge of a problem :) Finally we hit on the Green 79... the beast Colin helped breath life into last year but never got to drive. It was a two day mega session we did which ended with a jump start from his bus to mine to get it running for the first time in 7yrs at around midnight before he gave me a list of instructions and had to head off to his next rendevous.

To Colin's suprise, the 79 was doing pretty good. He dubbed it my "pound puppy". Lucky and thankful to be alive. We fixed the exhaust leak and a whistle I though was normal, oops. We adjusted the AFM a bit then did the biggest fix of the day for me. Numero Uno on the scale.

It was bottom of my list but adjusting the forlorn sliding door on the 79 had been a pain.
The bus came with the door off, half the hinges missing and the rest of he parts broken along with the window. Three new parts orders later along with a replacement window and I got the door on the tracks. But would it shut, no. I drove for over a month with the door permanently locked shut. Then I finally got it adjusted after hours of tinkering to the point it would shut only if I carefully fed it closed and pushed from the back.

So... Colin takes one look at the sliding door and says "This thar guide in the front is too high, you dun need to lower it a bit". Not two minutes later I'd done the very simple adjustment did Colin grab the door and slide the damn thing shut! BAAAAAAAM. I didn't even have time to yell "NOOO it doesn't shut like that, it will slam in and pop out". Instead it clicked shut.

All I gotta say is it was another worthwhile itinerant visit and I'm looking forward to next years whenever that may be.

Thank you Colin.
63 Gulf Blue Notch
71 Sierra Yellow Adventurewagen
DjEep wrote:Velo? Are you being "over-run"? Do you need to swim through a sea of Mexican anchor-babies to get to your bus in the morning?
:wav:

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zblair
The Zster
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Post by zblair » Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:29 pm

Colin's meticulous attention to detail is part of the magic for me. That and the fact that things you may have struggled with are no longer a struggle.

:cheers: Yay for you Mr. & Mrs. Adventurewagen! :cheers:
1974 T1 Super Beetle "Fweem"
2017 Honda HRV "Domina"


"Love something? Serve it."
~Roshni Mitra

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Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
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Post by Amskeptic » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:27 am

It was a relief to have a little order out there. . .

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. . . and a pleasure to see the notchback out and enjoying the day.

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I have a particular fondness for this bus that was rescued from a decrepit sleep. It has a heart under there.
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You are a testament to the love of these cars. . .
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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