Cha Cha Cha Changes

Just a quick note to share today. Lots of changes around here causing car work to be set aside for a bit. Fair warning: no car content today.

Dog Daze

puppy needs a name

With the departure of our last child from the nest, Boo and I thought we now have time for a dog. While true, a new puppy takes up a considerable amount of focus, and that pulls time from other optional (and sometimes not optional) things. On 23-October, we went to a rescue adoption event at the Tanasborne PetSmart, where dogs and cats rescued in Texas were made available for adoption here locally. Why they need to come here from there, I didn't quite catch, but there were lots of people and many animals. In fact, the woman in front of us in the queue had driven from Eugene that morning, explaining that there simply are no shelter adoption animals in the valley, and she either had to get a dog from a breeder or drive up to Hillsboro. Who knew? Clearly, she did; she indicated that the store hosts an event like that about once a month and they are always that busy. She arrived mid-afternoon to the last one and the depleted selection did not include her new family member.

The scene was pretty crazy for the uninitiated: on either side of this 5 meter wide area, there were crates lining both sides. In the 15 meter long aisle in between, were maybe 40 humans, some potential adopters looking as a family for a new member, as well as volunteers helping people handle the animals and learn about them. One dog barked most of the time, and the dogs we interacted with were all a little traumatized, quiet, reserved, trembling. They had arrived that morning in a trailer from Texas, so it was to be expected. Boo and I took a couple (one at a time) outside of the venue to a grassy area behind the store to see if that helped them settle a little bit. We hoped to get a sense of the underlying personality, but with that much recent and arguably still-ongoing trauma, how could it? We visited with a few dogs, and this one black with white splotches puppy attached himself to us. And we to him. He trembled pretty much the entire time we were getting processed, but once we were in the main store looking for dog owner products, he started to settle down. He even fell asleep for a short time while one of us was carrying him. I guess removing the animal from the trauma for 30 minutes or so, if the animal is young enough, is enough for him/her to settle.

A few hours later, we're home, with a crate, a bunch of puppy stuff and a 3 month old puppy (name has not presented itself yet). So, there will be potty-training, and other training happening. He has been very responsive already. The day before, I had thought that my Sunday was going to be spent installing seats into Hapy while Boo worked a 12-hour shift at her new hospital job. Instead, after a night of sleep interrupted by scared-dog whimpers, it was spent going in and out my backdoor with a little puppy, followed by light playing or resting. Crazy how that consumes all your time. Even something as simple as eating a snack or taking a leak are perilous as puppy-bladder accidents happen quickly.

Boo Job Change

I just alluded to a change in Boo's employment. After years of working in specialized clinics (Pulmonary and then Cardiology), she took a new role at the hospital. If there is a "hood" in Portland, that's the hospital she is at, working a floor gig. This new role will be fewer hours per week, but they bunch all together. I mean... before, she worked 8 hour shifts monday-to-Friday, like an office worker. Now, she works 12.5 hour shifts (with a lunch break, its 12 hours paid with overlaps for shift changes) on any day of the week, but at least its daytime. Even with more time available in a week, any life schedule change has an impact as lives re-settle into a new pattern. 

Construction Junction

Before we got the puppy, we had started a plan to remodel some sections of our upstairs. The master bathroom was originally designed for one person, for example, and the laundry is in the far corner of the garage, about as far away from laundry generation as possible and still be in the house. We would like to resolve both of those issues, but that's a big scope. So, this work will be done in phases, and will mostly be completed by Boo (and specialized subs) with a little help from me but, nothing happens in a vacuum, and if one of us is swinging hammer, the other must be minding pup.

Getting Out

Bruxton Trestle

Last, Boo and I have discovered a shared enjoyment of hiking. This intersects well with life with a dog, as well as aligns well with a lifestyle change we have been making where we get up earlier, go to bed earlier and consume very little, if any, alcohol. Still, this means that time I would have spent during a weekend day wrenching on one of the projects may be consumed by a hike. We experienced the same slow down on projects where we were hitting the snow a lot, and that was a positive family-health tradeoff. Also, now that we're all vax'd, we have returned to hanging out with our musician friends more. I don't think that will have a meaningful impact, but time is fixed and consumption is cumulative. Before you know it, there isn't any left.

I guess, I needed to think this through so I don't become discouraged when projects are not moving forward. I know that Zed is effectively stopped due to cold/wet weather preventing painting anyway. I could probably do a thing or 2 on Oliver, but I really would like to get him through DEQ/smog before I invest any more time or money into him and the smogging won't happen until the nicer weather returns (there is a failed seal/leak where water can creep in under the windscreen). I expect I will be helping G on Nemo when he drops by, but my only real open project is Hapy's seats. Those seats and the related noise abatement might not be installed for a while. Time will tell. Perhaps the pup will like hanging out in Hapy as much as Boo, Schmidty (the kitty) and I do.

That's it for now. Over the years, I have forecasted a significant reduction in my car and posting activity only to re-appear in the next week or 2. So, I am sure you are taking this statement with a few grains of salt. I would if I were you too. Still, if I don't get back for a while, have a nice holiday season. If you can, give the gift of time and experiences, especially to yourself. While memories fade, material gifts fade faster.

Thanks, as always, for following along-

Hapy B-Day to Me

So.. no real post this week since I'm celebrating my birthday with a once-in-a-lifetime / first-time-ever trip to Hawaii. I may post on what happened or not. Not really sure. As of right now, though, I'm in HI, enjoying the not-freezing (82*F daily high temps versus ~45*F daily high temps). Being thousands of miles from my projects, all I can really do is watch the waves.

I need to call out how grateful I am that Boo encouraged the idea, underwrote a large portion of it and really helped drive this, uh, home. It started with one of those internet /InstaFace things where you indicate the states you have visited. I realized that I had visited all but 3: Hawaii, Alaska and Louisiana. We decided the next big birthday (one that ends in either a 5 or a 0) we would knock one off the list. Hawaii in February sounds like a better idea than Alaska, so that was picked. I don't know which will be next. I guess it depends on how much it costs, and whether it is hurricane season (Boo b-day is in August) or winter again when we get to thinking about it.

When I consider how much money this trip is costing, it gives me pause. Normal people just can not afford to do this so it is no wonder that this is my first and probably only time. We have been saving since Summer (just saying we're normal people and that is how we managed to make this happen). For posterity, the cost breakdown is pretty severe, with an almost perfect balance of around $1200US each for flights, a condo rental and a rental car for a week for 2 people. The true math is more like $3500, and then I added my 2 boys (T and C) for another $1200 in flights. Costs for things like food and gas are much higher on the island too, so once I do the full accounting of just the grocery store and the gas station this will easily top $5k for a week in Hawaii. That is some serious scratch and that number just goes up when we think of places we went, lunches we grabbed, etc. This topic is way too heavy for this view so I am going to think about something else.... like drinks at sunset this evening... on the beach... in my flip-flops.

The money will solve and while it does we will dine at home. But that's for when we get back. I'll get back to the regular stuff next week. Enjoy this picture of the beach in the meantime...

