1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus

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Chapter One: Tony's Auto Service or Tony's Artist Service?? ***See previous post at bottom of page 16.

Confession: this tale was the result of an urgent need to pee. Really. Due to the advanced prostate cancer, my plumbing -- and most others who are at Stage 4 -- is beyond wonky. Included in the side effects of the cancer and the drugs to treat it are "frequent and urgent urination". When you gotta go, it's like RIGHT NOW. At night I'm up and down at least seven times. Try walking for six miles inner city -- which I do regularly as I've always done -- and having a spell of U.U. Crikey, I'm starting to feel like a homeless guy who knows every suitable tree, bush, screening fence and underpass around. Of course, this is not approved of: https://www.calgary.ca/csps/abs/bylaws-by-topic/public-behaviour.html . COVID-19 made it worse because washrooms were simply not available even if I were brave enough to use them (and I wouldn't due to immunity impairment).

What's a guy to do?

Well, back in May, I had a bout of the I-gotta-go-now and took to some bushes out back of Tony's Auto Service. Lots of screening fences etc around there and out of the way. While gazing about I noticed a whole new world.

Out front things haven't changed in years:

With the handover to the "boys", more of the interior is being spruced up:

That life-size cutout of Dale is the first thing that greets you as you open the door. ABOOT?? That's a joke on the supposedly Canadian way of saying ABOUT. How do we really pronounce the word? The same as Americans -- only more refined. The front counter remains the same -- only upgraded for COVID-19 -- but in the old days, "Old Bert" had a small office hidden beyond it and it was not as open. The horizontal wood paneling is also a new addition.

There's now new stickers and a classy poster featuring Shane:

The hint of things to come was in the sitting area where a mountain scene graces the wall:

Unlike a typical auto dealership, the place has character. LOTS of character and matching characters to run the place and do the repair work.

But back to the rear of the building in May:

In the inner city, you don't poke through debris like this or you may end up with a used syringe poking you.

The old south-facing sign was sun- and weather-beaten:

The side walls were looking pretty grim as well. Here's the west wall...

...and the east wall:

Actually, I was kind of surprised that only one graffiti artist/vandal had hit those wide open walls. In the inner city that was extremely unusual and stuck with me. I also had a feeling/premonition that something was going to change so I grabbed some photos even though the lighting wasn't the best.

I'm glad I did.

Last night I made a scheduled stop at Tony's so Jesse could tick off another of GoWesty's requirements for a warranty claim to go forward: pulling each fuel injector and revving the engine to test for the lifter TAPPING noise. Par for the course, by the time I drove over I had to go RIGHT NOW. Back to the rear pitstop!

And here's what confronted me:

Was I at the same place as May? Apparently so, as the old tattered sign was still up as the giveaway:

AMAZING transformation!

The west side wall had received the same treatment:

Coooool!

It was pretty obvious from the number of "tags" that this was a coordinated group effort:

After dealing with the U.U. and my shock and awe, I drove around out front so Jesse could get on with the GoWesty warranty claim "launch list":

Yup, still TAP, TAP, TAPPING!

"Hey, Jess, what's up with all the artwork on the back and side wall?"

"Cool, eh? Yeah, back a few weeks ago, 18 local graffiti artists did that wrap-around. I donated four cans of spray paint to each one of them [they added more of their own] and splurged for a pizza feast at the end of it all."

Turns out that Jesse has cultivated links with those spray can artists for about eight years and word got out on social media and word of mouth that the open concrete "canvas" was ready for some colourful flair. The spray cans -- the fancy professional Loop brand from Italy -- came from Visual Orgasm. Visual what? Visual Orgasm is a local spray paint supplier in town and also historian of the Canadian graffiti scene: https://www.visualorgasm.com/ + https://www.visualorgasm.com/get-the-book/ + https://calgaryjournal.ca/calgary-arts/414-new-book-explores-early-history-of-graffiti-in-canada .

Crikey, I'd never heard a word about all this on the local scene! I was brain-washed that all spray can art was offensive and verboten: https://www.calgary.ca/cps/community-programs-and-...alism.html .

Since it was after hours and only Shane and Jesse were working, we wandered inside the shop for more of the same -- something I couldn't do while all staff were up to their necks with work at all the lifts during the day.
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

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The first clue that I was in for a treat were boxes of the Made in Italy Loop spray cans:

The front office mountain scene was only the tip of the artsy iceberg (I made sure not to touch anything due to COVID-19):

In the back was the main part of the 'berg:

That "Just Happy Accidents" with the bearded portrait is an homage to painter Bob Ross: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tq5vXk0wTk .

Could there be any more? Of course!

That octopus and greenish bug are some of Jesse's work:

Talented painter, photographer and mechanic all rolled up into one package. Note the Van Cafe T-shirt Jess is wearing. All in!

What's up with the license plate collection? That's Old Bert's ancient artwork:

There was even a throwback to the Super Mario Brothers in the stock room:

Of course there was artwork of another kind in house as well:

How 'bout a Subie Syncro with pop-top? Sweet! The sticker reveals it as the fine handiwork of Barry and the boys at Werke-1 in B.C. http://www.werke1.com/vanagon-parts-store.html :

Did you notice that little Cabriolet next to it? Turns out an owner who sold it missed it so much that he went looking for it years later and finally tracked it down. It was now in rough shape and a project car for Tony's to turn around.

What a night! And what a delight!

I was so pumped I walked back several miles for a second helping the next morning:

Here's the changed landscape in the huge empty parking lot behind Tony's Auto:

Walking on the sidewalk near the west wall, the mural can barely be seen through the weeds of the adjacent lot (this part of town is still a bit dodgy):

The east wall? I was so overcome with excitement on seeing the other two walls the previous evening that I completely forgot about it. The next morning "Mark" was parked there doing roofing work. We had a quick chat about TPO roofing https://westroofingsystems.com/tpo-roofing-everything-you-need-to-know/ before I left him in peace:

Did you catch how the artist continued his spray job onto the adjacent fence?

At the end of the repeat visit, I felt like I was a curator at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in the Big Apple https://www.moma.org/ . What a bizarre and soul-pleasing mix of artwork and industrial/mechanical work place. A grease monkey gallery! Those urgent pee sessions out back? Just Happy Accidents!

Another look back, and then it was homeward bound on foot...
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

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Where was I? Oh, yeah: Starting the second revised edition retitled 1989 Westy Makeover of Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus (a whole lotta trouble). From a treatise on hydraulic lifters -- of which I have a noisy tap-dancing example https://ratwell.com/technical/HydraulicLifters.html -- "The operation of the hydraulic lifter is very complicated component despite its size and the construction of the lifter has the highest manufacturing tolerances of any part of the engine. Its a precision part that is designed to self-adjust based on oil pressures and spring tensions calculated by the VW engineers."

This sequel is akin to Harry and Lloyd groping for diamonds in Dumb and Dumber To https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmNddThxi4c but I'm hoping that the lads at Tony's don't come up empty handed.

Perhaps Al Saracevic said it best in his article Confessions of a semi-reformed vanlifer: "VW vans attract a peculiar sort of fanatic. It's an addiction that delivers dreamy highs, tempered by intermittent lows filled with exasperation, anxiety and dread. It's not always a pretty picture. And there are no sponsors. So, before you begin to dream about the #VanLife, consider this: Volkswagen vans have a personality of their own. The people who drive them know it all too well. The personality is often bipolar. A mix of form, function and failure. When these cars are running right, there's no better way to travel. When they break down, which happens all too often, you'll wish you'd never taken this road." https://www.sfchronicle.com/travel/article/Confess...o-15802120

Since I'm now an unofficial Travelling (On Foot) Ambassador for GoWesty https://www.gowesty.com/traveling-ambassadors.php while they methodically work through my warranty claim, let's pick up where I left off on the homeward journey by shank's mare. Mechanical problems? The worst that can happen is that my shoe laces come untied and I have to retie them. Did I mention that I like walking due to its inherent simplicity? Come along for the walk back and we'll wear off some frustration with some more outdoor artwork and fresh air. And, yes, I will work a Westy in here and there.

Looking back towards Tony's (note the triangular sign in the far distance), it's obvious that the site literally lies on the wrong side of the tracks. A rail line separates it from the main downtown core.

https://i.imgur.com/glNlIlU.jpg

No matter. Over the last decade, the glitz and improvement have been steadily creeping closer and closer with the addition of a new underpass being the main driver. This is what you see turning the corner from the last viewpoint:

https://i.imgur.com/CiEK2D4.jpg

Here we have a vibrant mix of art, industry and functional transportation corridor -- for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles:

https://i.imgur.com/54gszK6.jpg

The artwork is titled "Corridor of Connection" and was commissioned by the CMLC. Artist = Michelle Hoogveld. Groovy!

https://i.imgur.com/FjRcTmk.jpg

Emerging on the other side unscathed, we walk on and view this fresh scene...

https://i.imgur.com/KVURsUG.jpg

...with a view of a) a colourful basketball court with a hoop jock about to miss a shot b) the very top of the Telus Sky tower (peeking over the new Central Library) http://telussky.com/public-art/ + https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/calgarys...-telus-sky c) the snazzy Central Public Library https://www.calgarymlc.ca/new-central-library featured in the NY Times 52 Places to Travel and d) the distinctive Bow Tower also popping out above the library http://bowcalgary.com/ . None of this was here a decade ago and the area was scuzzy on a good day.

