Winston and Rob, Together Again (VERBOSE)

[msinabottle]

Well, things have been going so WELL that I haven't had much to say about these last three weeks camping in Winston, except that our torrid love affair continues unabated. We're still sleeping together... and LOVING IT!



I had hopes of finding a place to park him in the shade, but we all have our impossible dreams, and such as not to be. At least nobody bogarted the spot I'd dug out of the hillside, another benefit of Vanagons being the weird and narrow shape they are. Might do yet a bit more digging, I'd like him further into the hillside. The area behind his REAR wheels is eroding, too.

As I expected, the area I'd leveled was no longer level, so it was another two weeks of digging him down and checking the levels I installed near the front seat in the hope of flattening out his stance. One of the levels had fallen off when the heat (Winston was 102 degrees this weekend) destroyed the adhesive, but I jacked him up to level in the garage and just screwed the 'yaw' level onto the end of his 'spice rack' where I could turn my head and see it from the driver's seat.

All the trouble to install the new USB charger and 12v. socket and the rear hatch latch and I haven't used either. Still nice to know they're there, though. I haven't even had a chance to read my Kindle quietly by the light of the LED 2nd passenger light. I've got to pull that headliner panel again and paint it, like I did the rear hatch panel.

I did use the 'dolphin' hatch extender and the rear screen this last week to get a bit more air into him. The jalousies still remain the best investment I ever made in cooling Winston. At night he's quite chilly, just the way I like to sleep. You know, you get a lot more air from the windows if you lower the cover over the sink and stove? Just figured that out.

The biggest change since last year is that a friend has run a heavy 10 gauge cable down the hill so I can run Winston's original Dometic 182B fridge on 'AC' full-time, as well as his microwave, as described in the original 'Winston Gets Wired' post. Despite the heavy gauge of the cable, I'm quite some distance from the hook-up, so I've been continuing to run the microwave off the Odyssey 1200 and the inverter, letting the battery trickle-charge back up in the whiles in between. Amperage loss is an issue.

It's <knock on wood> all working quite well so far. The weather has so far omitted last year's horrific rains and hailstorm, in which Winston so distinguished himself. I've gotten the art of cooking and living in him down to a science, and resumed my old habit of putting 'blue ice' inside the fridge to keep the temperature down on the hot days. That's still working, too.

A few minor mechanical worries in and among the sterling performance of the Westy gear and Winston's drive train. On the first tank of gas out of winter storage, I barely managed 20 MPG, a tad low for him. Might have been some evaporation over the winter or, worse, that strange sound I've only heard a few times from the passenger's side front wheel could be the pad dragging. I doubt that, though, I took the wheel off and inspected everything.

The Sea Foam I put in that tank does seem to have paid off, though, he started on the 2nd try and I've not heard a peep out of his fuel pump--the last two years before that I'd had to put in a new square plastic fuel filter before the fuel pump at the start of each season. On the other other hand, with my usual habit of conflicting the data, I've also quit using the cheap gas and have gone to known good Conoco. Winston seems to approve of the change, for all the ribbing I get from the gas station owner, who has known me since my only cars were Matchboxes.



Rideant, dum currit.*

The other thing that worries me is that, despite several 'accelerate in reverse, slam on the brakce' episodes, Winston still slips a bit when I pull the emergency brake on a reverse slope. I've noticed that he quits that if I apply standard brake pressure, but perhaps an adjustment is due. I solicit your thoughts. But, he stops. After a tiny bit.

I still haven't replaced his rear 'hitch cover/brake light' since it first got scraped on the hill last year in the area where I'm parking, and then smashed at the Propane dealership when I last filled him. I'm waiting for a sale at Harbor Freight for a new one.

So far I haven't run out of propane, I think it's stretching farther with the fridge not running on it. I still have my 'screw on cannister' rig that I can use if I DO run out, but I'll probably fill the tank next week.

It's very gratifying that Winston continues to earn the admiration of everyone who visits me while I'm in him--proof yet that the concept was a good one that ought to be revived, particularly in this day of high gas prices and smaller everything. He's still my refuge from the day's dust, heat, bears



and privations of work out at the job site. Had to use the 12v. fan on the 102 degree day, and found that very soothing as I tried to cool down. This year I've managed my life-long goal of getting both heat stroke and hypothermia at the job site. But the two of us are holding up. For a semi-improved and relatively un-maintained campground, I don't think it's possible to beat Winston's combination of clearance and maneuverability, the Hella H4's helped a lot when I got delayed and had to drive down the creepy road down the mountainside in the dark.



He is doing all I think to ask of him, and with his usual quiet style and lack of drama.

The love affair continues.

Best!

*Let 'em laugh, as long as he's running.
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[msinabottle]

Well, I was due, I suppose... But the mishap was relatively minor.

