Itinerant Air-Cooled Florida ii
Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2017 7:27 am
Lotta time-wasting down here in the sunshine and 80's on U.S. 1 in Miami:
I take dopey tourist photographs when it is sunny and warm in February:
Visited with VW Treasure after the poptop canvas fiasco to see what harm I could bring to yet another Volkswagen:
His bus was parked right where it belonged, in the front yard, with projected projects including things like air-conditioning. This visit was all about rebuilding the doors with new scrapers and felts:
We had one obstacle in a vent window that came apart at one of the aluminum rivets. Drills and battery chargers and bits and awls and little screws saved the day with a nicely self-tapped screw now holding the vent window together. Do not underestimate the perseverence of VW Treasure:
By sheer force of will, Dory shall come to completion and Dory shall be a fine air-conditioned testament to Chromed Seven Passenger Volkswagen Conveyance.
The Porsche won't even have a chance to compete . . . :
Decided to drive across the bottom of Florida to visit with Manaman, my penultimate call of 2016 with the 1982 Vanagon that needed a quickie engine teardown to re-index the cam and crank gears. Now it wasn't running quite too fresh yet, so I drove across the Big Cypress Swamp/Alligator Alley to have a look:
On the way, I finally fixed that damn license plate bracket on NaranjaWesty. It was riveted crookedly to the engine hatch and it was, of course, completely painted orange like everything else on that poor car. Stopped at the gate to the Miccosukee Reservation "no trespassing!", and drilled those orange rivets out so the orange license plate bracket could clatter free. Razored off the paint, sanded, washed, and set to dry the screws and the bracket.
Two guys in a a little Nissan rice rocket roll down to the gate. They both get out of the car and take off their shirts, wtf?
"Howdy, what are you doing down here?"
"I am painting the license plate bracket. What are you doing here?"
"Well, you have fun painting your bracket."
Then they climbed over the fence and walked down the path into the brush conversing about canals and marshes. I was on Duplicolor Aluminum 1605 coat number two when they returned. I had to gather the bracket/coat hanger and screws off the gate to let them clamber over it.
"Well, I don't know about you but I think your Nissan looks a lot better now with a little silver sparkle."
"What, what do you mean, what did you do, what are you saying?"
The one guy wasn't getting it, the other was laughing at his friend's discomfiture.
Did the headlamp rings too:
Re-sprayed the insides of the chrome headlamp bezels with rust-catalyzing primer:
... and painted up two Bus Depot timing scales with red highlights and several coats of clearcoat so the numbers won't wipe OFF as is their wont. The bargain scale on the left is available for $10.00. The deluxe is now available for $20.00:
The 1982 Vanagon just needed a little fine-tuning of the timing and mixture and a file attack upon the throttle plate so more air could pass at idle. When I got there, the idle timing was near 30* and the speed screw was way out, yet the idle speed was still inadequate. You may NOT adjust the timing to compensate for an idle issue, now may you? No, of course you mayn't. It is a fine 1982 Vanagon, Manaman.
Gloried in the crickets and the breeze and the magnificent penumbra moonrise eclipse aligned expertly with 94th Avenue in Miami after my second visit with exoticdvm. Did I mention that NaranjaWesty has been running f.l.a.w.l.e.s.s.l.y?
I take dopey tourist photographs when it is sunny and warm in February:
Visited with VW Treasure after the poptop canvas fiasco to see what harm I could bring to yet another Volkswagen:
His bus was parked right where it belonged, in the front yard, with projected projects including things like air-conditioning. This visit was all about rebuilding the doors with new scrapers and felts:
We had one obstacle in a vent window that came apart at one of the aluminum rivets. Drills and battery chargers and bits and awls and little screws saved the day with a nicely self-tapped screw now holding the vent window together. Do not underestimate the perseverence of VW Treasure:
By sheer force of will, Dory shall come to completion and Dory shall be a fine air-conditioned testament to Chromed Seven Passenger Volkswagen Conveyance.
The Porsche won't even have a chance to compete . . . :
Decided to drive across the bottom of Florida to visit with Manaman, my penultimate call of 2016 with the 1982 Vanagon that needed a quickie engine teardown to re-index the cam and crank gears. Now it wasn't running quite too fresh yet, so I drove across the Big Cypress Swamp/Alligator Alley to have a look:
On the way, I finally fixed that damn license plate bracket on NaranjaWesty. It was riveted crookedly to the engine hatch and it was, of course, completely painted orange like everything else on that poor car. Stopped at the gate to the Miccosukee Reservation "no trespassing!", and drilled those orange rivets out so the orange license plate bracket could clatter free. Razored off the paint, sanded, washed, and set to dry the screws and the bracket.
Two guys in a a little Nissan rice rocket roll down to the gate. They both get out of the car and take off their shirts, wtf?
"Howdy, what are you doing down here?"
"I am painting the license plate bracket. What are you doing here?"
"Well, you have fun painting your bracket."
Then they climbed over the fence and walked down the path into the brush conversing about canals and marshes. I was on Duplicolor Aluminum 1605 coat number two when they returned. I had to gather the bracket/coat hanger and screws off the gate to let them clamber over it.
"Well, I don't know about you but I think your Nissan looks a lot better now with a little silver sparkle."
"What, what do you mean, what did you do, what are you saying?"
The one guy wasn't getting it, the other was laughing at his friend's discomfiture.
Did the headlamp rings too:
Re-sprayed the insides of the chrome headlamp bezels with rust-catalyzing primer:
... and painted up two Bus Depot timing scales with red highlights and several coats of clearcoat so the numbers won't wipe OFF as is their wont. The bargain scale on the left is available for $10.00. The deluxe is now available for $20.00:
The 1982 Vanagon just needed a little fine-tuning of the timing and mixture and a file attack upon the throttle plate so more air could pass at idle. When I got there, the idle timing was near 30* and the speed screw was way out, yet the idle speed was still inadequate. You may NOT adjust the timing to compensate for an idle issue, now may you? No, of course you mayn't. It is a fine 1982 Vanagon, Manaman.
Gloried in the crickets and the breeze and the magnificent penumbra moonrise eclipse aligned expertly with 94th Avenue in Miami after my second visit with exoticdvm. Did I mention that NaranjaWesty has been running f.l.a.w.l.e.s.s.l.y?