Date:         Mon, 23 May 2016 13:48:05 -0700
Reply-To:     Mark Drillock <modrillock@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Drillock <modrillock@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      finding crack in Amsterdam, part 1
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As you may recall, last year we shipped a Westy to Europe and traveled
around camping in it for a few months. Then we stored it there and came
home. Now we have returned to Europe to resume our camping through Europe.

On Fri 13 last I landed in the morning in Amsterdam to pick up the Westy
from the storage facility. Once on the ground I turned my phone on to see a
couple text messages telling me there was a problem with my van and it
didn't run. Uh oh.

We caught a taxi to the storage place, a new Tesla as a cab that the driver
was very proud of. My friend Brian and I were pretty surprised to see one
being used that way.

We arrived at the storage place to see my van up on a lift. The guys were
standing around with worried faces. They showed me that it was dripping
coolant from one side of the engine. Then they started it and the drip
turned into a gush accompanied by a clatter. They thought it was from a
head gasket but when I looked closely I could see a crack in the bottom of
the head, up between the pushrod tubes. I showed them. Now what to do. With
the jet lag and lack of sleep my head was reeling a bit.

My friend and I waited around for a while as they made some calls and
looked on the web. Finally I spoke with a manager there and he asked what I
thought should be done. I said I would change the head if the part could be
located and if they had a place for me to do the work. He said they had
found a source for the head and gasket set but it wasn't in stock and would
take a few days at least. He also said that the places he spoke to
mentioned that it was a repair job with potential pitfalls, such as the
cylinder studs could break while removing or installing the head nuts. I
told him that was a risk I would have to take and I wanted the  the parts
in hand before starting the repair. To make matters worse, it was the
Friday before a 3 day holiday weekend in the Netherlands/Europe and no
parts would be shipped out until the following Tues and thus arrive no
sooner than Wed or Thurs. I wondered if my various travel plans were fading
away before my eyes.

After a long wait the manager said there was a campground near by and the
camp had agreed to let them tow me in to camp until the following week.
They hooked a rope between their VW 'eurovan' and my Westy and off we went,
me steering my van through the streets to the campground. They said they
would tow me back to their place on the following Wed if the parts arrived
or were certain to arrive. On Tues they would get the parts ordered with
any luck and we would take it from there.

Later that night I realized that with the time difference it was still
early Fri in the USA so I called Van-Cafe in California. Peter said they
had the parts I needed and could ship right away. He would get back to me
about the cost and delivery time. I heard back quickly and the parts would
be in Amsterdam Mon or Tues, for a total cost about the same as buying them
in the Netherlands, even with the high air shipping costs. I told Peter YES
and THANK YOU!

So my friend Brian and I had a Westy to live in and a chance to explore
Amsterdam for several days before learning our eventual fate. We made the
best of things and rented bikes to cruise around as well as took the metro
into the city center a few times waiting for Tues. We liked Amsterdam.

Mark