Turning around, I spot another mural...

https://i.imgur.com/H6L4Idy.jpg

...attached to another new addition to the urban scene:

https://i.imgur.com/oHDMfXt.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VFTTJ2K.jpg

The impressive curvaceous Studio Bell houses the National Music Centre (2016) which includes the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/04/19/rolling-stones-mobile-stu_n_7094960.html and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. This area is sizzling hot on the arts scene. I attempted to shoot across the road a little further on to capture a large sandhill crane mural but was met with a number of upturned middle fingers in return. That location is adjacent to the Calgary Drop-In Centre https://www.ihearthomeyyc.com/team/calgary-drop-in-and-rehab-centre/ and some of the homeless thought I was taking photos of their crude daytime shelters erected next to the mural. Okay, so some of the scuzziness still remains. But we are brothers in arms when it comes to public urination.

Finally arriving at the riverfront -- River Walk as it's officially termed -- we see the spruced up Langevin Bridge, recently name-changed to Reconciliation Bridge to address past injustices to the local First Nations. Along with the artsy banners come flashy LEDs at night. Cool!

https://i.imgur.com/s9z4w12.jpg

Hey, this Travelling (On-Foot) Ambassador stuff ain't so bad after all!

To be continued....with Westies on the forecast.
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

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Now it might be entirely coincidental but 10 years ago almost to the day, I decided to try to make Cowtown a better place to live. Let's call this tale How A Westy Won the Political West (Parts 1 & 2). Looking at all the improvements made in this part of the city while on foot jostled some brain cells into memory mode.

For the life of me I can't believe this story hasn't come up before in this thread -- maybe it's just been suppressed to protect me from further stress symptoms. Whatever the reason, I need to record the history of how Fritz and I made political history -- some of which is now stored away in the Provincial Archives of Alberta in Edmonton.

Once upon a time, I and many other longtime residents of established communities in the inner city had a problem which should have been taken care of by the City's planning and bylaw departments -- and due to my efforts it was for all of four months. I'd been on CBC radio twice, in the Calgary Herald and on Global TV on behalf of impacted victims around the city. Then unbeknownst to me, a flurry of activity behind the scenes at City Hall orchestrated by the development industry undid my handiwork. Think David and Goliath. David won but it was short lived.

Not one to take things lying down, I decided to do something unfathomable: back a political player at the top who was clean enough and had enough integrity to ignore the developers and maybe, just maybe, help me and the other victims out. Most aldermen on City Council were funded predominantly by developer and Big Business money at election time. I needed to find a qualified candidate running for mayor who was an outsider. I didn't care if he was green and blue and had three heads -- if he hadn't yet been corrupted, he'd be my pick if he was also likely to win.

From the moment I saw his pitch for a Better Calgary and his well-designed election brochures, I was hooked. The fellow was an outspoken critic of City Hall, a tenured professor and loved to hear himself talk. The tenure and a return job gave him the integrity needed to fend off bribes/election donations. The gift of the gab was a necessity for public relations, debating opponents and selling the city's image should he win. His name? Naheed Nenshi. The election year? 2010. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naheed_Nenshi

Here's what the 2010 campaign HQ on 16th Ave looked like inside and out:

Have you noticed what the campaign colour was yet? Purple, a mix of Liberal red and Conservative blue. I worked out of the adjoining double doors of the old garage.

To be honest, I'd never worked on an election campaign before and didn't know what I was getting myself into. I started out delivering lawn signs in Fritz and quickly graduated to installing the LARGE election signs around the entire city since I could carry 4'X4' signs inside and the 4'X8' and folding 8'X'8' signs up top on my racks.

Here's Fritzie at work:

In no time flat I was an insider on the campaign and just about killed myself installing and then patrolling and repairing the defaced/vandalized ones. I was known as The Sign Guy early on but eventually morphed into The Sign Meister I was so good at it. There's an art to installing political signage to outdo an opponent. There's also an art to protecting them. I was the black ops guy who took care of any signage that was illegally crowding ours or installed improperly. The City of Calgary enforced nothing and it was the Wild West especially for unknown newcomers who weren't part of the established Conservative order.

That was tame damage. Most of it included swear words or filthy messages with genitalia drawn across the signage.

I salvaged what I could from the big signs so they could be used at roadside waves and events. Here's his Purple Highness holding one of the bits that I cut out of a larger sign.

I knew from the start that Nenshi was going to win because even though the others had plenty of money backing them, they were basically out of their league and not fit for the job.

Voters agreed, especially those of us in the inner city:

Now some folks back then were led to believe that social media was the major factor in his win. Bullocks! It was Fritzie and me in action with the signs that did the trick. EVERYONE saw the large signs around the city even if they never looked at social media. This article said it all with the signage at the top of the page: http://mediashift.org/2010/12/how-calgarys-mayor-used-social-media-to-get-elected342/ . Yup, I set that shot up and my pal Peter -- now president of an inner city community association -- took the shot.

In the end, our competitors fizzled out and Nenshi came up from behind for the kill. Here's a piece I sent to the Provincial Archives along with a batch of other memorabilia of that historic win (you can see it in the office pic on the wall above):

By the end of the campaign, the so-called Purple Revolution had started and Nenshi was like a rock star. I was so sure of his win that I had that cartoon enlarged and foam-backed so he could hang it up at home. I gave it to him before the polls came in.

Here's a bit from a volunteer appreciation brochure that came out later:

That group photo before he was sworn in as Cowtown's 36th mayor:

Can you spot me? Tip: Just look for the ugliest guy in the crowd.

Nenshi was allowed all of 20 people to sit in Council Chambers for his swearing in. Six of those positions were taken up by family -- his big Sis (I would've preferred her as mayor she's such a sweetie), his brother-in-law, his two nieces, and his proud mom and dad. Was I included in the rest? You're darn tootin' I was! As "Stevie Wonder", his campaign manager, admitted that night: "You know your sign work got him in don't you?" All I could do in my choked up state was nod and say "Yeah, I do." Campaign signage -- laid out properly and professionally in highly visible locations -- gives an unknown candidate instant name and face recognition. He or she is sunk without it. The use/impact of social media was trivial in comparison based on voter numbers and demographics. It did sound innovative and sexy, though, which is why its use is still being trumpeted as the winning strategy. It wasn't.

Fritz, of course, did all the hard work jumping curbs, running up hillsides, crawling over concrete barriers etc. Never complained a bit. Me? I was so frazzled after going all out for the election cycle that I was slurring my speech by the end of it. I took a real beating and my wife and daughter swear I was never the same afterwards. Pounding in umpteen wooden stakes in hard ground and driving like a madman back and forth around a sprawling city from dawn til dusk does that to you.

And that's how a Westy won the political West (Part 1). Would I vote for Nenshi now? No, but I would vote for his big sister.

Political warfare is blood sport. And after that campaign everyone realized that I was good at it. By the end of the Nenshi 2010 battle, purple newbies in HQ were pointing at me and saying "Is that the guy?" in hushed tones. The crap I pulled off was legendary. I was rarely around HQ, though, since I'd load up and be gone in a jiffy.

Well, 2011 rolled in and Stevie Wonder was up to his old tricks. This time round his job was managing a relative unknown -- Alison Redford https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Redford -- to run for the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party. Whoever came out on top of that match would become the de facto Premier of Alberta since the current one was stepping down. Hmmmmm. If I helped on that campaign, I'd be a) ensuring that my old pal Stevie wasn't a one-hit wonder and b) making some more history by putting the first female Premier into office. How could I refuse? My wife and daughter, of course, were adamant that I wouldn't work myself into the ground again since I still hadn't recovered from the Nenshi campaign the year before. To be honest, I didn't care who the candidate was in this case because I just wanted some more thrills by drawing political blood and stomping our cocky opponents into the ground. I REALLY enjoyed doing that since in both campaigns we were laughed at by the other candidates until, by about the last week, they fully realized who was going to win -- and it wasn't going to be them. I felt Alison would come out Underdog Winner Number Two and so put the hard work in again.

The first thing I had to do was straighten Stevie out on the usage of signs on this campaign. Apparently, no one had ever used signs to advertise a candidate in a leadership race before. Instead, you went out, twisted arms and ears and had people buy memberships to the Party. Only verified members could vote for a candidate in a leadership contest. In this case even though the winner would instantly become the province's new Premier, the general public couldn't vote. Strange but true. So I had a go at Stevie over several days -- front on, backwards and upside down -- and he finally relented. We would do the unthinkable and break new ground by installing signage around the entire city again. This time I wasn't putting in nearly as many. Most were installed on suitable major traffic corridors just to get her name and face out in the open. I believe a group of supporters were doing the same in Edmonton following my lead. The competition? We took them completely by surprise and they were hustling to catch up. It made Alison look even better. We did initially have some trouble from the head of City Bylaw Enforcement. He claimed that we couldn't use signage because it wasn't a general election but I countered with some fine print showing an exemption for sitting members of the legislature and away we went.

This time around I was an experienced player and knew how to deal with all comers. My motto? Go Big or Go Home! Fritz was in his element again:

The banner flags were a new touch that I added to provincial politics, an idea I stole from the Co-op grocery's use of them. They were a big hit and major league intimidators at entry ways to debates and Party events.

