Another poor sap with Bus fever

[KentABQ]

[KentABQ]

The New Mexico Bus Club just announced the “2024 Buses and Balloons” is cancelled.
They have lost the use of the current location.

They are looking for an alternate sites for the following years.
_________________
-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[airschooled]

[KentABQ]

The local Air Force base hosted a Trunk or Treat for the families at Kirtland.
We decorated Chloe up and joined the fun for two hours. And there were hundreds of children of all ages that showed up! I’m sure we had as much fun as they did.

This year’s theme for us is “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!”
I’m sure many of the children had no idea about it since I remember watching it over 50 years ago.

_________________
-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[KentABQ]

Chloe has been up and running about six years now. And in that time, I've been playing with the idle speed a lot due to a bad AAR.
While sourcing parts in 2016 to convert from carbs to FI, I somehow acquired 3 AARs, all of them nonfunctional.

So I have played with idle speed since then.
It was a balancing act between:
(1) having to feather the throttle when the engine was cold in order to have a normal idle when the engine warmed up, or
(2) having a decent idle speed at start up with high idle when warm.

But NOT ANYMORE!

Ken at Busco sold me a working AAR, and now Chloe idles decently at all temps.
It doesn't idle at 1500 at stop lights anymore! It's now saving gas and is much quieter!

Thanks Ken!

BTW... I'm heading out to BBB on the 15th. Anyone else going?
_________________
-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[Xevin]

That’s gotta feel good. You know I’ll be there.
_________________
Keep on Busin'

[The Volkswagen Ranch]

Congrats! It is strange to non-VW folks how much we appreciate the
“Little” things like correct idle speed! Maybe get a “good” spare from Ken for the “next time”. Bob
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1964 vert "Patience"
2002 Eurovan MV “Winnie”
Sold the 63 vert “ Lizzie”
Sold the 76 Westfalia “ Winnie”

[TypePete]

“This isn't Missoula. We save the salt for Margaritas.”

I’m offended, we don’t use no salt gotta keep our rivers clean by

Great build, just got a 71 riviera a few months ago, I too am a sap with bus fever
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1971 VW Bus Riviera

[KentABQ]

Buses by the Bridge 2025

I was lucky enough to camp with Xevin and Dodgertom this year.

And there were lots of greats sights to see...

Wandering thru the sea of van/buses, I found a number of interesting signs...

Thanks Xevin and Dodgertom for helping to make it a great getaway!

Edit: I forgot to mention all the great Sambanistas I met or were able to reconnect with.
They all made the event unforgettable.
_________________
-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[KentABQ]

On the way back from BBB, I ran into a slight problem.
She had been running GREAT for 575 miles.
Then... she lost power and made a rattling noise.

With help-via-text from Robbie, we were able to find the problem...

The #3 exhaust valve decided to take a break.

By removing the rocker assembly, pushrods, spark plug and injector plug, I was able to limp home on 3 cylinders.
Oh, and a couple guys in a splitty suggested wrapping a wire around the broken end of the valve to keep it from being sucked into the cylinder.

Time for some head work.

Big THANKS to Robbie for his support when I was stuck in the shoulder of I-40.

Even with this problem happening, it was definitely worth the experience of getting to BBB again!
_________________
-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[dodger tom]

super glad you were able to make it home.

robbie’s a champ for helping you out.

thanks for making bbb 2025 (my first!) such a great experience.
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1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[wcfvw69]

Hey Kent, it was great meeting you and your pup at BBB. Glad you made it home safe and sound.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
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40+ years of VW repair, and VW parts and vehicle restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours**

[Shonandb]

Good to hear that you you were able to finesse it home Kent!

I had something similar happen to my 73 Panel years ago. I started to hear a slight metallic sound (not Metallica ) when I left Corpus Christi Texas on my way to Oregon and stopped at a friend's place in Vail Colorado for the night. Did a quick check of the valves in the morning before setting off from Vail and everything seemed fine but the metallic sound continued on throughout the trip and as I was pulling into Hood River in Oregon, literally just came to an idle at the stop sign (at that time, now a light) it dropped a valve with the engine stopping instantly.

Pushed it over to the side of the road and started to diagnose what had happened. I had set things up so I could remove the tin and heads without dropping the engine so pulled the problem head and found that the exhaust valve stem had broke and the piston had hit the dropped valve head and there was a small imprint in the head but the valve seat was untouched.

Luckily I was at an idle when it happened otherwise it would have been a full engine rebuild with shrapnel everywhere.

I had an extra piston that I had balanced to match the others at the time I rebuilt it and took a few minutes to buff/smooth out the imprint in the head and walked up to the Napa store to buy a new valve and a new set of rings. Surprisingly, they had everything I needed in stock and was less than $20.

Did a quick hone of the cylinder and reinstalled everything and was back up and running in what ended up being about 5 hours and was able to windsurf that afternoon. No more metallic sound after that but a little bit of Metallica when needed.

I hope you are back up and running quickly.
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*******************************
76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image

[KentABQ]

[KentABQ]

[dodger tom]

geez, kent.

hope you’re back on the road soon.
_________________
1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[KentABQ]

I'm at a loss...

I shipped the damaged head to Brothers in Ontario. Renato received it on February 5 according to UPS.

Since then I have called every two weeks to see what the status is, and keep getting a response of "It will be done this week."

But the last time I spoke with Renato, he said my 1.7 liter headS will be done by Friday. I only sent one head, and it's a 1.8.

So I'm feeling certain he has lost my head. If so, I'm up Shit Creek.

I thought I was doing a good thing by sending the head back to the original machine shop. But now I'm going to be out a couple thousand to replace both heads.

In the future, I wouldn't recommend anyone sending parts to Brothers. If you live in the vicinity and are able to stop by to ask about the status, you might be better off. But I won't be recommending Brothers in the future.
_________________
-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[Xevin]

That is disappointing. But good information. I trust Brothers to make it right. Remember when Adrien (Headflow Masters) was getting blasted with customers disappointment for not meeting customers expectations or being timely?

But then again, Roy might be the worst “Over promising and under delivering”

Perhaps a trend going on here? IMHO, I don’t think any of the mentioned are thieves, just bad time management with bad communication skills.


Link

_________________
Keep on Busin'

[KentABQ]

[KentABQ]

Another update:

The repaired head has been reinstalled and everything put back together.
I'll say it again... I wish I had removed the drivetrain rather than trying to remove the head with engine in place.
But it's all done and running decently, other than the squealing noise I mentioned in the Stupid Questions thread. The squeal continues, but it's not as loud and I've grown used to it.
https://youtu.be/_48JeCY31yQ?si=4zkvBohIgrM8iNIo

So it's nice have the old girl up and running again.

Oh, forgot to mention... A friend from Seattle was visiting us, so we drove Chloe to give him a tour of the town. While driving in front of the entrance to University of New Mexico, she suddenly lost all power. Engine was running and would rev up, but no power.

While she was waiting for the head to be returned, I replaced the CV boots.
And didn't torque them properly, so the driver's side axle fell off the transmission.

So we had the enjoyment of being AAA towed back home.
And my Seattle friend got the pleasure of experiencing the joys of owning a 50-year old vehicle.
_________________
-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM