Phil and Phrends Road Report

A few weeks ago, I changed tactics on the sound deadening / interior refresh so Hapy would be ready for a trip to see Phil and Friends play in Eugene. Today's post covers that trip. For my US readers, Hapy belated Independence Day.

Unrelated: Northwest String Summit is having their final festival this year. While this may not arrive as news to some, it may be to others. I failed to get tickets, and have given up looking for myself but I am hoping you might have a line on a pair for my friend and his caregiver. My old dear follow-the-Dead friend was diagnosed with MS a few years ago, and he is now mostly confined to a wheelchair. I don't know how many festivals he has left in him, so I'm using my 'Miracle ticket mojo' to help him get to one more. If you know someone who was going to go onto CashOrTrade, Craiglist or something to offload a pair of tickets and a parking pass, please consider routing him/her/them to me so I can connect them with Mayhem, the merry fester.

Terrapin

rest area

The last time Boo or I saw Phil Lesh play live was 2013. Now, nearly 9 years later, we had the opportunity to see him play with his son, Graham. Over the years, Boo and I visited Phil's now-closed venue, Terrapin Crossroads (TerrapinCrossroads.net is gone now too), but we had not been able to align a trip with a time he was on-stage. When we heard he was coming to the Pacific Northwest, I jumped on tickets, with a hope that we could catch 2 shows, knowing that he may not pass this way again. The closer venue, the Cuthbert Ampitheater in Eugene, offers reserved seats for those willing to pay a premium. Again, I figured our chances to see Phil are decreasing with each year, so I got us a pair of seats maybe 20 feet from the stage, in the center of the house. Arguably, this was the closest I've been to the stage occupied by a member of the Dead since my touring days, and it was really special to see the facial expressions and the non-verbal communication between the players.

On the Road Again

Before we could take our seats, of course, we needed to get there. Boo worked the day before, so I assembled the usual gear without her. This has become virtually automatic, since we have it fairly well organized: 3 milk crates of stuff plus the canopy, bedding stuff, a large water cooler and emergency stuff. Since I had emptied my overflowing toolbox into that new tool cabinet, I needed to assemble a smaller tool set for the road. Rather than carry everything, like I used to, I grabbed my 10mm and 13mm ratcheting spanners, a small set of sockets, a pair of stubby screw drivers and a pair of longer handled screw drivers, a couple pairs of pliers (one needle-nose, one regular) and a couple pairs of scissors (one fine, one larger shears). Last, I tossed in my multi-meter, some wire connectors and a roll of electrical tape. I figured that if something broke beyond those tools, we would flatbed home.

Boo and Hapy, pre-func

On travel day, we assembled a couple of days of clothes, a small cooler of drinks and snacks and hit the road, stopping for some B20 at the corner filling station. Reflecting the new reality, our corner station was charging more than double what we paid in 2019 ($6.05/gal versus $2.99/gal). The price has continued to climb since then, like everywhere else, it seems. The freeway leading to the interstate was very busy, and crawled slow, but it allowed Hapy time to get up to temperature and settle down. Most of the squeaks and moans that used to plague our trips were gone, leaving the low drone of the engine and a wind-whistle near my left ear, coming from the door seal.

By the time we hit I-5 South, his engine temp was steady at 185*. South of the I-205 interchange, traffic spread out a little bit, and we could just cruise. We had all day to get to the Cuthbert, so we didn't push Hapy too hard. We knew that the speedometer reads slow, believing that when it reads 60mph we are closer to 65mph. For fun, we tried to calculate exactly how fast we were actually going by taking stop-watch times between mile markers while I tried to hold speed at 60mph. Of course, holding a steady speed on uneven ground in traffic is not exact. Nor is clicking a stopwatch as you pass a mile marker. Still, we determined that when the speedometer reads around 60mph, we are actually going closer to 62mph. I guess, it's not as far off as I thought.

Wheel

Stu, Phil and Graham

Just the fact that we were talking about speed and speedometer accuracy describes the drive... by what we were NOT talking about: temperature, struggling to keep pace, electrical gremlins, thrown codes, etc. From start to finish, the engine temp peaked at 190*F and that was on the uphill south of Salem where I have seen Hapy's temp climb upwards of 200* in years part. We were able to take the hill in 4th gear, holding steady at 60mph on the speedo. So far, so good. The drive south was dry until around the Corvallis exit, when the rain started. The road remained clear, and traffic good all the way to the venue, but it was a harbinger of things to come.

