Itinerant Air Cooled Greetings From Pennsylvania

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air Cooled Greetings From Pennsylvania

Post by Amskeptic » Wed May 27, 2009 7:53 am

The North East seems always to welcome my arrival with plunging temperatures and precipitation, and yesterday was no exception. Upon leaving my call in New Jersey (correcting appetite's brutally incompetent brake job performed by a "professional" in the past), the rains came down and the temperatures sank into the upper 40s.

My right side heat exchanger was gaily ticking away, taunting me turn on the heat. So I did. No no no, said my woozy brain under the influence on carbon monoxide and other rich hydrocarbons. I got a call from Bus Depot asking me about things I already specified, like, do you really want this shipment to arrive in Syracuse on Friday? So I said, "no, of course not. I am going to drive to your front door instead and pick up the parts right now." And that is what I did. I pulled a woozy u-turn on I-380 in the rain through one of those "Authorized and EmergencyVehicles Only" medians and drove to Perkiomenville or whatever it was. Halfway down, I get another call from Bus Depot. "Uh we have bad news and worse news, it seems that the right side exchanger we have is actually the last one and it is damaged all up the side with a split seam and bashed in jacketing." Yelling over the ticking exhaust and woozy monoxide in the rain at 70 mph, I spoke emphatically and enunciated extra-clearly, " Doo Yoou Haave Discreetion Too Woork The Priice Doown??" "Yeah sure, we will work something out." So I continued to drive through hills and dells and rain and spray and wooze and tick to Bus Depot.

The exchanger was sitting on the bench. $289.00 said the invoice and the computer guy. "No no no" said I. "We gave you $25.00 off." I asked to speak with the Discretionary One who was on the phone and listened to all the call-takers. "Hey man, Bus Depot, how can I help you?" over at one terminal, "yeah we got notification that the shipment hasn't shipped ye. . . I don't kn . . . maybe it wi . . . I don't know maybe by . . . do you sti . . . I don't know I can ask if . . . " over at another. The heat exchanger had a bashed outlet pipe, a bashed inlet circle, a bashed seam and a dent, and the whole inside seam had been knocked apart and the insulation (yes! insulation and manymany many fins!) was spilling out. Discretionary One came over and I afixed an evil eye upon him," $25.00 off is not going to do it here, my time will be at least two hours to fix this and it is clear this has been on the shelf for decades and I am looking at 25 . . . PERCENT, original VW or not this thing is junk." He agreed. Yay. Let's take advantage of the situation, "and furthermore you all are selling shitty fuel hose and it is a risk to your business as well as your customers, and my stainless steel muffler is rotting out from within was it not a lifetime-guaranteed muffler? ask Ron if you do not personally know the answer and have him email me."

And I drove away with my VW original heat exchanger and the ticking and the monoxide and the woozy fatigue . . . in the rain . . . alone.
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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hambone
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Post by hambone » Wed May 27, 2009 8:14 am

Bus Depot..........
I only order from them rarely any more.
Give em' hell! Lifetime indeed you need a new one.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
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zblair
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Post by zblair » Wed May 27, 2009 8:19 am

Jesus. Well I am glad you had a chance to visit Bus Depot in person. Too bad you didn't speak to Ron in person. Even in an altered state as you were it would have been a chance to finally let him know in person how you feel about the quality of parts that are sold.

I shudder to think of how someone with less knowledge or minimal knowledge about the quality of parts received, would be naive in getting stuff like that and have them not know the difference and get ripped off in the process. :pale:

I would hope that not every Bus Depot customer suffers the same fates as you have, and hope that you have time soon, while you are in Syracuse, to address the Road Warrior's issues.

Stay safe, stay warm, keep going forward :flower:
1974 T1 Super Beetle "Fweem"
2017 Honda HRV "Domina"


"Love something? Serve it."
~Roshni Mitra

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hambone
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Post by hambone » Wed May 27, 2009 8:42 am

I think getting ripped off on aftermarket parts is like an initiation. I used to live close to JC Whitney and my first Beetle learned the hard way.
I don't think Bus Depot lives up to their own hype. A shame really, they have the potential to be a really good vendor.
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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zblair
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Post by zblair » Wed May 27, 2009 8:45 am

hambone wrote:I think getting ripped off on aftermarket parts is like an initiation.
I think you're spot on. We've all been there, done that unfortunately.
1974 T1 Super Beetle "Fweem"
2017 Honda HRV "Domina"


"Love something? Serve it."
~Roshni Mitra

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Birdibus
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Post by Birdibus » Wed May 27, 2009 9:58 am

Ron used to visit the VW forums and seemed interested in our concerns. What has changed? I haven't seen him here in a long time. Is the aftermarket situation so grim that he has stopped trying? I used to think that shipping was Bus Depots biggest drawback, but the feed back now has me questioning the quality of parts sold.
71 bus, 74 westy

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dtrumbo
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Post by dtrumbo » Wed May 27, 2009 10:02 am

I've had this same experience with them on more than one occasion (shame on me) and they are now on my very short list of banned ACVW parts vendors. There are too many other/better options out there to tolerate the haphazard/piss-poor customer service, not to mention shoddy parts and completely unprofessional shipping methods.
- Dick

1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.

