Date:         Tue, 12 Sep 95 08:34:32 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         snuggles@VNET.IBM.COM
Subject:      Observations on the old '74

hey now,

i've been doing tune up work on the bus since i can't go anywheres anyways.
i replaced the spark plugs that were japenese for bosch plugs...seems to run
and start better...but....i'm not real used to vw's yet so i don't if this is
normal or not...it takes a while to start when dead cold. it'll turn over on
the first try, idle for a bit then die. if i keep giving it gas, it'll idle.
last night i just pumped a little gas to see what would happen. it idled for
awhile fine...then sped up and putt putt puttered dead. then i started it again
and kept feeding it gas and then let off the gas. same thing. eventually after
2 minutes i guess the engine warmed up and i got a nice, smooth, even idle.
would this be normal? i'm thinking maybe the carbuerator needs adjusting/cleani
ng, or maybe since the gas is relatively old that might be it. i've added some
berrylman's and that seemed to help somewhat. in any case, once it warms up
it idles great. gotta get used to that vw sound tho. if my mazda sounded like
that, i'd be real worried.:-)

i've also noticed that the bumper gets really warm. i let the engine idle for
awhile to get her used to running again and walked by the back and felt heat.
i put my hand on the bumper and it was really warm. then i opened up the engine
compartment and it felt nice and cool in there. didn't even seem warm. that
seems like a good thing.

the spark plugs i took out had been in there for 3,000+ miles. they looked
good and clean except for #3 which looked just a tad rich. just a tad. no wear
really.one question, this may be a real dumb one, but the bosch plugs i
replaced the old ones with came with a little screw brass looking thing. when
i put the new ones in i screwed this on the plug and put them in the engine.
i couldn't get the wires back on so i took the plugs out and took this little
thingy off. the wires fit fine. is this thing necessary or what? i would assume
it is but i couldn't figure out how to use it..hehehehe. changing spark plugs
is about the most adventuerous i've gotten...today:...check the valves. wowowo
yup, gonna make sure the engine is cold. hehehe. got seals ready to replace.
any advice?

hanging in there...hope to be on the road by this weekend.

oh, as you know my bus is a 74 transporter...i was wondering...the back seat
doesn't go completely down flat...someone told me there was a trick to making
it do that but i can't figure it out. i'm assuming it don't do that. i want to
sleep in there comfortably...anyone have some suggestions? i was thinking about
taking the back seat completely out and building a platform but would like to
keep the bus as original as possible. anyone dealt with this before?

thanks for your help!

jonathan