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-

Front Bumper (part 1)

In my last post, I celebrated returning Flash to drive-able Hapy to daily-driver status.  With one extra car than I need, I immediately returned Hapy to the garage to start improving his looks.  Today, I'll cover what I'm getting into, but none of this changes my re-set expectations.  I'll have some or all of the front bumper back on the bus in the next 2 weeks or I'll drive him to the mountain without it.

Bigger Plan

front bumper in pieces

I have visions of a new (albeit amateur applied) paint job.  I thought about getting a nice one, but this isn't a car-show vehicle.  I take him camping... where branches scrape the sides... and state parks put short unexpected tree-colored posts around camping spots that dent bumpers.  I plan to take him into the snow where skis, poles, boots and boards will bang against the sides, doors and floor.  In the end, a nice paint job would just get destroyed.  So, I'm at the other end of the spectrum; the $50 paint job end.  Okay, not really $50, but pretty close.  I bought a can of white Rustoleum at Home Depot for $20 and I painted the poptop with it 2 years ago.  I intend to bring that bright white down to the belt line as well as paint the bumpers and camping outlets.  For the rest of the body, I'm looking at Neptune Blue (thanks Wolfsburg West for the color image) or something in a darker blue.  I haven't decided on whether I'll paint with colored Rustoleum or use a truck-bed paint without the non-slip agent.  The bed paint would withstand more punishment, but would probably look worse and would definitely cost more.

Front is First

rubber step: what lies beneath

I started down this path on Sunday after adjusting the shifter.  I set aside the afternoon, and it took me about 15 minutes.  So, I grabbed the plain wood panels I had cut for the rear driver's side window and quickly painted them with the white Rustoleum.  I'll get into that plan another day.  Regardless, I had now stepped into make-it-look-nice mode, which is nothing but trouble.  I found some sandpaper and cleaned up the windshield wiper arms.  "They need paint," I thought and then I looked down at the haggard front bumper.  Dented and scratched, it still had a political bumper sticker from the Bush-era.  So, I grabbed my ratchets and removed it.  4 13mm nuts hold cap-bolts to the bumper mounts.  4 15mm bolts hold the bumper mounts to the body.  On the ends, 2 pairs of 13mm bolts hold the steps to the body.  Last, 2 pairs of 13mm nuts mate the steps to the front bar.  The license plate is held on with square nuts backing bladed-screws.  Lastly, on the passenger side there is a tow hook bolted to the body with the same bolts as the bumper mount.

Banging Around

smashed tow hook

Once separated, I looked at the rubber bits.  They're all original, so 40 years old.  The steps were hiding 40 years of water seepage and the seam-rubber had hardened to stiff plastic.  Once the steel was exposed, I could start getting a sense for how much work there is.  There's a bunch.  I focused on the dents.  Even the small ones were easy to find: there was a corresponding rust mark on the inside of the bumper.  Someone with skills or access to good tools will probably cringe at this, but I grabbed by framing hammer and started backing out the dents.  With one hand behind the dent to feel for progress, I slowly moved the steel back to around where it was supposed to be.  I'm not going to make it sound like I got it all perfect, but in a couple of hours my bumper went from moonscape to dimpled.  I'm not done yet, though.  There's one more big dent and the lower lip near the driver's mount still needs wrangling.  Overall, though, it should look a lot better.  Next, I'll grind out the rust, prime and paint it.

Parting Thoughts
My tow-hook was completely flattened (see picture).  I have feelers out for a viable replacement, but I think its pretty common for them to get smashed.  When I removed the driver-side bumper bracket, I broke-off one of the bolts.  Overall, some part of every nut-washer-bolt combination was rusty.  In some cases, the entire bit was heavily rusted.  I chose to order a full bolt-set from Wolfsburg West for $21 as well as the new rubber steps and seam-seals.

In my last post, I said that I'd upload pictures of the parts we removed.  Well... Boo was very helpful and got rid of all those parts before I could photograph them.  So, you'll have to take my word for it that the coolant pump had all this sealant all over it and the rollers looked heavily worn.  That's it for today.  Thanks, as always, for following along.

bum buh NAH!

In my last post, I talked about getting the coolant to stop dripping.  Today, I'll briefly cover the test flight.

Re-Assembly

rare August rain approaches

Sometimes, when you put a project back together, you almost know it isn't right.  The re-assembly seems to take a little longer, parts don't fit together as easily.  Its almost like the repair gods are trying to tell you "don't bother, you got it wrong", but we press on.  Other times, the re-assembly is flawless.  The hoses just line up, the parts simply click together.  The re-assembly of the bus after trying to fix the coolant leak ran the spectrum.  I got to where I couldn't trust the re-assembly ease as a barometer for when my repair was crap.  So, this time, when everything just fit (I didn't drop any fasteners, and the engine started on the first touch with the key, etc ), I didn't trust that nodding, "oh yeah" feeling.

Taking Flight
I didn't drive very far.  In fact, I didn't actually leave the neighborhood.  Amid cheers from the boys, I drove out the driveway, and down to the end of the street, turned around and backed back into the driveway.  All told, including just letting the engine idle, it took me 15 minutes or less.  The engine didn't get up to normal operating temperature, but in the past it didn't need to for the stream of coolant to appear behind the bus as I drove.  This time.. there wasn't a stream.  There were no well-spaced drips.  There was nothing but dry pavement... and more cheers.  This time from me.  "bum buh NAH!"  we have success!

