Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Chicago

mattg · Post by **mattg** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:54 am

Hey Colin, your avatar is freaking me out - looks like Alice Cooper.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:03 pm

That avatar reminds me of that scene from Sleepaway Camp?! Brrr...

glasseye · Post by **glasseye** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:50 pm

It is scary. Nearly as scary as dingo's

dingo · Post by **dingo** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:49 pm

Nearly as scary as dingo's

.. . a series of photos someone sent me...taken as the eye of Hurricane Katrina moves overhead (somewhere on La/Miss. coast)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59896002@N00/2555092196/

Birdibus · Post by **Birdibus** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:07 pm

I was amazed by the VW clutter, but confused also. Is that the same brown bus that ran so perfectly like a new bus? What was wrong with it? Or is the westy a different bus?

dtrumbo · Post by **dtrumbo** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 5:58 am

If I'm not mistaken, the perfect bus was BobD's near Chicago. The bus that seems to have exploded in the pic is Hippiewannabee's near Detroit which is why the back-track to Michigan.

hippiewannabe · Post by **hippiewannabe** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:01 pm

dtrumbo wrote:..The bus that seems to have exploded in the pic is Hippiewannabee's near Detroit which is why the back-track to Michigan.

Yep. Colin feels a responsibility to not leave customers up a creek over their head, and I sure was at that point.

If I hadn't been called out of town last week, I would have gotten the trans off and discovered I had a cracked clutch disk in time to get one prior to Colin's arrival. But it didn't matter, since I wasn't smart enough to know I also needed engine mounts, so there was no way the engine was going back in that night. There were also a number of extra jobs like crankshaft end-play adjustment and thermostat spring hacking, and a larger than normal dose of uncooperative screws and studs.

So Colin made a heroic dash back from Chicago to put things back together, and perhaps enjoy the ironic comparison of BobD's bus to mine. I still have to reinstall a few accoutrements and FILL THE CRANKCASE WITH OIL, but the engine is together and in the bus. So Colin didn't get the satisfaction of driving my bus as the bookend to his efforts, but he at least has the satisfaction of a happy customer and job well done.

Post by **Amskeptic** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:54 pm

hippiewannabe wrote:Colin feels a responsibility to not leave customers up a creek over their head, and I sure was at that point.

I still have to reinstall a few accoutrements and FILL THE CRANKCASE WITH OIL, but the engine is together and in the bus.

And I await the report of how it starts and runs. . . with oil in the crankcase and a close eye on the thermostat lever as it warms up. Yes, I wanted to drive it. And yes I enjoyed the amazing display of that project all over the driveway and garage. . . it was invigorating, "where's that bag of tin screws?" "I don't know, I am looking for the thermostat cable, have you got a 7mm?" "No, but I am wondering where the 13 is." "I got it, but I can't find the nuts." "Remind me to put oil in it." "Just did."
Colin

locoqueso · Post by **locoqueso** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:09 pm

Colin just left here about an hour ago. All I can say right now is WOW! My body feels like I just went 15 rounds with Ali and I don't think my mind can absorb one more piece of information tonight, but it feels great!

I'll write up the details of my Itinerant Air-Cooled experience as soon as my head stops spinning.

zblair · Post by **zblair** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:58 pm

Glad it was good for you and your ride!

mattg · Post by **mattg** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:27 pm

locoqueso wrote:Colin just left here about an hour ago. All I can say right now is WOW! My body feels like I just went 15 rounds with Ali and I don't think my mind can absorb one more piece of information tonight, but it feels great!

I'll write up the details of my Itinerant Air-Cooled experience as soon as my head stops spinning.

Ah yeah....Colin left about 2 hours ago and yes, my mind is spinning. Did we get to just about everything I hoped for, yes...was it about 5 pm - my mind crashing - and colin just as fresh as he was when he showed up at 8:55. My wife took one look at me, said you look really tired and very dirty...looks can be deceiving. Im going to sleep...back to work tomorrow after a so called day off.