Don't Should on Yourself

Some folks welcome the new calendar year with a resolution to try something different. I can respect that, though it often comes in the form of huge crowds of new folks at the gym for the month of January (about the time the resolution wears off), and that's kind of annoying. Today's post offers an alternative.

So.. What Now?
Early fall 2018 was not a good one for Boo and me. I honestly have a real problem with the month of October because it seems like any system that is barely hanging on fails in October. So, I spend my weekends fixing things in an emergency way rather than at my leisure. We had a few of those around the house, but we had a progressively unsettling health situation arise, and that forced us to make some prioritization decisions. These were not made all at once, rather we make them every day, as things come up. So often, we would find ourselves saying things like "I should (enter possible work item here)".

Not Should, Try Could
Just that simple phrase, "I should" carries so much weight. We feel immediate remorse and maybe even guilt, then, for NOT doing what we just said. For example, it's raining sideways, and you're fighting off a cold when you look out the window and notice there are leaves covering the back lawn. In your mind, you can hear the words... "I should rake those leaves today". Why "should"? Where did that imperative come from where now suddenly a Saturday morning that had started so nicely with a hot coffee and breakfast with your significant other has become one where you are compelled to do a particular task?

Don't Should on Yourself
Strike that. Boo and I have taken to catching each other when we say that and gently respond to the one caught "don't should on yourself". In other words, don't put an obligation on your time and energy like that. No one is making you do that except yourself. So, instead, change should to could, and see if it fits with how you're feeling that day. In the example above, when its raining like mad, I rephrase... "I could rake those leaves today". Suddenly, it feels like optimism. It feels like I could do anything today, even rake those leaves. I could sit and watch football all day. I could clown around with a speaker-box project or I could sit and play cribbage with my wife. I realize that this may read silly, but the psychology totally works. I feel less like I am a captive to repairing a house, or a fleet of cars and more self-directed. The same work gets done, but without the resentment, and with renewed a level of joy I used to feel from the simple maintenance on my first house.

So, if you are looking for a New Years resolution, I suggest taking on our little phrase: Don't Should on Yourself, and change that "should" to a "could". Give yourself the out. Give yourself the choice, and feel empowered by simply giving yourself those little gifts.

Yes, this was a weird post for today. It has been a strange Fall, with very little time spent doing anything car-related, but with lots of time loving my wife. So, there won't be much in terms of car content coming for a bit. In the meantime, I wish you all a happy, healthy and self-directed new year.

Fare Thee Okay

Independence Day was observed here in the States a little over a week ago. For Dead-heads, it was the celebration of the Grateful Dead turning 50, so there was a little extra celebrating. Today's post hits that. Beware: limited bus content.

Not Exactly Chicago

Mayhem's Further 2012 shirt

Similar to the pair of shows performed in Santa Clara, 70k people who could come up with the scratch to fly, hotel and see the "Core Four" (Phil, Bobby, Billy and Mickey) in Chicago jammed the city for the 3 day weekend. Like the weekend before, I connected with my friends Mayhem and GratefulEd for a camp-in viewing of the simulcast. Rather than haul out to Wheeler, this time we were in the swanky confines of Lake Oswego: a much shorter drive. GratefulEd, however, had set up The Wall of Sound - the home edition on his back deck. We had a projector beaming the visuals and a much larger crowd than had been in Wheeler tuning in. There were no arrests, no staff pro's or GDP uncover agents. Instead, we had meat snax, liquor and no-wait restrooms. Kidding aside, GratefulEd and his family were wonderful hosts.

Similar to the Wheeler shows, I arrived early, set up Hapy for the lot scene / camping and cracked a beer. After all the festivals and events, I've gotten it down to less than 30 minutes from pull-in to fully set up, complete with awning, middle row pulled out as a lot-couch, bed set up with curtains, etc. Mayhem joined me for some classic lot-style pre-func'ing and then we headed around back for the main event. Boo arrived late, missing part of the first set.

... but Not Exactly the Grateful Dead either

lot ready, 2-bus style

Once we got everything set up, it was up to the Core-Four-plus to provide the evening entertainment. Like the Wheeler review (see: Santa Clara by way of Wheeler), I won't bore you with set lists or a review. The fine folks at JamBase have a more than sufficient rose-colored-glasses review to read. All three shows were better than Santa Clara, but that's really not saying much. None of the three shows were on-balance better than the Furthur shows I'd seen. The last show was probably their best, giving reason to believe that if they kept at it, they could probably sound pretty good. Trey just wasn't as connected as he should have been, and the band wasn't as cohesive.

I trolled around JamBase between the Santa Clara shows and Chicago. I noticed that only Phil from the Core Four had tour dates. Billy and Mickey haven't been playing much in a while so, to me, this just further supports my belief that Bobby has a health issue that he hasn't disclosed, and that's why Futhur stopped touring. JohnK and Jeff are touring under the Golden Gate Wingmen, additionally supporting that Bobby isn't playing anymore (Jeff was his long-time keyboardist). That's really too bad. Love you Bob.

Chong

left-side rear-window blind

No Grateful Dead related music venture is complete without some side adventure. With a venue like Lake Oswego, I didn't expect much in this arena. I actually brought a book so I wouldn't get too bored. Luck smiled on me, though. For those not in Oregon nor a part of any marijuana legalization effort, you may not know that pot became legal for individual use on July 1st. Since we were celebrating "the 4th", weed had been officially legal for 3 days. 3 days, man. 3 days. As I turned Hapy off the freeway on my way into town, I saw a sign announcing a visit from Tommy Chong at the functional glassware shop just outside Lake Oswego. And just like that, we found our adventure: let's meet Tommy Chong.

Mr. Chong has been on tour himself, in a way, doing personal appearances at head shops in support of some personal-use products with his name on them. Neat. On the 5th, he was scheduled to appear at Mary Jane's House of Glass, and he did. The scene was, in a word: weird. The parking lot was roped off for pedestrian traffic, so many people were parking at the Taco Bell next door. In the center of the lot was a circus tent where beverages could be purchased and consumed, and a band was tuning up to play. Between the tent and the front door of Mary Jane's, there was a queue forming for pictures with Tommy Chong. Curious, we passed the queue and entered Mary Jane's. If you've never been in a functional glassware shop, it's hard to explain. Picture a 50' by 50' square commerce-space with glass cases pointing in various directions, all filled with glass pipes. No objects d'art, no brass, no wood, nothing else. Just pipes. Oh, and some incense in the corner. In the corner along the front wall, but opposite from the front door was a table behind which sat Tommy Chong. "$40 a picture," a young woman exclaimed as we entered. Yeah, I'm not paying $40 for a picture with Tommy Chong. No offense, Mr. Chong. We just stopped by to say "hi", so we did.

Mayhem took it one step further. Concluding that Mr. Chong probably didn't have a place to watch the final show featuring the "core four", Mayhem tried to engage is a simple conversation with Mr. Chong. Apparently, that was outside of what the Mary Jane's folks knew how to handle: so, you don't want a picture with him, so you must need to be in the autograph line. No, we don't want an autograph. "Would you take a picture with him if it was free?" Sure, so long as we get to ask him a question. Well, that proved quite difficult, but Mayhem got Mr. Chong invited to our streaming picnic thing.. and found himself in a rather awkward picture with Mr. Chong. Neither of them looked like they wanted to be in a picture. Afterwards, I noticed the look on Tommy Chong's face was the same in every picture. He was a perfect look of "really? this is where I ended up? how did this happen, man? can you help me outta here?". Sorry, Mr. Chong. We tried to spring you for a few hours.