This campaign, I was taking no prisoners and went up to the Edmonton leadership debate hours early and had the hotel convention staff -- to my amazement -- help me reorganize the entire venue in our favour. Then I plastered the place with Redford signage -- including a couple of formidable 8'X8' folding signs of my design (that no one else used) -- and positioned them in the best locations. When the competition finally showed up, I had the place sewed up and they were royally peeved. And that's how the legend of The Sign Meister grew -- with the German-flagged van as my side kick. The head honchos of the Conservative Party -- who didn't like Alison or our team -- knew who I was after that event and tried to block me from weaseling in early on future debates and grabbing the limelight. That slowed me down but didn't stop me.

Did we win? Of course -- and I was given a front row invitation again only this time it was at the provincial legislature in Edmonton. Crikey, I even got a free meal out of the deal.

And that's how a Westy won the political West (Part 2).

Alison? Although she looked good on paper, she was a major disappointment in office and ended up getting ousted in disgrace. I wasn't happy with either of them in the end and never did another campaign. To help others with sign work, I wrote a booklet/summary of my experiences called "Election Signs 101: Pearls of Wisdom from the Sign Meister" that now sits in the Provincial Archives and in certain political offices.

In 2017 I did come out of political retirement for the last mayoral candidate's debate to show opponent Bill Smith how it was done since he'd laughed at the Redford team in the 2011 leadership run-off in his role as Party president. Smith took a run at Nenshi for the mayor's office with his moneyed Conservative backers in 2017 and lost. Same crowd we beat in 2010.

When Bill Smith pulled up in a black Caddie Escalade -- the kind you see in movies with CIA agents in them -- with two more behind carrying his entourage, that signage was greeting them. The whole approach was also covered. I popped Fritzie's top and stuck one of the larger signs up there, too. When he and his deep-pocketed pals walked by I just gave them a self-satisfied smirk and nod in exchange for their glares. Smith? He never amounted to much: https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/law-soci...r-a-lawyer . BTW when Nenshi pulled up that night he was driven in by a handicapped friend (who I recognized from the 2010 campaign) in an inexpensive compact car. Trademark Nenshi. The mayor wasn't surprised to see me there because he could tell by the number of signs around -- "Go Big or Go Home" -- that it was my intimidating handiwork. Trademark Sign Meister. After a quick handshake, a bit of reminiscing and thanks, he wandered off. His big sweet Sis? I got a nice warm hug from her later, too. I took them both by surprise that night.

The 2017 artsy lawn sign collector edition.

If you dislike/disagree with the policies of a current mayor, Premier, Governor, city councillor, President or Prime Minister don't bitch and complain. Roll out your Westy and get to work backing someone you do like. If you can't find a suitable candidate, run yourself.

Roll up your sleeves and try to make the world a better place for all.

Okay, enough sermonizing, back to my walk as unofficial Travelling (On Foot) Ambassador for GoWesty...
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

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Back to the six-mile return walk, er, walks. I seem to be mimicking a ping pong ball that gets hit back and forth between players these days. GoWesty keeps sloooowly releasing the next item on its "launch list" for the warranty claim work which keeps me driving the van to Tony's Auto most days and then walking home three miles and returning on foot after the day's launch list work is complete. Did I mention that I only have one vehicle and can't take a taxi ride or friend's lift due to COVID-19 and cancer immunity deficiency? I reckon GoWesty might be taking the SLO thing a wee bit too seriously: https://www.gowesty.com/product/made-in-usa/24271/-moving-at-the-speed-of-slo-sticker . Moving at the speed of SLO? Definitely. Based on that sticker description they're proud of it too. My problem is this: my cancer doesn't move at the speed of SLO. Nor do the regular blood tests and treatment that I need. I just turned down a proposed radiation treatment of 20 consecutive days next month because at the rate this repair is going, I may not have a safe-environment vehicle to get me there over that length of time. A monthly blood test and tri-monthly drug injection are coming up soon. SLO? Not so good if you or a family member have cancer or other malady and need a reliable vehicle.

Even worse, every time I get to Tony's I spend oodles of additional time admiring all the fine vehicles hanging around there. Take this morning for example: there I was watching a Herbie look-alike https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Love_Bug#/media/File:Herbie_film_car_from_The_Love_Bug.jpg get pushed into the shop bays. C'mon, how can a guy NOT stop and watch that scene in action?

Then there's the gossiping three Vdubs in the corner of the lot:

"Golden boy" -- a '72 -- on the right was asking the other two about suggestions for a mojo collection. The sixties truck dub had a hula girl shaking up front and "Charlie" to the left had what looked to be a Jamaican head scarf. All of them, however, had their eyes on the magical mojo collection of a Westy nearby:

VW symbol, dream catcher, beady blue jewel, annual Parks Canada permit etc. But that was only the start:

Little Groot was playing dead -- as he's wont to do -- at the front of the windshield and still giving off enough solar energy (see beam over his head) to charge the light in front of him. But there was more:

The first question that went through my mind was "How Much Is That Doggie In the Window?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AkLE4X-bbU . The second question was: where the heck did someone get a Pilkington windshield in these parts? That trio of Vdub gossipers was really getting steamed up by this time. The final blow was the CampervanCulture.com decal on the passenger side window! Nope, they couldn't hold a candle to that!

Who were they gossiping about? Why none other than Lucky87 which had a lot of work done in the UK recently including that rarely seen Pilkington glass:

Dang, I must have missed Doc Brandt, the renowned Vanagon psychologist and traveller, by a few minutes. He obviously had the skills to psyche those other VWs right out of their wheel wells.

I tend to keep my front clear of mojo so I don't get distracted. My load starts right behind me and continues on to the back. But I did add something within view recently. Not mojo but a soother for a feeble mind:

That little graphic reminder comes courtesy of Eric at Vanagon.org https://www.vanagon.org/products/climate-control-label . He also distributes the front windshield washer tray for Tim who sells them direct via the Samba Classifieds, eBay and also by Campervan Culture in the UK. https://www.vanagon.org/products/front-washer-bottle-repair-cradle + https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vanagon-Washer-Bottle-Rep...Sw8Updho3D + https://campervanculture.com/shop/vw-t25-t3-vanagon-front-windscreen-washer-bottle-repair-cradle/. Those cradles/trays are all proudly made in Ferndale, Michigan!

Leaving the boys to deal with the SLO pace of life, I walked on.

Let's pick up the return journey just past the Reconciliation Bridge that was pictured upthread along River Walk. A stone's throw away in either direction are art "wraps" that periodically change to enliven the scene:

https://i.imgur.com/Zs1Bexe.jpg

Here's the other side of that wrap in case you were curious:

https://i.imgur.com/leTNQ7j.jpg

It's a nice way to break up the concrete jungle. As are the plantings along the Walk. In this case a burst of an August bloomer, garden variety Blazing Star:

https://i.imgur.com/H1wrfoa.jpg

Then a shortcut across the Centre Street Bridge underpass that's been closed to vehicle traffic during the pandemic so folks can get spaced out in a socially respectable manner. This is looking back to the overpass and Reconciliation Bridge:

https://i.imgur.com/uUzaY7Q.jpg

Some sneaky artsy person has even installed a little photo of a chipmunk onto the underpass and slapped enough glue on it to make it permanent:

https://i.imgur.com/uX0s44U.jpg

Art can be found in the weirdest of places:

https://i.imgur.com/Gg2jz9O.jpg

Even the City of Calgary gets into the act by wrapping garbage receptacles in artwork (to reduce graffiti hits):

https://i.imgur.com/cEnQzAq.jpg

The other morning I spied a mule deer doe sauntering along in the shade not far from that garbage bin.

But the best is yet to come in an adjoining neighbourhood. This outdoor artwork was added only a few days ago and I complimented artist Sarah Johnston on her colourful "Bees Please" while she was finishing it off (it wraps around the back end, too):

https://i.imgur.com/TccK7Wb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/61ZIIlG.jpg

Let's walk on. Next stop is at my friend George's place where he advertises "Gluten Free Haircuts" and has this gracing a wall of his establishment:

https://i.imgur.com/rkKbXyC.jpg

One of my favourites!

Now we're groovin'! Call me a Patron of the Outdoor Arts but I just eat this stuff up:

https://i.imgur.com/L7B2maM.jpg

The Gargoyles, about 20 feet up on a stumped tree, are featured on the roadside boulevard in front of houses and are a treat year-round. They're all prepared for the worst COVID-19 can sling at them:

https://i.imgur.com/6LQpcEn.jpg

Someone went to the trouble of making a custom ladybug mask for him:

https://i.imgur.com/QqSSGI4.jpg

How cool is that? Across the street in a somewhat less public location is this garage door piece entitled Mystic Bubo or Great Horned Owl:

https://i.imgur.com/yUk9eRX.jpg

Coincidentally. those owls frequent the adjacent bluff especially in winter.

Time for a Westy moment as promised:

Those folks are friends with a flair for art including the Bike House as it's called as well as the disco ball on the antenna. They also (wisely?) favoured a Subie conversion over a GoWesty engine:

Their garage alley art is absolutely stunning:

https://i.imgur.com/ZDNbAY8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/M13BQBP.jpg

Did you spot the bongo drums? Or the advice for life?

https://i.imgur.com/RTsoynG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/vwnCmgc.jpg

Next door is a near bike relation:

https://i.imgur.com/c9681do.jpg

A stone's throw away is another beauty:

https://i.imgur.com/AxdC1yM.jpg

Believe it or not, all this artwork is related to this bold signage:

https://i.imgur.com/BoCwgbu.jpg

More on that in a bit...
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[shadetreemech]

Mr. Vanner,

Thanks for the info & the diversion. May you have strength and good fortune on your walk. You demonstrate something it took me a while to learn:" It's not what occurs but how you react that makes the difference".

