2018 Preparation Depredations

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TrollFromDownBelow
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Mon Mar 12, 2018 5:45 pm

Yikes! $75 ea.? Guess it' s been a while .... a long while since i priced them out.


And yeah Colin, how come you didn't paint with the old rubber still on? Then you can pull off any tire balancing weights so that the whole rim gets painted well (unless you pull the weights off, mark then reinstall.....but IIRC from my MSU student mechanic days, those weights were designed as 1 time use only).
1976 VW Bus aka tripod
FI ...not leaky, and not so noisy...and she runs awesome!
hambone wrote: There are those out there with no other aim but to bunch panties. It's like arguing with a pretzel.
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Jivermo » Tue Mar 13, 2018 4:36 am

Appears that you no longer back out of that driveway.

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Amskeptic
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:21 am

TrollFromDownBelow wrote:
Mon Mar 12, 2018 5:45 pm
And yeah Colin, how come you didn't paint with the old rubber still on?
Discount Tire manages to rip up wheel rims with their bead breaking machine, and they manage to chip paint when they throw the rims on the hubs/drums like a game of horseshoes. If you look closely, I get a good paint line. Now I have to get the BobD and bring it down to paint its wheels (the old nasty NaranjaWesty wheels with the easy to remove paint), and freshen up the rest of the car. It is beginning to get a "stored-too-long" mustiness.
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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Amskeptic
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:46 am

. . . and the BobD is now safely ensconsed in Pensacola however briefly:

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Alexus'd up to Atlanta on Saturday so there'd be less traffic to contend with. The drive up had toons galore. Whatever playlist I had suggested to BusBassist was overwritten by impulsive selections as I swiped through the music library, so we ended up with Yes - Time and a Word, Going For The One, and a demented little trip through Memory Lane with Elton John's Yellow Brick Road (and I avoided the trashy stuff on that album as ever)

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The blue blocker clip-ons did a very good job of reducing my usual eye strain:

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Stopped to reduce the raging pain in my right hip and leg*. That's right, folks, my beloved hobby and career is beginning to hurt. I am attempting remedial physical therapy when I remember to:

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Well, we ended up with an even more fabulous traffic jam than the last visit two weeks ago. This time, the road crews shut down all but one lane on GA 400 north. It was a 27-mile traffic jam at an average speed of 10 mph. My ETA was pushed back from 3:00PM to 5:30PM, so the transitioning of tools and Whatnot could occur right through the agreed-upon dinner hour. Thanks Obama:

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Awoke to rain and chill on Sunday morning. Said goodbye to my brother's house for maybe the last time (it is for sale), and hit the road in the still-amazing tight new-feeling BobD to Florida in the rainy spray (the heat was excellent):

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Rain stopped at the Alabama border, here trying to stretch and walk off the back pain* from hauling boxes and Whatnot:

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3:00PM, six hours in, 67 mph, just about 3,500 rpm, 413* CHTs, odometer at 110,519 miles, all is "well":

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A never-before-captured image of the healing aura that has graced my touch of every Volkswagen since I was a little boy:

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Then I saw the CHT numbers do a Tourettes tic up to 463* then settle back down to low 400s. Ever the attentive and diligent scientist, I just kept driving another hundred miles. Until I had to walk it* off again. Then and only then did my razor sharp scientific mind instantly deduce that I should maybe check the oil:

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The inside portion of the factory original foam seal had peeled off and sucked onto the fan guard. Thank-you, fan guard, for being there for us for the second time. Fortunately, I had some foam seal from Chloe's conversion to Type 4 foam seal. LOOK at the difference between the two:

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Installed and ready to hit the road. Was I expecting reduced engine temperatures? Sure. Hope springs eternal. I think average CHT temps maybe dropped 5* to about 408* for the remaining 100 miles.

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Ended the journey here at WalMart. Cuts a fine view in the parking lot. BobD. Sits around for two miserable years. Boom! Wake up! Let's do 400 miles, now!
OK

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Wheel painting, new chrome trim (frightening this one is going to be), and a serious detailing, coming up:

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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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Amskeptic
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:45 pm

Yes, I have too been busy. You know how life likes to change your plans with "obstacles" just for the fun of it?