Bid You Goodnight
The final show was just that. For those who were there, I'm sure it felt like closure. For those of us watching from home, we got an extra special post-show interview with Bobby. In answer to the question of will we never hear you guys again, he responded without hesitation that we'll see it again, or something very similar some time real soon. Thanks for stringing us along, Bob. We hope you're serious and we'll see you and Phil on stage together again. We'll have the bus ready to go whenever you declare the next Furthur show... please make it on the west coast :)

Bus Content: I adjusted the windshield washers with a push-pin in the tiny washer nozzle. Now, it streams into the upper half of the windshield dead-center of the wiper path. Perfect.

That's all for today. Thanks, as always, for following along.

This End Up

When I first constructed the engine cradle, it wasn't really designed to be used a bunch of times.  I never thought that far ahead.  Today's post covers what happened when a hot and bothered shade-tree mechanic experiences a failure with a critical tool... after first losing his patience.  I got so caught up in solving the problems that I failed to take any pictures.  So sorry!

Engine Husbandry
A couple of years ago, I mated the transaxle to the engine under cover of the bus in my real estate agent's drive way (See Transaxle Transition).  I figured, "if I could do it in MS' drive way, I can certainly do it in mine."  Sure.  Like before, I removed the mating studs first.  Unlike before, I had the pilot bearing in the flywheel, so the mating was much harder.  With a small wheeled 2-ton jack holding the transaxle up, I was not able to maneuver the input shaft through the pressure-plate, clutch and flywheel.  Instead, I did what my old wrestling coach once described to me.  I put the transaxle on my belly/chest and heaved it on, twisting it until the splines of the clutch fit into the input shaft, and then slid it home.  I slid myself out from under the transaxle and slid the jack into my place to hold it together.  I don't want to do that again.  One more reason to cut a removal valence into the rear apron.

Studly
With the transaxle and engine mostly mated, I rotated the transaxle such that the stud holes lined up, and slid the bolts in.  At the time, I'd forgotten that the adapter plate had 3 settings: 0*, 15* and 50*.  I nutted the studs down, and rather than take my winnings and going home, I doubled down and tried to get the bell-housing mounts set before calling it a day.  The driver side is easier to get to, so I started there, and after 10 minutes of up/down with the jack, I was able to slide it through the hole, the mickey-mouse mounting ear and against the nut.  Then the trouble started.  I couldn't get it all the way through to the nut, nor could I get the other bolt started at all.  Jack up, jack down.  Shake engine.  Repeat.  30 minutes.  40 minutes Nothing worked.  On one of my attempts, the engine shifted on the cradle.  Instead of leaning over to the left, it was leaning over to the right, and partway off the cradle.  The cradle was also showing signs of weakness, with it separating in a few places.

Is It Bleeding?
At this point, I kind of freaked out, but it got worse.  I reached in through my home-made top-side engine hatch to pull on the driver side mounting bolt.  Rather than grab the bolt, my head hit the hinge.  Hard.  Sudden pain and blood ensued.  Instinctively, I slapped my hand against the gash.  Ordinarily, that would have been good; pressure on the wound and all that.  My hand, though, was wrapped in a grease/oil covered glove, so the cut now had oil and grease in it.  Fortunately, Boo was gardening near by, heard my curses and came over to see what was going on.  She snapped into nurse-mode, cleaning it out with various potions and butterfly taping the gash closed.  Once calmed back down, I went back out to survey the wreckage.  The engine was shifted clockwise by a couple hours, and from underneath, it was clear the transaxle wan't in-line with the centerline of the bus anymore.  I resolved to simply get the one bolt out and call it a day.  20 minutes later, the whole operation was sitting on the ATV jack and cradle, though woefully mis-aligned and partly rolled over.  I cracked a beer and left it for the night.

Ship-Righting
Getting the engine/transaxle upright was a series of "how about this?" ideas.  I had the cradle and jack somewhat square under the engine, but simply tugging on the engine didn't really budge it.  I tried nutting-down the nose of the transaxle, but that didn't work.  I placed a steel bar across the top of the engine hatch and used load-lock webbed hooks to attach the engine to the bar.  I then slowly lowered the jack.  The engine shifted.  I moved the jack, supporting it in its new orientation.  I used the other jack under the cooling fins on the right side of the transaxle to help it rotate.  I changed the ATV jack so it was perpendicular to the engine.  This proved to be most effective: leveraging the steel bar/hook and the secondary jack, I settled the engine onto the ATV jack.  Then, while pushing the base of the oil pan with my foot, I pushed down on the turbo.  The engine rotated while the ATV jack moved to the right.
After a series of similar moves, the mickey-mouse ears seemed aligned with the holes in the mount.

Engine, Meet Hatch Lid
Once the engine was upright, I slid under the bus and got the passenger-side bolt in.  Note for my future self: always start on this (passenger, right) side.  If the engine flops over again, better that it flop onto the turbo-side: you can put a jack there.  There's no good spot to set a jack on the right side.  After about 15 minutes, I had the bolts in, and tightened down.  Probably a personal record.  Once in, I thought the engine looked a little funny.  The intake felt high and the oil pan appeared to be pointed at the ground instead of slightly to the right.  My fears were confirmed when I set the engine hatch on top of the intake.  Drat.  now we know that the 0* adapter plate configuration would not have fit.

Re-Studly
After all that, I wasn't going to start all over again.  Instead, I thought I'd try rotating the engine 15* by removing the transaxle mounting studs.  Since I'd already installed the starter, that had to come out first.  Then, I re-supported the engine with the cradle/ATV jack, set the steel bar with the hooks and removed the 4 studs.  I repeated the pushing on the oil pan, intake and turbo like I did before.  The engine shifted somewhat quickly into an almost-there position.  I had to do the final little bit while laying alongside the left side of the engine.  This was arguably pretty hazardous.  I slipped the lower left stud through the transaxle and pulled down on the turbo while wiggling the stud.  The engine needed to shift about 1/4", but it sure felt dicey.  Once the first one was in, I knew it was aligned, so I slid the upper left stud in and dashed around the right side and did the starter-stud and lower right studs.  Once nutted and torqued, I dropped the ATV jack, and re-set it with the cradle.

It was a crazy couple of days getting the transaxle and engine roughed back in.  I still had the transaxle nose-mount, CV joints, rear engine mount and all of the accessories to do.  I'll post on that later.  Fortunately, there was virtually no more drama after I got the central mount done.
Thanks for following along,

Dead Head Meet-up at the Movies 2014

There have been happenings in the car/bus space, but in the interest of space and a single focused post, today's post will just focus on going to the movies last Thursday.  

Dead Head Night at the Movies

Thursday, July 17th was the annual Dead-head night at the movies.  In previous years, these events have aired full-length concerts.  For example, last year (or the year before that) we saw the Sunshine Dairy benefit concert from Veneeta OR from 1972 called "Sunshine Daydream".  Having been too young to have been there at the time, it was great to see what the scene was like and watch them play a great show.  This year, the producers found the raw footage from the Europe '72 tour when they played in a tv studio for about 80 minutes.  A portion was later aired on UK's Beat Club tv show.