... as it turns out, it was the coil!

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Vdubtech
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Re: Itinerant Air Cooled Greetings From Pennsylvania

Post by Vdubtech » Wed May 27, 2009 10:03 am

Amskeptic wrote:The North East seems always to welcome my arrival with plunging temperatures and precipitation
So this is your doing then? I knew someone was to blame. We've had a string of gorgeous weather the past couple of weeks, then you announce your arrival, and we get this....ugh. I have a 12X12 EZ-Up Shelter that we can use if need be on Friday, which of course will be the coldest day of the week. See you then.....

Image

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hambone
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Post by hambone » Wed May 27, 2009 10:17 am

Except for all the lightning, that forecast doesn't look bad. It's been chillier here until lately.
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 » Wed May 27, 2009 6:34 pm

Another cold rainy day here in Scranton PA, so I spent time reading up on how much owners love their BMW 5 Series, their current value in Collector Car Magazine 6750/51850/43800/34750/210850/122000 (and I think mine is firmly a #2 with a little #3 here and there), and how the engines seem to last forever.

Oh, and I attacked the heat exchanger outside of Starbucks:

This is a genuine new VW0000 heat exchanger . . . :
Image

. . . that has been traumatized by careless throwing around, thus pulling the seam apart where the jacket got stoved in along the side:
Image

After much laborious pinching and bending, I got the seam edge opened up so I could use Vise Grips to serve as a puller and a screwdriver or two to help compel the sheetmetal to bend in specific spots:
Image

Then I tried a poorly executed trick. You know that sheet metal is going to have a memory of of its old life, and this dented exchanger is no exception. I thought, why not bend/pinch the seam back down just enough to grab onto the lower edge, then hammer so that it will grab at the point of maximum blow (you can do this with an alternator bolt too, tighten until sticky, then tap pulley, it will stick exactly where you like it best). It was working soooooooooooooo beautifully until it hit the spot where I had over-pinched the seam. . . and my hammer blow merely re-caved-in the lower jacket.
Image

Anyways, three hours later, the circle inlets/outlets are round again, the rectangular inlet for the fan housing flap is rectangular again, and the seam is passably sealed. Tomorrow I will stick this sucker on the car so I can have heat and the public (and my remaining brain cells) won't be treated to this exhaust leak:
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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whc03grady
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Re: Itinerant Air Cooled Greetings From Pennsylvania

Post by whc03grady » Wed May 27, 2009 9:23 pm

Amskeptic wrote:...the temperatures sank into the upper 40s.

My right side heat exchanger was gaily ticking away, taunting me turn on the heat. So I did.
Jezziz, man, just leave the heat off and put on a coat! I know you own one....
Ludwig--1974 Westfalia, 2.0L (GD035193), Solex 34PDSIT-2/3 carburetors.
Gertie--1971 Squareback, 1600cc with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection from a '72 (E brain).
Read about their adventures:
http://www.ludwigandgertie.blogspot.com

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Hippie
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Post by Hippie » Thu May 28, 2009 5:31 am

Amskeptic wrote:Image
Very nice. Your patience amazes me.
You or I can put a few tack welds on the seam when you visit my Bus to help hold it if need be.

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air Cooled Greetings From Pennsylvania

Post by Amskeptic » Thu May 28, 2009 8:43 am

whc03grady wrote:
Amskeptic wrote:...the temperatures sank into the upper 40s.

My right side heat exchanger was gaily ticking away, taunting me turn on the heat. So I did.
Jezziz, man, just leave the heat off and put on a coat! I know you own one....
You stop it right there you Mizzoola BigFoot Snow Monster, don't start getting all Paul Bunyan Tough Guy on me, I HAVE done the snow shovelling to find my hovel at 6* below zero, I have driven across the continent in 20-44* below-zero blizzard conditions and repaired a thrown tire chain at 11:00PM on the shoulder of I-80 when it was well below zero............:
Image
......................................... it is just that I choose to stay warm now.
Colin :cherry:
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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Cindy
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Post by Cindy » Thu May 28, 2009 11:30 am

i think he meant--put on a coat instead of . . . asphyxiating.

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 Pennsylvania

Post by glasseye » Thu May 28, 2009 11:32 am

Amskeptic wrote:I have driven across the continent in 20-44* below-zero blizzard conditions
Image
Colin :cherry:
Brutal, man. Them there are conditions that would test an Asstro, even. :flower:
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Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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