Let's start with the dryer that wont stop when you open the door. You try to check the "dryness" of your laundry and the drum just spills out all of your clothes when you open the door. Then it dies all together. Well, I am an ex- appl... no make that a "retired household infrastructure engineer." Whirlpool, not a problem, I can get in there and fix it in my sleep. No, I can't. Things have changed since I ... retired. We have these "new" abysmal chinese plastic trash switches on this goodlordactually now vintage dryer. What used to be a handsome and basic phenolic single-pole switch that had a satisfying "click-on/click-off" is now a rattly flimsy glued-together anyways, here it is:

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... and here is the diagram. The little bitty cheepcheep spring had broken off when the copper strip tried to send "motor voltage" through it when something got too sloppy in there. I GOT WET CLOTHES. I had no idea this thing was going to be so obtuse and arrogant:

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I had to make the newly-fashioned spring end arrive at the over-center copper leaf at an excruciatingly exact angle and tension. The horror I shall not get into, but suffice to say, there was no experimenting unless the cover was in place. Well, you can't SEE what is or is not happening with the cover in place! Three hours later, the spring angle was exact enough that the copper leaf did not fly out and launch across the garage, AND the tension was "just right" so it would snap smartly from motor-off/light-on to motor-on/light-off and the cover was glued on with epoxy last used in Washington state in 2013 to glue my New Balance sneakers back together (more chinese crap, by THE WAY). It was an oddly triumphant moment to plug in the dryer, turn it on, and even have a light to illuminate the clothes just sitting there when I opened the door. Even got to dry my hot tears with warm towels.

So where to begin with the BobD perfect bus? I can barely drive it any more. Gravel spew, cell-phone zombies, mechanical wear, environmental degradation, there is nothing I can do to avoid the above, but drive and hope to stay out of trouble. Ach, what to do? Clean it:

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Stared hatefully at the perfect tire cover with no cracks. "When are you going to crack, huh?" :

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Noted the perfect body with the perfect fit and realized that Naranja's disastrous bodywork with the stunningly bad welds gave me a feeling of relief:

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And then I wasted four hard days at repainting the NaranjaWesty wheels that had been stuck on the BobD. Removed the right rear wheel to begin the same project that I had just done with NaranjaWesty. Noticed the exhaust system I painted in Texas in 2010 could use a repaint, but the nuts and bolts are still fresh, so are the waxed Konis, and the painted dump tubes (grey primer with clearcoat):

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Oh, but hey . . . the left rear backing plate is beset with a wrinkle finish. Tore into the left rear brake drum. Remember when I overhauled the BobD's rear wheel cylinders in that parking lot in La Mesa CA on November 27, 2010, you know, where I didn't have any brake fluid and had to overhaul both wheel cylinders with barely a capful of fluid? Yeah, me too:

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=9102

Well, that left wheel cylinder I guess has been leaking while sitting over the past three years. In we go! Look at the photos of the original Volkswagen brake shoes in the above linked article.
Yeayup, same ones below, now at 110,670 miles:

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Look at this beautiful original drum at 110,670 miles:

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Went to my Itinerant Inventory. Here's the new wheel cylinders! Open up the boxes. Uh, oops. I had already used them on NaranjaWesty. So there are two used (41,873 miles) original Volkswagen wheel cylinders that I overhauled along with the BobD's 110,670 miles original Volkswagen wheel cylinder. The problem with the BobD's was that it was perfect! clean! beautiful bore! except for two strange dents near the center. The problem with NaranjaWesty's was that they were rusted to Titanic proportion. The pistons were frozen in the bores. I had to hammer them out. Did the old sand-honing process, then scuff pads:

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Could not use the BobD wheel cylinder. Those dents were weird. Almost as though the seals had worn the bores, but the seals were lovely and still expanded, unlike NaranjaWesty's. Now the BobD has NaranjaWesty's right wheel cylinder in its left rear brake with its original wheel cylinder pistons and seals. Good Grief. Did a gravity bleed and pedal is good. Onwards! :

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My back is in hell. So is my neck. So is that poor Craftsman drill that was oiled every five minutes of operation for three of the four days. On Day Three, the drill's trigger switch gave it up. After two overhauls, I just cut the damn switch out and wired the power cord directly to the motor ... and made sure to have quick access to the plug. The work environment devolved towards uncontrolled entropy:

