Bluff, UT - July 12
Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 11:10 pm
Colin came on time as usual. A significant thunderstorm the night before, the first real rain in months.
This was my second visit. I didn't take a single photo this time. Spent a fair amount of time putting back together the entire exhaust on my secondary bus, a semi rusty 78 Westfalia. On the way out the door after kitchen table talk I suggested pushing it into the garage where the tools were closer and the shade more plentiful. Colin liked the look of the sun baked gravel wasteland where the disabled bus was parked so we set up there. Time was slipping by fast. Four sunburnt hours and twenty trips back and forth to the garage later I was cursing and needed lunch/pee/water. I spent hours this spring rounding up missing parts and prepping it all fighting broken and stuck exhaust studs. Tons of time in an exhaust... But we prevailed and got it back together. Went to start it, ran like crap. For a moment we thought the gas tank outlet had clogged again when fuel pressure dropped. Not until Colin drove away that evening did I remember that I drained the tank when I replaced a few fuel lines a few months ago. Nope, it was just out of gas. With that corrected Colin got it to run fairly well and after a while the lifters quieted down and it sounded pretty smooth. Now to decide what to do with secondary bus... While I was hesitant to spend Colin's time not on the primary bus it was great to get this one back together and running after such a long break.
After that exercise we set to take care of a few odds and ends on primary bus, also a 78 Westfalia. I couldn't figure out why the engine bay was so hot then Colin reminded me we drove it to get gas for the other bus. Humm, yeah, I am smart. Neutral staging area lesson. Tracked down a cold start issue even though it was 100* out. Turns out the ground in my CSV plug is junk. And we endured the terrible try to get the beading to look nice when you reinstall the sliding door track cover (more cursing). Adjusted the doors a bit to deal with crappy seals and poor owner maintenance (me).
Colin likey drove into another massive thunderstorm on his way west. Hopefully he made it to the Goosenecks to camp or Mexican Hat Rock.
Thanks Colin for providing this service. I always learn something.
Brandt
This was my second visit. I didn't take a single photo this time. Spent a fair amount of time putting back together the entire exhaust on my secondary bus, a semi rusty 78 Westfalia. On the way out the door after kitchen table talk I suggested pushing it into the garage where the tools were closer and the shade more plentiful. Colin liked the look of the sun baked gravel wasteland where the disabled bus was parked so we set up there. Time was slipping by fast. Four sunburnt hours and twenty trips back and forth to the garage later I was cursing and needed lunch/pee/water. I spent hours this spring rounding up missing parts and prepping it all fighting broken and stuck exhaust studs. Tons of time in an exhaust... But we prevailed and got it back together. Went to start it, ran like crap. For a moment we thought the gas tank outlet had clogged again when fuel pressure dropped. Not until Colin drove away that evening did I remember that I drained the tank when I replaced a few fuel lines a few months ago. Nope, it was just out of gas. With that corrected Colin got it to run fairly well and after a while the lifters quieted down and it sounded pretty smooth. Now to decide what to do with secondary bus... While I was hesitant to spend Colin's time not on the primary bus it was great to get this one back together and running after such a long break.
After that exercise we set to take care of a few odds and ends on primary bus, also a 78 Westfalia. I couldn't figure out why the engine bay was so hot then Colin reminded me we drove it to get gas for the other bus. Humm, yeah, I am smart. Neutral staging area lesson. Tracked down a cold start issue even though it was 100* out. Turns out the ground in my CSV plug is junk. And we endured the terrible try to get the beading to look nice when you reinstall the sliding door track cover (more cursing). Adjusted the doors a bit to deal with crappy seals and poor owner maintenance (me).
Colin likey drove into another massive thunderstorm on his way west. Hopefully he made it to the Goosenecks to camp or Mexican Hat Rock.
Thanks Colin for providing this service. I always learn something.
Brandt