Beat Club
As a movie, it wasn't that great, but as a music fan it was really interesting to watch them as if they were working in a studio.  For example, they stopped "Sugaree" after the first verse because Phil missed a change and played "Playin' in the Band" a second time because Donna howled too loudly on the first take.  In both cases, the second run was better, so it was the right call.  I base my theory on the second "Playin" on a background conversation you can see between Jerry and Donna about standing further away from the mic.  Seeing Pigpen in such a diminished role was curious too.  Considering his health at the time, I wondered how he contributed in his last year while his "replacement" (Keith) took over and established himself.  Keith was almost inaudible through most of the film, only really peeking out sparingly on the later songs.

Beat Club Sound
The sound was very good and well balanced.  The film started with them checking the mic's and having side conversations.  Then, without much prompting, Bob shouts out a band introduction and they're off.  Like a show, it didn't seem as though they had a plan for what they were going to play.  In fact, they called Donna out to the 'stage' to sing on "Playin' in the Band" with a vague "how bout you come on up and sing on this" kind of vibe.  At the very end of the film, the band is playing a holding pattern coming out of a "the Other One" while Bob replaces a broken string.  Just as he gets it tuned in and the band starts to turn into a jam that's moving into a clear direction, the film suddenly ends.  Like a brutal cut in an old bootleg, the credits roll and you're left with that wondering of what came next.


Beat Club Filming
Staged in front of a green-screen showing tie-dyed sheets, the band was set up much like they would for a live performance (see picture).  Based on the staging, though, it seemed like they didn't know what to do with Donna.  When she was singing, she stood in front of Jerry, using his mic but forcing him back to his Wah pedal but out of direct line-of-sight with Bob and Phil.  When she wasn't singing, she stood in front of Pigpen's organ, blocking him from the cameras.  Still, considering it was 1972 and capturing live music on camera was still in its Woodstock-ish early years, it captured the band well.  Kieth didn't get much camera time, but Billy and Phil did, even though they didn't sing much (or at all in Billy's case).  Jerry and Bob were, of course, the focal point of most of the camera work, but that makes sense considering their lead vocals and guitar work.  It didn't appear that the band knew the cameras were rolling the entire time.  Prior to a few song starts, you could hear one or more of the members say "we're rolling" before they started counting into the song.

Full Bus
Unlike previous years, Boo and I piled all of the boys into the bus (Hapy drove great again) and shared Dead-head movie night with them.  Unexpectedly, they all took something positive from it.  T, for example, gained an appreciation for how Garcia approached and played the instrument.  He's heard their music before (obviously), but hadn't gained that understanding until he saw him play.  Interesting.  C appreciated what Billy could do on such a simple kit.

I was disappointed in the size of the crowd.  It was much smaller than the "Sunshine Daydream" year, but maybe there was a different local showing deeper into Portland which attracted some of that crowd.  If not, I'm afraid the numbers may not warrant airing something next year.  That would be a shame.  With all of the simulcast concerts from the 80's and 90's, there are many years worth of material left.

That's it for today.  I'll try to get another post in before the weekend.  Thanks for following along!!

Nye Beach Road Report

We took a road trip to the Nye Beach district in Newport Oregon over the July4 holiday.  This and the next post are dedicated to that trip. This one is just the travel report.

just North of Newport on US101

Getting Out of Dodge
Boo has a saying that goes something like "people will do what they want to do".  If you have a house of 6 people, all 6 need to want to get their collective stuff together and out of the house relatively early in order for you to get out early.  I had high hopes for being on the road by 11, but it was closer to 2 before we shoved off.  Ultimately, this worked out for the better, since that meant we could carabus with K driving his new-to-him Subaru named Kirby.  This split up the passengers and the payload too.  Still, Hapy was loaded down with 2 coolers full of food, all of the clothes, pillows, blankets, and most of the dry food... and 4 of the 6 travelers.

Wind-Blown Journey is the Destination
Since we were leaving town before rush hour, and it was mid-week (Wednesday), the traffic was trivial.  The drive out of town was trouble- and worry-free.  We followed the same route I took with T and C on our first camping trip with the new engine (see: One Small Step for Van...) down Roy Rogers and again as we entered the farmland of outer Beaverton, we expressed thanks to all of those who helped us along the way.  It's a tradition now.  We waved at the NAPA in Sherwood who helped us on that trip and again told the tale of how they helped us solve a hose-coupling design flaw.

Yamhill county grape region

Once we were outside of Sherwood, the towns are spread further apart.  First Newburg and Dundee, then Dayton, McMinnville.  By McMinnville, the increasing cross/headwind started to make steering an adventure.  If you haven't driven a bus or other tall flat-sided vehicle, you don't know the true terror of having the wind suddenly shift you 8 or 10 feet to the side.  It wasn't that bad, but with those kinds of memories in mind, I could feel the stress creeping in.  So, we stopped at the Dairy Queen near Sheridan for cheap eats and a couple Blizzards.  Shortly after leaving Sheridan, the flat farmlands give way to the Coast Range foothills, and corresponding forests.  The winds slowed as we passed the Spirit Mountain Casino and our adventure shifted from holding the wheel against the winds to climbing steep inclines.

For the most part, we were able to maintain the speed of traffic (55 MPH) through the foothills, the Coast Mountains and even along the 101 to Newport.  Of course, there are always those who want to go faster and will express themselves as they pass.  How sad for them that they are unable to enjoy the beauty around them and can only focus on the endpoint of their drive, spreading negative energy as they go.  There were a few longer inclines which were especially challenging.  There is one run south of Lincoln City that I had to run up at 35 MPH in third gear.  Even with the new engine, pushing over 4500 pounds is hard.  At no point along the entire run did Hapy's engine temperature go above 194*F, and every time it rose above 185*F it was during a long hill climb after which it immediately dropped back to 185*F again.  All told, he ran extremely well, pulling us into our destination around 6.

Devil's Lake

At Nye Beach
Hapy was warmly welcomed by the family when we arrived.  Little cousins who hadn't met him before climbed around inside, clearly amazed at seeing something so old.  We realized that Hapy is one month older than my younger brother and brother-in-law.  Funny stuff.  While at Nye Beach, we didn't drive almost at all.  We carabus'd with K, and sent him and brother T to the store for forgotten foodstuffs in Kirby.  We took one drive up to Lincoln City on Saturday to visit Devil's Lake.  The drive into Lincoln City from the south was a slow plod because of some road construction, but otherwise, it was just another mellow smiley drive in a 40+ year old microbus.  We put his pop-top up at the lake, creating a private changing area for us.  The nieces especially liked that.

I have discovered that Hapy is leaking some form of oil, but I can't determine the source.  When I check his engine oil level, it checks out virtually unchanged, but he continues to leave little puddles.  The drip also gets caught in the passing air and is creating a spotty film on the rear of the bus.  Me no likey.  I intend to dig deeper into this leak this weekend.  I think it's transaxle gear oil.  We'll see...