Two weeks ago, coming back from another exhausting weekend at the job site, about a mile and a half from my exit, Winston's top popped up at 60 miles an hour on the Interstate.



A friend had come by and we were talking as I made Winston ready for sea. If you're not VERY careful, too, a bit of the tent canvas can slip where the locking button goes--it did that last week when I was locking the tent down this time. I should have checked.

Well, I heard the sound, hit the shoulder and slowed down to 40 MPH for that last stretch, I could hear the canvas flapping. The top was all the way up, good thing no policeman saw and pounced on the opportunity for revenue ehanc... To help me. I ducked into a shopping mall and locked things down.

Inspected the damage the following Tuesday. A large, long rip at the base of the tent, which is still the original canvas, a shorter tear I missed at first on the other side... Some other areas where light was coming through, not sure if those happened then.

It's certainly time to replace the tent, I'd love the extra air of a 3-Window anyway. I think the best way to go is Atelier--see the thread! But as I noted there, they're not taking orders 'til the end of September. One good thing about Winston's tent--I looked, he's got the long screw-in bars at the top of his fiberglass as well as on the bottom of the tent, he's probably one of the earliest vans to have those.

Well, I am fortunate in many ways--including my wonderful girlfriend, who has all the right reactions to Winston, possibly because I took her for a picnic in him on one of our earlier dates. She agreed to help me iron on the usual patches by holding the sleeve ironing board on the other side of the canvas... I applied a big patch of the right color... It didn't stick. Too many seams and creases. Aggravating.

My lady is a gem--she suggested a heavy needle and heavy thread, and to avoid 'a pucker,' we just shoved the needle back and forth zig-zagging over the longer tear, which gradually began to disappear. When we finally had it sewn up--took about a half hour and a few lucky jabs, no blood--I was able to iron a patch over the smoothest section of the repair, and thanked my gracious lady.

I had to go over the Hardware Store not too long afterwards. I found, among other things, a bottle of 'Silicon Sealant Remover.' THAT will come in very handy when I pull Winston's top to replace the tent, someone stuck a THICK layer of the stuff all along the seal. I'll replace that with a Bus Depot kit, and remove the unsightly stuff at the same time. I also found a big bottle of.... This:

'Mends in 3 Minutes, Washable in 15.' That sounded promising. The web site is here:

http://www.tearmender.com/

The how-to-use-it videos were informative and reassuring.

Accordingly I found some thick cotton duck, a disturbingly close match to the tent canvas, and used some pinking shears to cut a number of patches which I ironed flat and put an envelope. When I got to the job site, I opened up the tent again, and started gluing the patches over the uncovered sewn areas, over the smaller tear I'd missed, and any place where I could see light or where my 'Pop-Rivet' repair to the tent screen had weakened the old tent fabric.

The stuff was runny, but easy to use, you DO want to get it up to the corners on the patches, they peeled back where I didn't do that--and then glued right down with more glue.

It's NOT nasty stuff, dries and peels off your fingers more easily than rubber cement, and there's no smell at all. Grips well--I had to lower and raise the tent twice during the weekend due to hail warnings, and everything was right in place when I raised the tent again. On the whole, then, easier to use than my previously-favorite iron-on patches. The fabric glued feels stiff, but still flexes. I recommend it.

Hail warnings--torrential rains have been washing all over the Denver area, and got me out at the job site. Water CAN come in through the jalousies during a full-fledged cloudburst, by hitting the glass panes and bouncing into the passenger area. That goes away if you just lower them slightly. I ran the fridge on propane during the worst of the lightning, thinking 'surge,' and the fridge lit and ran well. I did, however, being an idiot, forget to set the switch back to 'AC' when I hooked up the power again, fortunately, nothing went bad.

Pouring rain and searing heat--when I ducked into Winston for lunch the thermometer read 105... Had the jalousies open and the rear hatch open with the latch extender, too. Good thing I used that method, I smelled a strange musky smell Saturday night and found out that a good-sized black bear had wandered right through our camp, brushing and jostling a good-sized trailer further up the hill.



I keep ALL food in Winston in sealed, airtight containers, with my Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap washing down the drain to cover the food odors, and, I hope, drive off the mice. So, heat, humidity, some wind, heavy rain... Winston remained my citadel. That little Bosch boat fan I bought from West Marine's been getting some use! Propane usage way down since not using the refrigerator on it.

After the repair I took my lady down to visit a shop she wanted to see, and while there ducked across the road to Blazer, where I told Larry and Jim about Winston's tendency to slide down the hill with the parking brake on.



Larry agreed that was not a good thing, and they will install a later parking brake lever on Winston (drop-in, sayeth the Bentley) when they check his rear brakes once I no longer need him at the job site. I like to get those 4 decades worth of expertise while I can. If I stop him in gear and then put on the brakes, he stays put.