Bath Time

afterbath

So, after so many months of not operating, the boys wanted to give Hapy a bath.  We played with the hose and some soapy water and then let Hapy sit in the sun drying for the afternoon.  All the windows were open, the pop-top open and they clambered around inside like they were half their current ages again.  There are few things like a microbus for a fort when you're a kid.

So that's really it for today.  I plan to drive Hapy to work a couple/few times this week (with the life-raft bike in the back just in case) to verify the cooling.  I'm very optimistic.  He hasn't been this dry since I first installed the engine with Justin's engine harness.  The boys are already talking about taking the bus to the mountain this winter.  Fortunes can turn that way, I guess.  I suppose I should start thinking about how we should carry skis and snowboards next :)

Couldn't Stand the Weather

Car stuff today.  Brief?  Is it ever?.  Complains about no garage?  No, actually.  I have to remind myself that owning cars that are over 10 years old with more than 150k miles on them requires owner responsibility.  In that spirit, no complaints; just doing.

Silence Canyon at the pull-out.
Note the snow line in the trees

Cold Shot

While I was getting Flash back from Johnny, he pointed out that the he (Flash) still didn't want to start first thing in the morning.  I thought it had something to do with the vacuum lines.  So, I spent the beautiful Saturday afternoon re-running the vacuum lines.  Some folks may not see that as a perfect Saturday, but it was in the low 60's (F), sunny and the birds were out.  I have evidence of that last part on the side of Flash, but I digress.  Some of the vacuum lines were original.  Yikes.  Most seemed okay, but I replaced them anyway.  I needed about 8 feet of 3mm and 7 feet of 5mm line to do the job.  I have a few extra feet of the 3mm after over-buying.  Anyway, the cold-start trouble persists, so I'll be hitting the interweb (read:TDIClub) for clues.  No codes, no smoke (except on that cold start) and Flash runs fantastically otherwise.

Couldn't Stand the Weather

Sunday (today) was a day for the bus, and a change in the weather.  I mean that both ways.  The clouds rolled back in, dropping spittle-rain this morning.  After running T over to a youth group meeting in Flash, I decided I'd give the bus a go for the pick-up trip.  Remember, that I hadn't taken a test drive to verify whether I'd actually fixed the leak, but I felt pretty confident that I'd nailed it.  He started on the first try.  No real hesitations, but he was chilly.  The drive over was an exercise in getting the gears all slippery.  Shifting was stiff and he wanted to pop out of second.  I sat with the engine running in the parking lot while waiting for T to appear.  He was out of sight, but apparently heard the rumbly rumbly and tore around the corner, beaming.  e knew exactly what I was driving.  As we pulled out of the parking lot, he asked, "how's he driving?".  I responded with driving the bus like I stole him (well, as much as you can with a microbus).  "Zippy," T said.  At this point, the engine temp finally got high enough to trigger the thermostat and allow coolant to really move through the flange and into the radiator.  The temp climbed to 196* and crawled back down.  It see-sawed from 188* to 194* from then on during the drive home.  We stopped to look at the house we had tried to short-sale purchase last Summer.  We saw a puddle forming under the bus and knew then that the "fix" wasn't.  Back to the condo we went, a little dejected after such a promising start.

germane to nothing, it's a Nutria 

When the House is a-Rockin' Don't Bother Knockin'

As we pulled into the parking lot of the condo complex, I noticed the neighbor walking towards our parking spot.  Now, this neighbor isn't one of the condo folks.  He lives in a house that shares the property line.  In front of his house are parked many cars (some volksies).  They split and sell firewood.  They build and sell picnic tables.  There are always one or two folks out front, and a radio is always playing alternative radio.  Modern hippies?  Maybe.  Anyway, one of the guys who live there walked over and asked if we (T & I) could solve a debate.  Apparently, they heard me drive off, and that sparked a whole debate about whether it had a diesel in it or if it was just tuned crazy.  Big smile.  I pushed back the matress and the engine hatch I cut and watched is eyes bug-out.  LOL.  Made my day. Apparently, he and a bunch of folks he knows are mechanics and they specialize on VW's.... mostly the older ones, but they work at a shop I know if (omitted to protect everybody).  I encouraged any one of them to stop on by if they wanna see the crazy TDI-powered microbus.  I added, "if they wanna elp figure out the coolant leak, I live right there (pointing)".  :-D  I'm no dummy, and I'm tired of trying to isolate the leak.

That's it for today.  I'll revisit the leak next weekend.  Hopefully, I'll have a few extra pairs of hands around, even if they're just there to talk and point and drink beers.  To avoid the questions, I spotted that Nutria in the picture on my way into work as I passed a water hazard / green space.  If you've never seen one before, it was big, like a 16" long body plus a nearly 10" tail, nibbling on the grass.  Sometimes Mother Nature is just plain weird.

That Familiar Feel of Snow

You may be happy to know that my blog hasn't been the only thing I've neglected over the last couple of months.  Today, for the first time in over a month, the family and I hit Mount Hood.  I'll touch on that and the latest page in the saga of my Jetta.  No bus news today.  I was going to test drive him this weekend, but I focused on other things instead.  If I have a dry and uneventful morning this week, I'll drive him to work as a test flight.