Home-bound

Happy in Hapy along hwy101

We had "check-out" at 11 on Sunday morning.  I quote check-out because there wasn't anyone to hand a key to, and no one was waiting for us to get out so they could get in.  Honor system, though, had us out of the condo by 11:30.  We didn't really have an agenda, so we pointed ourselves north on the 101 seeking coffee.  We couldn't find an easy-to-get-to coffee shop anywhere on the 101 through Newport, Depot Bay and most of Lincoln City until almost the end of town, there's a Starbux on the north-bound side.  To be fair, we could have tried to turn left across 2 lanes of southbound traffic and then try to turn left back afterwards, but this was end-of-holiday weekend traffic.  No chance.  With coffee's in-hand, we set off into the bumper-to-bumper traffic.  I could create an entire post about the ridiculous driver behavior we saw.  Maybe I will, so I'll leave it out of this report.  Needless to say, there were unexplainable traffic slowdowns and delays.  We stopped at the Dairy Queen in Sheridan again for a late lunch, and tried the trucker scales on OR18.  We scaled out at 4550 pounds.  While the outside temperature rose up into the mid 90's, inside the bus wasn't uncomfortable.  In fact, we didn't really notice the heat until it was time to unpack the bus.  After 2 prior attempts to have a coast trip without an issue, this, our 3rd try, was successful and issue-free.

Statistics
270 - total miles traveled
26.2 - miles per gallon

That's it for today.  More next time on Nye Beach, the family visit, the condo's, the Hatfield Marine Science Center, fireworks, Devil's Lake, etc.

Sunset at Nye Beach

HHH Day 2 band review

Boo and I camped the 9th annual Horning's Hideout Hootenanny (HHH) over Memorial Day weekend.  We had a blast (see So Starts Camping Season 2014).  Here's our review of the 4 bands who played on Sunday.

Vivid Curve

pulled from myspace, but its Vivid Curve

Imagine this scene.  It's the morning of day two after a late night of music (past midnight) and unofficial partying.  From the main stage, a long low drone rolls up the concert bowl to those sleeping in hammocks and tents until finally they slowly drag themselves into the morning light.  With the approaching march of the zombies, Vivid Curve starts up a set dressed in bathrobes and toasting the crowd with mimosas.  Upon the conclusion of this comical intro, Vivid Curve erupted in a psychedelic frenzy under-pinned by a didgeridoo and a talking drum played by a chap in a viking helmet.  Rhythmically supported by an Okee on a drum kit and a tie-dyed mountain-man on a washboard, the seemingly mild-mannered lead man leaped around with his acoustic guitar entertaining us with spoken word and melodies.  Boo and I were blown away.  These guys were amazing.  Their set flew by, and we loved every minute of it.  We will definitely seek these guys out.  By far, Vivid Curve was the biggest pleasant surprise of the weekend.  They simply crushed it.

Joy Tribe
Joy Tribe was interesting.  Following Vivid Curve wasn't easy to start with, and the beautiful sunny morning started to disappear as they took the stage.  None of that helped.  Adding insult to injury, the lead vocalist's main vocal range was squarely in the same range of notes and close in tone to what the guitarist and trumpet player were doing.  As a result, you couldn't make out anything she was singing.  I think they purposely had the vocal and trumpet lines match, but the mix was not quite right.  They tried to compensate by boosting her vocal near to the point of feeding back the mic, but I think the guitar needed to be quieter or the whole band needed to focus on dynamics: play quieter while she's singing.  The lead vocalist played sax and flute, exposing how multi-talented she is.  Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to engage with the band because of the loss of fidelity of the vocals.  Like a couple of the bands on the first day, I'd probably stay at a venue if they showed up and started playing, but I wouldn't seek them out.

Lewi Longmire and the Left Coast Roasters

rain? what rain?

Lewi Longmire is a Portland icon.  I'd never had the pleasure of seeing him play, and now I look back on those years with regret.  He and his band were fantastic.  They found that careful balance between energized and professional that neither Wood Knot nor Blue Lotus could find the day before.  They reminded me of Derek and the Dominos in terms of vibe and sound.  While the rain poured down.. and then sprinkled... and then poured... and then sprinkled, their sound slowly drew folks out from under their tarps into the sand pit.  By the time they finished their set, there were multiple pop-up canopies and 40 people dancing in the rain.  Powerful stuff.  Lewi was probably the best start-to-finish band of the weekend; most professional and arguably the most magnetic.  I will definitely seek Lewi out.

Garcia Birthday Band
I hadn't seen the Garcia Birthday Band for years.  Since then, it seemed like just about everyone in the band has changed.  I know Jon's been there since the beginning and I recognized him, but no one else.  I knew my old friend Steve had stopped playing keyboards for them years ago; it didn't matter, though.  They are still the Portland-area Grateful Dead cover band, so if you want a taste of that shuffle beat, they are the only game in town.  They're much tighter than they were when I saw them play on the lawn in Troutdale way back when to celebrate Jerry's birthday.  Still, I think they made a mistake booking a week full of shows prior to headlining the closing night of the Hootenanny.  They didn't have much energy.  It felt like they were tired, and wanted to rock, but just couldn't.  There were flashes of "here comes something", but that wouldn't last.  I'll see them again, and I won't wait as long.  Turned out, we waited less than a week and drove the whole gang out to the Rock Creek Tavern in Hapy the wonderbus.  The bus drove great and the band played much more energetically.  Boo and I were talking about going to their Fest in August, but its adults-only, and we have the full brood that weekend.  For those thinking about it, look to see what other acts they're bringing (I suggest Vivid Curve and Wood Knot :-)) and whether they're playing 5 straight nights before it.

Monday Morning
Unannounced and without pretense, there were two last artists performing on Monday morning while folks woke up, cleaned up and packed out.  First, someone made their way to the center of the concert bowl and played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes.  Well executed, and, once completed, whoever it was disappeared as quickly and quietly as s/he arrived.  Second, a guy with long blonde dreadlocks and a Cello set up under the canopy where the Hillwilliams had played late the first night.  He had a couple of effects pedals routing his sound through the small amp he was sitting on.  With that simple set up, he created basic loops on top of which he then solo'd.  He was joined at points by a woman on a cajon.  It was almost spiritual how the Cello cut through the morning dull.  When the morning sun broke through the clouds, a younger woman would compliment the music with free form dance behind the musicians and a screen, casting a willowy shadow.  It was a very cool effect.  I don't know who they were, unfortunately.  I'll update if I find out.  Regardless, it was a very foggy-morning-after way to end the festival.

That's it for the HHH reviews.  We had a blast and are ready to reserve our spot for next year.  I hope some of you can tear yourselves away from your typical Memorial Day traditions and help create a bus-zone under the trees at Hornings next year.  Thanks for following along.  Maybe I'll have more bus content next time.

HHH Day 1 band review

Boo and I camped the 9th annual Horning's Hideout Hootenanny over Memorial Day weekend.  We had a blast (see So Starts Camping Season 2014).  Here's our review of the 6 bands who played on Saturday.

