Post
by Amskeptic » Thu May 12, 2016 5:47 am
It has been eleven days of cloudy rainy cloudy showery chilly damp rainy cloudy spattery puddley pissed-offedness. The PLAN was to finish my deferred preventative maintenance in the spotty scheduling between Tennessee and New Jersey. I had valve adjustment, heater cables, front wheel bearings, spring plate bushings, right side CV joints, headliner painting, and processing the shipment from Bus Depot and Vintage Whatevertheelectricalconnectionsupplier'snamereallyis, plus my big transaxle parts order from Long Enterprises.
But NOOooo, some huge low pressure pinwheel rain machine had to mosey on up and station itself right over Washington DC. I patiently waited for it to eventually slide away. Well, a nice cold chilly whipping cold front from Canada was supposed to do that but it brought a choo-choo train of Pacific storms all stacked up across the middle of the country, and this weather forecast is inflitrating my bones. For the remainder of May and into June, the northeast forecast calls for cloudy rainy cold. I have been yelling impolite insults at the Creator of Everything.
I did a call with Lance Haines and his gorgeous 1974 stock orange Westfalia camper, it was in the rain. We unstuck the clutch pilot bearing and did a few electrical jobs, like NOT run the heater blower fan off the right electromagnetic choke wire, oh my.
I did a call with DougB (DugB?) on his 1975 Raby-engined Now Poptop camper, and had fun showing Doug what he paid for by bringing that caged panther up to running speed a few times (5,400 rpm on his street for the edification of all of his horrified neighbors) while we tested the brakes in the rain and the damp and the drips. We also adjusted his brake push rod to be a little closer to the control valve on the new brake booster he bought. This new brake booster is grossly over-boosted and feels like a touchy old Ford station wagon.
Visited cheesehead who must not throw herself down the stairs while carrying boxes, this can cause ankle sprains.
We adjusted her fan belt on her Raby-engined camper and we waxed nostalgic. The Raby engine has joined the ranks of the Good Ol Days, and you don't get them any more, so take care of yours! We also had aesthetic reviews of our respective orange Westy interiors, god, I sounded so girly,
"I, like, LIKE the textured basket weave headliner."
"Oh no, the smooth white headliner is sooo much better."
"Well, I think the textured basket weave headliner breaks up the reflectivity."
"I don't think that is even stock."
"Oh but it is, say I really, like, like your LED light bracelet across the poptop bracket."
"You do? Yeah, isn't it cool?"
"That is so like totally cool. Hey, I want to dye my curtains."
Today I see some sun out there, and the List Of Things To Do is tripping up my mind as the myriad of chores jostle for priority. I have to do a half-day in Kirkwood PA followed by a two hour inspection of a potential purchase in some Perkasie PA before I get to appetite's house in Montclair NJ, the first real sunny day in the forecast. Then that old falling-down-the-stairs feeling will be mine to enjoy through . . . . . oh dear, August 29th.
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