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1978 Champagne first bus
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airschooled
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:21 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

secretsubmariner wrote:
Damn boys! I didn't notice this thread had replies. Kirk, glad to see you're still kickin'! And You're taller than you look in pictures! LOL

Lately the bus has been driving really well. Lots of power in all gears, no complaints except my gas gauge is on and off working correctly.

ANYWAY- No period of high-bliss comes without a little issue popping up to say hello.

I have a question and I'm having a hard time narrowing my search.

I noticed while driving that my brakes feel kinda funky. I can push the pedal down about 1/3 of the way, and it kinda feels like I'm braking, but then I hit a "wall" - as in the pedal is not as easy to depress, and stopping becomes more effective at this point.

I bled brakes at the same time I replaced my rear shoes and brake hardware, it must have been 5 years ago, ish? In that time I've only put like, 100 miles on the car (because of rebuild and, and, and)

What does this sound like? Should I bleed the brakes again and see if that improves? I read in a thread that brakes should be bled every two years....not sure if that's accurate. I'm hoping my MC isn't starting to poop out on me, so some steps in the right direction would be super helpful.


Heeeyyyyy!!

(Did you mean to say "less effective" at the wall point? I assumed so.)

The owners manuals all say to flush the system every two years, but Oklahoma is pretty dry, so I really doubt that would create/solve the problem. Still a good thing to do as you drive the bus more and more…

Does a quick stab-and-hold of the brake pedal drop the engine RPM a bunch on a warmed up engine? A little RPM dip is ok, but a huge drop could be a leaky brake booster.
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 4:02 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Hey Dude!
I will give that a try and report back. Thanks!!
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1978 Champagne Edition Bus FI
1970 Auto Fastback FI
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Kirk
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:20 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

secretsubmariner wrote:
Damn boys! I didn't notice this thread had replies. Kirk, glad to see you're still kickin'! And You're taller than you look in pictures! LOL

Lately the bus has been driving really well. Lots of power in all gears, no complaints except my gas gauge is on and off working correctly.

ANYWAY- No period of high-bliss comes without a little issue popping up to say hello.

I have a question and I'm having a hard time narrowing my search.

I noticed while driving that my brakes feel kinda funky. I can push the pedal down about 1/3 of the way, and it kinda feels like I'm braking, but then I hit a "wall" - as in the pedal is not as easy to depress, and stopping becomes more effective at this point.

I bled brakes at the same time I replaced my rear shoes and brake hardware, it must have been 5 years ago, ish? In that time I've only put like, 100 miles on the car (because of rebuild and, and, and)

What does this sound like? Should I bleed the brakes again and see if that improves? I read in a thread that brakes should be bled every two years....not sure if that's accurate. I'm hoping my MC isn't starting to poop out on me, so some steps in the right direction would be super helpful.


How are your rubber lines? Fluid? And what he said about the booster.


That interior is killer!
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:46 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Thanks Kirk - I will definitely be giving the whole system a visual inspection and I'll check my fluid level lol.

And thanks! I've been slowly working on the interior. Gonna replace the last of the window seals and try to finally get all the final remnants of the old crappy tint off this summer Razz
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1978 Champagne Edition Bus FI
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 8:16 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Just waiting around, buying parts, waiting for nice days to come back.

I'll spare the story for now but I'm currently debating replacing the calipers or trying to rebuild them. Lots to consider and nice, long evenings are on the way.

Big Ass Icicle!

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1978 Champagne Edition Bus FI
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 2:57 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

I found the culprit of my brake issues.
I have a very tiny leak between my booster and master. My fluid was completely gone. Empty! So I added more

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Replaced the pads

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Then we bled the brakes. The pedal came back very strong, but I could see as my brother pumped...a little tiny drop emerged from the mating of the booster and master, and flowed down the booster. Piss.

I decided since it was nice out that I would replace my kick panels. I've been using a set that had been recovered in fox red vinyl that is a very close match, but managed to land some original and true champagne kick panels. They fit much better because they don't have fabric wrapped around the edges, which made the old ones bow out a little bit.

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My brake warning light wasn't working so I fixed that, I had accidentally swapped the red and black power wires on it last time I had the dash apart, quick fix.

Now one of the last things that doesn't work is the fuel gauge. It used to work, now it absolutely does not under any situation work at all.

So I checked up on my connections on the sender and found the ground wire was a little loose, the old connector broke immediately so I got a new one on there.

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And here's a reference photo for where the ground wire on the fuel sender goes, mounted to the body by the firewall. I've read lots of discussion about this little guy but haven't seen many photos. Hopefully this can help someone else down the road.