Happy Trails,

Dan
_________________
'84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY"

[gbrandt]

[VdubVanner]

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Have you got your shoelaces tied up tight? Then let's continue the shoe leather "road trip" of Cowtown's inner city artwork with the unofficial Travelling (On Foot) Ambassador for GoWesty leading the way. Keep in mind that these are all a 10 minute walk from my house. I did mention wildlife so let me begin there with the Panda done by Nasarimba ( https://nasarimba.wordpress.com/author/nasarimba/ + http://www.budsofbuds.com/nasarimba--saje-damen.html ) :

https://imgur.com/gLoWeYa.jpg

If you shuffle back to the wall mural next to the curvy Studio Bell upthread, you'll find their name plastered up there, too. What you couldn't see, though, was the same tag on the magnificent garage door art behind the Bike House (it's hidden by the blue rain barrel). Those two artists get around! Now to clear something up: The Giant Panda really is a bear and not a member of the racoon family. In light of that, I'm going to jump to another ursine example in another nearby alley, the Polar Bear:

https://i.imgur.com/U1iDGK7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DaYoHDL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/N4OMNI9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PO9m9er.jpg

The charming cat with the crown is the owners' pussy. Meowwww!

That is one heckuva painting, garage door or not! Absolutely cooool! Might even freeze you in your tracks. Okay, enough of the puns. On we go:

https://i.imgur.com/sk2aMyf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Etil6aN.jpg

Let's change it up for a second with container art in a nearby city park:

https://i.imgur.com/dFgR43D.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zM73t7w.jpg

Half naked ladies are not just seen on the Helen Lake trail folks!

https://i.imgur.com/0Nia5wa.jpg

What are all the eyes/i's about? Community safety. If you recall I stated that the United Alarm sign was associated with the alley artwork. The idea of all this art is to draw people into the scuzzy bits of the neighbourhood to reduce crime and the number of nefarious characters roaming about including druggies. A few days ago, I ran into a guy I knew in this neighbourhood and he'd never even seen any of this artwork. Crikey! Something had to be done. So off we went. And by the end of a short tour and close to his house -- in the alley -- was the most wretched looking human being I'd ever seen and he was in the midst of shooting up drugs a mere 50 feet from us. This was in mid-day. The more feet and eyes in those alleys, the safer the place becomes. It kind of follows the "Broken Window Theory" in practice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory . Spruce the place up and you drive the vermin out by attracting nice people in.

Are those laces still tied? (Much more reliable than TAPPing lifters aren't they?) Then let's move on:

https://i.imgur.com/DNYwZmS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AkELydl.jpg

Those dogs don't bark or bite and they don't drive druggies away. Nor does this cat:

https://i.imgur.com/oLxyeqv.jpg

But people like me admiring them might.

School kids had a hand in this artwork. The Bow River nearby is a world class brown trout stream and I watch dozens of those huge fish spawning each year a five minute walk from that colourful display:

https://i.imgur.com/9ZrZjx2.jpg

Looking for more Nasarimba? Unmarked but based on one of the links to them I provided, it's definitely their handiwork. There's at least one more like it in this neighbourhood:

https://i.imgur.com/4EsA5jL.jpg

More garage doors:

https://i.imgur.com/XKt60r1.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/eur9EYi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/R3nHutN.jpg

And a gratuitous VW Westy to keep everyone here happy:

I never see it move from that spot. I'm thoroughly tempted to add a cheap shot here about engine choice but I won't. I'm referring, of course, to using a Subie conversion. wink, wink

This fence is dynamite and brings an instant smile to your face:

https://i.imgur.com/ysNn7sj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/gVoq9cO.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/K4BovQi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7l8aFnM.jpg

I accosted the friendly owner of the home outside and asked her about the history of the fence -- after raving about how much I liked it . "It was designed by my 15 year old grandson. His father is a graphic designer. [Coincidence?] The family all flew in and we had a hand at group painting it. We just finished the entry gateway recently." I couldn't help but blather on and on and on about how much I liked it. For some reason, she turned tail and ran into the house. Okay, maybe it was just a quickly paced exit and I was imagining things. No biggie, there was more to come a block away:

https://i.imgur.com/dk04wVf.jpg

No bark, no bite -- but chalk to leave a message or your own artwork. Across the street was the same:

https://i.imgur.com/cZALH4o.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Ffq8RU1.jpg

Magpie Cove was next door -- and it was a relief not to hear the real McCoy squawking for a change:

https://i.imgur.com/ar5o96w.jpg

Let's call this display Boots On the Garage Roof:

https://i.imgur.com/1udyqA1.jpg

I kept waiting for that squirrel to get out of the frame but it must have been a real ham and wouldn't move. Finally, it got the, um, boot(s) and moved along. I'm assuming that footwear is filled with foam or something else to keep the rain and snow out.

https://i.imgur.com/gbwpdzo.jpg
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[VdubVanner]

It's aboot time to wrap this episode up as unofficial Travelling (On Foot) Ambassador for GoWesty, so let's finish my walk home with a stroll up the bluff and a look at our last artwork for the typical warranty ping pong day. Actually it might be the appropriate finish to the shoe leather "road trip". Since it's unnamed, let me bestow it with the title "Faceoff":

https://i.imgur.com/pGCjSZI.jpg

I only had time to hit the highlights on that walk home but if you're interested in seeing more, it's all mapped out here for your viewing pleasure:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1CTZJuXJN...3&z=16

One last pitstop before turning homeward once the top of the bluff is gained -- the last vestige of native prairie in inner city Cowtown. Here's what I see not more than a couple blocks from my humble abode:

https://i.imgur.com/jhperPQ.jpg

The hundreds of purple wildflowers are Dotted Blazing Star https://i.imgur.com/obCaH14.jpg and the yellow ones are Rhombic-leaved Sunflowers (in reference to the even sides and oblique diamond shape of the leaves) https://i.imgur.com/RJNdO2I.jpg . Others nearby include Blanket flower https://i.imgur.com/DFiWU8W.jpg , Tufted Fleabane https://i.imgur.com/mhUZ3c2.jpg and Purple Prairie Clover (a real life "Bees Pleasure" if you look closely) https://i.imgur.com/gU57bUe.jpg .

Looking west toward the Rockies, I realized that maybe all this walking and appreciating what you have on your own front doorstep isn't all that bad after all. There's a wealth of neat things to see right in the inner city.

https://i.imgur.com/DtYpHw7.jpg

A BIG thanks to GoWesty for allowing me to be your unofficial Travelling (On Foot) Ambassador!

Turning towards home and the last blocks to tread, a phrase kept running through my grateful head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjQtzV9IZ0Q

Author/poet Walt Whitman, who suffered a severe disabling stroke when he was 53, perhaps got it right:

"The trick is, I find, to tone your wants and tastes low down enough, and make much of negatives, and of mere daylight and the skies.

[...]

After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, love, and so on — have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear — what remains? Nature remains; to bring out from their torpid recesses, the affinities of a man or woman with the open air, the trees, fields, the changes of seasons — the sun by day and the stars of heaven by night."

That'll do, pig. That'll do.
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[VdubVanner]

Okay, back on track with ol' Walt Whitman: "To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle."

But yesterday morning at a certain hour when the mail delivery truck arrived was a miracle of miracles. My new Van Cafe fuel rails from Barry of Werke-1 out in B.C. were here http://www.werke1.com/vanagon-parts-store.html . These weren't the ones with glued in, threaded plugs. No siree, sir -- these puppies were the long awaited fail-safe ones with welded ends:

As VC put it with a great deal of understatement: "Now with welded ends." https://www.vancafe.com/025133317BILLET-p/025133317billet.htm . This was like discovering the fountain of youth and stating somewhat offhandedly: "Now with running water." Crikey, finally someone -- to be specific, "The Machinist" as he's known on The Samba -- had split the atom and come up with a leak-proof fuel rail.

I wanted to barrel down to Tony's Auto Service ASAP and show them my new rails in case they hadn't seen them up close yet but I had another errand to run first: getting a new key cut for Fritz. His OEM one was now 31 years old and getting a little ragged around the front edges. I'd had a new blank from GoWesty that had been sitting around for a long time that needed to be cut as its successor https://www.gowesty.com/product/ignition-lock-cylinder-housing/3243/key-blank-door-ignition-?v= . Easy right? Well, the OEM keys are steel as are the more expensive stand-ins and not everyone is willing to cut them. The first local shop that I walked into and mentioned the word "steel" in the same sentence as key, looked at me like I was carrying the bubonic plague, leprosy and an advanced case of COVID-19 all wrapped into one. "We don't do steel. They wreck our machine." Say what? Isn't a key, a key? Nope. ALL the shops prefer working with soft stuff like brass. So before buying one of the fancy hard steel blanks -- especially in a small town -- ensure you have a shop that'll cut it for you. I immediately put this question forward: "Do you know anyone who WILL cut a steel key?". He wouldn't bite so I left no wiser than when I entered.