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1. brake cylinder repair wrenches
2. Diet Coke 17/24
3. paint stripper sauce
4. brake parts cleaner
5. GumOut hand wash / paint brush cleaner
6. paint stripper bowl / key holder / Dremel accessory dish
7. masking tape roll 2/2
8. Gorilla Tape for tire drop cloths (damn good stuff)
9. RapidDri™ Motel6 towel to dry off rinsed stripped wheels and wheel cylinders
10 E-Z Scrub®Motel6 ice bucket for wheel cylinder overhauls
11. FlashPoach™ boiling hot or not-at-all sink faucet torture device
12. WalMart's finest three-use-then-tears-apart sponge
13. 7/8 Maxxis 751 tire
14. Wicked plier bit removal system for suffering Craftsman drill
15. I Must Be In Hell long-suffering Craftsman Drill presently cooling off
16. Left caliper slightly sticking, needs pads, who has pads, nevermind
17. neatly organized lug nuts before my spirit was broken
18. 8/8 Maxxis 751 tire
19. savage dykes that excised poor long-suffering Craftsman Drill's trigger switch
20. electrical tape that bandaged up the electrical arteries in the half-dead poor long-suffering Craftsman Drill
21. end of screwdriver that helped me overhaul the gear box in the half-dead poor long-suffering Craftsman Drill
22. 6" grinding disc ground down to about 3 1/2" - most of it is in my hair and up my nose
23. dedicated Motel6 acetone/lacquer thinner container tipped over . . . .

Itinerant Air-Cooled is pleased to announce its latest addition to the accessories line-up,
Monogrammed Floor Mats $44.95 per pair:

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Finished the wheel painting today. Now I have two buses with nice wheels:

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The neighborhood has finally taken note. Today I had three drop-in visitors:

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Finally! The BobD gets to have wheels that match its overall condition once more. And I get to go recover . . . :

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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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Mr Blotto
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Mr Blotto » Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:20 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:45 pm
Now I have two buses with nice wheels:

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The neighborhood has finally taken note. Today I had three drop-in visitors:

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Finally! The BobD gets to have wheels that match its overall condition once more. And I get to go recover . . . :

Image
Just beautiful.
1978 Sage Green Westy - 2.0 FI - SOLD WITH 109887 miles :-(

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Ronin10
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Ronin10 » Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:08 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:45 pm
Noticed the exhaust system I painted in Texas in 2010 could use a repaint, but the nuts and bolts are still fresh, so are the waxed Konis, and the painted dump tubes (grey primer with clearcoat):

Image
So how did you set your Konis? I installed mine last year, but feel like they're still a little stiff. I'm curious how much more to soften them.
Oscar: 1976 Sage Green Bus, Stock Motor, Solid Lifters, Manual Transaxle

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Amskeptic
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:16 pm

Ronin10 wrote:
Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:08 pm
So how did you set your Konis? I installed mine last year, but feel like they're still a little stiff. I'm curious how much more to soften them.
I think there are a total of eight or nine discrete positions arrived at every half turn. That makes a lot of people decide to willy-nilly select an arbitrary position all the way across the range. But these are light cars with intrinsically mellow torsion bars, so I have yet to ever go past a full turn.

Curently, BobD (3,200 lbs) rears are at 1/2 from full soft. Fronts are 0/0 full soft. The fronts are still too firm for the light BobD. They'd be perfect on NaranjaWesty.

All of those other positions are just waiting for when the shocks begin to lose their damping. Then I plan to start ratcheting up the adjustments to maintain the current level of damping.
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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Ronin10
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Ronin10 » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:59 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:16 pm
I think there are a total of eight or nine discrete positions arrived at every half turn. That makes a lot of people decide to willy-nilly select an arbitrary position all the way across the range. But these are light cars with intrinsically mellow torsion bars, so I have yet to ever go past a full turn.

Curently, BobD (3,200 lbs) rears are at 1/2 from full soft. Fronts are 0/0 full soft. The fronts are still too firm for the light BobD. They'd be perfect on NaranjaWesty.

All of those other positions are just waiting for when the shocks begin to lose their damping. Then I plan to start ratcheting up the adjustments to maintain the current level of damping.
Colin
This is good information I wasn't able to find elsewhere. I'll give your settings a go and see how I like it. Cheers.
Oscar: 1976 Sage Green Bus, Stock Motor, Solid Lifters, Manual Transaxle

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Amskeptic
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Apr 08, 2018 6:02 pm

What was I doing just moments before I gaily sallied forth in the BobD only to die an ignoble death of momentum at the U-Haul outfit on April You Fool Day? Thanx for asking.