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And here we are hooked up:

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And the workstation for the afternoon

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So, the sender is all hooked up and the connections are all tight and clean.
I took the brown wire off the back of the gauge up front, and grounded it to the back of the cluster with the key on to see if that would make the needle move. No luck. According to busdaddy/tcash, the gents from whom I mined this information, that indicates the wire is bad somewhere, or my aftermarket sender is faulty. Still not sure what my next move is on that, but if I can get it fixed, then everything will truly be 100% functional on the bus. Very cool!
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1978 Champagne Edition Bus FI
1970 Auto Fastback FI
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78BusGA
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 3:11 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Did Champagne's come with full red tail lights or is yours an exception?
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 1:57 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

78BusGA wrote:
Did Champagne's come with full red tail lights or is yours an exception?


Those are cheapo rock auto tail light covers I bought in a pinch right before tornado season.

Soon I will buy replacement tail housings and the correct lenses, just trying to get it completely roadworthy before doing much more cosmetic stuff.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 5:46 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

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There's a T1 connector above the frame rail in the RR wheel well area. On an original '78 it will be hiding above the foil faced insulation pad. Ground this wire here and your gauge should peg.
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:09 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

JimmieH wrote:


There's a T1 connector above the frame rail in the RR wheel well area. On an original '78 it will be hiding above the foil faced insulation pad. Ground this wire here and your gauge should peg.


Hey JimmieH, thanks for the tip.

So, just pull the wire out of the connector and ground it to the frame rail right there? Is there a tab?

RR means rear passenger side of the vehicle?
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:48 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

After bleeding the brakes and taking note of the leak between the booster and the master, I've been driving it around and keeping an eye on the brake fluid level. It has not continued the drip whatsoever, and the booster has continued to work. The brakes are great for now. I will continue to monitor the connection from the booster to the master, and watching my brake fluid level. Hopefully that problem is in the rearview.

I have a question about wipers now. My wipers will not stop going.
A brief recap of what I've done before I describe the problem further:

-Repaired a couple of broken wires in the switch
-disassembled and greased all moving parts of the wiper motor
-wiper shaft to body grommets
-sourced an official intermittent wiper relay for bay windows, not some other car's relay that "might work"
-replaced fuses and made sure wire connections at the fuse box are clean and tight

I was delighted to see my wipers finally working again after installing the relay. However, they will not park and stay there. Not in intermittent, park, low or high. No matter what setting I put it on, they continue to swipe.

Low and high work fine, the wipers swipe at their different speeds without hesitation. Sometimes they do not go ALL the way back down to the 'at rest' position, though. They stop and rest about 2 inches above the normal resting position. The intermittent and the off setting allow the wipers to go a lot longer without wiping, but just when I think I've got them to stop doing it, the swipe up again. It's almost like the car is fucking with me at this point Laughing

Before I go taking my steering column apart again, and taking the fuse panel off, or removing the wiper motor again, etc., does anyone know where I should start? Seems like maybe a connector problem in the switch itself that doesn't allow the 'off' function.

Any direction to start would be great, we just bought our first home and we are in the process of dealing with all that goes with that. My time to really fix stuff is going to be slim for a few weeks...but at least we're roadworthy again!
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Okie Adam
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:17 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Congrats on the home purchase man! I can't speak to the no stop thing but I know from my experience when the wipers stop high and don't park at home I solved it by replacing pivots and bushings in the mechanism.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:43 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Okie Adam wrote:
Congrats on the home purchase man! I can't speak to the no stop thing but I know from my experience when the wipers stop high and don't park at home I solved it by replacing pivots and bushings in the mechanism.


Thanks man! I miss you 'round these parts! The house is around 1st and Delaware, sort of behind TU. 4th street goes from Memorial all the way into downtown so I can cross all the major streets with stoplight protections either way. I can go pretty much anywhere along there without really having to get on to main roads! Just like ol' 13th street back in the day. Lol. I'm stoked. And I finally got my new front fender for the type 3, the last piece I needed before I bust it all apart to fix the tank and fuel lines and pump. That'll start after we get settled in to the new house.

I appreciate the advice...I will probably have to get it all apart again to asses and lube. We shall see. I just removed the $120 relay and put it in the glove box. I will put it back in if it starts raining while I'm out in it. lol. Pretty expensive paperweight!
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:43 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Seems like I had that symptom with one of my weird relays. Unfortunately I don't remember if I ever figured out the actual problem. I had a hard time deciding what exactly was the cause.
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Thu May 13, 2021 7:32 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Follow up: I decided to just remove the wiper relay for now, and I will install it if I happen to get caught in the rain. After the move I will diagnose the issue with the wipers refusing to park and stay put.

