Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 15:47:59 -0500
Reply-To: Vincent Dow <ianvincentdow@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Vincent Dow <ianvincentdow@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Might be a double post...winter trip
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuK=AYw4R4LCO_banggc5CoqMFWUYfW0uFvtwPk=xTsyjQ@mail.gmail.com>
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Right on man.
I'll be following your progress.
I too am snowbirding this year. I want/need to bring my 82 westfalia/2.2
subaru back to california from montreal.
Yikes!
Nah, it should be fine. Me and my girlffriend and dog are intending to head
south from Montreal the 1st dry day in january.
Spend the first night in Brooklyn with friends. After that head straight
down to Baltimore, and then turn west. Just gotta get out of the bad
weather.
I have a newly rebuilt 4speed! It costed an insane amount. I don't even
want to say how much. But it works beautifully. I have a new taller 4th
gear (.77) so I'm more of a rumbling cruiser. But that's fine.
Heater is not heating up!!! Garghhh!!!
My van was originally air-cooled. I had the heater plumbed in three-four
years ago. It's worked plenty in the past. Once it's getting hot coolant.
I brought the van the other night to a friendly garage that has a steep
ramp into one of their bays. I'm trying to get the engine expansion tank
above the front -heater core. That's always worked in the past. And I went
through the process the other night, but I'm still not heating up. So I'm
thinking there's still a big bubble in the heater core. PITA
It's real cold here in Montreal. 10 below (centigrade) this afternoon. But
the streets are dry. They salt like crazy here. I really hate having it out
on the street. I'm watching the forecast. If a blizzard comes, I'll buy a
month of indoor parking at a garage over on the west side. I still have
lots of prep to do on the vehicle, before jumping off on a 3,300 mile
excursion.
At least gas is cheap these days!
Once I get to L.A. I'm golden. I have a big, level driveway, lots of tools.
So much I've wanted to do to this van, that I couldn't do in Quebec.
Mexico would be real nice too.
Good luck, send a message to the forum when you take off!
Vinnie
On Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 11:59 AM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:
> Friday and not of interest to all, I think..a semi-self-centered post..
>
> In the next few days I will again be leaving the Pacific NW on my normal
> wintertime sojourn, driving my 84 tintop/westie interior with it's inline
> ABA VW motor and five speed manual trans......Snowbird, I am. When it
> begins here (east of Portland Oregon) with the gray skies, the freezing
> rain or freezing fog, the black ice-covered roads and the daily high temps
> in single digits, I have to leave..
>
> It's my intention to post some highlights of this trip on my
> long-neglected blog page. I am hoping that with my smart phone and a
> little more familiarity with the digital media it will be easier for me
> now. We'll see how it goes,
>
> The general plan is to find a weather window to head south along the
> east slope of the mountains and eventually end up in the desert of southern
> California and Arizona for a month or two of off the grid living.
>
> I usually easily pay for this trip, a few times over, by having all my
> medical, dental and optical work done in Algodones, Mx...... at Mexico's
> honest prices...The services in Mx. are almost affordable, usually at about
> 30% of what the Health Insurance industry and the Medical industry have
> agreed they can get away with charging us, here in the United States for
> the very same products and services. For example, my asthma inhalers
> (Provental) cost ME $14..my co-pay to my insurance here in the states,
> after I give a doctor $100 for an office visit to renew my prescription for
> these common meds...In Algodones, the very same brand (Glaxo) inhaler is
> $3.00-full price.......I am told the US pharma companies charge our US
> insurance companies well over $50 each for those athsma inhalers. I buy a
> bag of these Puffers, about 15 of them for the year (there is my gas money
> for the trip right there), .My eyeglasses in Mx. are usually about $70 per
> pair for photo-gray blended progressive lenses with high dollar name brand
> frames, including the exam and it takes about 2hrs from the time you walk
> in the door till you leave with your new glasses...A root canal is $130 and
> a crown is 1/10th the price I was quoted in the US....It seems a national
> disgrace that every day of the year you encounter crowds of seniors and
> sick people who've come to Mexico, to this former small agricultural town
> to try to get the services they must have but can't afford in the
> US...There are Medical Tour Bus companies out of Yuma, AZ who'll truck you
> across the border for the day...
>
> This is my 5th or 6th desert winter trip in the 84 Vanagon. Gasoline
> is going to cost me about $140 each way (1100mi) with the mileage I get
> from this ABA 2.0 liter motor.. http://www.fuelly.com/dashboard the
> Fuelly App says it cost's me $14/mile to drive my van right now. People
> often ask..."How do you manage to take these extended trips??"..Well, I
> just turn off everything here and head out the door and I usually end up
> saving money by not staying here in the cold and snow, trying to keep the
> house going and pay for it on '90s era carpenter wages..
>
> I am 'ready' this year for possible mechanical issues with my van The
> 'innards' are becoming 'well-used'..the motor has lots and lots of hard
> miles on it now but still hums along happily (so far...) there are some
> noises and the van is now 30 years old...but thanks to the various online
> lists and forums I've become pretty comfortable with my ability to do
> almost any mechanical task on the van...so if she blows....I'll hit the
> junkyard for a 'new' motor and perhaps get another 75k miles for ~$300...
> I have no glaring reason to doubt the van's dependability but Dang!...I
> drive the crap out of this vehicle and eventually stuff wears out, right?
>
> For this Friday Post, I have not added to the blog below, but there it
> is...as the winter progresses I'll hopefully be able to add something
> interesting to it on a regular basis....
>
>
>
>
>
> http://dhanson928.blogspot.com/
>
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