Left Coast Country
As their name implies, these guys have some country flair, but it felt more folk/bluegrass than country.  The 4 main guys (dobro, bass, mandolin and violin) were well connected musically, standing in a tight circle just wailing away.  On the outside, both musically and physically, stood their departing guitarist.  He had a rockabilly thing happening that ran counter to the rest of their work.  The bass-man was described as the "knife and fork", probably because he was the time-keeper, the one who counted everyone in, and sang a bunch.  He even took a solo.  The mandolin player (Boo and I named "Red" for his big red beard) sang high, and brought the emotion or passion for everyone.  We greatly enjoyed the dobro player's vocal tone (butter) and hope that in the vacuum of the departing guitarist, he'll sing more songs.  As they finished their set, Boo and I agreed that Left Coast Country will probably be better without the guitarist, but they were a very strong start to the day.

HCH @Hootenanny

Hot Club of Hawthorne
HCH is a kind of old timey big-band jazz sound.  They had many instruments and they played them very well, but they didn't have the passion for the material.  While the guitarist / centerman (Jeffree White) played well, I think his being seated constricted his vocal range because he fell flat on some of the higher notes.  Overall, they were enjoyable, but not a group I would seek out.  If they're playing somewhere I was already going, though, I'd still go.

Wood Knot

Wood Knot @Hootenanny

Wood Knot had passion where HCH had skills.  These guys came out with their pants on fire and ran around on stage for 2 hours.  Having played on a festival stage before, I know the adrenaline surge that hits when you start playing.  If you aren't careful, you can burn yourself out.  Wood Knot played up against (and sometimes over) that line throughout their set.  Their songs were interesting, well chosen and lively, though the execution was kind of sloppy.  We both noticed the guitarist on stage right (grey hat in left edge of the picture) probably shouldn't play solos, or maybe at all, but who are we to judge?  Also, some songs just petered out or just stopped as if they were trying to figure out how to end the song as they were going, lost interest before the end and then started something else.  No, they were not segues.  With some practice, Wood Knot could be a really fun band to see.

Yur Daddy

Yur Daddy @Hootenanny

I admit that I braced myself for these guys.  Their name is un-impressive, drawing a pronounced eye-roll.  They were all wearing bandannas on their heads, as were the fans they brought.  Running against that headwind, they converted me.  They were great.  The keyboardist played the best electric piano of the weekend by far, and he was a guest artist for the day.  Wow.  They self-identify as reggae, but its more like a blending of ska and dance.  Definitely fun.  My only criticism would be in their set construction.  They jumped styles and tempos from song to song so much, it was hard to get a good flow going.  Just by rearranging their material, they could create an energy that slowly builds and falls, pulling the crowd in.  I'll definitely see Yur Daddy again.  They stayed all weekend, and partied in the bowl, even sharing a bottle of whisky with us.

Blue Lotus
As much as I was not looking forward to Yur Daddy, I was anticipating Blue Lotus.  Voted "best new band" by the Wow Hall in Eugene, these guys were headlining the first night of the festival.  The lead singer had a vocal tone and manner like Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders).  They stayed all weekend too, and generated a great vibe both on and off stage. Blue Lotus was a jam band, but they were almost too clean.  If we could take the songs and passion from Wood Knot and apply Blue Lotus' skill and polish, you'd have the next great band out of the North West.  After 45 minutes, I was checking my watch, which was not at all what I expected.  I don't think I'll go see them again, but if they're playing another festival, I'll give them another shot.  Frankly, I was hoping for something a little more raw and unscripted from a jam band.  Maybe I went in with my expectations too high.

the Hillwilliams
After Blue Lotus, the main stage was shut down for the night and a 10' by 20' canopy hosted the Hillwilliams and about 30 people.  Boo and I were among the 30 who fit under the canopy, but there were another 30 or more crowded around the bonfire outside.  More wandered the Shakedown Street scene running along outside.  These guys were a ton of fun.  The lead mandolin player knew how to work the crowd and keep everyone engaged.  By the 4th song, everyone knew guitarist "Daniel" by name, and would hoop and holler when he stepped up to solo.  He brought a sweet vocal tone too, making a nice contrast to the more gruff-voiced mandolin-man.  We enjoyed some nice banjo and sweet violin throughout.  Midway, we were treated to some guest guitar work by the lead man from HCH (Jeffree White).  We'll definitely check these guys out again soon.  They were just too much fun, making the canopy crowd a very intimate scene.

That was it for day one.

So Starts Camping Season 2014

Hapy Memorial Day.  I just got back from a weekend of camping, music and relaxing.  Today's post covers that.

Starting Again

middle row seat = camp couch

It seems like every Spring-Summer, I troll back through this blog to see if I posted a list of stuff to bring camping.  Every year, I'm disappointed that I didn't create such a list.  I have one now... on paper, that I'll try to remember to post.  We knew that where we were going, once we were in, we couldn't leave, but our tickets and camping spot were paid for.  Also, we had almost no money and the only things we could buy while we were there would require cash.  So, with the added pressure, Boo and I set off to plan for a weekend with Hapy.  She's quite experienced with car-camping, so between us, we remembered just about everything.  In the end, we didn't want for anything, and we didn't spend a cent.  We did find that we were the only bay-window bus there, and we spotted 3 Vanagons, including one tin-top.  Hopefully, one of my fellow bus driver/readers will feel inspired to join us next year.

To and Fro

Horning's Hideout

The drive was incredibly easy.  I checked the fuel log and concluded that we didn't need fuel for our round trip.  So, we fired up Hapy and nosed West to Horning's Hideout (North Plains, OR).  He purred the whole way.  Between the spring dampeners, removing the window screens and all the equipment we were carrying, he made almost no noise.  The only racket came from the belly pan when we got near 60mph on the freeway.  The ride home was equally uneventful, enjoying the views out the window, and the music from an iPhone.  The driver's seat belt is becoming problematic.  I may have to break out the wallet and buy a new retractable set, replacing the recycled-from-a-Mercedes set I installed a few years ago.

Horning's Hideout
I hadn't been to Horning's Hideout in probably ten years.  The last time was for the McMenamin's company picnic where a band I was playing with had a spot on one of the smaller stages.  That stage wasn't even there anymore, and you couldn't really tell where it used to be.  I was able to find about where it was based on my memory of the view.  Horning's has had trouble keeping music because of neighbor complaints and unruly patrons.  We were especially grateful that they allowed this multi-band multi-day event take place.  The Hideout hosts a stocked fishing pond and multiple 18 hole disc golf courses.  Our focus was the main stage where 10 bands played over two days.  I'll review the bands in another post.  For now, I'll just focus on the event.

Hootenanny

view from main stage

The Horning's Hideout Hootenanny was the brain-child of Scott McKay over ten years ago.  It started as a birthday party for him, and it's gotten bigger every year.  As Boo and I were saying our "thank you" and "good-bye", he described this year's event as the fulfillment of that dream.  It has been so successful, he's not sure how to move forward.  To grow anymore will require infrastructure, and more staff, probably more rules, and greater restrictions.  Facing that future, he posed that if he didn't do it, 100 people would probably show up anyway.  With the highest turnout ever, I think it also resulted in Scott's least sleep ever and shortest amount of free time to see bands ever as well.  For such a giving guy, it's truly a shame that he wasn't really able to enjoy the beautiful scene he created.  There were craft vendors, multiple food options (including coffee/espresso and smoothies), and even a pot-luck supper on Saturday.  He had the 10 staged bands, but there were pick-up jams happening in the upper camp zone all the time.  There was a 2-day disc golf tournament with prizes down to 10th place in multiple divisions.

