Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed (edit.)

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed (edit.)

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:01 pm

I really did hate leaving Salt Lake City and driving straight to Wisconsin. Good-bye, dry air with sizzling sharp stars at night, good-bye easy evaporation, low bug counts, low population density, expansive views, spread-out highway exits, splendor, peaceful quiet, big sky, and especially, good-bye to any notion of fun little vehicle projects to fill the days camping in remote spots. Somehow, I am now in the hive, the buzz, the suburbia, the bugs, the horrendous heaved roads, the scrum of traffic, and that is all I see for the next several weeks.

The drive across the continent was just one big shove, drive drive drive, sleep, wake, drive drive drive. That is no way to experience either the planet or the car.
Shove Number One - Salt Lake City UT to Kearny NB.
(wind turbine blade as rest area sculpture - blade tip speed at 25 rpm is 180 mph):

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Shove Number Two - Kearny NB to Verona WI.
After I got my silly AFM adjustments squared away, I had to go back and "tighten" the valve adjustments that I had slackened after 430-441* Day. Also had to re-torque the exhaust system after 441* Day over-expanded important metal around the exhaust copper rings. One new stud location may be a problem child, but the BigSert repairs seem to be holding up. Don't run your VW at 430-441* It doesn't like it. So, I had surmised with Jivermo that my high temps were because of a paper towel sucked into the fan and making its way to to the footwell vents. Jivermo, remember? It was not. Only hours later, I threw on the heat at 70 mph in an effort to see if the paper towel remnants had cleared and a huge friggen clot of fiberglass insulation, mouse crap, and more paper towels just blew out of the defroster vents all over the interior. Can you believe it? I was appalled. Had the front stripped out in an hour:

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(original VW seat assembly decal "05/77")
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Stripped out the middle area in the next hour. Cleaned everything with Chlorox and Dawn. When did this mouse nest occur? Where did this mouse nest occur? If I find the time, I will take down the heating system ducts and cabinets.


My starter has been fine since I got the head temps back down to 400-410*. The fuel pump has been healing itself over the past few days. How? I don't know. It is screaming less and less. Perhaps the precise dimensions of the rollers and the end plates had just swelled up and begun to touch each other when the nearby exhaust components were at 700*+. Now they maybe have worn themselves in to a new homeostasis.

Iowa was very pretty, but I was too grumpy. Panicky really. I could not bear to drive into stifling humidity, onto heaved concrete roads, into tighter and tighter population centers, and I was unable to take in the day as I usually do.
Mississippi River at Dubuque Iowa:

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Wisconsin, I am sorry, creeps me out a little. Not the people! Not the countryside! The developments do. The infrastructure is too tidy. The roundabouts are springing up, the ugly apartment/condominiums are gobbling up the Wisconsin farmland. Actually, the farmland is gobbling up the farms land. The family farms are dying away:

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We have agribusiness making these huge fields that are not anchored by a nice barn and house any more. There are just galvanized steel box buildings and chemical depots and irrigation stations and huge fields of plants being commanded to grow higher faster. The cows too! The pigs! It is terrible. The industrial scale of animal husbandry has devastated the lives of so many cows and pigs. This traverse had many more assaults against the nose than I ever remember. I'd see a huge brown stain gashed across a rolling hill, and stacks and stacks of cows just sloshing in their own excrement, no trees, no grass, just steel bike racks with cow heads sticking out. Now, I don't know about you, but I do not think/feel/believe any creature on Earth should be subjected to that hideous indignity of being forced to wallow in their own excrement. Who are these PEOPLE who not only allow this, but make the scale of it ever more noxious? Seriously, miles upon miles of smelling What Should Never Be Allowed. No animal naturally marinates in their own urine and feces. Then we eat them after a perfunctory shower on the way in to the slaughter houses. Something is terribly wrong here, and I can't say it is "dehumanizing" because though it is, it is de-living-creaturizing, too. It damages the definition of what it is to be humbly aware of Life, to use it so contemptuously.

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Yeah, so anyhow, my God, hold your nose when you drive past low buildings with big fans and bigger piles of manure.

