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Date:         Sat, 29 Jul 1995 23:31:20 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         feets1st@ocala.com (Kevin Murray)
Subject:      21/SingleCab Pt III (very long)

I finally got away from Raleigh mid-morning on Wednesday with the feeling that I was forgetting something...

A little backstory on the 21 Window... The fella Richard bought it from evidently had the best intentions of doing a thorough rennovation starting with the underpinnings and working his way up along the way... True, the bus is ugly...some rot around the portals, a solid smashed in nose, and the obligatory rusted out floorboard, but otherwise the body was/is mostly sound. The entire front beam has been dropped and as far as I can see has been completely rebuilt. New tie rods, drag link, steering damper etc.,etc. The rear end of the bus looked like it got the treatment too with new Cofab shocks (?imitation Boge ?) swingarm boots and a nice flat black treatment to the entire rear area... We were unable to get anything that resembles brakes. Bled the thing yesterday but master cylinder seems to leak pressure..Have to madly pump brake pedal to get any reaction in the stopping department...will mentally adjust my driving habits to accomadate. Shifting linkage is also in bad shape. Was able to get 3&4th fairly smooth, but binds bad in 1&2 and reverse. The coupling in the back (tranny/linkage) is rotted to the point of breaking and none of the round type couplings were to be found in the local shops. Will brave the drive, hope for the best, and have a pair of vicegrips on the seat just in case... So, aside from not being able to stop or start easily and in a rush to get back home before all hell broke loose at work I said my goodbyes, made a last dash around the perimeter of Sean's Bug Haven looking for errant parts I may have forgotten, then hopped in the Bus and headed South.

** mile 01 Gassed up...gauge doesn't work..but odometer and speedo does...will do the 100mile refill on the way home!

** mile 10 Hit I-40, got up to speed (65) for the first time and felt the bus kinda lock down into a groove...Steering is very stiff and has a tendancy to stick just after the neutral position in either direction. At the next stop I will try to adjust the steering gear box and see if this helps..

** mile 50 Steering has gotten sooo stiff I pull over cautiously and try to adjust the gearbox. Am able to loosen it to a point where it doesn't bind, but lots of slop now... I compromise and resume the trek.

** mile 55 Lose power, motor dies, pull over again and lift engine lid. quick R&R reveals a nice mud mixture clogging my fuel filter. disassemble filter, spray well with brake cleaner and re-install.. I suspect the tank sat partially filled and has developed a sediment beach. I find myself having to pull over to clean the clogged filter dozens of times on the way home...Thankfull for the NOPI filter!

** mile 110 Started hearing a whineing rear-end type noise in 4th that is growing louder by the mile. I pull off the interstate and drive around until I spy a FLAPS. Pull over (no trees here & it is noon!!!) crawl under the bus and notice the transaxle is steaming (drove over a mud puddle in the parking lot) and v.e.r.y. warm to the touch... Jack up the bus and look for the transaxle filler bolt which I find to be missing. Crawl back out, remove the rear drivers wheel and take out the reduction gearbox oil level bolt for a thread match and then spend the next two hours in FLAPS trying to find a replacement bolt. A friend of one of the employees has a junk yard that eventually disgorges a spare tranny bolt and two pints of 90 weight. Much later I am on my way again...

** mile 210 Bus pops out of 4th gear while cruising down the hiway and almost causes me a coronary.. It gets progressivly worse till by the time I get home it (like the SingleCab) has to be bungee tied to the fenderwell to keep it in gear.. I guess I am cursed with not ever having a VW that can keep fourth in its pants..jee!

** mile 250 As I do my 50mile fuel filter inspection I notice a few of the sheet metal tin screws seem to be loose. This in turn prompts an overall check for loose nuts & bolts. Things in general seem to be vibrating loose at an alarming rate. Carb mount nuts are loose, the fan shroud is itsself loose and as I shake it back-N- forth I note the backing plate on the generator is very loose. Jeez...My luck! I tighten what I can and hope the fan itsself isn't coming loose. Will watch oil pressure light and gen light for signal the belt breaks, or I lose compression quickly...

