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wcfvw69 Samba Purist
Joined: June 10, 2004 Posts: 13389 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2018 5:35 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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You mentioned play in your steering. You can leave the bus on the ground and have a family member rotate the steering wheel slowly a bit back and forth to see if you have any worn tie rod ends, swing level play and get a feel for the steering gear play. The steering gear is adjustable. Most people never adjust it or adjust it correctly. There's a good write up in the Bentley on how to do it right.
Link
When I bought my bus in 2014, I went through it mechanically. You can see the link to that thread below. The video is of one of the bad tie rods. It had a wasted and blown steering damper and all the tie rods were original and had play/slop. When I first drove it after buying it, I was shocked at how sloppy and scary it was to drive. I've since replaced all the tie rods, steering damper, shocks, center pin, ball joints and tires. I also took apart the steering gear to clean and reseal it. I also adjusted it correctly. I'm very pleased with how it drives and feels now.
I recently had the opportunity to drive Colin's (Amskeptic on The Samba) 1977 bus with only 70k original miles. Obviously, things were still very tight and crisp on it with all the original VW parts in place. I was happy as my bus feels just as tight now as that one is. _________________ Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc
Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.
**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours** |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:01 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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wcfvw69 wrote: |
You mentioned play in your steering. You can leave the bus on the ground and have a family member rotate the steering wheel slowly a bit back and forth to see if you have any worn tie rod ends, swing level play and get a feel for the steering gear play. The steering gear is adjustable. Most people never adjust it or adjust it correctly. There's a good write up in the Bentley on how to do it right.
Link
When I bought my bus in 2014, I went through it mechanically. You can see the link to that thread below. The video is of one of the bad tie rods. It had a wasted and blown steering damper and all the tie rods were original and had play/slop. When I first drove it after buying it, I was shocked at how sloppy and scary it was to drive. I've since replaced all the tie rods, steering damper, shocks, center pin, ball joints and tires. I also took apart the steering gear to clean and reseal it. I also adjusted it correctly. I'm very pleased with how it drives and feels now.
I recently had the opportunity to drive Colin's (Amskeptic on The Samba) 1977 bus with only 70k original miles. Obviously, things were still very tight and crisp on it with all the original VW parts in place. I was happy as my bus feels just as tight now as that one is. |
Thanks for the feedback wcfvw69
I have been through some pages of your build, not all, but will bookmark as it looks amazing. Mad respect!
I had Cat go ahead and turn the wheel for me back and fourth a few times while I concentrated on the tie rod joints. I watched your video and thankfully, I'm not getting that kind of movement. I have some movement of what looks like a slight twist at the lower knuckle before it moves, but no clunk or visual space happening. My tie rods seem to have their boots intact but I have a few torn boots in other areas behind the wheels. I need to get that addressed, and will likely do it all when I get it apart enough to replace those. Thats why I'm paying such close attention to Clatters chassie rebuild thread right now.
The wheel doesn't have a ton of play really, honestly about a 2 inch bounce back and fourth. I did look at my steering box and it in sad shape. I'll go ahead and show it. It looks like much of its gear oil is on the outside of it. Bummer.
Like you said, that could be a big part of the play going on. If not, I can't handle that kind of leak and mess anyway, so I'll have to sort it out. This is all next level stuff for me, I've warmed up to it doing a lot of the easy stuff and now I think I'm up to the tough tasks. I'll do some searches here for some of this in the next few days, I'm sure there are threads and posts already.....Thanks! |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 2:39 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Just got back from a beautiful drive with the Family up to and around Custer, Needles Highway and the Game Loop.
We had dropped my daughter off at a summer camp 5 days ago near the town of Custer and today we headed there to pick her up. She had requested a bus ride up there but it was raining pretty hard that day, so we skipped it and took the truck. We thought she would be pleased to see us pull up in the bus with the dogs along.