Flash Lives

Poor Man's Ramp

First, some context.  The symptoms were simple: little power, hard starting, seemingly no turbo and black exhaust.  For codes, I was getting a P1556: low or inconsistent boost.  Yep, the turbo wasn't kicking in properly.  Now, based on the days when the turbo wasn't kicking in on the bus, I knew the sound of a turbo firing up, but not boosting.  That was the sound I was hearing.  On Saturday, I prepared to get the Jetta (Flash) operating right.  Since I'm without a place to work on it, I set up on the street, using the poor-boy's ramp: the curb.  Once the engine is running, crank the wheel all the way so that the back of the front tire is facing the curb.  Then back-up.  Simple.  I slid under Flash and verified the connections from the turbo to the intercooler were good.  From the top-side, though, things were sideways.  The hard-pipe coming out of the intercooler was loose and grinding against the coolant pump.  We have our problem.  I drove it to Johnny, showed him the evidence, and he fixed it.  He did my rear brake pads too, and didn't charge me for either.  Thanks, Johnny.  Flash runs awesome.  Now, I need a pair of tires, and he's ready for another 40k+ miles.

Snow

C resting mid-Molly's

I hit Timberline with my boys and Boo today.  She couldn't slide, needing to grade student work unfortunately.  Turned out C had left his boots at his mom's house anyway, so he went in Boo's (they have the same size feet).  The snow was hard-packed with about 1/2 an inch of puff on top.  It was fast, but the crashes were painful.  I only spilled a couple of times (once on my helmet-protected skull, trying to follow C off a jump).  It really was what my mood needed, though.  There is nothing like a day of playing with your kids.

I Know that Feeling
We left the mountain in a bit of a rush.  T & C were due back at their mom's, so they left in the lead car while Boo and I arranged the ski equipment into the larger carry-car.  As we made our way off the mountain, we discovered an ice-patch.  Ahh... I haven't lost traction on slide-y stuff in years.  Funny how the old skills kick in, though.  Total calm, turn into the skid and lightly tap the brakes.  We righted our descent.  No side-rail impacts, no nerves even, really.  Oddly enough, the car behind us didn't hit the ice, nor were they deterred in their close traveling distance.  Bah!

That's it for tonight.  Have a great week, and thanks for following along.  I'll try to get back to this posting with a couple pictures...

White Friday 2012

First, to my readers from the United States, I hope you had a pleasant Thanksgiving full of your favorite delights.  I enjoyed family, food and football.  Watching the Lions finally win and the Cowboys lose to the Redskins were especially enjoyable.  I regret, however, that I was unable to get the bus operational in time for White Friday.  Again, the battery has inexplicably drained, and my charger is back in the storage facility.  I'll need to charge or jump the bus back to life and then drive around a bit before taking the journey to Mt. Hood.  I did celebrate White Friday at Timberline as planned, though, and I'm going to focus on that instead :)

Rain? What Rain?

Mt Hood Hwy

Starting on Monday, we watched the weather forecasts and snow reports.  Every one of them had some form of drizzle in the plan for White Friday.  I thought for sure that we would have a grey one instead.  All reports had the rain starting around noon, so Boo and I got ourselves out of the house early.  Well, it was early for us on a weekend day- 9:30AM.  Driving Flash with gusto, we got to Timberline before 11.  When you arrive at Timberline, you pass the overflow lot first.  This is usually your early signal of how busy the resort is.  Last year, for example, the overflow lot was almost completely full, and the runs were too.  This year, however, there were less than 2 rows of cars in the overflow.  Once you round the corner from the overflow lot, the main lot is visible on your left.  The main lot was less than half full.  Apparently, everyone else heard the rain threats and gave up on the snow.  Sucka's.

... and then there was sliding

mid-run under the Molly's lift.
Mt. Jefferson deep in the background

The upper mountain (Magic Mile and Palmer) was closed due to lack of visibility.  The clouds were low, but the wind was too.  Most of the lower mountain (Bruno's, Pucci, Molly's, Stormin' Norman, Jeff Flood) was open, though, with just Jeff Flood closed because it is the lowest of them all, and those runs were too soft.  Early season brings a funny split crowd.  There are a group of snow junkies who are quite good and a group of brand-new-to-the-sport folks.  On Friday, the junkies mostly went over to Stormin' Norman for the grind rails and jumps and the newbies stayed mostly on the beginner slope Bruno's.  This left the Pucci and Molly's runs lightly populated, leaving Boo and me some open terrain for fun.  The queue for the lifts were maybe as long as 5 chairs long at the peak with some runs ending with no line at all.  The snow was relatively well-tread, but there was an inch of puff on top and plenty of fluffy off the main trails.  We bounced through un-groomed moguls near the top of Pucci, raced down the Thunder bowl and carved Vicky's Run before stopping to meet my brother E and his daughters K&K for lunch.  E, K&K don't slide, but they love the snow.  They drove up just to visit the white stuff, make snow forts and sled.  After a brief visit, they headed for the out-of-bounds and Boo and I went back to carving.  After 9 or 10 runs, we called it a day.  No rain.  It was actually quite nice.

That's it for today.  I hope you all found a way to celebrate White Friday.

Can You See Me Now?

EDIT: the new Blogger removed this post for some reason.  Hopefully, it doesn't happen again.
Daily driving has surfaced a couple items.  I'll hit those today.  The coolant levels appear to have been resolved, though I expect it to return.  The bus continues to weep oil, but I can't tell from where.  I may just wash it off at one of those places where you can wash your car yourself (not a machine), and see if I can find the leak when it's clean.  If this doesn't get too long, I'll finish off the snow season.