After trying to find a steel-cutter over the phone, I finally got a lead: there was one shop but it charged $25 a key. Hey, what's a guy to do? No one else was willing and able so I gave Head's Lock & Key Works Ltd a call: "Do you cut steel keys?" "What's it for?" "An old VW van", I meekly replied. "Yeah, we can do that" "How much?" said I. "$5.50 a key." I think they call that bait and switch and knew the price would really be around $25. Regardless, I popped over and walked in wearing my new Tony's Auto Service COVID-19 mask (more on that in a bit) and slapped the relatively unworn spare I had down on the counter and he had a look at it. "That'll be $25. Those things are real hard on my machines." I was expecting as much. But when the bill came out and he looked out the window of his shop at Fritz and my Tony's mask, he softened a bit and knocked it down to $20. Turns out he was an old VW guy himself and liked the fine fellas at Tony's.

With the new key and fuel rails in hand I was ready to drop into Tony's for a show-and-tell. After pestering these hardworking guys about my warranty claim over and over and over again -- I can be persistent, sometimes better known as a royal PITA -- I'd decided to provide all of them with a custom COVID-19 mask that I'd designed and had made based on their business card. It was the least I could do. I'd only had ten made up as a limited edition: seven for the guys in the shop, two for "Old Bert" and his wife and one for me. Call us the Dirty Dozen Minus Two.

I was wearing mine as the teaser.

Keep in mind that this was a Friday afternoon. The lads -- according to their recorded shop message that I listened to later -- were supposedly shut down doing inventory and such this week. But my appointment for the warranty work was on Monday and I wanted to soften them up a little first with the promise of some custom masks. At this point in time, it seemed that GoWesty wasn't convinced that it was a lifter issue and was leaning towards piston slapping https://www.gowesty.com/tech-article-details.php?id=82 . The relevant tidbit: Fun (sad) fact: The first batch of cast pistons we received and used in our own engines had a higher than normal failure rate, and we ended up having to replace about 10% of them under warranty. Ironically, it had nothing to do with the switch from forged to cast, but rather was a problem with the coating that was used on the sides!

The only way to determine what the cause of the TAPPing was -- or SLAPPing depending on viewpoint -- was to do a "colonoscopy" on Fritz using a bore scope. Any observable damage in a cylinder's wall would spell BIG trouble aka a new engine or major repair. It gave me the shivers just thinking about it. Fritz needed a little confidence building so I took him down to the Westy support group in Tony's parking lot/emergency waiting room. I was trying to break it to him gently. Now let me point something out here: that particular GoWesty engine is the FIRST ONE out of likely dozens and dozens that Tony's have installed in Westies to have a problem of this magnitude. So I can't razz GoWesty -- it's just plain bad luck. Lucas Sr at GoWesty even gave Tony's a call and apologized for the trouble. He knows I'm in a tight spot. My poke at them about the speed of SLO might be amended to include SLO and methodical -- as in taking their time to arrive at a probable cause instead of quickly jumping to conclusions. I think Mark Twain put it best: "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. "

It very well could be piston slap and maybe we'd just like to think it was an easy fix of a lifter. The bore scope on Monday should provide the answer. Anyhoo, in I walked wearing the Tony's mask that I had made up for everyone. Unfortunately it was supposed to be "Calgary Flames" hockey team red but ended up a little on the orangey side. Tony's actually sits in Victoria Park not far from the Saddledome where the Flames play so I thought bright red would be appropriate (Photo credit: Jesse Schinkel):

It was definitely not the red in the Tony's logo seen on the side of Jesse's van Charlie:

Regardless, it was a one-of-a-kind and they seemed to like it. In Cowtown, there is now a city bylaw in place requiring folks entering public buildings, City of Calgary transit or private businesses to mask up. I'd use a mask anyway due to my immune deficiency. The vans parked either side of me both had stories as they usually do. The '72 Golden Boy on the right had a rather rare dual carb particular to that year and the owner was bound, bent and determined to keep it OEM -- which was admirable but difficult due to the scarcity of parts. The hot wheels Volkswagen decal on the rear hatch window marked it as a byproduct of Dion and crew's body/paint work at Power Chief Auto Body here in town. On the left was a shop regular that was seen hereabouts more often than troublesome Fritizie. But its thing was numerous upgrades not repairs. That Westy was lucky to have an owner who bestowed a lot of TLC and $$$ on his ride. It was a real beauty! BTW Mechanic Jesse spoiled my fun with the rails by saying that he'd already got 5 pairs in and loved them. That was the new SOC (cancer speak for Standard of Care) in the shop. The steel key cutting source? Heck, he knew all about Head's Lock & Key. Double dang it! I should have known he'd be on top of it all.

On my way out of the shop I noticed some activity in the back corner and heard Matt stating that they'd be working late. On a Friday evening? Hmmmm...that was rather unusual. Maybe I should drop by after dinner and stop the teasing. I'd bring the masks over and drop them off as a late night gift. As I left I noted a couple of artsy displays:

Motoring gingerly down the fancy 4th street underpass around the corner from Tony's to get home, I once again admired the handiwork by artist Michelle Hoogveld entitled "Corridor of Connection". Every trip to Tony's -- whether by foot or van -- I see her uplifting, award-winning artwork on both sides of that roadway and appreciate the colour and spirit in it. A person with cancer or any ailment or just having a bad day needs that kind of lift: https://www.michellehoogveld.com/about + https://www.michellehoogveld.com/murals .

Even the worn edges around my side mirror couldn't dampen the moment. No rust. No worries. That mirror and the other passenger side one still had plenty of mileage left in them. On I drove with the plan in mind now to pull a sneak return later with the masks in hand.

Something I forgot to mention: about a week previous to this I'd taken my wife through Studio Bell on a limited numbers, masks-on event before their reopening in September https://www.studiobell.ca/the-building + https://www.studiobell.ca/ . The East Village Skywalk in Studio Bell acts as an aerial bridge over 4th Street just north of Hoogveld's work: https://i.imgur.com/VFTTJ2K.jpg . I was curious as to whether or not I could see Tony's Auto Service off in the distance from the Skywalk and sure enough I could -- in a soaring bird's eye view that showed nothing but a deceptive plain Jane frontage:

While I was at Tony's that afternoon an 84 year-old neighbour of mine -- Franz, as German as the name sounds -- rolled up on his bicycle with a younger friend in his seventies and I gave him a hearty hello. He had no idea who I was with my mask on. It wasn't until he saw my German-flagged van that he put two and two together. He admitted that he never knew a VW shop was hidden away in this part of town although he'd lived in Calgary for decades. To most folks, Tony's Auto Service is a dull sleeper and relatively unknown.

Well, in I rolled last night about 7pm and the lads were still at it. I doled out the distinctive masks and actually convinced Jesse to model one for me :

But something was tugging at my attention. In the far corner, a slim young woman was using rattle cans to spray a colourful pattern where Old Bert's license plate collection used to be. Two huge fans were circulating air into that space to better ventilate it.

Here's a BEFORE look that I took only a few weeks back:

And last night's activity:

"Jess, what's going on in the corner and where'd your Dad's license plate collection go to?"

With a sly smile he floored me: "That's Michelle Hoogveld and she's doing the corner up for us. You know, the artist who did the 4th Street underpass around the corner." I couldn't believe it! A world-class artist rattle can spraying in Tony's Auto/Artist Service -- and I absolutely loved her work.

"What the .... are you kidding me?" He wasn't. "How did you get her in here to do the artwork?" Jesse shrugged his shoulders, held up his arms and gave me a big, big grin. "Well, I talked to someone who talked to someone else and they talked to somebody in the art world and word got to her and here she is. Would you like to meet her?"

Crikey, would I ever!

"Hey Michelle. This is a customer of ours with a VW van." Sorry, but I had to immediately correct him: "Make that a customer with a really nice VW van." We all laughed and I quickly spilled my guts out about how much I loved her work. Since she was surrounded by concrete walls she couldn't run off on me -- which I was half expecting. Nope, instead she was as nice as could be and quickly countered with: "Have you seen my latest mural at 14th Street and 16th Ave SW by Walls Alive?" I hadn't. "Hold on, I'll show you a photo on my phone." Scrolling through the many images of her work she came up with a deceptive scene that really only emerged once you stepped back from it:

https://i.imgur.com/71wu0g9.jpg + https://i.imgur.com/GHOhHPk.jpg . (I raced over and took those photos of her mural "Love, Said The People" today.) For a better look without the cars in the way, try this: https://yycbump.ca/2020artists/2020-michelle-hoogveld/ . Michelle's mural location is found on the map on this page, bottom left-hand corner blip (Tony's sits at the far end of 11th Ave SE so she's got end-to-end coverage of the Beltline-Victoria Park District now): https://yycbump.ca/ .

Pushing my luck a little more, I asked her if she'd mind me taking a few photos while she worked. Answer? No problem!

I can hardly wait to see the result. And how many Cowtowners will even know that her work "hangs" in the grease monkey gallery in the bowels of Tony's Auto/Artist Service? As I left -- still pinching myself in case I was dreaming -- a pizza delivery guy pulled up with a pile of steamy boxes. Starving artists? Not at Tony's!

Wonky engine? Cancer? Completely forgotten about in those precious moments. What an evening. Turns out Whitman was right: Every hour is an unspeakably perfect miracle.
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[VdubVanner]

Woke up this morning and there was no sun to be seen rising. It was a very nippy 3 degrees C outside and gray and overcast. A drizzle of sleet was observed not much later. To the undrivable west -- within eyesight -- the Rocky Mountains were catching some snow. What was I saying about Endless Winter here in Cowtown?

About this time last year (page 8 of this thread), SyncroChrick put this reasonable question forward:

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BOOK TWO: GOWESTY WARRANTY CLAIM
aka 1989 Westy Makeover of Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus (a whole lotta time and trouble)

CHAPTER 2: "LET"S MAKE A DEAL!"