Just before hopping into the BobD to drive to the Law Firm (back when my trust was indissoluble), I had discovered a decent work-around for all of you owners of trashy late-model Westfalias with those lousy plastic retainers that hold the tailgate panel and sliding door panel to their respective doors.

Here is the initial state of NaranjaWesty's tailgate, two missing plastic retainers:

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I ordered some good sturdy early baywindow tailgate panel clips from Bus Depot (that is a JustKamper part #),

Chrome Head Interior Panel Clips
For door panels on '63-67, and tailgate on '68-79. 15 pieces.
Part Reference Number: J14259
Availability: Usually ships in 1-3 working days (sooner if Expedited/Express shipping is chosen)
$15.95



They have "chrome head" panel clips, but not half so polished as the BobD's factory retainer buttons:

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I punched a piece of corrugated cardboard with a philips screwdriver ten times, and put 10 of the new retainers into the cardboard. Sanded each retainer clip's head with 1000 grit sandpaper to give them all a brushed look but more importantly to help the paint bond. Sprayed with my "mat finish" black spray paint that I also use for wiper arms and whatnots. Sprayed the first coat from half-again the recommended distance, this to let the paint dry on the way down to the surface to give us a more orange peel finish:

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Carefully extricated each plastic button with a rotation/pull of the motel6 room card clip pullers and inserted a new clip right behind each extraction:

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Voila, there are still two original plastic clips installed, but I needed two of the new painted ones for the sliding door panel:

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Pride goeth before the pump fail, I read that somewhere.
OK, now you may read:

viewtopic.php?f=77&t=13583#p228793
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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tommu
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by tommu » Sun Apr 08, 2018 9:48 pm

Jon (phaedrus76 here) had huge problems with a warping sliding door interior panel he shipped in from Adam at NLA VW in the UK. I believe Adam swapped the first panel for him and was in the process of having a new design manufactured when the I bought the Eche_Bus. Adam was good enough to send the third replacement panel to me.This latest panel was sealed on the un-laminated side. Unfortunately it too was very warped which was a huge surprise to Adam. My guess is that the moist air from the sea crossing is just too much for the this kind of panel.

However - Jon had also had his black trim clips remanufactured to be longer and stronger. Would you believe that they are able to hold the badly warped panel flat to the sliding door? I thoroughly recommend them - and Adam for his rare will to invest and develop his products based on the feedback of his customers. https://nlavw.com/interior/229-westfali ... 10pcs.html Shame his shop's in the UK!

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Amskeptic
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Re: 2018 Preparation Depredations

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Apr 10, 2018 11:22 am

tommu wrote:
Sun Apr 08, 2018 9:48 pm
Jon (phaedrus76 here) had huge problems with a warping sliding door interior panel he shipped in from Adam at NLA VW in the UK. I believe Adam swapped the first panel for him and was in the process of having a new design manufactured when the I bought the Eche_Bus. Adam was good enough to send the third replacement panel to me.This latest panel was sealed on the un-laminated side. Unfortunately it too was very warped which was a huge surprise to Adam. My guess is that the moist air from the sea crossing is just too much for the this kind of panel.

However - Jon had also had his black trim clips remanufactured to be longer and stronger. Would you believe that they are able to hold the badly warped panel flat to the sliding door? I thoroughly recommend them - and Adam for his rare will to invest and develop his products based on the feedback of his customers. https://nlavw.com/interior/229-westfali ... 10pcs.html Shame his shop's in the UK!
Very nice. I am glad these little parts are springing up.

I like my METAL clips. Metal! For Men! A more MANLY look, like an old wood trunk with rivets! Not those sissy samsonite plastic matched luggage sets.
As importantly, I am traumatized by my experience with the NaranjaWesty original plastic clips. You put in a new plastic clip and it inserts nicely on day one, yes. But after many many miles, the subtle shifting of the panel grinds a groove in the plastic clip against the door panel hole's metal edge. Then, you will see that the plastic friggen refuses to come out without a terrible assault against the integrity of the last original wood laminate tailgate cover in existence:
Naranja Westy Refresh Wrap Up

viewtopic.php?t=12838#p218194

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:46 am
*cracked the pricelessly perfect tailgate panel but good when I couldn't get a stupid black retainer button to come out - had to epoxy that thing as perfectly as possible then paint in the wood grain pattern with Chloe brown kick panel paint, man that was a disheartening moment:
Image


The metal ones just plain ol' come out.
Must run! More later!
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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