Date:         Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:12:35 -0800
Reply-To:     Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Maddening minutiae
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Got out early this morning to drain the rinse water out of the cooling system and add the new Sierra and the distilled (bought two gallons of each). Did an additional fill/warmup/drain with tap water to get as much out as possible so now I need to find someplace that will take two 5 gallon buckets of old coolant.  New stuff went in nicely but wouldn't you know it took more messing with to get things right.  The coolant light would not stop blinking, so there were several rounds of bleeding at the radiator and the thermostat housing before it stopped.  Not like yesterday when the plain water fill went so well. Figures.

And of course, while removing the grille to reach the bleeder I discovered four broken headlight adjusters. One was on an adjusting screw and the other three were on the bottom "studs" or the fixed posts, and all were the front or little plastic pieces that hold the actual light, and not the larger plastic pieces that hold the light frames to the body.  I had one of them in my pile of stuff that would fit the adjusting one, but decided I could rig the others.  

After a suggestion on a Samba thread I used fuel hose to slip over the post part; 5/8" long on the short high-beam light bottom posts and 7/8" on the longer, low-beam bottom post.  For a fastener I tried something different; I went to Lowe's and bought a pack of 1/4" E-clips (circlips) which, when I pressed on the light frame and compressed the fuel hose slightly, slipped into place behind the spherical head of the fixed post end and are held by the tension of the hose.  A dandy same-day fix for less than three bucks.  Now to schedule the inspection, if nothing else gets in the way.

Stephen