Date: Tue, 2 Jun 1998 01:07:29 EDT
Reply-To: ThingGuy@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: ThingGuy@AOL.COM
Subject: BOTBR
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
I just needed to say I had a fantastic time. the location was great, the
weather beautiful and the buses were plentiful and the company couldn't of
been better.
I met a bunch of you guys and gals, and remet a few too.
I left St. Louis about 1am on Friday morning and drove almost straight
through. My newly installed gauges became an obsession as I watched closely
as the oil temp went slowly up to 230. The bus performed fantastic, but it
was hard to enjoy watching the temp gauge the whole time. I got stuck in
traffic on I-40 and was totally freaked out to watch the temp go to 250. I
pulled over and let her cool down.
On the Blue Ridge Parkway one of my CVs began the death rattle. I had
inspected the boots before I left and found no problems. I t really only
takes a pin hole to throw all the grease out. I rolled into camp late
afternoon and forgot all about the CV until I left on Sunday.
Sunday afternoon leaving a little later than I should have, I headed out after
saying the goodbyes, and had to stop for the impromptu group picture.
I stopped at the K-mart in Ashville and bought a little grease gun, but no CV
grease. I then stopped at the local chain auto parts store to also find no CV
grease. I had to track down a NAPA to find the stuff. I pumped all the
universal grease out of the cartridge and then squeezed the CV lube in. Using
a hypo needle attachment to the grease gun, I lubed up all four CVs and then
sealed the tiny holes with rubber cement. All of this effort didn't quiet the
death knock any.
I stopped a little down the road for gas, and the bus wouldn't start. I
tightened up the belt, and then pop started it. I had the same problem later
that evening and had to get a jump start.
Just east of Illinois the bus just died on the highway. I pulled it over and
found a wire off the coil. I replaced the wire but again the bus wouldn't
start. I then cleaned the battery connections up and she fired to life.
By this time it was real late so I pulled into a State Park campground just
inside Illinois. Got up at 5am to make it to work by 8:30. I started the bus
up and had this little old lady in her nightgown yell at me for trying to skip
out without paying.
Sorry if I don't know the routine. There were no signs and no instructions so
how was I to know that I had to find the campground host and pay her. Somehow
I didn't think she would of enjoyed being awakened at 1 am. Anyway, I paid up
and took off. No problems except for the CV knock at low speeds.
Heading home after work, I had my throttle cable work it's way loose and I had
to stop and fix.
All in all a great trip. No major problems, though I need to do some CV work.
I wish I paid more attention to some of those CV posts from the past.
Happy Camping!
Steve
'74 Campmobile
New German Side Tents at: http://members.aol.com/tentinfo