Anyway, at the propane dealership he only took 2.2 gallons, I always tip the attendant since they give me no grief at all about filling him and I've gotten a lot of good propane-related advice from AAA Propane. Also recommended. The main branch in Wheatridge did my 'tap-to-hose-to-canister' mod that allows me to use a 2lb canister of propane in the event of flame-out. That's VERY reassuring.

Ran well, no disasters at all on the return runs or runs out... So, with the inevitable instances of stupidity and punishment thereof (I also got 'tagged' by a ticketing camera when I couldn't, in the Saturn, see the red light through the SUV in front of me), Winston and I continue along together, our heads muddy, but unbowed. I am still wondering if his mileage has dropped to 20mpg, watchng the gas gauge and trip meter, but, he's running like a German watch.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[whafalia]

That adhesive is what Fatcher's(sp?) Includes in their screen repair kit. Holds the whole thing in under stress with no thread, and oddly nonsynthetic seeming.
Thanks for the update!

[JeffRobenolt]

I think you are talking about Jonce at www.fanchers.com


Good guy!!
_________________
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[msinabottle]

Well, that went... Winston was (this will stun you!) great, faithful and...

This will NOT stun you...



in need of some quality time with the Brothers Blazer when all was said and done. Should have written all this sooner, but I was waiting for the other shoe to drop...

But it wasn't the SHOES. It was the drums, the passenger's side rear cylinder, the emergency brake adjustment, the self-adjusters... and $565...



But I'm getting ahead of the story.

Well, let's see... What impressions remain of those final two weeks at the Job Site...

HOT! HEAT! WARMTH!

Gad, it was. I just routinely cracked Winston's rear hatch, screened, extender, and the front windows with my homemade mosquito netting on the windows and the jalousies wide open. All that done, I kept Winston's high temperature this season down to a mere 105 degrees Farenheit.



Made for some epic lunches. But I did have that nice little 12v. fan, and that did quite a bit to convert the sweat pouring down my face into genuine cooling. I took one of my insulated window covers that I wasn't using with the jalousies open and used the magnets to stick it to Winston's outside surface over the fridge, it seemed to help... My little fridge recirculating fan died after 4 years of use, I need to buy another or make one, preferably with a switch to turn it off.

Water and propane never failed once, although a big part of the latter was the shore power installation I've mentioned in my earlier posts. Never ONCE watched a movie with the laptop plugged into that, I think it was the prospect of leaving the Compaq in the van all day with those 100 degree temperatures. My little min/max thermometer/hygrometer falls off the 'spice rack' now when I BRAKE, I am SO prying that useless magnet off the mount and gluing on something that can GRIP.

Let's see... Other impressions... Oh, yes...

BEARS!

You know, walking on one side of a semi trailer and looking over to see a black bear 4' at the shoulder walking down the OTHER side of it was a bit of a shock. For the bear, too, we both ran in opposite directions... Bears walking in broad daylight down the road Winston and I took up to camp... Wearing my headlamp on my walk down to the Porta-Potty and seeing golden eyes gleaming back in the light of it from behind a neighbor's trailer... Twice...



Another neighbor woken up by a bear scratching his or her back on the side of HIS trailer... SMELLING a bear while waking up in Winston... Yes, that was fun. I kept a very clean camp with all food sealed. I wish other people had! Walking up late one night without any light at all was very intense, I now fully understand the phrase, 'Whistling past the graveyard.' And yet, I remain uneaten.

I enjoyed a plague of moths during my last night in camp, couldn't figure out HOW they were getting in, even caught a lot of them in a jar and released them on parole. There were many repeat offenders before I realized that the mosquito screens had BLOWN OFF the front wheels during some strong wind gusts I'd noticed while I was away from the Van. Other impressions:

Winston starting and running like a watch every time, yaaay. Girl with another '84 Westy desperately in need of TLC unable to start it on the day we both pulled out of camp... Crawling under it to tap the starter LIGHTLY on the solenoid, using my volt meter to find out that her starter battery was very dead, but hearing her engine turn over as she charged up and tried a 'starter' gadget as Winston and I pulled out... Making sure she knew about Blazer...

One of my tent patches peeled a bit, but stuck pretty well with another application of the Tear-Mender, my advice for that stuff is to be LAVISH with it, but it does seem to hold. I lubricated the pop-top lap with GOOD silicon, figuring that wouldn't hurt the tent, and had no further troubles.

What had provoked THAT was driving home... Feeling that something was just... WRONG... reaching back, finding the pop-top WAS loose, it just hadn't popped up (again) yet. I'd checked it so thoroughly, too. I belatedly realized that the fellow mentioning checking 'protruding pins' meant to check IF they were protruding, not on the other side of the latch where your fingers can't go... Fixing that with a short, hazards-flashing pause on the shoulder... The lubricant made for a much more positive CLUNK when I closed the top again.