Okay, cue thread theme song again (dang, I like listening to that tune): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z53wyiIPgDk .

The illustrated results of the colonoscopy almost had me squealing like a stuck pig -- specifically "shorepig" a somewhat disgruntled Samba member from Vancouver, B.C. That poor fella had nothing but trouble with his GoWesty 2.3L engine and warranty work: https://www.thesamba.com/vw//forum/viewtopic.php?t=673328&view=next .

Here's shorepig's tale of woe in a nutshell:

The saga to date: - first 2.3 gw motor w/all related expenses $9000
(got about 1000 miles out of this one)
- second 2.3 gw motor / related expenses $2200
( got about 6000 miles out of this motor)
- second 2.3 gw motor / new piston set $1700
(hopefully this one will last, not counting on it)
So I certainly wouldn't call that a deal, would you? After a year and a half of breakdowns, stress, and a total cost of $12,900 we will come out of it with what has proven to be an unreliable motor than MIGHT last....for a while...or maybe a long time. At this point all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.
I'm trying to stay optimistic..believe it or not.

That sorry thread petered out with nary a word about the ultimate outcome of his trials and tribulations with the GoWesty 2.3L engine. But I picked up the trail in September 2017 with these words: "From the day we left gowesty we had lots of issues and went through two sets of pistons until they finally redesigned them. Since installing the new pistons the engine has been reliable..." Sniffing along that same cold trail I found an entry in August 2018 with his engine chugging along with "about 200,000" kilometres on it. Not too bad. I guess he was third time lucky.

Question: Will it take me three time-consuming goes at the repair target as well? I sure hope not. But I will point this out: Shorepig and I seem to share a lot of characteristics with the infamous Joe Btfsplk who had a perpetual raincloud over his head. Joe was the world's worst jinx and bad luck followed him everywhere he went: https://ameripics.wordpress.com/2013/09/04/btfsplk/ .

As some of you might have noticed by now I've had what her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth might term an Annus Horribilis. That especially applies to health and GoWesty products. Coolant distribution tower? Wonky. (Money refunded but I paid labour to put a trustworthy V.C. stainless steel replacement in). TICKing muffler? Wonky. (Warranty coverage but I paid labour to install my own muffler choice). Retrofit fridge fan? Wonky. Barry at Werke-1 http://werke1.com/ who sold me the fan overcompensated me with a set of V.C. fuel rails because he knew that I'd spent hundreds to have an RV appliance repair specialist sort the problem out. I forgot to mention the speeding ticket I got en route to pick the repaired fridge up:

My bad. That added another $146 to the bill. At the time, the 2.3L engine was running like a first-class top and the ticket was almost gratifying. Imagine, a Westy getting a speeding ticket!

The last wonky GoWesty item on the agenda is, of course, THE ENGINE i.e. SLAPPing pistons. Setting aside my bad luck and that of shorepig, I should mention the obvious: GoWesty engines are reliable on the whole. But no one is perfect. Even GoWesty has the courage to admit that in this technical article in their online library: https://www.gowesty.com/tech-article-details.php?id=137 . Apparently shorepig and I are some of the extremely unlucky "two percenters". As GoWesty admits: "The [engine] failures we have experienced have been very predictable: almost every single engine failure has been related to either the piston/cylinder area or the crankshaft." [Update: that article was re-written almost immediately after this post appeared so GoWesty has whittled that two percent down to 0.5% of its rebuilds now. That's reducing error to near perfection i.e. out of 3000 engines only 15 would come up as real stinkers that need serious repairs or replacements. I'm almost beginning to feel like I'm exceptionally special now.]

I'm not sure about their claim that the "piston/cylinder failures are almost always due to overheating", though. Shorepig claimed innocence on that front and I follow suit. I went so far as placing the engine break-in guidelines on the front passenger seat next to me and checked them before each trip I took. I also watched the coolant temperature like a hawk (which might be a good excuse as to why I got that speeding ticket). Keep in mind that I replaced EVERY coolant-related item on that van during the makeover to make sure that overheating wouldn't occur and a warranty claim would hold up.

Regardless of how the piston(s) went wonky -- likely the coating on them -- we are now at the "Let's Make A Deal" stage of the warranty game. Does anyone remember Monty Hall? If not, I'll refresh your memories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5QYTrDReTo . Gosh, a brand new car for under $3,000! Does anyone recall the flashy GM Opel?

So I have now before me the GoWesty warranty offerings of Door #1, Door#2 and Door#3. Let's make a deal!

Door #2: We'll start with that one like Monty did since no one wanted it. In my case, I didn't either. GoWesty offered to cover 100% of the engine repair and labour if sent back to them but wouldn't cover the shipping to and from the shop. Setting aside the significant cost for shipping, that scenario would leave Fritz sitting outside in the parking lot at Tony's Auto for several weeks at least and neither I nor Tony's was game for that. They needed the space for other incoming ailing patients and I didn't like the idea of Fritz being subjected to our notorious weather events like pounding hail (more on that subject to come).

Door #3: GoWesty went out of their way and offered up an above-and-beyond-warranty option involving another engine. But labour and shipping costs weren't fully covered and looking at shorepig's example that was no guarantee of success either. I could still end up with more piston trouble. Still it looked almost as good as getting that GM Opel. Nope. That might be in the future but right now I went with Door #1.

Door #1: Okay, the real winners in Monty Hall's world were the folks who chose the first door. I'm not sure if I'll be as fortunate but I placed my money on that number as well: replacement of the piston and liner set. I assume that means all of them. That leaves the van in for a shorter duration of intense surgery and -- fingers crossed -- a successful outcome. The only rub is this: it might take another 3,000 miles of break-in (or more or less) to show any piston problems again. I'm taking those mileage examples from shorepig's oinking and snorting over his piston replacements.

Door #1 it is!

Occasionally I come across malcontents who ditched their GoWesty 2.3L engines for Subie conversions. Like this fed-up fellow for instance: https://www.reddit.com/r/Westfalia/comments/gow1z8/afternoon_sticker_project/ . What? Give up on the waterboxer over a wonky AFM? Is that all it took?! That fella obviously has no stomach or spine. And he also claims -- erroneously I might add -- that you can't use GoWesty's well-engineered EFI system on the 2.3L engine. Ridiculous! Gregor and Janice of Live.Travel.Play fame zipped around the world with that match up. Nope, it'll take a little more than that to make me convert. Not that people don't keep trying to flip me to the dark side with missionary like zeal. The other day a nearby neighbour sent me the following pic after hearing about my GoWesty problems:

Honing in on the detail gets you to this subtle Subie preaching:

Sorry, I won't bite.

But the trouble with warranty work is that it drags on forever and ever and ever. Most of that is due to the lead up and then follow through at the local shop. Tony's Auto is a busy place and they don't drop everything they've scheduled for a month or more to put me at the front of the line. Time marches on and is measured in months not "unspeakably perfect miracles" of hours. If the same problem occurs again -- like shorepig's example -- your time frame is measured in years.

I know walking is good for me but I've already worn out one set of shoes and am working on the next pair. It could be much worse though. I could have something really worrisome or wicked like an incurable disease. Oh, wait a second, I already have that one covered. Let's make it a real doozy like a fatal heart attack instead or being burned alive in the raging fires in California or Oregon. Now those are BIG scary events that no one wants to deal with. All I have to worry about now is wearing out my shoes and dealing with some Stage 4 cancer. Piece of cake in comparison.

In between hauling groceries for miles by backpack and hand I get my kicks by reading umpteen books and articles about cancer, doing overdue household chores and checking out what Gregor and Janice are up to in their Westy stand-in, a converted-to-camping Dodge Grand Caravan named "The Duke of Dodge" (my Dad would've liked that Chrysler product being used in that fashion): https://www.facebook.com/Live.Travel.Play/photos/p...mp;theater . The Doc appears to be branching out into Chrysler psychotherapy due to a transmission rebuild. Good luck with that!

Me? Remember that sexless Mr. Smith upthread? I'd kind of like to end up like him in this scene (substitute driving my van for sex): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIPz8j3o7IU . Ten out of ten is my dream, too!

The question is: how long will it take? I'm good for at least three rounds of Let's Make A Deal. But I'm not so sure I'd follow the biblical 70 times 7. I do have my limits especially with the Grim Reaper tapping/slapping on his wristwatch.

Without a reliable engine, all the rest of the updated, fancy, expensive accompanying doo-dads and bodywork -- which added up into the tens of thousands of $$ -- mean diddly squat. The engine is the heart and soul of the whole operation. It's everything!

My next kick at the can is more than two weeks out. Then, assuming the piston surgery is a success, the next break-in period starts anew before the winter snows sweep in. In the meantime I remain the unofficial Traveling (On Foot) Ambassador for GoWesty. And a devoted and thankful watcher of each and every sunrise.

Stay tuned for more on the warranty front.
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[VdubVanner]

I think it might be worth pointing out the warranty coverage on GoWesty rebuilt engines: Standard, Easy Rider and Road Warrior.

https://www.gowesty.com/tech-article-details.php?id=137 [Re-titled and re-written a week or two after the above post appeared]
THE ORIGINAL VERSION: https://web.archive.org/web/20180923181427/http://www.gowesty.com/tech-article-details.php?id=137
https://www.gowesty.com/view_page.php?name=New_Engine_Warranty
https://www.gowesty.com/tech-article-details.php?id=132

Let me be clear here: I paid $500 U.S. (roughly $650 CDN) upfront in case my engine went wonky. That warranty work isn't a gift from GoWesty.