Of course, we did discover or encounter or develop some things along the way. For example, when I installed the stereo head unit into the glove box, I did not include the metal cage that would have locked it into the box. Why? I wanted to easily remove the head for the inevitable installation of an amplifier. Well, without that cage, pushing buttons with more than the lightest pressure caused the head unit to slide backwards into the holder. Yep, that happened. Repeatedly. So, I will be putting in the cage, and will figure out how to manage an amplifier install which includes a removing the head unit from that cage later.

We discovered that one of the tail lights has a dim brake light. It is not out, it is just dim. Also, that weird issue where I cannot turn off the engine without my foot on the brake pedal re-appeared even after I cut off the entire diagnosis plug. Clearly, I will have to cut off that diagnosis wire from the driver side taillights. If that doesn't work, I may replace the wires from the brake switch to the taillights so any weird grounding from 50+ year old wiring goes away. This may also address the dim bulb.

Speaking of brakes, on the way home, Hapy lost his vacuum/boost brake assist. This could be something as simple as the hose nearest the booster got some brake fluid on it and compromised it to the point where it failed. Or, this could be as big a deal as the booster unit itself has failed. Since Hapy is over 50 years old, and the brake booster is original (and has a healthy coating of rust), I will be assembling parts expecting the worst.

Truckin'

Unbroken Chain

With these downsides, it would be easy to dwell in the negative. Those issues were the only ones we encountered. We used and greatly appreciated the 2-way dome light by the slider. The single position was really handy when we first got back to the bus after the show. Otherwise in the dark, we could find the camping chairs, some snacks and bev's without reaching for a light, shining a flashlight or even setting muddy-foot inside the bus. The floating speakers and the headbanger speakers were very useful for the pre-func after someone parked right next to us, preventing us from hanging out next to the slider. So, we moved to the rear of the bus, popped the rear hatch, and moved the speakers. Boom, we're wrapped in sound, comfy as can be.

 

Regarding Hapy functioning, the rear anti-sway bar had Hapy holding the road like never before. There is considerable open farmland south of Salem where there are fairly consistent, strong gusting winds. The winds are especially strong when a storm is approaching, as it was on this drive. In past years, encountering those winds has been a white-knuckling event, buffeting the bus, pushing us into either the next lane to the left or into the shoulder. Not this year. I drove in a relaxed body position, with gentle arms and shoulders, the entire drive. I felt the wind, but it didn't move us. The topper of it all, though, has to be the new front seats. Unlike prior drives, where I felt like someone had driven over me by the time we got to our destination, these Sprinter seats were so comfortable, my body felt like we had driven across town, not 2+ hours. I believe the relaxed posture and happy body were a result of the anti-sway bar, the stiffer shocks and the new seats combined.

Cold Rain and Snow

After the show, we waited for the crowd to thin before leaving the parking lot. As we started to leave, the staff pro's had assembled in a line with their flashlights to start shepherding stragglers, so our timing was spot-on. The exit routes fairly easily onto I-105 and then on to I-5 North, so we started our way north. By the time we left the lot, it was almost midnight and as the miles ticked by the show afterglow started to fade. Hapy was driving so well, though, neither he nor I wanted to stop. He definitely didn't want to. His temperature was holding at 185* no matter how fast we went. There was a point when our speedometer hit 75mph (the rpm counter near 3500) when we passed a truck and Hapy just cruised without a bump in his temperature. Eventually, I couldn't combat the fatigue. So, we hit the rest area just north of Albany to grab a nap, vagabond-style.

Once we had things set up, we intended to use the USB chargers in the headbanger. They work great, super-fast charging, but they cast a blue light that is super annoying at night. So, I will be covering the LED's with black electrical tape to dull them.

I mentioned the rain on the way South. We had intermittent sprinkles through the evening, but it was mostly clear during the show. It remained clear for our drive as far as the rest area heading north, but when we awoke the next morning, the rain had set in. It appeared to have been raining steadily overnight. It was constant, but varying in intensity from moderate to heavy. And, it was colder, like mid 40F's.