Pulling in after the run and realizing that I'd left water in Winston's tank, which was stupid of me... Cleaning Winston's sink and floor when I cleaned the house, which was easy and effective, I just kept going... And then, the reckoning.

Blazer got me scheduled quite quickly after I called Larry Monday, and today I got him down to the old garage where my gearhead neighbor from across the street saw him and wondered what was wrong. Winston's fanny stuck out of the bay far enough so that I could stay outside and yet watch Larry, Jim, and Jack examine his issues, which were:

1)Sliding back on a hill with the parking brake 3 notches on...

2)A grinding noise in the passenger's side front disk...

3)Replacing the original emergency brake handle with the later model.

First things that came off were the rear drums, the originals... Measured... a full millimeter out of spec, Larry said that was PART of the problem... Jack took the axle nuts off, effortlessly with an impact hammer while he inspected the rear drums... The news was grim. The adjusters on BOTH wheels had been installed BACKWARDS.

New Brembo drums went on after I rejoiced to watch Jack cleaning the machining oil off them, the gunk off my spacers for the alloy rims, and disassembling and lubricating the self-adjusters. Then I could hear Jack exclaim after crawling up and under the van.

The emergency brake cable had been at full adjustment, the last people to do those rear brakes had NOT released the tension on the cable before adjusting the drums. It was like watching an artist at work to see Jack doing the adjusting himself, he did it mostly by feel. He's been working on vans since the '70's, I wanted to profit by that expertise while I could.

All sorts of bad consequences of the cable maladjustment, the worst being that my shoes (which, oddly, looked NEW) had been barely touching the rear drums for all the years I'd owned Winston. I just swore as Jack cleaned the entire assembly and scuffed the shoes up with sandpaper. My passenger's side rear piston was also leaking and duly replaced. I had them rotate the Michelin Agilis front-to-back while they were pulling wheels anyway. None of my work adapting to the 15" rims had caused any trouble or needed fixing, I felt good about that.

Jim looked over the passenger's side front disk assembly, as I had, and, as I had, found nothing wrong except the sound, which I'd heard as I drove Winston down that morning. He had a bit more trouble installing the lovely brown (thanks, Larry!) later-model emergency brake lever assembly I'd asked them to put in while doing all the other stuff. He called in Jim, who wondered aloud if the problem was that the lever was from another color of van...



Jim gets to tease me, he drives the scruffy, faithful Syncro I always enjoy seeing parked out in front of Blazer. Larry meanwhile was in the office or drving out fighting the ongoing war with mislabeled or poor-quality parts for his other repairs. Jim and Jack finally got the new lever in. and Larry took Winston out and about for a test-drive. He came back pleased, and said that I would soon feel an improvement as soon as the brakes in their new configuration settled in.

He was wrong. I felt a VAST improvement IMMEDIATELY, and, boy, is that new lever an upgrade over the old design. The bill for it all was the only grim part of the whole thing, and I could hardly deny that the establishment and the three men who'd worked on the van had earned it. I would have seen the bollixed adjusters and thought that was how they were supposed to go, I'd have had a horrible time getting those castle nuts off...



barring a certain tool, and it WAS easier for Jack to work on the drums with them off... I wouldn't have had Jack's decades of experience adjusting the emergency brake cable and the shoes with the new drums... I know enough to know that the work they let me watch was first rate, and the worker is worthy of his hire. So, a hit, financially, but Winston's brakes are now the best I've ever had them, and tested and checked by people who actually knew what they were doing.

I was honored, too, when the whole LOT of them dutifully and politely tripped out to look at Winston's rear hatch latch mod--which is free-wheeling slightly, I suppose the plastic collar has worked a bit loose from the U-Bolt. It still worked perfectly, and they generously expressed kind praise. From THAT crowd, I'll take it, with thanks! Got one nice compliment on Winston from a mechanic who missed his own 'round eyes,' and I didn't feel too bashful while looking at two gorgeous 'square-eyed' Westies in for service, including a stunning gunmetal green GL the Blazers have been servicing for its original owner for 15 years.

Larry found nothing wrong with Winston's suspension or steering when he drove him, and the brake lines all looked good. All that is good to know, because I'm planning on taking Winston and my lady up into the Cache Le Poudre country with the Rocky Mountain Westy crowd... and I'm going to feel a lot better on the way back down.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[psych-illogical]

Great read as always. Those unexpected bear encounters are always unnerving. Fortunately they are almost always as afraid of us as we are of them and they run the other way.
_________________
83 1/2 Westy waterboxer
'57 Beetle-sold
Coupla '81 BMW motorcycles (R80G/S; R100RS)
'96 BMW R1100GS