And I have to assume that most buyers of GW engines cover their butts in a similar manner. Using the figures that GoWesty provides in this confession https://www.gowesty.com/tech-article-details.php?id=137 ...

Engine Failure: GoWesty Engines Can (and Sometimes Do) Fail
GoWesty rebuilt engines experience less than a 5% problem rate. The vast majority of these problems are non-critical things, like a minor oil leak. Less than 2% are actual failures that require serious engine repair and/or replacement. Some of these problems are simply human error—which can never be totally eliminated. [Update: those figures were shaved down to 2% instead of 5% and 0.5% instead of 2% after my post appeared above. The title was changed as well. Hmmmm...I did mention that folks at GoWesty read this thread didn't I? I sure hope they didn't take offense at me quoting from their own online literature. That wasn't my intent.]

...it would appear that less than 5% of engine buyers get their warranty money back i.e. somewhat like insurance individuals pay to reduce risk for the entire group. I have to assume that the warranty cash pot covers the unlucky "two percenters" like myself plus all the others with a degree of bad luck -- with some money left over to boot. How much is left over is a GoWesty secret but in the case of appliances it's a real money-maker https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/budgeting/extended-warranty.htm .

The time you lose dealing with the warranty work? That's on your dime and so is the stress dealing with it. Time is money or the loss of the use of your van. For a guy like me with a single vehicle and a terminal illness that loss of opportunity/use is a HUGE deal.

GoWesty offers the best warranty in the Westy world -- just hope you never have to use it.

In a perverse and twisted way, I'm almost glad that I get to experience the warranty end of things so other potential buyers of a GoWesty 2.3L engine can see how a "worst case" two-percenter scenario plays out. [Update: make that "0.5 percenter scenario" as recently corrected above.] If future Westy/Vanagon/Syncro owners do their homework and google "GoWesty 2.3L engine" this thread comes up as #1 in Google Images and usually in the top 5 for general Google results. Folks/volks, I've got your backs covered!

Learn from my travails. They will be laid out here in gory detail.

It is not so much a matter of playing a good hand well; it is much more a matter of how well we play a bad hand."
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

UPDATE: Coincidentally, or maybe not, a day after this post -- September 17th -- GoWesty shipped out the warranty parts, all 23 lbs of them, USPS Priority Mail International Parcel. The bore scope diagnosis was made August 31st and images sent to Lucas and the warranty team at GoWesty the same day so it took almost three weeks to finally get the ball rolling. Let's see how the USPS does through the thick clouds of wildfire smoke and COVID-19 slowdown.
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[VdubVanner]

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"
Unofficial Motto of the United States Postal Service

True to its motto, ignoring the raging wildfires (heat) and COVID-19 (gloom), the USPS got in gear on Sept 17th at Los Osos, California -- HQ of GoWesty -- and picked the package up, had it in the Santa Barbara distribution center by 8:10pm that night and out the LAX airport on the 19th. It was in Vancouver B.C. at 8am the next morning and out for delivery to Tony's Auto Service in Cowtown on September 24th. SLO delivery? Hardly! Door to door in a week. Excellent!

Since I couldn't get confirmation of delivery on the Endicia tracking site, I walked down to Tony's to see if they got the warranty package. I assumed they had but that 23lb box was now in the hands of Canada Post and anything was possible. Its motto? From anywhere...to anyone." That last bit doesn't inspire a lot of confidence and we'll get to an example shortly. ***

First thing I noticed upon sauntering up to the front of Tony's was the old sign from out back. There it was sitting rather forlornly and abandoned on the ground. Its glory days are depicted upthread on this page.

Hmmmm...what was going on here? Turning my shoe leather in the direction of the back of the building where that sign was hanging a mere few weeks ago, I saw this flashy new replacement:

Wandering back upfront, I noticed another new sign that I'd overlooked since it was of the same general size and shape as its predecessor:

Suddenly I was starting to feel like an old dinosaur. The "boys" were wiping away all traces of the Old Man and his era and creating their own distinctive touch to the place. And it looked pretty spiffy at that -- not that I'd say that to "Old Bert" himself. Apparently the front sign was supposed to light up like the 4th of July at night. I didn't stick around to find out.

Donning my COVID mask, I entered the premises and asked Matt if the package had indeed been delivered. Yup! That morning, which was lightning speed for Canada Post. I still wasn't sure exactly what was included in that warranty box since no one had bothered to share the details of the contents with me but I assumed it had the piston sets, liners etc needed to put things right. Seems like mushrooms and I have a lot in common: kept in the dark and fed...well, you know the rest.

Since the engine would be disassembled I decided to piggyback a few other jobs on top of the warranty work. New coolant was definitely going in since GoWesty was pointing its finger at overheating being the prime suspect in its reportedly "2%" piston/engine failure rate. I had a GW billet aluminum thermostat housing kit sitting in my parts pile at home awaiting a coolant change in the future and now was as good a time as any to have that work done, too: https://www.gowesty.com/product/-/23281/gowesty-thermostat-housing-kit-?v= . After having a GoWesty nylon coolant distribution tower give up the ghost after all of 30 seconds of operation during the initial mechanical makeover I swore I'd replace as much plastic and nylon as I could with aluminum or stainless steel.

Next on the nylon elimination list were the fuel rails and I had the recently redesigned Van Cafe welded leakproof ones at hand and ready to go in thanks to Barry at Werke-1: https://www.vancafe.com/025133317BILLET-p/025133317billet.htm . Those buggers will outlast the van AND any future Apocalypse (whenever/whatever it may be). I'd been waiting months and months for that fail-proof redesign and could hardly wait to see those new rails installed and operating. Kudos to "The Machinist" and Van Cafe.

Since I was having the old nylon fuel rails switched out, it would be perfect timing to have the fuel injectors follow suit. As I mentioned earlier, I'd had some old OEM injectors cleaned and tested by magician/medicine man Super Stefan in O.O.M/High River, AB but one of them came up a little short. The idea was to put them in and then send my originals to be cleaned and tested and reinstalled. Remember the thread theme song? "They don't make 'em like they used to!" I don't trust ANY parts from ANYWHERE any more -- unless they're non-mechanical/electrical and made of solid metal -- I'm thinking of Steve Schwenk's wonderful coil springs here. The original VW German stuff lasted for decades and some of it is still going strong. Nowadays, it's a crap shoot on aftermarket parts. A couple of Samba members mentioned GoWesty "Made in the USA" injectors (date of posts = Sept 2018 so I assume they were American issue) failing after only several months. Quality control ain't what it used to be. I was thinking of going with GW injectors myself until reading about those wonky examples -- likely more 2%'ers or was that 5%'ers?

The whole fuel injector swap over was inspired by an ad for rebuilt fuel injectors by Rocky Jennings -- Westy/Vanagon engine builder supreme -- who wisely pointed out that injectors could be a cause for overheating and major engine damage. I needed to close all the barn doors BEFORE the hot horses got out. You can find that ad in the Samba Classifieds and it contains this advice: "After doing some research on fuel injectors, I found that just because its NEW does not mean its as good as a rebuilt one. Case in point I have a customer that bought NEW fuel injectors and had all kinds of problems. Finally got the injectors to a injector testing company found that the new injectors were flowing only about 75% of what they should and that was the best of the four....If you are building or having some one build you a new engine have the injectors tested even if they are brand new out of the box! If you use untested injectors and one is rich the O2 sensor will tell the computer to lean out the injectors, that can make the engine run lean on load on the other injectors that could cause the engine to over heat and void any warranty that you may have gotten on the new engine." [Bold emphasis mine.]

So off I went looking for a source of local fuel injectors so I could send them off to Stefan at Performance Fuel Injection for testing. I needed to get them quickly, mail them to Stefan, get them tested ASAP and mailed back to me before my month-end warranty work appointment at Tony's.

Eventually I landed on these as replacements until mine could be cleaned and flow tested: https://store.concept1.ca/Fuel-Injector-Each-Defus-025906031-DEFUS/ . Defus? Never heard of them but Ken at Concept-1 had run them in his Westy for three years with no problems and sold dozens and dozens of sets with nary a complaint or return -- or so he claimed. He did add the cautionary proviso, of course, that nothing is perfect. I believe they call that a strong hint. The other reliability hint was a 15 day return period. The Defus company "About Us" section https://www.df-fuelinjector.com/ boasted its "defective rate is only 0.2%". Sure, pull my other leg. This is Chinese product after all.

So with Concept-1 in Cowtown extolling "Excellent OEM quality. 4 hole, modern style, not the original single pintle style" and Defus claiming near perfection in manufacturing, I couldn't resist and bought a set to find out how good/bad they really were.

First thing I did after that was contact Stefan and ask him if he could flow test them for me. His response? "Sure, I can have a look at them. I see that they are Defus re-pops, so they are definitely worth checking out. Sometimes the Chinese injectors prove to be problematic." That was his polite way of saying some of the Chinese stuff is absolute crap and the rest questionable on a good day.

Another Defus ad with the 4-holers: https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32966196072.html . "Cheap like Borscht" as my Dad used to say: https://hesomagazine.com/eat-me-drink-me/cheap-like-borscht/ .