Robbie, of Airschooled fame, stopped by on his great tour of the United States. It was a great time! Hell, at 31, I never get drunk during the week any more. But this was an exception.

We didn't even have to do any work on the bus, we just took it for a drive. I was anxious to have a bus driver ride a long to listen and feel for anything unusual. The bus got pretty good marks! I have a tiny vacuum leak at the EGR valve, which I now know how to fix properly. And a small tap-tap that can be fixed with another valve adjustment.

I ordered parking brake boot and the pedal seals. After I get those installed I can finally put the splash pan back on and the cabin will be so much closer to being all sealed up.

I've been putting miles on it, probably about 50 miles or so since it started warming up. Tornado season and rain have prevented me from doing as much as I'd like...but I did find a sweet park near me that we go to often now.

Braden Park
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Sunset
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Boyzinthehood.jpg
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Boyzunderthehood.jpg
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 2:27 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

The bus has been driving very reliably lately so I've been replacing some of the "fun" stuff.

My first mission was to replace the seals around the pedals and get my splash pan back on. Ordered up, researched a little bit, and had all the holes sealed up on the front floor. Very nice to not see the road through the pedal and E-brake holes.

Got out a bowl of hot water and did lots of futzing around until I figured it all out. Totally worth it.
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My slider doesn't stay locked in place when it's open, so I ordered a new catch mechanism. I was missing a spring and the tooth on the hook that catches the slider and keeps it open was chipped off. I'd like to rebuild one day, but this will work for now. Or, it would have. For some reason it still doesn't hold the door open. Gotta take a better look at the catch mechanism on the door itself to see what is up.

I also removed my EGR valve, which was basically just an air suck at the plenum. It's never been hooked up in all the time I've owned it. So a piece of an Oklahoma license plate and some copper RTV later, the hole is plugged. I was getting some strange idling after Robbie and I messed with that EGR valve to see if it was affecting idle. Turns out it was affecting idle. Hopefully that will go away now, I will test drive it soon to see if my weird idle at start up goes away. Unmetered air bad.

Next up: Did the Champagne Wrangler™ manage to find more rare brown plastic goodies?! Which doors will get new seals first? And how is the "rust prevention" I did 9 years ago holding up? Find out next time!
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Sun May 30, 2021 3:04 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

It's been pouring every day so I haven't been driving much, today I repaired some license plate wiring and I replaced the light holder. I've seen this damage for years, but the light has always worked so I didn't care. Now I do!

The original sheath had burned through, power wire is split.
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Old vs. New
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Wrapped the power wire in its own heat shrink for strength, then I did big shrinks to replace the sheath.
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It works!

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Removed my air-leaky EGR valve and made a little plate. Sealed with Copper RTV leftover from my exhaust.

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Next up: How do wasps keep getting in the bus? I'm terrified.

The sunset sky after the tornado warning a few days ago was really cool. It's 8:30PM in this photo, but it was bright green outside, with pink and orange clouds, with dark blue in between. We saw the more rare "mammatus" clouds for the second time in two years. Very tight.

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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 8:01 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

March 2011-June 2021. Over ten years. I've finally driven the bus out of town to a car show. I'm going to divulge in more details here than I would on instagram (but you can follow me @thehellholestore if you want to keep up with my adventures in real time, I'd love to follow you all too).

The 3rd Annual Port City VW Show in Catoosa OK was Saturday, June 5th.
It was a gorgeous and muggy day. I did several shakedown cruises to make sure we were good in the days before cruising, and I even went to the show location in my Jetta Sportwagen to test the back roads I wanted to take. The Port City VW Show benefits the Oklahoma Firefighters Burn Camp, a great cause to help children who are afflicted with burns.

I live off Route 66 in Tulsa, or 11th street to the locals. It stretches from a traffic circle at the southeast corner of downtown, all the way across town into the Cherokee Nation, county line or 193rd St. From there, I turned north and did a very brief zig zag over to where Old Hwy 66 continues through Catoosa, Verdigris, and Claremore. I have a soft spot for Claremore - my family is one of the founding Cherokee families of the city after removal, the trail of tears. There is a street named after us, we have a large stone monolith in an old cemetery there where my father, my great grandfather, my great-great grandfather, and so many others are buried. On the way to the show, on the west side of the highway, the "Blue Whale" rests in an old swimhole. A super kooky looking bastard that has been a tourist attraction for decades.

