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Date:         Wed, 06 Dec 1995 16:14:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@PO2.GI.COM>
Subject:      V6anagon/ Route 66: Day 3, Part 1  /L

V6anagon, Day 3, Part 1:

Was up with the birds in Oklahoma City. Could have gone further last night, but wanted to see the site of the OKC bombing. It's near 5th and Broadway, just north of I-40.

The V6anagon has behaved admirably for the first part of the trip, aside from the stiff accelerator and occasional ignition hijinks. It seems to leak slightly less than a quart every 500 miles-- not bad by VW standards (mine, anyway). Re-installing the valve covers and maybe the water pump, should cure most of that.

Once the tires warm up, the wheel shimmy seems to mostly go away, tho the fronts are still badly worn. The wear doesn't seem to be getting any worse, so maybe I lucked out on my "tired-eyeball" alignment. Still wanna get it done right when I get home, tho. The rear brakes definitely need adjusting (anyone know where the adjusters are on an '80 Vgon?), the oil leak keeps dripping on the exhaust, the engine drones noticably at speed, and some exhaust smell keeps getting into the cabin. All minor problems IMHO as long as I keep a window open, and so we keep rolling merrily along.

At first gas stop after leaving Springfield, the mileage for that tankful comes out to about 20.5 mpg, tho it's hard to tell exactly. The PO says that the tank had about seven (?) hoses coming from it to the original fuel-injection system and to the filler vent, and he wasn't sure what to do with them all. so he capped several and ran the rest to where he thought they would do the most good. Now I can't put more than 12 gallons at a time into the tank, even when I know it's nearly empty; and the fuel gauge never goes higher than 3/4. Anyone out there know which hose should be attached to the filler neck? Aside from the big one, obviously. :)

The Murrah Building site is grim. All remains have been taken away, and a chain link fence put up. Grass has been planted where the building once stood. People have obviously come by regularly, to put drawings, messages, flowers etc. on the fence. Some of the flowers are quite fresh-- obviously put there in the last day or so. Many buildings for a block around have plywood where their windows used to be-- this can be hundreds for the bigger ones. Structural damage can be seen on a few of the buildings, and doubtless there is internal damage to others that cannot be seen from the sidewalk. Nobody disturbs this site except to put memorials on the fence. A church the next block over, has erected a shrine in its parking lot to the victims of the blast.

Off to Texas. Tried to follow the old, original Route 66 where it exists, but this proves less entertaining than tedious. Long stretches of the road are now the frontage road for I-40, and to follow these exactly, you must keep crossing and re-crossing the freeway, all the while seeing no more than you would from the freeway itself.

At one point the V6anagon conks out again-- ignition again. Roll the #6 fuse, it starts, and I make a mental note to get one of those 30A relays from Radio Shack to switch the switched-power circuits, particularly the front cooling fan that the van obviously isn't used to. These are continuous-duty relays, and have solved numerous headlight and horn problems in my Mustang.

Stay tuned for Day 3, part 2... same time, same list! :^)

Steve Maher smaher@gi.com


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