Date: Mon, 29 Apr 96 17:46:03 EDT
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: snuggles@VNET.IBM.COM
Subject: BlueRidge Trip Report/Good News/Van problems/etc
hey now,
spend the weekend camping and listening to bluegrass up in north wilkesboro.
wonderful time in the mountains...van was heaven, had some good dinners, snacks
and wine in it....no problem whatsoever getting up there, nice 3 1/2 drive.
was raining on the way up there, we got to our campsite and set up the tarp on
the van, got lunch going, listened to some tunes. spent the weekend checking
out vw buses, mainly vanagons, several euro$$$van campers, a nice splittie
with wood interior....also saw leftover salmon play several times..if you
haven't seen them you may want to check them out.
on sunday, we headed up to boone, then hit the blueridge parkway. got up to
about 3,756'...was kinda chilly but the van was running nicely..engine stayed
cool and i wasn't eating oil. continued on the blueridge parkway until i hit
221. my girlfriend and i were feeling adventureous, so we took 221. if you have
never been on 221 between boone and asheville, you are in for a treat. hair
pin curves, steep grades, no civilization, and all the time you are wondering
how the hell they built this road on the side of this mountain. drove most of
the way in 3rd gear but it was beautiful and the van did quite well.
took 70 west off of 221 and paralleled 40 west into asheville. headed up to
weaverville, nc to visit amanda's mom. had some good western nc bbq and some
peach moonshine we had picked up at the festival. whhhewww! sat out under the
stars, wayback in a mountain hollow...i've been to the rockies, the andrionacks
, the alps, etc......but the blue ridge and smoky mountains are some of
the most beautiful in the world. amanda and i have been getting along
wonderfully, we are in love, and last night, after several more sips of
moonshine and a quick run up the mountain for courage, i got around to asking
the question i'd been wanting to ask all weekend but was scared shitless to:
amanda, will you marry me? the answer was....yes! no date or anything yet..
just a yes...heheheh the scene was perfect, stars were out, lawnchairs by the
bus, moon out, mountains all around. hehehe
so we wake up the next morning all smiles and stuff. amanda brought me coffee
in the van, i got up slowly, but surely. heheheh had breakfast with mom, then
hit the road. crossed the eastern continental divide, no problem. until i
was 25 minutes from raleigh. i was going 60mph, then dropped to 50mph, then
to 40mph. with the gas pedal floored. i downshifted to 3rd, and then the engine
seemed to come back to life and i got back up to 60mph. no problem till i got
off the highway. i stopped at a stoplighted and noticed the van was shaking.
turned down the music, shit, i was running rough. sounding like i was missing.
got home, engine running rough...bus shaking like crazy ONLY at idle...idle
seems to be the problem here. checked the oil, fine. engine not hot. i put
my hand directly on the block..not hot. dipstick fine. belt is good. checked
vaccum hose, seems fine. no leaks. amanda had to head to work, and so did i...
so i unpacked, let the engine cool then checked oil again. fine. started her up
and watched her idle. engine seems to be jumping all around. my other car
(tauraus, piece of shit american car!) has a broken water pump, so i have no
other vehicle atm. i drove the van to work, it runs, rough, but it runs. no
flashing lights...still no heat or oil burning. could the high elevation have
messed something up? should i adjust the carb? timing? maybe a fouled plug? bad
gas? i last filled up on ammacoo premium! $1.46 gallon! whew! this van has
never run like this before, i'm kinda worried about it....help!
jonathan ('74 RetroWestie)
ps. all aircooled vw vans waved back at us, maybe saw about 15 this weekend.
3 out of 8 Vanagons Waved (damn Wasserheads! hehehe)
0 out of 3 Eurovans waved (ha!)
2 beetles waved.....and one school buss filled with kids flashed us the peace
sign.
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