Light It Up

original on left
new on right

I was having troubles with my rear lights, so I finally ordered new rear tail light housings a few weeks ago.  The original ones were really getting tired.  The connections were falling apart, the housings themselves were fractured, and he grounding back-plane was all rusted.  When I removed them, the passenger-side dual-filament bulb (brake & running light) was full of fog.  The reverse bulbs were either missing (p-side) or the wrong size.  They were held on with packing tape.  Yes, it was so ghetto, and most importantly, they didn't light reliably (not surprising, considering the condition).

The new ones cost around $50 each from BusDepot.com.  They don't come with backing nuts or washers, though, so if you buy a pair, you need 5mm washers and nuts from the hardware store.  That's inner diameter; an 8mm socket fits it.  Apparently, the rear left corner was damaged by a previous owner, so the new housing didn't fit exactly, but it fit close enough.  Thinking I had it all solved, I started testing things.  I had blinker problems on the left side and either the brake light or the running light on that side wouldn't work.  I found a bad ground as the cause for the blinker, but I couldn't find a cause for the funky lighting.  After a couple hours of head-scratching, I finally tested the bulb.  One of the filaments was bad.  Ha!  Just goes to show that even though you may be driving a 40 year old relic, you need to start your issue diagnosis the same way as a new car: check the fuse, then the bulb.  The left dual-filament tail light is still a little spotty from the bulb not locking in tightly.  The reverse lights still don't work (low voltage problem), so I'll be back in there eventually.  I'll think of something.

change wires one at a time

Floor It
I mentioned getting the accelerator bracket fixed a few weeks ago.  Its been great driving around with that much response.  The clutch, though, was getting less responsive.  The cable was new when I put it in, and I think it has finally set its broken-in length.  So, I slid under the bus and tightened the cable by 2.5 turns (5 180* turns).  Now, I don't need to mash my left foot all the way into the carpet or goose the throttle to get the gear to set.

Enter Summer

Boo and I hit Mt Hood for one last time on Mother's Day weekend.  A friend of ours has a cabin near Welches, and we stayed there Saturday night.  We hit Timberline after stopping for coffee's and headed to the top of Palmer.  The snow was surprisingly good down through the middle of the Magic Mile section where it turned really soft.  It was a day of highs and lows that way, though.  With the boys playing lacrosse, we feared it would be our last time up, and it turned out to be so.  We both took pretty major falls in the transition from firm to soft snow, and no one wants to leave hurt.  On the emotional high-side, the view and weather were incredible.  We could see 2 snow-capped peaks to the south: Jefferson and Bachelor from the top of the Palmer run.  The biggest emotional curve-ball, though, will wait for another day.  We'd love to get back on the snow again, and though Timberline continues to get snow, our season passes expired.  With a day-lift cost of $60 each, its not too likely we'll go.  But... one-run only lifts are $15 each for adults and $9 for kids and seniors with a Family 4-pack of $42 (2 adults, 2 kids).  Hmm...

The boys' school year ends this next week.  It seems crazy that Summer is already here.  Weren't we just sliding in the snow?  Where'd Spring go?  Well, here in the Pacific NorthWest, June is usually solid rain, so I'll get that reality set-in before the heat of Summer sets in.  Thanks for following along all these months (years, even), and I'll be back again soon..

When in doubt, over-estimate

In my last post, I thought that I'd be finishing the apartment move that day.  Well, I was wrong.  Again.  So, today, I will remind myself how important it is to be fair to both myself and whatever project I am working on and over-estimate the effort.

Move
On Saturday, I did move a bunch of stuff: an extra bed from one friend's place to another's and everything I could carry down to the garage from the upper levels.  The big things I mentioned in that last post were moved... on Sunday.  And, I loaded the bus a few times on both days.  Sunday ended with me loading the bus to the gills with stuff, but running out of time to get to the storage place before they closed.

Tax Man Snow Therapy

Mt Hood at Sunset
from atop SkiBowl

Monday, I had to pay the piper, and have my taxes done.  As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I divorced last fiscal year, but with my withholdings not adjusted until mid-year, I hadn't had enough pulled out.  So, I owe a big chunk o' change to Uncle Sam.  Grr..  My tax preparer is in Gresham, and I kinda knew it was gonna be bad.  So, I prepared for the worst by loading my snow gear into my car before heading East.  Once I saw the amount due, I knew snow therapy was in order.  On the side, here, is a picture I took from the top of the upper bowl at SkiBowl before taking the plunge down "Radical".... my first run down a black on the upper bowl face.  The snow was crusty on top, requiring jump-turns rather than edge-to-edge transitions, but it was fun.  Ultimately, I slid on different trails for about 2 1/2 hours and then drove home.  It didn't reduce the bill, but it sure got me "right" with it.  My advice to a reader who may be heading for divorce: change your withholdings early and over-estimate your potential tax burden.

One Screw Short of a Linkage

linkage drawing
courtesy of Bus-Boys

On Sunday, the shift linkage failed on the way out of the storage facility.  It was the only run my brother went on, and the first time he rode in the bus since the drive to Furthur.  So, I'm not saying he's a jinx, but everything was fine, until.. :)  At the front (FIF) of the 002 transaxle, a rod sticks out.  On the end of the rod is a small square cage-looking thing (see picture) that is attached with a screw (part "R"), which is then wired in place.  This cage mates with the linkage running back from the front of the bus in a true VW way.  The cage has a plastic block on either side.  Each plastic block has a round hole in the center of it.  Through this hole, a metal sleeve is threaded, and through a round hole in the rear-end of the main linkage.  This sleeve handles the stress of the shift manipulation, resisted by the transaxle through those plastic blocks.  The sleeve has these indentations which act like a nut so when a screw so threaded through, it is held together.