Funny thing is when Stefan sent me the first photo of the set disassembled, I noticed something -- they were actually labelled as DENSO:

Denso is a lot more high-brow and listed as one of the largest fuel injector manufacturers in the world: https://mzwmotor.com/fuel-injector-manufacturers/ + https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denso + https://www.denso.com/global/en/about-us/corporate-info/profile/ . Described as a Toyota Group supplier, it has 22 production companies in China producing a variety of products including fuel injector components. Wanna bet Defus makes Denso injectors under contract? BTW I never noticed that labeling due to my feeble eyesight without reading glasses and was also in a hurry packaging the injectors up to get in the mail to High River. I couldn't drive them to O.O.M. because Fritz was still confined to barracks in the garage until his last (??) SLAPPing run to Tony's Auto for warranty work.

And, yes, these fuel injectors are 4-holers:

More on the subject of one hole vs 4-hole injectors: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=708350&highlight=hole+injector + https://www.ebay.com/itm/4pcs-NEW-Fuel-injector-no...0009.m1982 (Defus from the looks of them and the ad description ie "Defus 2017"). The best 4-holers are undoubtedly Marco Mansi's works of perfection: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=706887 .

Next up, the testing to ensure I'm not one of Defus's (Denso's ??) "0.2 percenters".

*** Okay, let's get to that Canada Post motto: From anywhere....to anyone. They aren't kidding. They'll deliver your package to just about anybody even if it isn't to you at the correct address on the mailing label. As Stefan informed me: "Oh, and Canada Post delivered [your] package to my neighbors around the block, instead of [my place]. Glad I have good neighbors!" Yeah, me too!
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[VdubVanner]

Once Stefan's neighbours hand delivered my Canada Post parcel to him -- the one containing the questionable Chinese fuel injectors -- he went right at it.

Here's what he found: one of the fuel injectors was spraying all over the place. In other words, it was wonky due to internal debris that hadn't been cleaned out during the manufacturing process. Clearly, the claim of "Excellent OEM Quality" and a "O.2%" failure rate was horse feathers. One out of four being wonky is a 25% failure rate, not 0.2%.

Was that a surprise? Nope.

Let's have a look see before Stefan fixed things:

That's what the flow looked like before the required backflush and magical words of encouragement.

After the backflush and associated clean-up on aisle 4 (static flow):

That's better! Now for a "Short Pulse width flow (idle/light throttle)":

The spray pattern ended up being a bit inconsistent from injector to injector but Super Stefan didn't think it would be a problem:

All set to go out the door:

The results on paper with a flow chart spit out from his new advanced software program. It tests at two data points (high and low flow) to draw a graph and pump out the details needed:

Okay, the magic show is over. No more Abracadabra!

What? You want an encore? Alrightee, then, check these videos out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvXCux6lOzc&feature=youtu.be

That was BEFORE cleaning.

This is AFTER:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24wVbcMKDGQ&feature=youtu.be

And to end the show, the spitty spray pattern of the 4-holers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PibisidsSbQ&feature=youtu.be

Compare that pattern with the OEM one-holers that he did for me two months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pdmN6Yi9ZA .

Final quiz: What do you call a Westy/Vanagon owner who installs a set of Defus injectors without testing them? Answer: A Doofus. (Or maybe that should be a Dense(o) Doofus?)

Thanks to Stefan the magician/medicine man of High River, Alberta -- at least when it comes to fixing up "problematic" Chinese fuel injectors. His summary comment: "Also, to add to the Defus disorder; aside from confusingly carrying the Denso insignia, the injector also boasts a Bosch part number on the opposite side [0 280 150 206]. Injector identity crisis 101." I couldn't have said it better myself!

BTW Just because those fuel injectors will now operate properly -- maybe even better than OEM due to the modern 4-hole design -- doesn't mean they'll hold up for the long haul. Think wonky GoWesty 2.3L engine after 3,000 miles or so. It was going great until it didn't. These injectors could turn turtle the same way. Hence, I'll get my extracted OEM ones, send them to Stefan and get them cleaned and flow tested. If they pass the high bar, in they go again. If necessary, I'll dip into the three good OEM back-ups that Dustin sold me for a better match up with my originals. OEMs? Yeah, gimme that old time religion -- it's good enough for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HciQUL6Ric .

Final thoughts? Imagine putting those four "flawless" Defus/Denso fuel injectors in without doing that flow test. Not good! In fact, you could be putting your engine's health (and any associated warranty) at risk. I'll keep that set for back-ups once my OEMs go back in.

Tomorrow is my GoWesty engine warranty appointment at Tony's Auto to put that SLAPPing piston issue in order. Let's see how long this kick at the can/engine lasts. Any wagers? Wish me luck!
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[VdubVanner]

So this morning at the crack of dawn -- it was a colourful sunrise by the way -- I got up and prepared for the final SLAPPing drive in Fritzie. Well, I was sure hoping it'd be the last one. Throwing the box of extras in for the piggyback work I drove down to Tony's Auto talking the whole way to Fritz in a soothing tone to calm him down somewhat. He had an inkling of what was coming and was more than a little anxious (or was it just me?).

As we pulled into Tony's parking lot cum emergency waiting room who should we see:

Well if it wasn't our old friend Lucky87 again. I swear that vehicle shows up exactly when it's needed the most. Right when Fritz could use a (Tizian red) shoulder to lean on for support, there it was. Thanks for that, Doc! Your psychoanalytical skills with Westies are unrivaled this side of the pond. Actually maybe the other side, too. I owe you big-time! Almost immediately Fritzie got his act together and steeled himself for what lay ahead. We both knew it wasn't going to be easy -- or pretty like that beaut van in the nearby stall:

I left the two outside to exchange best wishes to each other and chat about their past and present warranty work and wandered inside looking for Jesse to give him a few last words of encouragement and advice. They went something like this: "DO NOT screw this up!". Maybe I was thinking that but the words never tumbled out of my mouth. What I did mention was that the parts box was tucked away on the front passenger seat and what was in it. I also begged him to use his immense talents as a photographer and take some shots in between the deep, extensive surgery he was about to perform. Did I mention that I love looking at blood and gore? And I'm sure readers of this thread do too or why the heck are you wasting your time here?

I wished him all the best and while his back was turned I raced over to the far corner of the shop for a quick photo of Michelle Hoogveld's work (see upthread for the back story):

Did you spot her signature in the bottom right-hand corner of that wall?

Cool with a capital "C". The juxtaposition of the black gloomy tires and the bright geometric colouring made my morning. (Bear with me, I'm trying to sound like a knowledgeable art critic here.) Looking carefully, you'll note that even the electrical conduit and plugs got a splash of some matching colour.

Before leaving, I talked Shane into providing me with a copy of the invoice in the GoWesty warranty box so I would have a record of what was going into Fritz. He then broke the big news of the day: his recent purchase of a good-lookin' white (89?) Westy that was sitting outside in the yard. Out we went to have a look. Apparently, the owner had it sitting unused for the last six years due to a fried engine. It needed a new home and Shane had some plans for his own makeover. I was so engrossed in sticking my face up to the window to scope out the interior, I plumb forgot to snap a pic. Dang!

With a big sigh, I bid Fritz and his red pal Lucky adieu and walked on down the street. Gosh, could this be my last journey as the unofficial Travelling (On Foot) Ambassador for GoWesty? I sure hoped so. Perhaps some of the good fortune that perpetually swirled around Lucky would settle onto Fritz? ***

The mechanical makeover of the Makeover was ready to begin...

*** For plenty of examples of that all-encompassing good fortune, start here: http://livetravelplay.marionette.ca/2015/01/01/new-years-resolution-drive-to-argentina/ . Oh, and there's a bit of bad luck in there too just to keep them honest.
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[VdubVanner]

"DO NOT go down to Tony's" ... "DO NOT go down to Tony's"...DO NOT go down to Tony's"... "DO NOT..."

That mantra was going through my head and being replayed over and over again for the last several days. As much as I wanted to see what was happening to Fritz as was the case during the heady makeover days of yore, I vowed not to. I dared not be implicated in causing a screw-up in the warranty work by distracting Jesse while he was doing the surgery. Nope. I stayed home away from the action. I didn't even pick up the phone to query what was going on and whether Fritz had pulled through okay or succumbed to a sudden death on the operating table. That took all the will power and control I could muster up -- and then some.

In the meantime, I compared the GoWesty web pages about warranty and engine failure rates that existed when my TAPPing/SLAPPing troubles began and in the timely edited version after my recent posts appeared (just coincidental, I'm sure):

ORIGINAL of a few weeks ago: https://web.archive.org/web/20180923181427/http://www.gowesty.com/tech-article-details.php?id=137 .

NEW EDITED/UPDATED VERSION: https://www.gowesty.com/tech-article-details.php?id=137

Hmmmm...."less than 0.5%" ending up like poor ol' Fritzie equates to -- hold on, let me do the math here -- less than 15 vehicles out of 3000 being afflicted in the same manner with extremely serious engine-itis. That makes me and Fritz feel, well, gosh, exceptionally special. I reckon we should both get an outstanding award or citation or something for that distinction.

Oh, never mind, I'm too busy repeating my mantra to pick up an award any way. Where was I? Oh, yeah.., "DO NOT go down to Tony's"..."DO NOT go down to Tony's"..."DO NOT go down to Tony's"...
_________________
"Fritz", a temperamental and unforgiving 1989 Westy that proudly bears his German flags and status as a member of the exclusive GoWesty Belly Flop Club.
1989 Westy Makeover: GoWesty 2.3L Engine plus plus plus https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[Jake de Villiers]