One the way up we laugh that there are the two things we have on our roads in the summer, Bikers and construction cones. G-man commented, he didn't know there was that many orange cones in the whole world...HaHa. Were just glad they maintain them and that people come here to vacation on them.
No problem getting to the camp, we just took our time going 35-45 MPH on the mountain roads, sometimes slower....
The road to the camp was gravel and a little bit technical, but no problem for the bus. Although she missed home, she agreed we should take the scenic route back to Rapid City. We blast off towards the Needles and get right into the best tunnel stop of all. The Needles Eye. You see, the Black Hills are an ancient mountain uplift. In its glory they were 14K tall but now eroded to 5-6K and probably only still around because the core rock type is granite. This is the last stages of decay and rock erosion, sculpted by eons of weather, leaving fluted spires like nowhere else on earth. In the 20s-30s depression era, The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) built these spectacular roads throughout to enjoy the splendor. Man, I can only hope they wanted their ancestors to enjoy their work, so enjoy we must.
On each side of the tunnel there are pull offs, I get into a perfect position to really enjoy both the bus and the views. It's pretty rad. As always, folks say nice things about the bus. A lot of the complements and thumbs up come from bikers, which I think is cool.
The guys rotate seats and get all set to hit the Game Loop in Custer State Park. There are buffalo, goats, burros, deer, etc, but we really just want to see the buffalo herd.
Dogs chilling and the hand outstretched to high-five some aspen leaves.
More tunnels, then we come into part of the herd.
Its hard to get your fill of the park but there are storms predicted and this time of year they don't lie and can be fierce, so as this daydream plays out, we head on through paradise.
The Bus is running and handling beautifully. I wonder how I ever drove it without shocks before....
The foothills come fast and were round the corner for our neighborhood in no time for a lunch at home.
What a day with the family and the Bus! Temps were 75 if that and nobody was in a hurry or stressed on the road. If this is all I ever get to do with the bus, I'll be good with that. Thanks for checking it out, later...... |
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Tcash Samba Member
Joined: July 20, 2011 Posts: 12844 Location: San Jose, California, USA
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 5:32 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Now that is what it is all about.
Thanks for posting.
Tcash |
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LazyLightning75 Samba Member
Joined: August 02, 2016 Posts: 115 Location: Carmichael, CA
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 6:29 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Love the mini road trip and pics of the family enjoying the bus. Thanks for sharing. After reading your post there was nothing left to do but , , _________________ 1975 Riviera 1.8L FI |
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wcfvw69 Samba Purist
Joined: June 10, 2004 Posts: 13389 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 7:07 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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What I found striking about this photo is this- The 40 year old VW bus parked next to the other modern cars in this photo, doesn't look or stand out like an old, antique vehicle. To me, it looks normal and not out of place.
Great photo's BTW! There's a chance that there maybe another generation of future bus lovers/owners with all these kids getting exposed to these VW buses! [/youtube] _________________ Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc
Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.
**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours** |
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brass gears Samba Member
Joined: October 21, 2013 Posts: 72 Location: Calgary,AB
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 10:57 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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You take some of the best photos man. Lovin’the thread... |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 6:56 am Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Tcash wrote: |
Now that is what it is all about.
Thanks for posting.
Tcash |
No prob! Your advice has helped me many times to get to this point. Thanks! |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 7:00 am Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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LazyLightning75 wrote: |
Love the mini road trip and pics of the family enjoying the bus. Thanks for sharing. After reading your post there was nothing left to do but , , |
Thank You! The bus is really pulling us together and we’re having a great spring summer with her. Can’t wait to get our first overnight or a pop top deployment situation soon. |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 7:32 am Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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wcfvw69 wrote: |
What I found striking about this photo is this- The 40 year old VW bus parked next to the other modern cars in this photo, doesn't look or stand out like an old, antique vehicle. To me, it looks normal and not out of place.