On Sunday, it became un-screwed.  Or should I say, the screw worked its way free at some point and the sleeve broke-free, dropping one of the plastic blocks on the ground and making shifting impossible.  The screw was no where to be found.  My brother and I were able to find both plastic blocks and the sleeve though.  In rooting through the rock'n'roll bed, I found a zip-tie.  I mashed the plastic blocks and sleeve together in the linkage and threaded the zip-tie through the sleeve.  Zip-zip, we have linkage.  I've driven the bus this way a few times (to storage and back), and its worked fine.  I intend to find a bolt and lock-nut so it can't work its way apart again.  Again: over-estimate your bus' ability to work parts free and make use of lock-tite and locking washers and nuts.

Okay, so that was pretty long.  I guess its been a busy week.  On top of all that, there's work issues, I'm looking at places to live more permanently and continuing to move stuff.  The moving is about done, and the apt gets cleaned next.  This time, I'll estimate the effort to take the better part of a day rather than assume a couple of hours :-D

Thanks for following along...

Mopping Shop and Eating Crow

Being Monday, today is all about updating what happened over the weekend.  I was able to test drive the bus,  take a run at the mountain, work on the cooling system some more and even watch a little football.

Mopping Shop
Well, as you may expect from the sub-heading here, the test drive got a little, uh.. wet.  Like my prior attempts to drive the bus, I had all the usual trappings.  Everything seems fine, and then its not.  I started him up, checking for leaks and for air bubbles in the overflow bottle.  Nada.  Then, I drove the bus down to the local 7-11 and picked up a celebratory beer.  Drove home.  By the time I got home, the engine was warmer, and the coolant started to leak.  I parked him in front of my place and like a nervous puppy, he formed a puddle underneath.  Drat.  I proceeded to mop the garage floor where he is usually parked and backed him in.  I slid a pan under the drip, went upstairs with my now-conciliatory beer and watched the Blazers beat the tar out of Denver on tv.

View of Mt. Jefferson
from the top of Magic Mile

Timberline Shines
I awoke to an alarm on Sunday morning, triggering a day playing in the snow.  I grabbed Boo, met my brother in Hollywood and made it to Timberline Lodge by 9:30.  We figured the resort would be less crowded on StuporBowl Sunday, but there were still quite a large number of folks there.  The weather was absolutely fantastic: sunny with a slight wind.  It was cold enough to stave-off the melting but warm enough so you didn't need lots of layers.  Perfect weather.  The snow was pretty packed, but there weren't many ruts and the groomers had churned enough to keep the top fresh.  Everything except the Palmer Ice Sheet was open, though the Magic Mile trails were pretty icy (making them fast and easy to catch edges).  Alpine, Thunder, Glade and Kruser were really good runs, with plenty of open space between folks.  The terrain parks were jammed, but I avoid those anyway.  We played until around 2 when we packed off back home.

Dinner of Crow
I dropped my brother and Boo off at their respective homes and hit the parts store for an o-ring.  I'd come to the conclusion that the leak was caused by an o-ring failure, not a human error.  I got home and my legs declared they were too tired to do anymore.  So, I snapped on the game.  Boo and I stopped for a quick bite at one of our regular spots (Mandarin Palace on the corner of Allen & Scholls Ferry), and I saw the 1st quarter there.  It seemed like it was a decent enough slow-start StuporBowl.  By the time I got home with my o-ring, got my snow stuff into the laundry and the game back on, it was nearly over.  Yes, that was an amazing finish to any football game, and it being the final game of the year makes it all the more impressive.  I watched the post-game interviews and swallowed my crow.  Maybe I'll try to watch the game next year.  It sure would be nice to see a West Coast team in there, though.

More Cooling Surgery
After the game, I took my new o-ring and swapped it into the bus.  This time, I did things a little differently.  First, the o-ring is a little oversized.  The stock part is metric, but all I could find was one in imperial sizes. So, rather than 3mm thick, it is 3.1mm.  Instead of 20mm inner diameter, it is 19.6mm.  You get my point. As a result, the o-ring was snug on the temperature sensor and snug in the flange.  Once the c-clip was back in place, I couldn't wiggle the sensor at all.  I contrast that with the ability to wiggle it enough to make it leak before, and I think I've found the leak source.
Second, I captured the coolant differently.  Rather than try to drain coolant, I caught all of it at the flange during the sensor removal.  Take a clean kitchen garbage bag and push the closed end down from the flange towards the ground.  Wrap the open end around the flange and remove the c-clip.  Pull the sensor and all the coolant goes into the bag.  Put the new o-ring on the sensor, install the sensor and pour the coolant back into the overflow bottle.  In my case, the coolant bottle didn't drain during the work, so I had to start the engine to circulate the air bubbles back into the bottle.  Then, I re-filled it from the bag.  Neat!  And no mess!

I'll test drive when I have some time this week.  Like every other time, it feels like I have it fixed.  We'll see. Maybe this time I actually found and fixed the problem.  Thanks for following along.  More next time..

Holidaze, Hood and Harnesses

Its been 10 days, and I've been on vacation for most of them.  I'l hit the highlights, and describe my final engine harness resolution.

