Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

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Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:13 pm

On my way out of San Francisco, I drove past a shop that tugged at old California memories, mid-70's BMWs. I liked the fact that all of my customer's cars were daily drivers, yeah, with quality parts available too. Here are two survivors that reminded of my own:

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Like now, my pride and joys were also my work trucks while I attended UCLA. The very same tool box that resides in Chloe once also resided in them. Note that the BMW 630CSi ushered in a rudimentary monitoring system that is now common in most all cars:

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Anyways, back in the present, I had some serious mountain driving in my recent past, some Sierra Nevada Sequoia National Forest traverse in my present, and two Death Valley mountain traverses to come. Thought to myself, "let's look at those rear brakes now." Good idea. Found a lovely campsite outside of Porterville CA off CA 190 east:

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Pretty moon above, crickets, golden light, and the main road about forty feet due down from my site:

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After who knows how many miles prior to the 63,000 I have put on them, they were only 1/2 the way down, so I put the new shoes back under the rear bench seat, and bathed these suckers in GumOut:

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Just like what I found on the fronts in Portland, grease had found its way to the shoes. The right rear outer seal lip had been caught by a sharp edge of the thrust washer fabricated long ago in Connecticut. This pulled the seal slightly out of the housing:

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Sanded the thrust washer smooth, tapped the seal flush, and dabbed some Lanval Commemorative Vanagon Cylinder Head Sealant at 9 and 3 o'clock on the outside perimeter of the seal to help hold it (maybe) in place. I expect the inner lip to do all the work now:

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The drum damage first noted in September 2012 has not changed. Notice the nice cross-hatch on the drum surface? Of course you do.

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Painted the welds that hold the inner disc to the rims on each wheel. Maybe that will stop the rust-bleed after every rain event:

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Crashed out at dusk, happy, quiet, moon, cool breeze, my tomorrow's ridiculous predicament not yet discerned . . .

In the morning, I took a fast walk up an overgrown trail and returned to touching up the wheel balance mauling of the rear wheels. While dabbing, I heard a Chevrolet Tahoe pull over down below, "Well change her, now! here! I can't take it any more!" Therapists, take heart, your future is secure.

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What I did not know about now-today's ridiculous predicament, was that CA 190 just ends in the middle of nowhere in the high mountains. Here I am at 5,000 feet noticing that spark plug #2 (lower right) has a short circuit (see the shadow?):


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I pulled over in a second when the engine went off-song. Did a compression test while I was there. 120/125/115/125, not bad for 5,000 feet. And I drove on up the hill to honest-to-God-who-knows-where . . .

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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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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 2

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:04 pm

After CA 190 just ended, I had to take something to get me over the range. I think it was called Great Western Divide Highway. It was beautiful up there:

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Right about here I saw a bear in the road and then a fellow cow:

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Right about here, I looked at the gas gauge:

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I passed a "Johnsondale", I can't tell which of any of these road is going to get me to US 395. Johnsondale did not have gas. I took a right when the left said "75 miles to the next gas". But the right was going exactly the wrong direction (ain't that the truth?) By Kerrville, I was in no mood to go right any longer.
"22 miles down to the next gas station," said the bored general store clerk.
I told myself, "I can go do that '75 miles to the next gas' I have exactly a 1/3rd of a tank!" SO I TURNED AROUND to go back up the hill to take my left turn.

I missed an exceptionally salient feature of mountain driving vis a vis expected fuel economy.

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Yeah, the hills are steep. Each gear below 4th takes away a huge percentage of miles driven per engine gas consumption. Duh?

Here, I am looking at nothing but uphill 2nd gear:

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Looked back longingly, I am leaving behind the trees! Went around a corner and no more big trees. They knew better:

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Had to take a suspension articulation picture while my gas supply dwindled:

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Gas gauge is now just a tick above a quarter:

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You should have heard that little conversation . . . with my now-split personality.
"Damn this is gorgeous."
"We are running out of gas."
"This is amazing."
"Every second counts."

I took a picture of the dash so the coroner would see my final minutes of life caught on my EZ Share. I had to reach 41,248, but these hills were all 2nd gear:

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At 7,000 feet, I leaned out the mixture but good:

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Such a stunning lack of gas stations . . . :

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See the road snaking through the scenery? Wayyyyyyyyy down there, I could just see my left turn decision:

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Now I am on full Fuel Economy Or Else mode. Stay in as high of of a gear as possible! Maximum 2,400 rpm only! (that's where the torque curve is for all intents and purposes "on-cam at the lowest friction".

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But at 8,000 feet, I have precious little power to keep 3rd gear. I estimated maximum fuel economy of 10 mpg with a 2.06 2nd gear ratio:

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Now I am a whisker below 1/4 and the odometer has barely ticked off 3 1/2 miles:

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That poor engine and transaxle! 3rd gear in tiny increments, downshift! upshift! downshift! upshift! Some curves took 1st gear only. Finally! The summit! Now I can coast for forty miles!

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Uh, no I can't. First of all, gravity exacts its revenge for all that gas consumed trying to drive to the boundary of the troposphere, those poor drum brakes could not handle the succession of hairpin curves, so 3rd down to 2nd up to 3rd down to 2nd on and on with just enough brake fade to be "concerning" was the best I could hope for. Secondly, you never know what is around the next curve, like, Chloe's extended family?

