Summer School in MD -

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surfdad
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Location: Maryland
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Summer School in MD -

Post by surfdad » Tue May 04, 2010 8:44 pm

OK I admit , not everyone who takes Colin's Bus'n 101 course retains enough info to pass the final. I hired Colin back in 2005 and had not seen him since. In 2005 we had spent a long day together and he threw a hell of a lot of info my way, plus my to do list that put Colin on hyper drive. Unfortunately, after that visit in 2005, I did not practice what I had learned. Instead, I went in to cosmetic mode and began taking the bus down to bare metal for a full exterior resto. Of course life has a way of putting things on hold and prolonging dreams. The bus sat for a couple years with little done. Being one who can't stand unfinished projects that take up valuable space, I finally saved enough money and got back in the saddle. I had the bus (actually a Westy) taken for body and paint. Then worked on the interior at home over the last year. I was ready to get back on the road and found that my confidence was suffering and(even with Bently, Hayes, and Muir's books in hand) memory of past mechanical experience was gone. I saw Colin was still doing his thing and was making his way up the East coast early this year. I humbly contacted him and requested he re-aquaint me with the basics. The basics with one issue, might I add. I thought I had diagnosed a failing ignition plug/switch. Which would possibly prohibit us from the test drive at the end of the day.

My pre-visit prep work started weeks ago but I found my absence from the forums and actual hands on work has left me "clueless" about how these engines work. Oh well, feeling a bit unprepared, I knew that this visit would at least wake up my VW senses and energize the passion again. Colin arrived in the BobD and we re-introduced ourselves. We could not believe it had been half a decade since we last crawled under a bus together. It was great to share some experiences we encountered since our last visit. Some good....some not so....but all life teaching/learning trials and tribulations. Colin decided to test me prior to diving in. Needless say, he was working from ground zero again. The good thing was, I had saved all the drawings he made for me in 2005 of the engine parts and theory. So it was just a matter of explaining those pics. We then went to the engine and took a peek, we also compared my engine to the BobD's. You could eat off the BobD's engine ....its that clean. Back to my engine and the essay questions...OK not essay questions but Colin would give scenarios and ask me to explain reasons or next steps for certain scenarios. I'm sure Colin could see the wheels turning but most of my answers were pulled out of thin air (correct or not). I'm just don't have one of those engineering minds that really understands specs and tolerances...but the testing (fail or not) is a great exercise to get the mind moving in the right direction. So we get the valves done, timing, dwell, along with some other minor details and Colin wants to fire the baby up.

He he...that's were these visits become challenging and fun. Colin did a little diagnosis and came up with same conclusion I had...ignition plug/switch under the ignition cylinder. We referred to the Bentley. I got nervous when we read "Working through the access hole, drill into the center of the shear bolt" Then there is a big "CAUTION" paragraph spouting something about a wandering drill bit could damage the steering lock housing....Left hand thread cutting tap....have a new shear bolt on hand ....Oh Snap! That's where my confidence starts evaporate. Well Colin said lets see how far we can get, "easily" before we decide to abort or follow through. We read and re-read the Bentley. Colin finally asks....Do you have a Dremel tool with cutting blades? Gotta love it. Colin, like a dentist, is cutting a grove in the shear bolt to remove it like a screw. This only worked on my bus because a PO had broken off some of the plastic around the access hole making this area more accessible. It worked and we were able to replace the ignition plug which had a ton of grease in it that destroyed the plastic housing. We then did a break adjustment and took her for a spin. Unfortunately, our time was up and we had to go our separate ways. Colin off to some personal biz before another customer here in MD and I was off to coach soccer. Colin left me with a list of to dos with a promise that I will report back with my findings and results before another five years goes by.

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/slide ... _43536499/

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/slide ... _43536499/

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/slide ... _43536499/

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/slide ... _43536499/
Neal
Tikibus

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Sylvester
Bad Old Puddy Tat.
Location: Sylvester, Georgia
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Post by Sylvester » Wed May 05, 2010 2:16 am

Wow Neal, that is one nice Bus! So is it road worthy now?
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue, I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace. Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod, The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

surfdad
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Location: Maryland
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Post by surfdad » Wed May 05, 2010 4:51 am

Thanks, Its a far cry from what it used to look like. I have two plug and play issues. Believe it or not, we pulled into the drive way after the test drive and the fuel pumped stopped working. I may have starved the pump with a slightly pinched fuel line. We also discovered a water damaged turn signal relay. So give me a week or two to get those and finish the routine maintenance punch list and I should be on my way.
Neal
Tikibus

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airkooledchris
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Location: Eureka, California
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Post by airkooledchris » Wed May 05, 2010 8:44 am

beautiful bus. kudo's for doing it right.
1979 California Transporter

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Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
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Post by Amskeptic » Thu May 06, 2010 8:33 am

. . . . and valve adjustment! Let me know if that settles the acoustic questions down.

That paint was so gorgeous that it just makes you hold your breath when you drive it. Made the BobD look like a tacky West German dayglow 70's "mod" airport lounge plastic chair in direct sunlight. I'm OK with that . . .
Image

Surfdad, get out there and see the country! Suffer the outrageous insults of road debris! Have some touch up handy!
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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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