Mt Hood Xmas Eve

Holidaze
The miniature house painting, like so many projects I undertake, took longer than I described in my post before.  In fact, it took as long as I told folks in person: over 40 hours.  It still needs to be shipped, so it totally missed the holiday window.  Once its been delivered, I'll post a picture.  My dad says that the Three Kings actually arrived on the 12th day of Christmas (Jan6), not on the actual birth-night like the songs imply.  So.. I'll stretch that so I can have the finished product in-hand by Jan6 and still meet Christmas expectations.  Its all in how you frame it...

Hood
As I write this, I've been to Mt. Hood to go sliding 13 times since the start of the season.  That is more than all of the times I've ever gone in all my previous years combined.  On Christmas Eve and the 26th, I took the boys to Ski Bowl.  After nearly a month without fresh snow, the conditions were really very good.  Ski Bowl has snow-making machines like the resorts in Vermont, so the sub-freezing weather allowed them to make snow almost every day.  This left an inch of top-powder on top of the packed base.  The mountain was practically empty on the 24th and it was almost as quiet on the 26th.  These were possibly 2 of the best days we'd had to date.

Mt Hood from Mid-Reynolds
top at Ski Bowl

We went up to Ski Bowl again on the 27th, but it rained.  I was practically soaked through by the top of the first lift, so I only took a couple of runs and called it a day.  We took the next 2 days off, so our legs could recover, and we had family holiday parties to attend.  Our last trip to Mt Hood was Friday Dec30 to Timberline.  Mt Hood was experiencing blizzard conditions, making the drive a little challenging for some, and the sliding a little interesting for us.

Sunset over Ski Bowl Lodge

The drive to Government Camp didn't require chains, but I pulled over into the rest stop/Summit ski lift parking lot and had them on in a few minutes.  All those early trips gave me lots of chain-up practice.  It also gave me some needed snow-driving practice, which came in handy.  We found a front-row parking spot, set the car in gear (leaving the hand-brake off), and stepped into some of the worst weather I've experienced since moving to the West Coast.  In the time it took to get our gear on I had an inch of snow in my back seat and over an inch in my trunk.  The car was completely covered, and we were all cold to the skin.  We hauled our equipment to the day lodge and set to sliding.  Timberline had at least 16" of fresh powder on the ground and more was pouring out of the sky.  Visibility was about 15' and foggy through goggles.  Still, the sliding was slow with the fresh powder, but that encouraged more direct paths downhill. The spills were all the more epic.
I avoided a young woman who was sliding very slowly down the center of the trail (in an outstretched jumping-jack pose), but ended up hitting the drop-in at the top of Thunder with my body out of balance.  I dropped about 10 feet hit a mogul, bounced, hit another mogul and then cartwheeled twice before landing flat on my back with a thud.  If the 16" of powder weren't there, I would have been hurt.  Instead, I caught my breath, checked my extremities, jumped onto my toe-edge and finished the run.  Good times, and more to be had for sure this season.

Harnesses

wires don't go to the same pins

So, I bought a replacement harness.  It wasn't the right one.  I found the part number on the ECU plug and bought a replacement off of eBay.  It looked right, but once I unwound the tape and pulled the dust cover off the back, it was clear that it wouldn't work either.  The picture here shows how the wires don't route to the same pins.  So, even though the part number was right, the implementation was different enough to make the part useless to me.  One more thing to sell.  Great.  So, at this point, I got a little creative.  I looked at the pin-holes that click into the ECU on both the old plug and the replacement.  It looks like the inside of each of those little holes contain a metal clip.  I figured I probably damaged or bent the clips with my connectivity testing.  Next to each square-ish hole is a tiny slot.  I found a tiny paperclip and started working the holes where I could see the clips. I did this on and off while watching football, so I'm not sure how much time this took, but it was more a case of move slow, than bang-it-out.

plug underside

Once the holes looked more like the plug I bought, I took the harness downstairs.  First, I tested the loaned harness with the OBDII trip computer.  I had only one code: P038 - Glow Plugs.  I pulled the loaned harness out, shot every plug on the original with Di-Oxit5 and strung it into the engine and ECU.  Quick test with the OBDII computer and I only had the one code.  Hazah!  I tried to start the engine and it wouldn't start, but its because I hadn't fully primed the fuel circuit.  I'll be completing that this week, and I should be able to drive the bus again.

Well, that's like 2 or 3 posts in one.  There's so much sliding season left, I expect to have lots of outdoor pictures and experiences to share over the next few months.  It seems like the bus is almost road-ready again after a 3 month span.  I plan to prime the fuel circuit this week and he'll be ready.  When he drives again, he'll have a completely refreshed fuel tank, a fan on the intercooler, an operating glow-plug circuit, a freshly painted exhaust and studded snow-tires.  Wow, when I spell it all out, its been a very productive 3 month lay-over.  Like every other time the bus goes back into service, I'll start a list of things I want to work on the next time.  If it goes well, I won't plan for another run of projects until May when the ski season is over but camping season hasn't started yet.  As always, thanks for following along, and I'll post again soon-

White Friday

As I've mentioned before, my boys and I have a tradition we started a few years ago (Holding Pattern taking Hold) where we get some snow time during the ThanksGiving break rather than retail time.  On that first holiday weekend, we went on Saturday, but in the last 2 years, we've gone on the day after ThanksGiving.  The newsfolks (and far too many people, in my opinion) refer to that as Black Friday.  The ruckus leading up to ThanksGiving about what sales are where and who's going to have the biggest lines completely blots out the whole being thankful message of the season.  So, to give the sickening consumerism the finger, we get away from the stores, the televisions and the crowds (presumably) and head for the snow.