Great photo's BTW! There's a chance that there maybe another generation of future bus lovers/owners with all these kids getting exposed to these VW buses! [/youtube] |
Thanks for the feedback! I know my kids have taken zero convincing to be interested and they took to it like ducks to water. I can’t imagine them feeling the same about a modern mini or full size van, although they are also practical, just don’t speak to the heart the same. Maybe. My daughter is already asking when she can learn to drive and if her first car can be a bus. Will see....
The bus is still a rolling brick and ranks low in aerodynamics and predates crumple zones, to name a few, but otherwise, there are some really key features that make it an interesting design. Styling cues aside, practicality abounds. I like the clearance of a transaxle, accessibility and tons of usable cabin space, point of view of the cockpit, and surprisingly tight turning radius.
In the photo you referenced, I didn’t even used reverse to leave that parking spot and I barely touched grass to whip a Uie out of there. I first noticed this at home, my mailbox is a gang unit down the street and I can turn completely around in the street with the bus. This is a 2-3 point turn in my F150. I don’t know why the difference, maybe because there is no front end, your sitting on the front tire or the front wheels can rotate further, but I like this quick turning ability. |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 7:39 am Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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brass gears wrote: |
You take some of the best photos man. Lovin’the thread... |
Thanks! We just shoot with our phones. I do try to crop and edit the lighting some to pull out shadow, but otherwise, that’s all we do. Cat has a great eye, she can really get good ones of flowers and small things I never think to capture. I’ve been encouraging her to get a real camera or something to level her up.
Thanks for checking in! |
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yellowCOwesty Samba Member
Joined: April 16, 2016 Posts: 97 Location: Rocky Mountains
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:40 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Are planning on coming down to Boulder in that beautiful bus this weekend? _________________ _______________________
'78 Westy
Currently yellow and white "Sunny"
A few other air cooled VW and Porsches over the years |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 11:28 am Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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yellowCOwesty wrote: |
Are planning on coming down to Boulder in that beautiful bus this weekend? |
Thanks! We honestly considered it at length but ruled against it for a slew of reasons.
Since 2015 we haven't missed a Boulder Dead and Co show, and driving the bus to any show would definitely be the ultimate for us. At first we really pressed on the repairs so we could make this happen this year and we believe the bus would make it mechanically, by we decided to not press our luck based on our travel itinerary.
Last year we traveled to Salt lake, Boulder, Chicago, Boston and Atlanta for shows and exploring/business. This year we decided to go to less shows and spend more time in those cities. This year we held out to attend the Mt View, Shoreline shows and then drove up to San Francisco for a few extra days. In our 6 days in the Bay area and shows, I bet we saw 25-30 Bays, well over 100 Vanagons, and zero, 0 splits. I’m sure there are splits in garages, or other bus owners are making the same call I am and leaving them at home, but we feel really fortunate to have the two buses we have.
When we got home we had 6 daysto get affairs handled and then blast off again. 3 days of work and preparing for the dogs and house sitter. We did drive to the lake in the bus and floated around on a pontune for my brothers birthday.
So we chose to take my wife’s Highlander and do traffic battle in that. City driving takes all my concentration. Stop and go merging hell just didn’t seem wise for me and the bus. I consider Denver area my closest major city but I don’t get there enough to call them my roads. We have the two kids with us for the shows and we’re having a blast! Had to hit the LEGO store and Grateful Dyes for supply then up the mountains for some rafting in a few days. Summer fun. I really had to accept that the bus wouldn’t be able to keep up with our goals, and with so much on the line ticket wise, we just didn’t want to push it. Frankly, I’m so into my bus, I don’t know anxiety wise if I’d be comfortable leaving her out of my direct line of sight.
I have been lurking guiltily on the current Sportsmobile site, maybe for a modern type campmobile....
Last edited by WildIdea on Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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yellowCOwesty Samba Member
Joined: April 16, 2016 Posts: 97 Location: Rocky Mountains
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 12:38 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Sounds like you have been busy!