Arrived outside of my Happyfolk appointment. Drove straight into the local car wash. Got ogled, the car did, and I sprayed wildly to keep the oglers at a safe distance. Discovered that my day long touch up of the front end (with that tedious paint match process) looks to have been erased with a new collection of pits and dings from all of these wandering drivers on the interstates kicking up the growing piles of rocks and tire detritus that crowd the shoulder lanes.

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Camped at a nice out-of-the-way "day park". How do I know it was a "day park"? Because the nice police man told me at 2:30AM.
"This is a day park . . . what are you doing here?"
Amazingly, I was unable to come back from whatever dream state I was in, and I had no idea what I was doing there.
"Just passing through?"
Couldn't quite answer this one either. I did not know what state I was in*, what state I was in#, or what state I was in^.
Key:
* state, as in "state in the United States"
# state, as in unconscious, hallucinating, merely dreaming, actually awake
^ state, as in well-dressed, poorly-dressed, undressed

Eventually I came to and remembered Happyfolk, I must be in Wisconsin, therefore I am now awake, and I am not dressed enough to leave my sleeping bag.
"Can you show me your license?"
"It is in the glovebox, and I need to slither to get to it."
"Oh sure, I see that, take your time."
After he radio'd in, "I didn't want to disturb you, but we need to check strange cars, maybe you are a chicken thief or something."
I explained that I drive around the country trying to keep every old air-cooled Volkswagen alive.
"Oh man, that sounds like the life, so anyways, go ahead and camp here, just leave before all the day people come in, they like to walk their dogs, and they'll call about you, sorry."
"Oh, I plan to, my stolen chickens would kick up a fuss if there were dogs about."

I was in utter despair as I smashed over the stupid broken concrete of Wisconsin's picturesque little town that is exploding with development but not infrastructure improvement. Arrived at Happyfolk for a fine cup of coffee that looked like it was made in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory, beautiful glass flasks with percolating liquid that woke me from the dead too.


It was a relaxed start that heated up towards the end of the day. We eradicated some lurching and bucking, hooked up the Dakota Digital Gauge for real (no sticking the thermocouple end in a cylinder fin "it runs at about 275*" (no sir, if I am going to suffer big numbers, you are going to suffer big numbers), and rotated the front caliper pistons to correctly engage with the shim plates. That was a big job. THall stopped by to give me a fuel pump as back-up for 'Ol Quarryman, the Pierburg pump. At least . . . I think it is a fuel pump:

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Enjoyed seeing his bus looking so fine, so fine, and I enjoyed having a successful day of buckstopping, sliding door lubrication, engine hatch adjusting, quiet braking (will need a report, Happyfolk), and catching a tie rod end going bad. The shower was a blessing, and dinner was too and so was the company (Kelly! Excellent article in that paper you gave me, "How Wisconsin Lost Its Progressive Tradition").

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Drove to Illinois . . . getting used to this heat n humidity n buckeled roads, n incessant traffic. Locoqueso in the morning!
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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Happyfolk
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed

Post by Happyfolk » Fri Jul 13, 2018 9:48 pm

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Much was accomplished during Colin's visit! Our bus had been bucking during acceleration. We did a compression test (140/145/130/140), gapped the plugs, and installed a new Dakota Digital CHT sender. I experienced Colin's Klein/Porsche spark plug wrench (ordered one today!). I once broke a plug with my POS plug socket/ratchet. This tool has FEEL! Then test drove, tweaked AFM, test drove, tweaked AFM, test drove, tweaked AFM, until it was dialed in. The bucking was gone!! Then he lubed my sliding door and adjusted my engine hatch, both now better than ever! This is our second IAC visit. Colin's experience finds things to fix in order of priority that alleviate potential damage, improve performance, and remove nagging annoyances and make bus operation so much more enjoyable! Colin wanted to remove and clean my dash lens over the speedo, etc., but squealing brakes during the test drive required disassembly of the front calipers and rotation of the caliper pistons which ate the remainder of the day. The FLAPS didn't have a proper caliper piston plier but THall arrived with a pair of vise grips just enough smaller than the ones I had for Colin to be able to rotate my caliper pistons into the proper orientation. Thank you THall!! Thank you Colin!! I'm ecstatic with the improvements to our bus!
Thanks,
Kelley & Mike (Happyfolk)

P.S. - Tie rods are ordered!