I hope Scottie chooses to host this again next year.  Boo and I suggested a few ways to make it work, and he already had a few ideas of his own.  I think we will start with volunteering to help out however we can.  If we can get each attendee to do just one hour of effort for the greater good over the course of the weekend, we can keep the load at a manageable level.  Maybe then, Scott can see some of the bands he booked and not have that 100-mile stare from no sleep and managing chaos all weekend.

Camping
This has already gotten long, but I wanted to touch on how the bus handled camping after a Winter of improvements.  The new deep-cycle battery and supporting electrical systems worked almost perfectly.  The dome light, kitchen lights, and the 12V outlet by the slider door were flawless.  We strung up a set of 12V lights around the awning/canopy for night-time lighting, creating a nice mellow vibe.  The awning hadn't been used in years, and I'd lost the old rain-gutter mounts.  Instead, I used 2 vice-grips to hold the bus-side edge to the top of the pop-top scissor supports.  It ended up higher, and better, than before.  At a stop at Goodwill last weekend, I got a 4' square indoor-outdoor rubber-backed rug for outside the bus door.  I also bought a bolt of 2-tone blue fabric at the same Goodwill stop.  Between bands, Boo cut the material into thirds, creating 3 rectangular strips that perfectly covered the jalousie windows, the front windows and the windscreen.  It was so dark, we slept until 10 on Sunday morning; unheard of in the bus.  Last, we nabbed a full-size bed memory-foam from home, and used that on top of the stock cushions on the rock-n-roll bed.  Sleep was amazing.

That's it for today.  As I mentioned above, I reviewed the bands separately; see these links for day One and Two.  It was a fantastic weekend. Hapy drove flawlessly, the company was spectacular and the energy of the whole event was deliciously mellow.  More next time-

Film at Eleven

With the start of April comes the Pacific NorthWest's faux-Summer.  We're really experiencing that now, with mid 70's temperatures, clear blue skies and bright smiles on everyone's face.  In an ironic contrast, I spent Sunday afternoon in my sun-blasted garage solving the water-block problem both under the belly-pan and in the passenger door.  I'll hit that today.

Plastic Fantastic

from vw-resource.com

First, I need to give credit where due.  I stumbled upon this website while trying to figure out a viable way of keeping the water that makes it past the window seals from damaging the new inner door panels / cards.  The old plastic was pulled out, and the cards were destroyed.  The guys at the vw-resource web site had a great suggestion for using BlueTak on their page dedicated to the doors.  In my last post, I mentioned that I bought some of the 3M stuff that was basically the same.  I borrowed their picture on the right here.  The 3M stuff is white, so it doesn't show up as well in pictures.  I posted one here anyway.

trash-liner door-liner

Note how much less I used (I relatively uniformly used around 1/4" thickness).  That became an issue when I tried to hang visqueen.  The plastic sheeting that you get in most home remodeling shops is too slickery, and won't stick easily.  Instead, I considered what was originally in there: a very thin film.  I grabbed a kitchen garbage bag, and hung it on there instead, aligning the bag bottom with the door top and one edge against the front edge of the door .  Because of the static electricity built up in the bag, it immediately clung to the steel, making the pressing into the 3M stuff much easier.  I cut the bag in half along the front / leading edge of the door, and folded it back against the rest of the door.  Some simple trimming later, and the door is sealed.  Like the vw-resource guys, I poked holes where the rubber bits will be going and made sure to run loops of sticky-stuff around those holes.  Be sure to run loops of the sticky-stuff around the holes for the window winder, door pull and the latch.  One other thing to note, I didn't run the plastic to the very bottom of the door; only to the very bottom of the hole in the door and then put multiple runs of sticky stuff along the bottom.  Remember, the whole idea is to keep inside the water that's inside the door, so it runs out the bottom.

Bag in the Pan

exposed electricals. 3M sticky

After such a simple success with the door, I slid under the front of the bus and pulled the belly pan off. My drive-by-wire electronics are under there.  This has been a source of concern any time I go for a drive when the pavement isn't dry.  While it is really just a simple resistor attached at one end to the pedal and the other to a wiring pigtail, its still an expensive replacement.  If it got wet, it would fry, and I'd need to replace it.  As I write this, I realize that there aren't any fuses in the wires either, so if something shorted out, there could be ECU troubles.  Anyway,  in looking at the exposed electronics, I noted so many openings where water could get through: from the rear where all the controls go through, over either side of the main frame members, etc.  Yikes.

same view, but bagged now

I had thought of plastic-sheeting the entire area, but that would have been nearly impossible.  Instead, I figured I could just "bag" the electronics by running a circle of sticky along the bottom of the floor and sticking another kitchen trash-liner against it.  It totally worked.  It has a small hole for the pigtail, but otherwise, its protected from water.  Once the rainy season returns for May and June (like it always does), the bus will be road-capable.

That's it for today.  I spent Saturday watching C play in 3 lacrosse games, starting the Spring sports season.  We hoped to hit Mt. Hood on Sunday, but it was raining up there, trashing those hopes.  I'm starting to believe that the Ski Bowl season is about over, between that rain and today's warm temperatures.  I've heard it will hit the mid 70's through next weekend.  So, after an unimpressive snow season, our Spring conditions appear to be disappearing.  Time to plan camping season instead!  Thanks for following along-

Thinking while Dinking

I unexpectedly had Sunday available to putter on the bus.  Boo was supposed to work, but suddenly didn't have a shift.  So, after a visit to the gym (I really need to do that more), I opened the garage door, turned on some tunes and pondered the bus.  Sometimes, you need to just be with your project to have an epiphany.  I had a flash of brilliance that (hopefully) could solve the wet-weather challenges for good.

Cutting Cards
I decided that a free afternoon shouldn't count in my build versus buy math since the afternoon was free.  So, I pulled out the Dremel and cut another door card.  Okay, back up.  First, I took the first door card I did and started trying to hang it on the passenger door.  I found little things that needed to get adjusted.  The grab handle holes weren't big enough.  Then the inner latch surround thing didn't fit.  Last, I realized that the holes for the door clips weren't there.  That was kinda fun, actually.  I took the ratty old door card and laid it on top of the new one.  I set those on top of a fresh piece of MDF.  Once lined up, I grabbed my drill with a 3/8" bit and bored straight through the door clip holes in the ratty door card into the new one and the MDF underneath.  Perfect.  I pulled the ratty card off the stack and traced the other holes and around the edge.  30 minutes with the Dremel later, I had a duplicate of the new card.

I still need to do a little sanding around the edges to make it a really nice fit.  The holes line up well and the grab handle, window winder and inner latch all mount correctly now.  Its just a little 100%-ing around the edges.