Itwas a real special not only to cruise directly to the show location exclusively on the old-timey Route 66, but also to take the bus into the Cherokee Nation for the first time. The reservation boundary is only a mile north of my house, but I don't usually casually cruise to check the ride in that direction.

ANYWAY - for the actual drive. East on route 66 was casual, about 40 MPH, stoplights on the mile every mile in Tulsa, and as the drive progressed eastward the speed limit got higher and higher. I finally got to the point where I needed 4th gear, and it almost seems to WANT to be in 4th. The ride is so smooth. I have ZERO sway at 50MPH. The front end starts to want to dance a little bit when I hit 55. It was awesome to get a few miles of 4th gear before we got to the highway. I was nervous at first, but after a few miles I was in the ZONE. Once in a while, out in the country, a big sign plastered onto the asphalt indicating we were on Route 66 Tulsa would pass under us. Rural houses, some minor industrial properties scattered across the landscape, the drive was largely a smooth and gradual transition from the center of the city where I live, to slow, soft goings-on of the country life.

A short turn north took us out of the country and into some heavier city traffic surrounding the Hard Rock Casino, and another little jaunt reconnected us to Old Hwy 66. This stretch of highway starts out at 40, and turning onto the highway is a protected left with a stoplight, so I could get onto the "highway" for the very. first. time. without any real stress. The highway got up to 50, we still good, occasionally passing a tie-dyed early bay, or a lowered modified spilt window single cab. After the real township part of Catoosa ends, the highway gets up to 60, and I only felt comfortable doing 55 since we're still on the shakedown journey. Even still, I blew that lowered single cab out of the water lol. We crossed the river on an old metal bridge I've always admired - and turned right into the show venue - Rogers Point Park, aptly named after fabled old-timey TV Star and Cherokee Nation citizen, Will Rogers.

When we pulled in, the line was only a few cars deep, but it seemed longer because of the *ahem* trailer queens. I made a couple of laps trying to find my friends and eventually pulled in and set up "camp". I brought along two vintage suit cases for the "show" factor. Registering was awesome. Got a free T-Shirt, and putting the yellow card with my number, name, and model was surreal as fuck. I know all you guys who do this all the time probably wouldn't think anything of it, but every single thing that happened this day was special for me. I found my friends in the "Oil Capital Air Cooled" group had camped overnight. They had a great spot in the shade. Next year, and for future shows at other sites, I will definitely be camping the night before to get a good spot.

But I digress, there is just so much to share. Even if nobody reads it or comments or whatever, I don't care. This thread has been a giant tale, a third of my life shared! Here's some pics from the show.

My cooler and the vintage suitcases, which I eventually moved to the rear seat:
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Myself and Uncle Funk - a friend from Arkansas.
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Yes, I did bring a bottle of Champagne and cups to celebrate the occasion!
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Dents and all - and I've picked up a few new stickers
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My buddy Dewayne just bought this sweet little 50's (?) camper trailer from Europe, I think. It was really, really cool!
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I definitely plan to add more photos of the other cars we saw that we liked.

The day after the show, I was inspired by how well it performed, getting us home without a stall or a single hiccup, the engine never complained about what I put it through. So I decided to whip out some little prizes I've been hanging on to.

You guys - I have obtained some Champagne parts that I thought were actually unobtainium. Seat pedestal trim in brown. Thank you busted bus!


Champagne brown, part number
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They only had one brown endcap, so I settled for a black one for now. (I am currently looking for a driver's side brown one, if you have one or know of one, I would love to hear from you) The comparison:
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Kind of a side-view, I didn't think I'd like the black on brown, but I really do, especially with the brown Vanagon seats I'm running.
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A zoomed out look, magnets are there to keep the edge in place for now. Need to experiment with a couple different adhesives.
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And the driver's side pedestal, which was on hold because I need to patch up the AC hose holes. Wound up using license plate chunks and black JB weld for now. No critters are getting in that way.
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The list grows shorter and shorter. We close on our house this Thursday, so the bus probably won't see too much upgrade attention for a little while, but it will have a new home in a 2-car garage with a freshly paved floor and driveway!

Thanks for reading!
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1978 Champagne Edition Bus FI
1970 Auto Fastback FI
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Kirk
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:33 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Well thats bad ass! Good to see the awesome progress!
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Bear
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creative native Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2022 9:17 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Champagne first bus Reply with quote

Osiyo oginalii Secretsubmariner. It has been nearly a year. Any updates on your CEII Bus?
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