 

rare picture of me

We packed up the vagabond, returning Hapy to a drive-able state and headed back onto the interstate. It was at this point that a lack of a defroster became apparent. Of course, Hapy has never had a working defroster, like most type2 busses, but still, after driving more modern cars, it is becoming a glaring gap in the wet/misty Pacific Northwest. We wiped down the windscreen and front windows with a towel, and pressed into the rain.

I Will Take You Home

Driving Hapy has become such a pleasure, but in interstate traffic, when you can't see terribly well, in rain so heavy that the ruts are becoming hydroplaning ponds, the joy fades. Of course, the brake booster was no longer functional, so I had the need for extra stopping distance playing with my mind as well. By the time we got to Salem, we needed some breakfast to consider our options. The weather system which had settled over the northwest was still just moving in from the southwest, moving northeast, covering our entire trajectory with heavy rain. This was projected to continue all the way to Seattle, our intended next show. As much as I love Phil, and as much as I really wanted to be there, I feared I would be a mess by the time we got there. Then there would be standing/dancing in pouring rain followed by camping in pouring rain, packing up in the pouring rain, and then driving 5 hours back home in... you guessed it... pouring rain. Our best guess was that we were looking at 8-10 hours of driving. I just couldn't do it. So, for the first time since I bought Hapy 20 years ago, the humans gave up before the machine did.

After breakfast, we hit the highway and went home instead of continuing on to Seattle. In the end, this was probably the better choice for Hapy, and for us. We stopped wanting more, but perhaps more importantly, we stopped before Hapy really gave out. I have brakes to fix, a stereo to mount, a pair of USB chargers to dim and a defroster to figure out, in that order of importance.

Thank You For a Real Good Time

I didn't really mention the show, and I won't be posting independently about it. It was a lot of fun, and they played well. We hope we get to see Phil again, but if we didn't, our last time spent with him was far from Plain Jane. Quite the opposite: the jams were tasty, the arrangements purposeful and the execution spot-on. If I had any disappointment it would be the keyboardist (Steve Molitz) not being loud enough in the mix during his solos. He was rippin, but we had to strain to hear his leads over the rest of the band. Arguably, he was putting the most energy into the performance, almost like he was playing with Joe Russo.

This was a highly successful trip. While I will have some work to do before the next one, it is always easier when you are building on success rather than trying to resolve after a failure. Fair warning: the blog may go quiet for a while as I re-enter the work for Zed.

Thanks, as always, for following along-

Phil and Friends setlist:

Set 1: Ripple - Brown Eyed Women - Cosmic Charlie - Loose Lucy - Scarlet Begonias - Sugaree

Set 2: Help on the Way > Slipknot > jam > Dark Star > long jam > Unbroken Chain > another jam > a "Jessica" jam (very Allman Bro's sounding) > Slipknot reprised > Franklin's Tower - Not Fade Away

enc: Phil's Donor Rap - One More Saturday Night

Fix, Drive, Repeat

Quick post today. Just a reflection on what's been successful in my repair efforts. Perhaps more importantly, what's been successful in helping me figure out when something didn't go quite right.

Pick One Thing
So, you want to fix a bunch of stuff on your project car. That's awesome. Having a list is really fantastic for when you go shopping for parts or want to troll the chat boards. Your list could be daunting, and that's okay. Sometimes, you'll look at your list and think "well, I could do this at the same time as I do that". Unless those two things are within the same system, don't do it.
For example, you could look at an electrical issue, like your radio doesn't work and at your brakes needing to get new shoes. No, they aren't related at all. Still, don't do it.

Fix that One Thing
This is pretty obvious, but there's more to it than just fixing the item on your list. Do it well. Do it completely. If you're running new wiring for some fog lights or some accessory, complete it. Test the circuit with the wires hanging wherever, but then re-do it correctly. Run the wires a safe way. Zip-tie them into place. Solder the wire junctions, heat-shrink over the solder joint, and then wrap the wires with tubing. Don't just do it good enough so you can get to the next thing on your list. If you do, that item will re-appear on your list as something you need to do again, once the slap-together job fails.

Enjoy that One Thing
Once you've finished the one thing, go enjoy it. If it was fog lights, go drive around with them for a few days. Get comfortable with them. Tweak their trajectory. Leave them on by accident. After you've had them in operation for a few days, check them off your list and start thinking about the next thing.