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79 CA FI Westy
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed

Post by locoqueso » Sat Jul 14, 2018 4:46 am

Welcome to Illinois.
1978 VW Campmobile (P-21) Westfalia - T2 2.0L F.I.- 151,000m
1982 Mercedes-Benz Estate Wagon (300TD-T) - S123 3.0L T.D. - 142,000m
1993 Dodge Maxi Van (190 SLF) InterVec Falcon - B350 Magnum 5.9L F.I. - 70,000m

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 14, 2018 5:27 am

locoqueso wrote:
Sat Jul 14, 2018 4:46 am
Welcome to Illinois.

Rain . . . people blabbing loudly at 5:45AM about their Very Important Business . . . water-logged leaky delaminated sneakers . . .
Welcome!

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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 Now Traversed

Post by Jivermo » Sat Jul 14, 2018 1:02 pm

Yes, Jivermo remembers the paper towel discussion and theory, but I also remember the family farms, anchored by big wooden barns, with beautiful stonework foundations, and 4 square farmhouses, with add-ons, and I am dismayed to read your mid America report. Mouse poop flying out into the interior of the bus, pig poop flying out into the interior of our country. Ugh.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed

Post by blue72beetle » Sat Jul 14, 2018 5:13 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:01 pm
... the horrendous heaved roads...
Ain't that the truth! I took a motorcycle trip to Wisconsin last weekend, and every damn road I picked had those horrible frost heaves. On a stiff-sprung sport bike it was like hitting a half-sized speed bump every 100 feet. It was nearly enough to ruin the trip for me.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Jul 15, 2018 6:34 am

blue72beetle wrote:
Sat Jul 14, 2018 5:13 pm
Amskeptic wrote:
Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:01 pm
... the horrendous heaved roads...
Ain't that the truth! I took a motorcycle trip to Wisconsin last weekend, and every damn road I picked had those horrible frost heaves. On a stiff-sprung sport bike it was like hitting a half-sized speed bump every 100 feet. It was nearly enough to ruin the trip for me.

The concrete lobby has really held sway. Although the roads are stronger in the beginning phases, once they deteriorate, they are worse than any asphalt roadway. California had to dictate smaller slabs between expansion joints so the roads can attempt to ride out earthquake damage and still be passable, but in reality, no.
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 Now Traversed

Post by Jivermo » Sun Jul 15, 2018 8:34 am

“I have lived long enough now to have seen us improve our situation in this world until it is almost intolerable.”
Robb White, writer.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Sun Jul 15, 2018 4:19 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Sat Jul 14, 2018 5:27 am

Rain . . . . . . water-logged leaky delaminated sneakers . . .
Welcome!
Can you bring it with? Haven't had much rain here in the past 3 weeks, lawn is crunchy (I refuse to water it.... our water bill is teetering on close to $200 every quarter, and there is just 3 people living in the house, and no pool, no Jacuzzi - kinda blows my mind when I am a quarter mile away from Lake St. Clair).

Oh, Colin, speaking of heaved roads I-696 is closed in the West bound direction between I-75 and I-94. Shouldn't affect you on the way to my house, but may affect your exit.
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.
::troll2::

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:48 pm

Welcome to Illinois, sez locoqueso. Well, I am feeling better now that I am no longer in Tidyville Wisconsin where there is no area left to just pull off and do some dumb project without being in the middle of some country club's begonia garden. Illinois has turn-outs, closed store lots, railroad access paths and I no longer feel so hemmed in.

Locoqueso, unlike all the rest of you, has a book of Itinerant Appointments going back to 2008. Every appointment. That is the height of diligence, folks. The height of diligence. For example, we could effortlessly review:
"Did you get the new brake hoses suggested last year?"
"No, I didn't even see that until this morning."

