Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:11 pm

It has been a time of it. Texas and me. A love/hate sort of thing when it comes to bugs. This was an exquisite hidden levee in central Texas ranch land. It was a solid mid-90's with 90% humidity, and I knew it would be uncomfortable, and I was. But Texas was not about to let me be a man about it.
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Enjoyed the browns of the dirt and the car in the early afternoon humid sunshine before taking a quick walk and getting to work:
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I was happy happy happy to do exploratory surgery on Chloe's speedometer. The needle was so lazy about returning to the peg at stop lights, and so laggard about coming up to speed that the engine could actually shove the whole car up to 60 mph before the speedo needle had a clue. "It's a Volkswagen bus! You can't even keep up with a Volkswagen bus?"
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Great chance to lubricate the poor clock too. Every night this clock has stopped when the battery voltage drops hardly at all. Cleaned the electrical contacts that trigger the solenoid to push the winder lever, and used automatic transmission fluid on a safety pin to get each gear wheel's two spindle bearings (whap! a biting bug just bit!):
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Back to the (whap! another stupid biting bug!) speedometer, I carefully marked the drum and speedometer needle at the 22 mph spot and pulled the needle off. It was brownish from dust and age. It miraculously came back to brand new white with a little 1500 grit sandpaper. I can't (whap!) wait to see this all back together with clean glass, too. Separated the rotating magnet assembly from the drum and lubricated all spindles:
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Carefully did I reduce axial play by pulling the drum up the speedometer needle's shaft, and I took a photograph of my magnificent handiwork so I could show everybody a first-class restoration in the humidity and the heat and the whap! another biting bug:
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Reassembled everything being careful not to let sweat drop onto the clean clean glass, what the hell, what are those prickly little things stuck in my socks? wham! a bug, a biting bug! As I was reattaching the wires to the brake warning light (you know the deal, sitting in a frying pan of a VW bus in the sunshine with your eyeballs trying to peer through a clot of wires while madly scratching your left ankle with your right shoe while holding the dash cluster on the uncooperative steering wheel while a perfectly sentient blood-sucking bug says "aha! now! dinner!" and some fly goes berserk and wings you in the ear), I thought this is going to look great!
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And it did. It looked great as the spiffy fresh white speedometer needle never even hit the 30 mph mark in 4th gear at 3,500 rpm. You win some and you lose some. I won a clock and lost a speedometer.
You see, one should never use a magnetic parts dish to hold one's rotating magnet assembly. It got so confused in that dish that it lost its polarity.

One should also never never scratch sweaty bug bites around one's ankles when it is really poison oak . . . because when you scratch the real bug bites everywhere else on you, you just bring the poison oak along in the 95* 90% sweat-soaked petri dish of your now miserably hot and sticky and itchyohmygoditchy person.

Now let's go visit hot and humid Austin Texas and try to be "pleasant" with the next customer (the very one, in fact, who fielded a phone call from me a couple of years back when I had just superglued my tongue to my teeth "hi feffwy!") without looking like you have a bad case of jock-itch/psoriasis/crabs/chiggers/shingles/lice . . . .
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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Elwood
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Elwood » Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:07 pm

El and I certainly injoyed this post and will have many questions in future.

Safe travels my friend and we may meet up in "Maupin" next year :flower:

Love and peace with the dreaded insect itch or ivy.

Barb/Elwood < still my main man and daily driver.
'69 weekender ~ Elwood

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by hambone » Wed Jun 20, 2012 11:37 pm

Win some/lose some. I don't like taking that kind of stuff apart unless I have to, sleeping dogs and all.
Chilly and damp here in the PNW, weird to hear tales of hot n' humid.
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Bleyseng » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:28 am

I have never attempted the speedo disassembly so now I'll remember to not use a magnetic parts dish. Thanks for the tips and I enjoy reading your little middle of nowhere services but next time don't park in the poison oak.

90F and 90% humidity is the typical weather where I am at although its been cooler (85F) lately with a daily rainshower. Last night was 1 hour of high winds (maybe 50mph) tearing off metal roofing off the house down the street. Then the power went off as a branch fell off the Kankantree a block away with a huge "BAM" as the transformer blew......The whole North of the city went dark as "Shit, its really dark now and spooky". Someone snuck in our gate and left it open so I went out and closed it and locked it while M is telling me to be careful as someone might still be there..great, just what I need to hear at 11PM and its pitch dark.
Geoff
77 Sage Green Westy- CS 2.0L-160,000 miles
70 Ghia vert, black, stock 1600SP,- 139,000 miles,
76 914 2.1L-Nepal Orange- 160,000+ miles
http://bleysengaway.blogspot.com/

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Hippie » Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:22 am

