TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Nov 25, 2011 5:54 pm

Most new owners find all these little gremlins exercising their new ride on short jaunts around town. Luckily you are so personable that the Samba family will open their garages/driveways to you on your epic adventure. Lucky you.

Fri Nov 25, 2011 5:59 pm

The van should be fully restored by the time it hits California! Don;t laugh,I do believe Mr. Rubba Chicken is fully capable of such and Mrs. Rubba Chicken is a trooper too.

Fri Nov 25, 2011 6:21 pm

Bummer! NTL, better to find this out now than when stomping on the brakes as a logging truck tries to cross in front of you. :shock:

On the coolant... you're there, I'm not. All things being equal, it may be time to fix the leak instead of relying on stuff that may seal up things you never want sealed as well as the annoying leak you have. Better to have the issue resolved when you're where cell phones work and home lighting doesn't include "off the grid" in the discussion...

Fri Nov 25, 2011 9:12 pm

RBEmerson wrote: Bummer! NTL, better to find this out now than when stomping on the brakes as a logging truck tries to cross in front of you. :shock:

On the coolant... you're there, I'm not. All things being equal, it may be time to fix the leak instead of relying on stuff that may seal up things you never want sealed as well as the annoying leak you have. Better to have the issue resolved when you're where cell phones work and home lighting doesn't include "off the grid" in the discussion...

we had a scarey first find of the brake problem on the blue ridge parkway in virginia

i'll be ordering a head gasket rebuild kit and have it delivered to our next stop, along with other stuff, exhaust manifold blah blah :roll:

Fri Nov 25, 2011 9:50 pm

Eek! on the brakes on the BRP.

And "that which does not kill [us] makes [us] stronger" for the rest. :wink:

Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:23 am

i thought we had the brakes licked, yesterday i blead it through some more, i hope now we are good
i had off the throttle body and gave it a good clean through with carb cleaner, then the air flow sensor got the same treatment,both as clean as
she still runs the same, although she was running OK and still is, so maybe i have got it this time
also chasing down an issue with the hazard warning lights, sometime they work, sometimes they don't
just as i lost patience i found that there's a broken wire or joint in the connector block on the back of the switch, some else for next time
and a bit more wiring up front, another wired added for mrs rubachickens tom tom, now we have one each :oops:

Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:53 am

If you get a chance watch '180 degrees south'

Inspirational travel film based on a 1968 trip in a bus to Patagonia by the (yet to be) founders of North Face & Patagonia. There's an awesome quote from the film that we use all the time, every vanagon owner should use...

"It's not an adventure until something goes wrong"

http://www.180south.com/trailer.html

Mon Jan 02, 2012 5:58 am

we are stopped in ormond beach florida, staying with SteveVanB and his family

lucy is in for some surgery, the rear trailing arms had almost collapsed

so we broke out some 1/4" plate and she's as good as new :D

it was bad on both sides, so they both got done, and the rear shock mounts had also gone the way of the dodo :cry:
again all welded up with thicker than og plate

also we give her the 7 minute leveling treatment, she's now within 4mm of level
and i still can't see far enough out of the rear view mirror :roll:

i have a pair of '83 front springs that i hope should bring the front down a little

i also had to attach the gas pedal to the rest of the van

it's all bolted back in, although some idiot {me} cut the end off of the cable when he was cutting out the hole, a new cable is at least $25, so a trip to lowes and we had crimps and a way to fix it for under $4

Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:15 pm

other jobs we did while in ormond beach
i resealed the gas tank
5' of new 30r6 fuel line for the tank breathers
some gloup for the gromets

the next as the change the front springs

with that and the spacers at the back she's very very close to level

Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:39 pm

back to ormond beach, in search of a little extra space inside lucy, the dometic has now gone the way of the dodo

there is SO much space in there

and a little more space under the back seat

next addition will be a bike rack for the front

Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:44 am

one more addition before we leave daytona :D

the welder came out

it cost me $32, and about 5 hours, we bought a h@rb*ur fright rack, on sale $40 :shock: more wobbly than jello

now i need to find me a bike to put on it :D

Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:06 am

You are so talented with so many skills! Great work.

Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:24 am

rubbachicken wrote:

I got to see this set up in person this wekend.
Waay impressive my friend!

Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:29 am

Love the note in the back window!

I want to hear the story around that one. :lol:

Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:30 am

sounds like VW hippies squatting in the streets of Key West.. :lol:

seems some people like to pay ~$1million for the opportunity to live down there while VW vagabonds just need a curb spot & a gutter to enjoy the roosters.

Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:58 pm

DAIZEE wrote: You are so talented with so many skills! Great work.

jmf337 wrote:
I got to see this set up in person this wekend.
Waay impressive my friend!

thank you both

jmf337, did we meet, if not why not ? :lol:

we met a lot of orsum folk at the show, and one or two wierdo's :roll:

what ever it was a good show

Tue Mar 20, 2012 2:00 pm

Just some free advice. Don't buy new bikes, just get sound/safe bikes. Unless you want brand new, ??? locks too?

Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:06 am

rubbachicken wrote: jmf337, did we meet, if not why not ? :lol:

Yes, we did!
I have the concrete VW block you were curious about.
After our conversation, I did some research were the blocks came from.

Here is a good link I found. The article is about 1/3 down the page.

http://veryvintagevegas.com/category/decorative-concrete-block-designs/

This one is much nicer than mine.

Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:22 am

DAIZEE wrote: Just some free advice. Don't buy new bikes, just get sound/safe bikes. Unless you want brand new, ??? locks too?

one was free :D, the other was $25, both are 24" kids bikes
they'll do us

Mon Apr 02, 2012 7:25 pm

lucy has gone through teething issues, 4 sets now of rear wheel bearings,2 per side
:roll:

now we have a pair of hubs from aleric, {thank you aleric}
i had it all back together, the test drive, all i could hear was tire noise, oh and a CV joint knock :evil:
so now she's having the CV joints replaced :(

we should have been done and in california already, and we are still in daytona :roll:

some of the wheel bearings

this last bearing, only did 400 miles :(

they were propperly pressed into the hub by an engineer, he also measured the hub, the bearing and the shaft before fitting, all measured to tolerances he would expect to see

they all have different wear patterns, all were german PEX bearings

we are now in for $400 just to, i hope have good rear wheel bearings :(