Departure
My boys slept in.  I told them I wouldn't wake them as a means of getting them to go to sleep ThanksGiving Night, but the excitement of going to the mountain on opening weekend was too much for them.  I finally awoke them around 9.  Since the lifts opened at 9:30, and we were still in Beaverton, we clearly were not going to be there for the first lift.  No matter; both of my brothers were going to meet us up there, and they both have little ones, so we figured they couldn't actually beat us there.  A quick-slam breakfast and we hit the road.

White Friday
We tried a weird longer route, but we got there by 11:15.  The traffic to the mountain was steady.  The climb up Timberline Hwy required chains.  The parking at the lot was to overflow and there were sizable lines at the lifts.  Considering it was considered the beginning of unbridled consumerism season, the turnout for White Friday was fantastic.  Then, came the conditions.  The snow was powdery.  The air dry, the visibility infinite and the winds still.  Perfect day for playing.  C got separated again, so we spent time looking for him at one point, but he wisely realized he was in the wrong spot and stayed put.  We met both of my brothers' families and visited in Wy-East, then headed down the mountain to Summit for some sledding before dark.  We ended the day saying our goodbyes in the Summit Lodge after hot coffee / cocoa.  Perfect White Friday.


I hope you take the opportunity to celebrate White Friday next year.  The retailers will survive without you, but can you survive the retailers without first giving yourself a break?  Go to the snow, play with your kids or your friends and breathe in the crisp fresh air.  The malls will be there for you later.


The bus progresses.  I'm waiting for a replacement engine harness so I can return the borrowed harness to Justin.  I bought some used snow tires too, so we'll be able to take the bus up to Government Camp / Ski Bowl this winter.  I'm not quite daring enough to try Timberline, but we'll see.  Thanks for following along, and I'll post again soon-

Taste of Winter

I haven't really been paying any attention to the weather beyond the Great Pacific NorthWest.  Like so many folks, I get caught up in what's happening in my life or immediately around me and just don't look up.  So, for those of you suffering with floods, power outages, freak freezes or blizzards, I hope your troubles end soon.  For those of us in the Great Pacific NorthWest, Summer switched to Fall and then to Winter rather quickly.  I'm going to talk about my trips to the mountain over the past few weeks today, and take a short break from my postings about the bus.

November Snow

view out bar window

Mt. Hood is home to as many as 6 different ski areas.  At its peak, there is a glacier providing a surface for sliding nearly all year 'round at Timberline.  Sliding on the glacier (Palmer Field), though, is really not that great, unless you like sliding on a sheet of ice pellets.  Yuck.  Still, if you want to slide in the first week of  November, you have few alternatives.  We have been fortunate, though, and the top of Mt. Hood got a bunch of snow the last week of October and the first week of November, so it wasn't all ice.  Boo and I only took a couple of lifts before they closed them for the day, but we got to try out our new passes and her new skis.

Timberline Lodge
The ski-part of the resort wasn't really open yet.  We walked through Wy-East Day Lodge on the way in, and it was still actively being remodeled.  The entire food court area was a construction zone.  So, once the lifts closed, and we took our final slide down, we visited the main lodge.  The main lodge was in the movie The Shining as its greatest claim to fame.  It was built as part of a WPA (Works Progress Administration) in 1936.  The woodwork is pretty amazing, with exposed timber structures across the ceilings.  There is a massive central smokestack serves 8 fireplaces on 2 floors.  We hit the Ram's Head bar on the upper floor, found a table by the window and watched the snow.. with a couple drinks.  Great way to end a day of sliding.

7 Days Later

Timberline Hwy

A week later, we took the boys up for a day on the mountain.  Unlike the prior week, this time the wind was so strong at the top of the mountain, Palmer Field was closed.  In fact, the only open stretch of snow (and corresponding lift) was the bunny slope between the parking lots.  Had it been mid-season, and SkiBowl was open, we would have gone there.  Instead, since the season wasn't even open yet, we played on the bunny slope.  C strove for the highest number of times around and counted 29 runs in the 2 hours we were there.  Clearly, C got very comfortable with his new skis.  T used his old board, but felt like he was back to mid-season form by the end of the day.  They shut off the lifts at 2:30 again.

Uno Mas
The following Saturday, this past weekend, Boo and I went up again.  This time, Timberline had a 54" base including over 10" of fresh powder.  Almost half of the runs were open and one of the other major resorts (Meadows) opened.  The opening of Meadows probably accounted for the light crowd at Timberline.  The snow, though, was incredible and the visibility was fantastic.  I hadn't really seen much of Timberline's runs, and even now I've only half.  Still, the sliding was amazing.  I fell a bunch of times, so I was clearly trying hard enough.  After 3 hours, my legs were burning.and I had to call uncle.  It wasn't until I het the gym yesterday that the pains finally went away.

White Friday

looking down the valley near Govt Camp

In years past, my boys and I would celebrate the Friday after Thanksgiving by going to the snow.  We call it White Friday, in a response to the Black Friday capitalism-on-steroids media circus which seems to lock-grip so many Americans.  Rather than "fighting prices", we'll be fighting gravity.  I strongly encourage you to do the same.  The crowds are smaller, the air is better and it'll probably cost you less.

Anyway, thanks for following along.  I'll follow up next time with a bus update.... and probably more stories from the snow.

