3 hippy dudes and a green bus= problems<-THE ORIGINAL

Bottomend · Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:37 pm Post subject:

death bus, I call to mind the words of the late great John Muir;

Front is front.

The seal behind the flywheel is the FRONT main seal. Behind the fan is called the REAR main seal.

The breather box gasket is fine. Checked it out a bunch. Oil filler tube is good to. Attached a new hose clamp on 'er and SQUEEZED.

I almost thought twice about mentioning the song I've written. It is an unwritten preciept in "songwriter-dom' to NOT discuss material before it's finished. I'll tell you this much though.... It's no opus or opera. I write simple little pop songs. Sometimes sad, sometimes hopefull, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes crapfull.

DeathBus · Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2004 7:13 pm Post subject:

Bottomend · Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2004 8:25 pm Post subject:

It's kind of a running joke through out the book. He's always trying to clear up the confusion of the engine being turned around backwards so, he keeps reminding the reader that 'front is front' when referring to placement of stuff. Simple 'nuff.

original irish airhead! · Samba Member Joined: September 15, 2004 Posts: 24

Theres still a good following of people in Ireland! Fascinatring story I have to say! And just when it starts to get boring things get interesting again! Its the makings of a damn good movie!! I did scriptwriting in college and have always tried to think of something cool to write about and I think I might just give this a go! Cool

Now as for the oil leak, I dont understand the whole oil cooling system in pancake engines, so can you please put me right about it? Where does the oil cooler connect to and if theres no other oil cooler except for the external one, how is the oil usually cooled in engines that dont have external coolers?

DurocShark · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:48 am Post subject:

mattcuddy · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 7:30 am Post subject:

DeathBus · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:13 am Post subject:

vegaluca · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:42 am Post subject:

Grease ...

i was up at a surfing comp in Lahinch (Ireland), http://www.magicosoftware.net/surf/lahinch.asp (doesn't look so good today) over the weekend and there was a great buzz about this thread, LOADS of surfers log on to get the updates.

Bottomend · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:19 pm Post subject:

Surfers too! (Must be the Hippy connection....)
Man, the water must be freeeezing! I dont know how you guys do it!

I'm just waiting here for news just like the rest of you. This is probably one case where no news is NOT good news. They were in Amarillo TX Saturday evening.
I rode my motorcycle from the Peoria Ill. area to Amarillo TX in about 8 hours once, but I was riding solo on a 900cc BMW. (Apples and oranges, I know....) tick, tock, tick, tock....

As far as the rear/front seal is concerned.... I was a victim of the confusion a couple of months ago. Amskeptic and I pulled my engine so we could install the 'new" transmission. I ordered a 'front' seal and when it came in, it was actully the 'rear' seal. I guess they've never read the Idiots book...Oh well.

The origenal oil cooler is attached, fuctional and leak free.

I was thinking about this last night. The person who 'installed' it simply ran the hoses up through some open heater hose holes ( he/she pulled those too!) in the engine tin and then kinda stuffed it up into the area below the air inlet on the drivers side. Stupid, huh?! I should've pulled the thing out when I had the chance.

thelastliberal · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 3:41 pm Post subject:

I hope they're OK. I've actually been stuck outside of Amarillo with long hair (not in a VW though). It was not fun. All I needed was a battery charge. The guy who stopped to help would not charge my battery because it was a Japanese car ('84 sentra hatchback). And because he wanted to know what I was doing in "his" town. He didn't want to get involved because I "probably had drugs in my car". Luckily the Motorist assist people came along. I was very happy when I finally got to Oklahoma. A guy there actually GAVE me a new alternator. Good luck hippys.
_________________
1977 Westy
Check out my pics on flickr

DeathBus · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 3:56 pm Post subject:

nemobuscaptain · Samba Member Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 2420

>heard it was just full of basic automotive anyway.

Yeah, sort of. But it's also full of basic info about aircooled engines that most people don't know unless they are Porsche techs or aircraft mechanics. All that experience with Chivvies may not be helpful and some should be forgotten if you want your VW to last more than 10-15K miles. (ie "I've always timed by ear" or, "You don't need a thermostat or this engine seal" or, "I always put 5W30 or 10W30 in my Chivvie, it'll be fine in this also.")

keifernet · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:00 pm Post subject:

Reminds me of that old song... Laughing

well I tucked my hair up under my hat,
told the bartender that I'd had a flat,
and would he be kind a 'nough to gimme change for a one...

Just when I thought I'd get out of there with my skin
these 3 big dudes came rollin in with some old drunk chick and
a fella with Green Teeth

and there's more but I'm sure everyone over the age of at least 35
remembers the song "Uneasy Rider"
_________________
my seller feedback
rebuilt carb info = for sale

"STFU Polly and go eat a cracker!" 12-21-2012.... can't wait!

DeathBus · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:52 pm Post subject:

Been workin on Fords since I was 10, slid right into VeeDubs, no problems. Never timed any cars by ear anyway. Wink

_________________
65 Bus, 72 Bus, 63 bus, 98 Golf
In the shop 68 Beetle and a 62 Bus

earthmuffin · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:09 pm Post subject:

So I wonder how our little rogue friends are doing?
_________________
This thread SUCKS!!!

