Date:         Wed, 13 Mar 1996 16:44:00 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Richard Alexand Palmer" <rapalmer@eos.ncsu.edu>
Subject:      Florida Bus Exchange Adventure Report

Howdy all. After a day of recouperation, I must relate to you the story of my
bus exchange, made possible by this wonderful list.
As a bit of background, fellow listmember Kevin Murray and I swapped busses
last summer, trading his single cab for a sunroof deluxe I had. (BTW, he has
begun painting the Deluxe, and it looks amazing!)
So, having enjoyed the truck for a bit, and selling my camper, and buying
another '67 walkthrough pop-top, and a long chain of woeful events, It came to
pass that I needed a new engine. Not just a new engine, but a completely new
engine, as in case, crankshaft, and the works. Almost jokingly I posted an
offer of the single cab in my search for the engine. Kevin meanwhile missed
dear old Lemonhead (the happy yellow truck), and was eager to bring it home to
sunny Florida. We began to discuss the possibilities of such a deal, and the
issue of getting the engine back here to North Carolina came up. Not a problem,
though, as Kevin is working on a new project, Bus Bones, a service of Split
Window re-vitalization and restoration. He had another split window pop-top,
and it was decided that for a bit o' cash, that was how the engine would return
with me.
  So, the plans were made for this 600 mile trip, and Last Friday I awoke to go
to work; I would leave at lunchtime. Curious, there was this white, powdery
stuff on the ground. Snow! Argh! In March, even. Nothing like packing heavy
winter clothes for a Florida vacation, but I did. I hit the road around noon,
and made good time down I-95. I was averaging 60 mph on a 1300 SP engine, and
getting pretty good milage (a bit above 20mpg). My only complaint about the
trip down is that it was freezing! It was rather long, but luckily uneventful.
I made a few stops for gas, and to warm up, but made the trip in about 12
hours.
  Awaking the next day bright and early, Kevin and I set out to bring the bus
back to life. She was missing windshields and 3 side windows, and the brakes
were bad, and the wiring was a horrible mess, as the PO had removed the fuse
box, ignition and light switches, and headlight and turn signal relay. (He was
beginning to restore it, but never did)
 So, over the next couple days, we fixed her up, and got things back in good
working order. I'll spare all the gory details, except to say that I spent far
too long messing with the &^%$#@$$% wiring system. If anyone has a color wiring
diagram for a 67 bus, PLEASE get in touch with me!
  Sunday we stopped by a local VW show, looking for bargains, but there were
almost exclusively bugs. (there were some nice ones, though)
  Anyway, Monday morning arrived, and after some final tweakings, I hit the
road. Things were going smoothly, until dusk began to fall. I turned on the
headlights, only to soon notice that dreaded glow of the alternator warning
light. I cut the lights back to running lights, which stopped the light.
However, as it inevitably does, night soon fell, and I had to turn on the
headlights. Soon the alternator light returned, and then to my horror, the bus
cut off. I was in the middle of Nowhere, South Carolina, and my bus had no
intention of starting. I wiggled every wire I could think of at least 3 times,
but to no avail. I began to freak out, as I had no idea what to do, when a kind
fellow in a big ol' American van pulled up and offered a tow. As I had no
money, this seemed like my only choice. (Kids, don't try this at home) That got
me up into North Carolina, until the lock on the tow chain finally broke.
Miraculously, the bus didn't swing out into traffic, and we were able to get
her off the road. At this point, we were in range of AAA 100 miles free towing,
so I thanked the fellow, and called them. They arrived with a rollback at about
4 am, and I got home finally at 6.
  At the moment, I haven't been able to figure out the problem, but I'm sure
it's something so simple I'll hate myself.
  Anyway, All things considered, it worked out well, and I certainly had my
share of miracles to help out. I must thank Kevin for being a super-excellent
host, and if anyone in Florida needs air-cooled help, he is the man for you.
I must also thank the list, without which this would not have been possible.
So anyway, I now have an extra '67 camper for sale, if anyone is interested.
So, now everyone go out and thank your bus for being so nice to you, and not
stranding you in the middle  of nowhere....
:)
Happy Wednesday!


-- 
Poor Richard

 "I spend half my life explaining to Christians why I'm a Deadhead,
 and the other half explaining to Deadheads why I'm a Christian."

    .---------------------------.
    `/""""/""""/|""|'|""||""|    '\    Richard Palmer rapalmer@unity.ncsu.edu
    /    /    / |__| |__||__|      |
   /----------=====================|    '67 Standard Bus VIN 227047706
   | \  /V\  /    _.               |    '65 Single Cab
   |()\ \W/ /()   _            _   |    '78 automatic (help-needs new trans)
   |   \   /     / \          / \  |   _-( )
  =C========C==_| ) |--------| ) |==] _-{_}_)
    \_\_/__..  \_\_/_ \_\_/ \_\_/__.__.

Give me the simple life.
http://www4.ncsu.edu/eos/users/r/rapalmer/www/