Two Weeks Off - PNW Road Trip

[Clatter]

Awlrighty, now, it’s time for our annual Big Bus Road Trip.

2018 has us going from home in Santa Cruz up North along the coast.

The bus had been quite neglected over the last year or so,
With the wipers being broken for the last two years..
A couple of other brothers have come through to make this situation better.
First, Jeremy ‘Surf City Racing’ here sells me a parts bus that I rescue a wiper assembly from,
Chris ‘Old DKP Driver’ gives me a turn signal/wiper switch,
And the master Tim ‘TCash’ comes by to help me get it all sussed out!
I’m not worthy!
Takes a village..

This was Saturday, first day of the Two Weeks;
Tim -and- my brother William gave a whole Saturday to dialing in the ‘ol busaroo..!

The thing got rotors/pads/seals/bearings up front,
And it woulda got shoes in the rear,
Because they got greased up a bit,
(Don’t pack the rear hubs full of grease)
But the shoes I got had the holes in the wrong places.
So the grease in the hub got pushed thru the rear bearings,
The (still a lot left) rear shoes and drums got cleaned,
And in with new seals for the rear bearings.
CV boots all around again (groan), and a check-out of everything under there..

Tim spent the whole day messing with my mess of a steering column, and up under the dash (Whee!!).
What with my hack-job gauges and huge stereo amp,
Plus the column all together wrong,
He dialed in the controls, with the newer switch and redone wiper shafts,
It drives like a new bus now.
Never knew that the turn signal and dimmers slid like silk,
Instead of scraping,
Or that the wheel wasn’t supposed to wiggle,
Or that you don’t need to bump your knees on the switches,
Or.. Etc..

Thanks again Tim, it feels really good to drive the thing now.
Mom especially is super stoked that we have wipers.

So a full day with three guys Saturday,
Then William came by Sunday to help me finish a bunch of details,
Like broken turn signals, bad door release, etc.
All in all, FIVE full man-days over Saturday and Sunday.

The Bus just oozes brotherly love.
I’m really not worthy.
Too many thanks to throw at those guys...

Let’s get packing!

_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Monday was packing-and-final-prep.
(Weren’t we supposed to be gone already? )

Started with emptying old detritus and funk from missions past...

Followed with emptying all of the dozens of blankets and ..?

Followed with an in/out wash job..

Love to look down and see this bubble on the fluid reservoir.
Shows at a glance that the filler is full..

Now, you can’t really pack everything you would ever need..
So it’s all really an exercise in futility..
But this is what I decided to take this time..

The rear spare tire well is good for its kind of stuff:
Three quarts of Brad Penn 20/50,
A mini multimeter,
Wire,
Starting fluid,
Jumper cables,
Etc.

Up under the front seat gets the normal tools tools:
Sockets,
Screwdrivers,
Wrenches,
Snips,
Etc..

Like I said, futility.. Whatever you actually need you’ll never have.
The idea is to just prevent the deck lid from being opened the whole time..

The important part was a fresh wax job on the 6’6” Pumpkin Seed,
And a box of 80s punk cassettes I found at home last time I was at Mom’s.
Except,
Um,
After playing ‘My Beach’ by the Surf Punks,
Mom nixed the box of cassettes..

_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Clatter]

Early Tuesday morning (1PM ),
We finally got rolling..
Hoping to make it over the golden gate before traffic,
We did decently enough.

Balling the jack on 101, we made it thru the 100+F temps to Richardson Grove State Park.
There is an epic swimming hole/jumping cliff there.
Wednesday morning was awesome.. We had the place to ourselves.

We planned to stay a day or two,
But it got crowded,
And hot,
So we packed up and pushed on..
_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[type2rescuemaine]

Awesome bus (I'm really liking the wheels)

[Z]

What’s up w the MB wheels?

[aeromech]

I have two sons and a brother. Never spent any time with me in the garage. You're lucky in that regard. I do however have some Samba Brothers that make up for them. Looking forward to seeing more trip pics. Have fun
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[SatireChuck]

Clatter, that looks like a ton of fun! Man, I do miss my cassette mixtapes. I would spend HOURS making the best mix of Live Led Zeppelin, Who, and Beatles concerts. Man, those were the days!

Thanks for sharing the photos of your adventure!

--Brother Chuck
_________________
***
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” -Gandalf

———

Brother Chuck’s VW’s:

1968 VW Beetle
1971 VW Bus (Currently under restoration)

[Stuartzickefoose]

Just shook hands with this smart fella at the lab...watch for updates...
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[Clatter]

Aww, shucks.. thanks for the props, guys.

Wheels are Mercedes..

Been super busy on the trip for over a week now,
Got some great stories to tell, and a few pics.

Something about having the phone fired up during the whole affair,
It doesn’t really fit our theme.
(I don’t own this phone, it owns me).

Anyhow,
Later in my second day, this happened:
Thanks to Xevin for the post..

Will try and grab a few minutes to tell some tales,
It’s been a great trip so far!
_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[richparker]

Super stoked for you and your family. Safe travels!!!
_________________
__________
’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[Xevin]

Some of the best parents I’ve ever met. Clatters kids are awesome. Well done Clatter and J.

Now that I think about it. Most ACVW parents I’ve met are awesome parents.
_________________
Keep on Busin'

[wcfvw69]

Ya know, for some reason, I always "assumed" Clatter was a retired guy in his 60's.. Interesting...
_________________
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**

[Xevin]

[D/A/N]

[Tram]

[aeromech]

What kids?
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[TomWesty]

[Xevin]

[Tram]

[wcfvw69]