I took the kids to the NYC Bobby and Phil show on Friday night this year and we drove the Westy down to Boulder last year.
We ar heading out in a few minutes to go again so I was going to keep my eyes peeled for you and your family.
Bill _________________ _______________________
'78 Westy
Currently yellow and white "Sunny"
A few other air cooled VW and Porsches over the years |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:27 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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yellowCOwesty wrote: |
Sounds like you have been busy!
I took the kids to the NYC Bobby and Phil show on Friday night this year and we drove the Westy down to Boulder last year.
We ar heading out in a few minutes to go again so I was going to keep my eyes peeled for you and your family.
Bill |
We’ll keep an eye out for you!! |
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Clatter Samba Member
Joined: September 24, 2003 Posts: 7537 Location: Santa Cruz
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 1:25 am Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Thanks for taking the time to write this all up..!
FWIW,
You’re missing out not taking your bus on road-trips;
That’s where they really shine.
When you can pop the top and all sleep contained anywhere a car can park,
It makes it so you can leave your itinerary open,
And just drive until you don’t feel like doing so anymore.
It makes for a completely different trip.
RV parks always have a small spot for ‘just a car to park’.
You can even just pull into some random neighborhood if you arrive late and leave early.
When your schedule becomes flexible,
You do more of what you like, and less of what you don’t.
You can take whatever side trip,
And no longer have to stress about making some destination for the night’s stay.
We do bus trips so much,
That we took the ‘real’ car (regular car!) on a long trip,
And we forgot that we didn’t have the bus.
We were all tired and needed a night’s sleep,
Hotels were all full, we tried one after another.
Found a great campground.. But.. Oh, No..!
Never again...
Now that you have your bus shaken out,
Start driving it to work or regularly,
So you can trust it.
Sitting can be bad for reliability, just like neglect.
Now that you have been driving it,
It will be as trustworthy as ever.
Go for it..!
You’ll see what I mean.
We’re heading from Santa Cruz to Seattle next week... _________________ Bus Motor Build
What’s That Noise?!? |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 9:54 am Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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[quote="Clatter"]
FWIW,
You’re missing out not taking your bus on road-trips;
That’s where they really shine.
I guess I simply just don’t have the balls yet to take the bus on a road trip like this with my core 4. In fact, I haven’t even spent the night in the bus yet. Not even one stinking night. Our next opportunity is coming up though and was hoping to do an overnight at a Hills campsite with just one of the kids for starters. This is a whole other new phase I have yet to get experience with still. Believe me, we’re itching. Thanks for the encouragement!! |
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vwwestyman Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004 Posts: 5688 Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 9:58 am Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Take 'em!
I don't know how far away you are from the nearest camping area, but one of the things I love about the bus is how easy it is to just decide to go sleep in the bus at the state park that is a few miles away. Just get in and go.
If you're really nervous about the cramped quarters or something, and have a spot that isn't too far away from home, you could do what my friend does when we go camping.
His wife comes separate with his daughter! That way they can have fun during the evening with a campfire and all that, but the ladies can go home and sleep in their beds while we stay in the bus.
So your wife could drive a separate vehicle and head home if for some reason it just isn't working for everyone. Think of it as a life raft! _________________ Dave Cook
President, Wild Westerner Club
1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 10:18 am Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Vwwestyman,
That’s an excellent idea! That’s really where were at right now. We’re all strung out on amenities and I need a reduction program!!
We want to get up to the property of our “someday” future build site and get to loving on that with the bus. It has a great fire pit we can pull right up to. Plus, I need to spray some weeds and chainsaw some pine. This will be our training ground. And yes, it’s an hour away from home so if someone wants to bail, they can. |
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WildIdea Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2016 Posts: 928 Location: Black Hills, South Dakota
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 9:26 pm Post subject: Re: Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy |
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Sunday drive with family for a lazy day drive to a nice dinner. Cat caught this picture.
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