Fanning the flames of progress

Sorry I haven't posted much in a while. Honestly, there hasn't been much to post about. I have a small update on the defrost efforts, and a new revelation about the inter cooler. Last, I took my son T up to Mt. Hood Meadows for a day of snowboarding - total Fall highlight.

Fan Fun
I have the rear heater unit in-place, the switch in-place and the wiring run. After spending a few hours trying to figure out which wire should be connected to which male plug on the heater unit, I found this thread on TheSamba (http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=435597). With the picture, and some logic, it totally makes sense. I made the wiring corrections, but... the resistor doesn't work anymore. Fun stuff. I got the highly-maligned symptom of the fan only blowing on the "middle" setting, which, it turns out, means the resistor is bad. So, now comes the question: do I replace the resistor with a stock replacement, or go new-style? "what's this new-style," you ask. You install a true-rheostat concept like this. For the stock-lovers out there, I've already pissed you off with this whole project, but bear with me for a sec. The true-rheostat solution is $60 where the stock solution is around $35, assuming you can find it. I haven't had any luck finding a stock resistor, but I'll be leaving the fan in this on-off configuration for now. I have a defroster, and that's all that matters at this point.

Inter not-cooling
I am unable to place the stock inter cooler within the space I have after the heater is in. I'm looking for a Saab Blackstone inter cooler instead. Why? They take up a little less space, but are reportedly more efficient. Also, the inlet and outlet are both on the same end, improving the placement choices. Assuming I find one, and have it in-hand relatively soon, I'll cover that install. I know I will need more silicone tubing, so the install will take 2 delivery cycles - one for the inter cooler, and one for the tubes. net-net, I won't be test-driving over Christmas.

Snow good to see ya
Last Sunday, my some T and I drove up to Mt Hood Meadows for some snowboarding. I've gone sliding a couple of times, but I haven't really had good conditions before. Mt. Hood had received fresh snow the night before, and we had some flurries while we were there. The result? Groomed powder runs, and some great sliding. Our first ride on the lift was just after 9:AM, and after 7-8 runs, we called it a day around 2:30. I'll upload pictures later.

With the heater troubles and the ridiculous darkness this time of year, my motivation has slipped. Its been a couple months since I heard the engine run, and that doesn't help. I'm trying to re-motivate, and get the inter cooler resolved. Once that's in, I can test-start the engine again, focus on finishing out the little bits, and take a test drive. I won't feel close to finished again until I hear that engine run again. Sigh.

First camping trip

A large group of friends had been planned a camping weekend on Mt. Hood since March of 2003 for that Summer. Less than a month before the trip was to take place, we found and bought Hapy. He ran well, but we had no idea how any of his things worked, and we didn't even have an owners manual yet. We did have an old copy of Muir's "How to Keep your Volkswagen Alive", so we felt reasonably sure we'd be okay. Besides, we were going to meet friends, so if we had trouble, they'd probably drive by us. We didn't have any mechanical issues other than slow-going on Sunday morning through the mountain passes (the picture below was taken just before we pulled out Sunday morning). We got lots of waves (both pleasant and vulgar) throughout the trip, and we felt very lucky to have Hapy in our family.

The old 1972 Westvalia interior has a large bench seat in the back that folds flat to make a bed. Next to the bed on the passenger side is a cabinet that blocks the rear passenger window, but it fits lots of stuff. It even has a closet that fits hanging things - like you'd really bring a suit out camping. Under the bench is a pretty large cabinet as well. Behind the front passenger seat is a sink/icebox unit and behind the driver seat is a rear-facing seat. All told, you can fit 5 passengers. We were traveling with 4 including the driver, so the rear-facing seat held camping supplies.

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is "what equipment do you need to bring when you camp?" Honestly, I bring the same stuff I used to camp with before I had the bus. I'll post another time with a more exhaustive answer, but, generally, if you've ever car-camped before, bring the same things you did before - even the tent.

We arrived before some of our friends did, so we popped the top, and pulled the ice chests out. My sons started asking very wise questions about where we would be sleeping, and we realized that we had the cot up top (1) and the bed down below (2), but we had 4 people. We resolved to have the youngest wedged between the parents on this trip, but we'd have to figure out a solution for other trips. After this trip, we purchased a child's cot at BusDepot for the younger son to sleep in. It also provided a place to put stuff when we weren't using it, which is very handy in any tiny cabin.

Timothy Lake was beautiful, though the water was cold, and we really enjoyed the cool Summer nights around the campfire swapping stories. We spent the day chasing frogs, and riding bikes around the campground. At night, we enjoyed not sleeping on rocks, though any time anyone had to use the restroom in the middle of the night, the sliding door woke everyone up. We used the front seats as a place to put stuff (like bags of clothes) while we were camped. This worked very well for us except one time we were closing the passenger door, the mirror glass fell out of the chrome holder :( I had my first experience with a stranger walking up to my bus wanting to know things about it. I realize now how little I knew then, but I gave the basic information. The funny thing is that over the years, the questions from people are pretty much the same, and regardless of age there's a little gleam of wonder in their eyes. The gentleman who I spoke to was driving a 30 foot RV that had satellite television and a microwave. All I had was an icebox and a folding bed, but the love of the outdoors seems to cross all lines, and we were soon talking about the view of Mt. Hood across the lake and the smell of the trees in the air.

The kids loved camping and didn't want to leave. They took to the cold early mornings, and pit toilets like they weren't anything out of the ordinary. We all knew that camping and Hapy were going to be a part of our lives for a long time after this trip concluded. At least so far, we were right--