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I was so annoyed with myself, all this beauty and I am sweating bullets and abusing my poor car, and where the hell is 395??? It is still some 30 miles along 395 to find this most amazing gift of amber volatility that makes my world go, but this was more gorgeous than the camera could possibly capture:

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Such an amazing experience to see how these successive mountain ranges wring out the moisture from the sky, and these successively drier landscapes all have to survive their lot:

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Idling! To take pictures! Gas gauge is totally below the reserve line!

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I chose to go to north on 395 to a clot of resident humans that don't register on MapQuest. Their only claim to fame in my world is that they have a shining edifice of a Chevron station where a bug infestation was coating the lights and the inside of my car while I was in the store getting a receipt for 15.1 gallons at $4.89 a gallon. They knew I'd pay without protest THIS time, it was in my eyes, misty gratitude.

Slept alongside the gardening shed of a cemetery with bugs dancing and crawling . . . happy.
I had a full tank of gas you see.
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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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by THall » Thu Jul 30, 2015 6:03 am

A most excellent post; had me at the edge of my chair. Absolutely love following your journey across this land, 100x better than any of the scripted "reality" shows on tv (and much better writing).

No time to graze for that brown cow...onward.
'78 Westy 2.0 FI

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by dingo » Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:07 am

yeah that Southern Sierra is great country....thanks for the tour 1
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by 71whitewesty » Thu Jul 30, 2015 8:09 am

Keeping things exciting around here! Great shots and awesome looking roads. Glad you made it!

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by Jivermo » Thu Jul 30, 2015 9:10 am

Very neat stuff and great pics. Been there with the gas gauge. Who's the Kid sitting on the Beemer bumper?

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by wcfvw69 » Thu Jul 30, 2015 10:06 am

My two favorite things about this site.. Colin's road side repairs and excellent story telling, with fantastic pictures to illustrate it all!

Someone documentary producer should follow Colin on one of his annual trips. It would be epic!
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by airkooledchris » Thu Jul 30, 2015 10:08 pm

isn't that always the case when you find someplace that amazing? there's some little nagging voice that won't leave you alone.

"you're running out of fuel" or "if you break down here, it might be a long time before someone comes along."
or "someone is coming, but are they likely the murder'n type?"

I will say that after your gas scare going across the 36 from up here towards the 5 - I brought a container of extra gas with me and was very glad I did. (mine guzzles it like a 70's mopar)
1979 California Transporter

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by asiab3 » Fri Jul 31, 2015 12:30 am

Glad you found 395, even if you didn't catch the prettier northern part.

If you beat me to Newhall, Jim at "Jim's Just Volkswagens" in Sun Valley near Sylmar might be willing to talk transaxle rebuilding… His bread and butter is wealthy sand rail owners, but his passion is in stock VW engineering. And he's always got some kind of radio news on; we talk VWs and political agendas… Reminds me of somewhere else…

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Aug 01, 2015 10:05 am

asiab3 wrote:Glad you found 395, even if you didn't catch the prettier northern part.
I have northern 395 well-documented from years past . . . Conway Summit for example.

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Road Warrior 2007

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BobD 2010

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My definition of "pretty" is expanding into new areas. I loved discovering this new approach to 395:

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asiab3 wrote: If you beat me to Newhall, Jim at "Jim's Just Volkswagens" in Sun Valley near Sylmar might be willing to talk transaxle rebuilding… His bread and butter is wealthy sand rail owners, but his passion is in stock VW engineering. And he's always got some kind of radio news on; we talk VWs and political agendas… Reminds me of somewhere else…

Robbie
Man, I wish I had more time in L.A. to visit with people like Jim and Adrian and Gary. I have to go from Newhall after our appointment to Idyllwild that night, then to Irvine the next night . . . :cyclopsani:
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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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by asiab3 » Sat Aug 01, 2015 10:17 am

Amskeptic wrote:Man, I wish I had more time in L.A. to visit with people like Jim and Adrian and Gary. I have to go from Newhall after our appointment to Idyllwild that night, then to Irvine the next night . . . :cyclopsani:
Colin
When you're in San Marcos, stop by Adrian's shop. He's right there, (and down the street from Paradise VW, where "nah you don't need to balance your stinkin' pulley!") Adrian is the only one that works at his shop; the employees he used to have we're reliable or punctual...

At least your departure for the Hill means I'll have a chance at getting to Oceanside that night for work the next morning!
Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by Jivermo » Sat Aug 01, 2015 10:32 am

Yes, please stop and see Adrian, at least. Let's get the story on the oil pressure mod, and see what's up with him. It would be great to keep him in the resource loop for awhile...these shops are dwindling fast, it seems.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by Cindy » Tue Aug 04, 2015 5:26 am

So a full tank of gas is the secret to happiness? No wonder then.

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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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Aug 04, 2015 8:33 am

Cindy wrote:So a full tank of gas is the secret to happiness? No wonder then.

Cindy
Remember our, what was it, six mile out-of-gas-coast down from Mulholland Drive to West Hollywood in that rental Passat in was it 1992? Tom Oberto 5% bodyfat, and Paul youcandobetterthanhim??
Colin :flower:
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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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings Sequoia Forest 1&2

Post by Cindy » Tue Aug 04, 2015 9:58 am

I could not believe you pulled that off. Coasted right into the gas station.

As for Paul, all I did was ask for scissors. Not a kiss on the neck! What a jerk.

I remember Tom (and his little cups of frozen yogurt In the freezer).

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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