Why?
If you touch lots of things, even just two things, and something goes wrong, you can't be 100% sure of what caused it. You'd think that if you only touched the brakes, how could something electrical fail. Great question, but when you're dealing with an old car, where everything is a little fidgety, something could have gotten bumped in the process. Case-in-point, I reached up to get the defroster to point more directly onto the windscreen and lost my wipers in the process. Had I messed around with a few other things, I would have been chasing ghosts for much longer.

That's it for today. I spent some time today working on my accessory battery circuit. I found that the main ground I had in place was not effectively grounding the circuit. So, I moved it. Now, the cabin lights are better and the stereo works again. Neat. Following my own advice, I'm going to leave things alone for a couple of days and let things settle out. As always, thanks for following along-

bump bump bump

Today is about getting the bumpers and some the lights working. Not terribly exciting stuff, but important.

Blinkers
With everything else going on, when I pulled off the old front blinkers, they were in dire shape. The lenses were filthy and the housings were really worn looking. I tossed the lenses into a "clean me" pile and looked closer at the housings. There was some rust, but behind the bulbs, the shiny stuff had fallen to bits. There wasn't really any "shiny" anymore. I figured I'd just get some new ones, and they were drop-shipped by BusDepot from somewhere in SoCal. The new housings look really nice.

cleaned up blinker

After about an hour with soapy water and a scrubby sponge, I had the orange and clear lenses almost as clean and clear as new ones. With new housing-to-body seals, they fit into place pretty well. The hardest part was getting the old bulbs into the new housing (it was a little tight).

Cabin Lights
As seems true with any re-install, things tend to go slower than during removal. With the interior lighting and secondary battery, this was just as true. Some of the fuses in the fusebox had shaken free. Two of the wires had come undone. One had a splicing completely separate. All easy to fix. Once the fusebox was ready, the grounding cable and red B+ were simple.

Rear Bumper

splash-guard

The rear bumper on the early bay window bus is held to the frame with 2 frame mounts which are held on with 2 15mm bolts each (at the frame:mount end) and 13mm 2 square-head bolts (at the bumper:mount end). These take the bulk of the weight. These mounts also tie into the engine support bar Hal fabricated for me. So, in order to put on / take off the bumper, I need to support the engine with a floor jack. Once supported, I pull the bolts, support one end of the bumper with my plastic (steel scratches) tool box, and thread in the bolts on the other end. Then, switch to the tool box -supported end, and hand thread those bolts in. This is all well and good... until you remember that the early bay rear bumper has splash-guards on the corners. These are lightweight steel panels that rest between the bus body and the bumper to keep tire-splashes from kicking up into the bumper. Or, at least that's the only purpose I can see other than helping to hold the ends of the bumpers up.

The splash-guards need to be installed before you put the bumper on the body, but after the bumper-mounts have been attached to the bumper. There's a small (less than 10mm) bolt that passes through the top of the splash guard into the top of the bumper mount. On the other end, another 13mm square-head bolt passes through the bumper into the splash-guard. There is also one last bolt that passes from under the battery tray into the splash-guard. This holds the ends of the bumper firm.

Last, though I haven't put mine on yet, these early bay buses have an additional strip of steel along the bottom of the bumper called a modesty skirt. It only hangs down about another inch, but it obstructs from view most of the muffler. It's real purpose is probably to reduce the amount of crap kicked up off the roadway by the bus, but it looks pretty silly. With all the weight of the bumper on the skirt, it will bend, so it is best to put this on last.

Front Bumper

still no window, mirror...

Like the rear bumper, the front bumper has 4 main bolts and some smaller bolts near the ends. While there is slightly less weight to manage if you install the bumper mounts to the body first, the whole unit fits better if you install the mounts to the bumper first. Then, as a unit, the bumper goes into place. Hold one end up with the old plastic tool box while you finger-in the other side. Switch. If you can wiggle the bumper, but it is held in the air by the bolts, they're the right tightness. Now, wiggle the bumper until the space between the bumper and the body is uniform at either end. Set the bolts so it can't wiggle as much and switch focus to the foot-step bolts.
These bolts are smaller (13mm. noting a pattern?), and one of mine broke off inside the frame when I removed the bumper before. This leaves 3 bolts to install. Like before, finger them in one at a time. Then tighten by hand. Verify the bumper-to-body spacing and then torque all of the bolts down.

That's it for today. Lots still in-flight, and Memorial Day is almost here! As always, thanks for following along,