OK, so he hadn't driven it more than maybe 200 miles since last year because it began to buck or something. We launched out the door to replicate this symptom. His 1978 Taigagrun VW Westfalia, "Wilson," behaved beautifully all the way to NAPA when it finally gave us some misbehavior. We adjusted the AFM a good bit leaner and the bucking was gone. It drove exactly like a proper VW bus on the way back. It is, after all, the fraternal twin of the BobD. He has the same purple sticker on his ECU, he has a factory emission number "426" painted on the upper right cylinder cover, and his "Inspector Otto" is as fresh as any I have seen. It drives tight and quiet and has all the original parts. As a matter of fact, I was musing out loud under Wilson whilst tackling a clutch clevis pin replacement and lubrication,
"IF I was a murderer, I would have to murder locoqueso for this bus, I truly think is the best other bus I know."
"Just make sure I have a life insurance policy good to go . . . I won't tell on you."
That was Mrs. Locoqueso helpfully chiming in.

Decided to install the new taillamps. These were Hella circa 2011, and they were certainly better than the new stuff. They came with the correct grey seals, and their sockets withstood the extreme stress of "installing a bulb" unlike the new ones:

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Such a pleasure to work on an original VW with all of its grommets and bits intact:

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Did have to Dremel the parking light spade terminal in two to allow the original connectors for the side marker lights:

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I performed the itinerant Air-Cooled HVAC Reflective Tape Luminescence Improvement Program:

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At the end of our day, I got to drive my second Mercedes 300D wagon of 2018:

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This one drove very nicely, and I really liked the metallic green on green "pleather":

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Our tenth anniversary invoice is safely in the book, and our tenth anniversary portrait is right here:

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Hey locoqueso, get those brake hoses.

Today, I took over a closed Exotic Classics shop and rotated my wheels AGAIN since we are 5,000 miles past the last time I rotated the wheels in New Mexico on May 25th. You too, can clean your wheels easily with our new Itinerant Wheel Wipes:

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Cleaned the dog chew toys, waxed the Konis and washed the driveshafts and boots, too:

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RyanKSchultz in the morning . . .
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 Now Traversed (edit.)

Post by BusBassist » Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:05 pm

I wanted to add some commentary per agriculture and Colin's observations on the large-scale farm-biz. I'm fortunate enough to be working in Door County, Wisconsin for a few weeks and am glad to report that in this part of the state, the small family farm is still prevalent. I took a drive and snapped some photos showing a few small family farms complete with barns and farm houses. Image

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And here's a nice old barn, well-maintained, with a classic stone foundation.

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On my travels here, I observed the same scenario that Colin saw; large-scale agriculture sans farmhouse and barn, but was glad to get to Door County where the small farm in all its simple and stately glory is still very much a part of the landscape. Lot's of cows here too with access to open grazing in large pastures.

Jeff
Late 73 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed (edit.)

Post by asiab3 » Thu Jul 19, 2018 4:36 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:01 pm
(wind turbine blade as rest area sculpture - blade tip speed at 25 rpm is 180 mph):

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Did you do these calculations in your head on the road too?? I got 192 mph when I was comparing the beats-per-minute of Beethoven's 7th with my guess of the blade length being 125 feet… Looking it up, blade length is actually 116 feet on the GE model, which puts us real close. :geek:

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

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed (edit.)

Post by Happyfolk » Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:40 pm

Happyfolk wrote:
Fri Jul 13, 2018 9:48 pm
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P.S. - Tie rods are ordered!

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I received the Klein/Porsche spark plug wrench and the Meyle tie rods. I’ll do the tie rods Saturday morning.
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79 CA FI Westy
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"Sandy"

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asiab3
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed (edit.)

Post by asiab3 » Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:05 pm

Watch the pin on that spark plug wrench! Mine gave up but two days ago! And my rubber insert fell out last year...

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

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Now Traversed (edit.)

Post by Happyfolk » Fri Jul 20, 2018 4:50 am

asiab3 wrote:
Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:05 pm
Watch the pin on that spark plug wrench! Mine gave up but two days ago! And my rubber insert fell out last year...

Buzzkillington
It seems pretty sturdy. The main reason I got this wrench is that the socket wall is thinner than most so requires less clearance with the thermocouple wires from my DD CHT sender on the #3 plug. Colin installed a new sender on mine, carefully bending the ring so it will clear this wrench and seal the plug. I don’t want to go in there with a thicker socket and f*** it up!

Mike
79 CA FI Westy
Mexico Beige
"Sandy"

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