** mile 285 A noise like two old Buicks rutting is emanating from the engine compartment and I fear the fan is scraping on the loose backing plate. I decide to check and pull off I-95 into a semi-shadey spot between 2 cheap hotels (just in case) and a Truck stop. The generator has turned a belt and I decide to try to pull the generator/plate/fan off the motor in the bus and replace it whole with the generator/plate/fan off the motor Richard gave me. I can't tighten the fan plate nuts as they are behind the fan and it doesn't seem to have loosened any as I reach around behind the motor and twist the fan by hand. After an hour of removing the carb, wiggling the gen stand, unscrewing the sheet metal on the back of the doghouse and gently prying the fan through the opening on the fan cage I am able to replace the very loose stuff with a much tighter replacement! It is kinda like an hour glass, but instead of sand trickling down the encase- ment I see parts dwindling from the spare motor which came with the bus... I hope I can get home before I reach the case halves...

** mile 285 pt II.. Start up the bus and while the low db noise is gone I now notice the whine when I decelerate...This scares me as I think back to last night and all the wee hour stuff I did trapseing around the motor with a disfunctional air impact wrench. I pull out my trusty stethoscope (hose and 10mm bolt) and start listening to the bell housing...Need go no further.. I hear the unforgiving sounds of a flywheel beating against an egged dowel pin or three and hope the shade holds up a few more hours. I suceed in pulling the motor and check the condition on the fly- wheel and sure enough the dowel pins holes are nice and egged out. Luckily I had a spare flywheel from the 1300 motor I left Richard and so swap the thing for a good one. The problem now is how to torque the gland nut down to 210 ft pounds with a 3/4" drive ratchet and a cheeter bar? I found a section of 2x4 & placed it on top of the cheater bar which lay at a 4:00 position. This gave me a springboard on which to back the front end of the bus over. While I weigh in at 190 +/- lbs I assume the front end of the bus combined with me jumping up & down on it produced more than 210 ft.lbs.. If it didn't... It was a valiant try!

Reinstall motor, fire it up...no bad noises...BUT...front flat tire! Turns out later the valve stem was bad, but at the time I just quickly changed it out with one of the two spare tires I had brought from home... Whipped out my bucket of hand cleaner, wiped down as much as possible, shucked out of my work overalls that I take everywhere with me for just such occasions and covertly ambled over to the swimmin pool of hotel "A" and did a quick lap...

** mile 325 Hit the Georgia state line and decided to stop at the welcome station to check on the condition of the fuel filter..cleaned it, went to relieve myself and get a drink and when I came back... another flat tire...This one I could hear hissing out slowly as a guy and his coddled dog stood watching with a sheepish grin... No problem, I have a second spare....whip out the floor jack which seems to run the guy and dog off at an alarming rate, change the tire and within a few minutes I'm back on my way...

** mile 415 Did I mention no windshield wipers? Or the cracked windshields I had to install with silicone and twigs? Hit a granddaddy of a rainstorm as I passed the Florida State line still some 100+ miles from home. I pull over under the cover of a gas station awning and dry the windshield as best I can and then liberally apply RAIN-X to the entire thing. I buff out three times as I am hoping to instill a bit of fear into the onslaught of rain drops pounding away just left of my position...It is getting dark too and I find myself for the first time trying my headlights (which work!) and hoping it lets up soon as the combo of no brakes, shitty lights, bad shifting, no wipers AND a five foot gap in the roof of my vehicle are kinda adding up to an overall bad hair day!!!

** mile 525 It drys out (outside that is, it is still plenty wet in here ; )) and leaves me with a breathtaking fire red sunset on my West, and a cool blue-grey pack of storm clouds slowly moving away from me on my Left. I am within 50 miles of home and I am feeling exhalted. The new "project" has bucked and kicked and tested the waters of my tolerances. It has dealt with my boneheaded over- sights with little more than a wimper, and while it broke down numerous times it -never- left me in no mans land. Somewhere between home and North Carolina we developed an understanding... well perhaps that is a bit esoteric, but I'd like to think that there is a simpatico between man (sic..person) and machine. In any event I've learned a bit about my new project, and can now start on the slow process of restoration...after I recuperate from the last few days...; )

Kevin

Kevin Murray (cinematographer) -FeetsFirst Films

59 Ragtop Beetle,(sitting up north!) 59 SingleCab,(in resto) 66 Deluxe Samba(finally!) 66 Sunroof Beetle (daily driver) 67 Panel Bus,(parts) 69 Beetle Baha,(project) 72 Combi Bus,(dead!) 74 412 Station Waggin.(project)

-------------****** Sparks through the Rubble ******------------------


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