(Don't ever absent-mindedly set your wallet with its credit cards in that dish either, by the way.)
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Sylvester
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Sylvester » Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:48 am

Holy crap that sounds miserable even by mid-Georgia standards! What an insane combo to work with! Where were the snakes?
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue, I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace. Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod, The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

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satchmo
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by satchmo » Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:28 am

Application of a little bear grease and skunk oil should help out a lot. With the bugs anyway. I have no idea what to do for the speedo :drunken:

Tim
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First, by reflection, which is noblest;
second, by immitation, which is easiest;
and third, by experience, which is bitterest. -Confucius

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by sped372 » Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:34 am

Amskeptic wrote:...30 mph mark in 4th gear at 3,500 rpm...
Ours reads 70 when we're cruising at 55. At least it's consistent from day to day, though. Gonna keep an eye out for a replacement?
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by glasseye » Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:24 am

Anybody wanna bet he attempts to re-magnetize the speedo with his loudspeaker? :bounce:

Prolly ten minutes of Led Zeppelin would do it. :cheers:
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Sylvester
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Sylvester » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:09 pm

sped372 wrote:
Amskeptic wrote:...30 mph mark in 4th gear at 3,500 rpm...
Ours reads 70 when we're cruising at 55. At least it's consistent from day to day, though. Gonna keep an eye out for a replacement?
I have one handy!
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue, I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace. Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod, The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Bleyseng » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:34 pm

Sylvester wrote:Holy crap that sounds miserable even by mid-Georgia standards! What an insane combo to work with! Where were the snakes?
I have killed a couple of deadly ones in the last year. You know the kind that you don't even have time to go to the hospital...
I never stick my hands or feet into leaves, brush or a pile of something where its dark.
I have seen a 20' boa! Could've swallowed a dog....
Geoff
77 Sage Green Westy- CS 2.0L-160,000 miles
70 Ghia vert, black, stock 1600SP,- 139,000 miles,
76 914 2.1L-Nepal Orange- 160,000+ miles
http://bleysengaway.blogspot.com/

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Hippie
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Hippie » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:39 pm

Seems like the jungle, in order to avoid being paradise, is toxic under every leaf.
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jimbear
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by jimbear » Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:18 pm

Amskeptic wrote:"It's a Volkswagen bus! You can't even keep up with a Volkswagen bus?"
(whap! a biting bug just bit!)
(whap! another stupid biting bug!)
(whap!)
[...] a first-class restoration in the humidity and the heat and the whap! another biting bug
[...]careful not to let sweat drop onto the clean clean glass, what the hell, what are those prickly little things stuck in my socks? wham! a bug, a biting bug!
sitting in a frying pan of a VW bus in the sunshine with your eyeballs trying to peer through a clot of wires while madly scratching your left ankle with your right shoe while holding the dash cluster on the uncooperative steering wheel while a perfectly sentient blood-sucking bug says "aha! now! dinner!" and some fly goes berserk and wings you in the ear), I thought this is going to look great!
never scratch sweaty bug bites around one's ankles when it is really poison oak . . . because when you scratch the real bug bites everywhere else on you, you just bring the poison oak along in the 95* 90% sweat-soaked petri dish of your now miserably hot and sticky and itchyohmygoditchy person.
#-o

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:21 am

jimbear wrote:
Amskeptic wrote: sitting in a VW bus in the sunshine
#-o
livingthedream
You betcha.
Compare to Yet Another Day under the air-conditioned flourescent lights in the office, there's a poster "Teamwork!" and a little memo in your mailbox "we will be reducing our employer contribution to your healthcare plan due to the need to enhance efficiencies . . ."

See, I would rather that the blood-sucking bugs just go for it and I can react accordingly.
Colin :bom:
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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Bleyseng
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Texas I

Post by Bleyseng » Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:33 am

Hippie wrote:Seems like the jungle, in order to avoid being paradise, is toxic under every leaf.
It is the Jungle and we are going camping this weekend in the jungle. Two hour drive, 1 1/2hr dugout boat ride on the river thru rapids etc to the island where we will camp, swim, cook kinda like camping in the US but no Westy. Howler monkeys will wake us up at 5 AM......

I will do anything to avoid working in a office under Florescent lights 9-5 with a 1 hr commute, 1/2 hr Mc Donalds lunch and no Healthcare. So I build kitchen cabinets here and enjoy the slowlane....No spong!


I like Colins jig except for the driving, just don't know if I could sit behind the wheel that much.
Geoff
77 Sage Green Westy- CS 2.0L-160,000 miles
70 Ghia vert, black, stock 1600SP,- 139,000 miles,
76 914 2.1L-Nepal Orange- 160,000+ miles
http://bleysengaway.blogspot.com/

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