Hanging the Plastic Curtain
Originally, the early VW's had a "vapor barrier" between the door card and the steel door.  This was because no matter how good your seals were, water would seep inside the door, and could slowly rot the MDF/cardboard cards.  Most VW's have had these plastic sheets ripped out by stereo installers or confused mechanics, and their door cards have accordingly suffered.  I have tried a few different things over the years to get a plastic sheet to stay in place, but spray adhesives, contact cement and gorilla glue don't work.  Or they work too well.  Ultimately, I've just driven around without door cards while waiting for the answer to appear.  I found a posting on a website where a guy used that blue poster tack stuff (called BlueTac), and said it worked great.  I'll be trying it myself: a thin line of that sticky stuff all along the edge, taking care to avoid the door card mounting holes.  It occurred to me that this might be the solution I've been looking for with the belly pan too.

The belly pan, if you don't remember, is really a mechanical protection against rocks and such.  I've been trying to also use it as a splash-guard to keep the pedal electronics dry.  I'm going to try using the BlueTac solution with a sheet of plastic.  Figure, if I can protect a door card, I should be able to protect the electronics the same way: simple sheet of plastic held in-place with BlueTac.  I should also be able to cover the uppers, making the small sub-floor water-safe.  Neat.

That's it for today.  I bought some 3M-verson of BlueTac at Office Depot yesterday so I'll try the plastic thing this week.  Until then, here's another picture from the door card development effort.

3/8" drill bit fits perfectly in the mounting holes

Front Bumper (part 4)

As much as I wanted to run a full test of prep and paint on the bumper, I simply ran out of patience.  Today, I'll wrap-up the bumper through install.  I may return to it while on-bus, or even pull it to finish later, but I gotta get behind the wheel and drive it again.  There's a zen or inner calm that comes with steering an old bus that just isn't reproducible in anything else.  It's been too long.  On the shortened completion.

Final Wet-Sand

assembly supplies for 1 step

The paint was finally ready for wet-sanding after a full week of drying.  The $50 paint job guy talked about how thinning the paint would shorten the dry-time, but the articles I read didn't call out the more obvious: if its really cold, no degree of thinning will help Rustoleum cure faster.  I think the curing really took the warmer weather (low's above 40*F, high's above 50*F) to settle in and be present for a week.  Like the prior wet-sanding adventures, I used a bucket of soapy water and worn 600-grit sandpaper.  Unlike the primer, though, the thinned paint didn't dust as much.  The 600 grit took out most of the brush marks pretty quickly.

Final Paint
I decided that I over-thinned by going 1/2 and 1/2 paint and mineral spirits the first coat, so I thinned 2/3 paint to 1/3 mineral spirits for the second coat.  I also heated the garage with a recirculating oil heater before I started.  Just be bringing the ambient temp (and the surfaces to be painted) up to closer to 70*F made a very big difference.  The paint didn't run nearly as much, covered a little better, but the thinning held the brush marks at bay.
If you do this, remember two key points: first, always keep a wet edge.  If you try to cover such a broad area that you find yourself applying paint into paint that has become tacky, your paint will not cover right.  Always apply into wet paint.  Second, if you're using a brush, draw your paint-loaded brush from the unpainted area into the already applied wet paint.
While still drawing the brush horizontally across the surface, pull the brush off.  This will minimize brush marks from forming in the first place.

seal held w/blue tape

Redirection
The paint was hard and dry in a few days, but I chose to not color sand.  Rather, I decided that I'd been without the bus long enough.  At some point, I'll do the wet-sanding, and polishing.  In fact, I bought all the needed supplies (1000, 1500 grit paper, polishing bonnet, polish) and a cheap polisher at Harbor Freight for when that day comes.  I figure I'll practice on the bumpers before I try it on the main body.

Bumper Assembly
The early / low-light bay has a 3-part bumper: the main bar plus a step that wraps around to each of the front doors.  The step bolts to the bar with 3 bolts, and a simple seal runs in-between.  The seal fits around the end of the bar with the long edge running behind (rear-side).  When I removed the old seal, it was clearly held firm by the bolts.  Re-assembly is tricky with a single pair of hands, though possible.  I held the seal in place with blue painter's tape while I set it in place with the bolts.  I strongly suggest getting the replacement bolt set from Wolfsburg West.  It made reassembly much easier and the finished product look much better.  Unfortunately, the 1972 bumper steps are held to the body by 2 bolts a-piece and the bolt kit only provided enough for one bolt each.  I will be buying 2 bolts at the local hardware store, but otherwise, it was just what was needed.

rubber step button and tab

The rubber steps go on in the reverse of how they came off.  If you're like me, you probably didn't exactly remember how that went.  First, slide the 4 square tabs that run along the outer edge into their corresponding slots.  From the inside, pull them all the way in with a pair of needle-nose pliers.  Then, wrap the step over the step and press the round buttons into the corresponding holes.  But don't do the one closest to the rear yet.  Next, pull the front edge of the inner lip over the inner edge of the step.  By sliding your finger along the inner edge of the lip, the rest of the lip will seat, until you get to the rear point.  There, you will need to pull that corner out and around the inner lip as well as the corner where it meets the outer edge of the step.  Once you've gotten that around, press that last button through the hole.  It looks sweet, eh?
Once the steps are bolted to the bar with the seals and rubber step in place, we add the frame mounts.  I mentioned in the last post about the appearance of rust where the mounts met the bar.  To reduce the probability of that happening again, I dug into my plumbing supplies and grabbed 4 orange sink washers.  I put the washers around the bolts, between the bumper bar and the frame mounts.  Once the nuts were torqued down, it had no impact on the location of the final mounting or the find-ability of the bolts-to-holes.

sink washers between
frame and bumper

Bumper Install
I would recommend finding a friend to help for this part, if you haven't been able to sucker anyone into helping you yet.  My kids were all playing on their skateboards, and Boo was sleeping off an early morning shift, so I was on my own with my radio.  I set plastic tubs under the spots where the steps mount to the bus frame and carried the bumper assembly over.  I placed the bumper against my quads, squatted down while holding the frame mounts so it wouldn't bounce off the deck nor the front of the bus.  Fun.  I set the steps on the plastic tubs and slid the bumper into the general location.  Then, it was a matter of holding the bumper in the air with one hand while lying on my side and fingering-in bolts.  It was important to get the bolts in just far enough to hold the bumper up so I could make sure it aligned properly.  I then moved to the step-bolts, and threaded them in part-way.  With a tape-measure, I confirmed that the bumper wasn't crooked and tightened the bolts down.

Last, install your license plate, and you're done.  I will be getting new license plat
e hardware so it matches the rest of the new stuff.  The old rusty nuts, washers and ugly bolts just seem out of place with the rest of the bumper.  Truth-be-told, the rest of the bus looks a little out of place with the nice bumper.  Or, maybe, the bumper looks too nice to be on that bus.  There's clearly something not quite aligned.  Anyway,  I still have to solve for the smashed tow-hook (I kinda forgot about it), and finish the 100%-ing of the bumper anyway.  I can say, though, that I can now see every blemish on the front of the bus.  Great.... :)
That's it for today.  I intend to ride the bike or drive the bus to work tomorrow, weather depending.  It seems wrong to hope for rain, here where the rain seems like a constant, but I'd really like to get the bus into the daylight.  Thanks, as always, for following along.

mounted and ready to go