DurocShark · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:05 pm Post subject:

earthmuffin · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:09 pm Post subject:

DeathBus · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 7:16 pm Post subject:

sodbuster · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:22 pm Post subject:

I started to read this post when it was first put up. I did not check on it for a while an boy did I miss alot! Bottomend you are the MAN for steping up to the plate and gettin' down in the trenches for those poor hapless hippy boys. and also big props to Durocshark for having your back. I dearly hope they make it home and the next news we hear of them is good news. as far as the front / rear seal thing goes. just do what I do. call the rear main seal a "flywheel seal" that way there is no mistake. oh and by the way I have a great hippy fix for oil leaks that involves a loaf of bread! (no kidding) it got me and two friends home from Parker Az. but no time to post it right now. that's for later. Very Happy

ROLL ON GREEN BEAST WHERE EVER YOU ARE! Cool

(= too cool)

WestyNut · Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:35 pm Post subject: There is more to the story!

Received a call from Jason, aka Leader, Saturday night, 9/18. The boys and the bus were in Amarillo, Texas. They had seen my name on the AIRS list and wanted to know if I would look over their bus. I am in Bloomington, IL, about 120 miles south of Chicago. I asked them to describe what was wrong with the bus. They said that they had to put a quart of oil in every 80 miles. Didn't sound good.. I asked if it was leaking out and they said no, not much. This sounded even worse. They said that they would be in Bloomington Sunday afternoon at 2:00PM. I went to bed thinking I would never hear from them again. I figured the bus would die on the highway.

About 2:00PM, they called from Springfield, IL, about an hour and a half away. I gave them some directions and went to the garage and got out the Bentley. I hadn't worked on an AC bus for a while - I switched to Vanagons in the early '80s. Familiarized myself with the engine, location of the oil cooler, etc. They showed up about 6:00PM. A sadder looking bus I have never seen. It was dripping oil from the back door and engine cover. The engine compartment had oil everywhere - they forgot to put the cap on the oil filler during one of the oil stops. The engine sounded bad like it was running on three cylinders and had a significant exhaust leak. The body, as has been described here, was in bad shape. Lights were either dim or out altogether.

I had them back into the driveway and got out the drop light and looked things over. Clearly, the engine was in trouble. I asked them about the trip and how the engine ran. They said they could get up to 75 MPH but the hills killed them, they were down to 45 MPH a couple of times. I set about doing a compression check. Someone had put in platinum plugs recently. They didn't look too bad and cleaned up nicely with the wire brush. The compression check showed the problem. #1, 15 lbs; #2, 90 lbs; #3, 80 lbs; #4, 105 lbs. Amazing they made it this far.

We talked about the possibilities. (1) Get a rebuilt engine from AVP. Lots of money and time to ship it, but an easy job to install and be on their way with dependability. They had no money and no time - they were leaving soon for a conference in South Carolina. (2) Pay someone to redo the engine. Again, more money than they had. (3) Fix it themselves. I had only spent an hour or two with them by this time but it was clear that they had no tools and no knowledge of engine mechanicals. I took them into the garage and showed them a 40 horse engine without the tin and showed them what they had to do to get a look at the pistons. Showed them the rings, the heads, the valves, etc. on engines I had sitting around, telling them how each had to be checked in its own way and parts would have to be purchased or machine work done, etc. Hope continued to spring eternal from Leader and they enthusiastically agreed to do the work themselves.

It turns out that they live in Peoria, about an hour to the west. They were going to go home, take a shower - said they had not had one in two weeks - eat some good food, sleep in their beds and start to work the next day. Leader was going to hit his mother up for a loan of $500 to get started.

We installed some tail light and license plate bulbs and a lens on the side that was battered. At least they were legal. I had a tired '78 AC engine that I offered them for parts once they got inside to see what was broken. I gave them my e-mail address, cell phone number, etc. and a 1974 edition of the idiot book I had laying around and wished them well.

You will notice that I am not being very hard on them for wanting to fix the bus and continue their trip. They are so unknowing of all of the dire possibilities that the bus could bring that I cringe thinking about it. But I have thought back to 1969 when a longhaired hippy loaded his girlfriend and some camping supplies into a 1963 Kombi and took off for Virginia Beach. They broke down a number of times. Each time was an adventure. They figured out the problems, accepted the help of strangers, got the parts, borrowed the tools, etc. and got back on the road until the next problem. They made it to Virginia Beach, where they bought a 1967 bus. That bus took them through many more adventures from Florida to Montreal for many years. He drove it to college and to the first job. They got married and their first two kids rode around in it. They (if you haven't guessed by now, it is we) finally retired it and bought a new '76 bus, and then a '78 Westy and so forth. There is an '87 Westy sitting in the driveway now. There have probably been 30 or 40 of them through the years each with stories of breakdowns, adventures, and lessons learned.

So I would not begrudge them of their dream and their chance for adventure. It may be painful and expensive and troublesome, but it will also create lifelong memories and may even make halfway decent mechanics of them.

Godspeed hippies!

>Help >Donate >Buy Shirts >Register >Log in	See all Samba banner ads \| Advertise on TheSamba.com

3 hippy dudes and a green bus= problems<-THE ORIGINAL
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 ... 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 Next Jump to:

	Forum Index -> Stories	All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 ... 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 Next Jump to:
Page 27 of 31