Date:         Tue, 12 Sep 1995 11:47:36 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         dabaker@nas.nasa.gov (M. David Baker)
Subject:      RESTORATION SAGA PII


I meant to post part 2 of my "adventure" last Friday because it's kinda
long.  But after a little "nudging" from Mr. VanBondo, I think I'll post
it now and answer some of Rusty's questions.  Apologies to you Joel for
spamming the list with  a long one so early in the week.

First:  Rusty, I am very happy with my Bus.  So very very happy.  I have
wanted a magic Bus since I was a Freshman in college.  Not because I 
listened to a certain Rock group (RIP Jerry), but because I had a lot of
fun driving and riding a friends Bus then.  I feel a certain pleasure
while driving the Bus... I think there's a German word for that too. Also,
thankyou for suggesting the Bus to me.  Both Jeff and I got what we
wanted and that is the most important thing, right?

Anyway, to the other list members, I left off last time with a couple of
"exciting" previews about getting the Bus home.  I will now give you the
rest of the story...

Thankfully, Jeff got to the airport and we hooked up.  On the way back to
the Pomona Fair Grounds I found out that Jeffs ~350 mile trip from Tempe
Arizona took 8 hours.  He had had a little trouble getting there himself.
Mind you, he started the trip with an engine rebuilt from the heads up
(the original rebuilt had about 10K on it).  As he got close to Pomona,
the Bus broke a fan belt.  Jeff was concerned that he had the wrong belt
on in the first place.  So he had to replace a belt to finish the trip.
The night before he picked me up at the airport, Jeff said that he had
re-adjusted the valves and torqued the heads as a follow up on the head
rebuild.  When we got back to the Fairgrounds, Jeff's concern lead him to
replace the fan belt again.  He had about three extra fan belts with him.
At this point a red light should have gone off in my mind.... I was too
stressed out to think about it.

I have described the Bus to all of you already so I won't bore you some
more.  I liked what I saw and it was everything he said it was.  We closed
the deal.  Each of us was happy.  I got in the Bus and drove away.

I got a B.S. in Mech. Eng. at Cal Poly in Pomona.  I used to live right
next to the Fairgrounds.... I was outta there quick.  The Bus drove great...
great for 36HP and "Sherman Tank" split-case transaxle.  I hopped on the 210
at an even 55 mph clip.  The plan then was to pick up my brother-in-law and
some yard toys for the nephew in Burbank.  We would then drive the Bus and
the toys some 400+ miles to San Jose.

By the time I got to Burbank I had realized the first hurdle.  The spare-
tank for gas was not hooked up... and the odometer was non-functional. I'll
take a Double-Double Animal-Style and a California Map to go please! (we
had to stop at an In-N-Out Burger joint in Ventura)..

For the next four hours the trip was uneventful.  The Bus motored right along.
I did notice a low resonating rumble that I attributed to the old tranny.
The rumble varied with speed and was predominant upon going up hills.  It
seemed to disapear as we topped out at our 55 mph cruising speed.  We made
it to San Luis Obispo at about 7:45 PM and stopped for Starbucks coffee.
We filled up the tank with another 7 gallons a calculated the Bus was getting
better than 25 mpg.  For those that don't know anything about Highway 101 that
goes north/south close to the coast of California... the next part of the trip
was what I was most worried about.  Right outside of San Luis Obispo, there 
is a section of 101 called the Cuesta Grade.  It is certainly no Grapevine or
even a Pacheco Pass for that matter but it is a 2000 foot climb at about an
8% grade (it seemed like 50% in the Bus).

At this point it was dark and the six volt system wasn't shedding the kind of
light that I was used to in my Scirocco (400 watt halogen inserts).  You know
what?  That little jewel (bless her heart) putted right up that hill... 
redlining at 30 mph in 3rd gear the whole way!  I was so happy!  Easy street
for the next 200 miles NO PROBLEM!                -famous last words

She broke down another fifteen minutes up the road, just outside of Atascadero.
I was driving and I heard a really loud snap.  I looked at my brother-in-law
and he asked me, "Did one of the toys fall?"....."I think so."  I drove 
another 20 seconds before I noticed the red generator light.  I immediately
turned off the engine and coasted to the shoulder of the road. Now I know
what the low rumbling noise was... a dying fan belt

This is when I found out that the extra belts that Jeff had packed me off
with were not the same size.  Not the same size as each other and not the same
size as what was shredded and splattered everywhere in the engine compartment.
I put one one.... it lasted about 5 miles.  I put another one on (smaller)....
it lasted 5 minutes.  I put the last belt on (larger).... it lasted 50 feet.

It was very dark out... We had a beautiful view of the Milky Way over the 
Freeway Car Lights.  There is no smog in Central California.

John (bro-in-law) promptly used his cell phone and called my sister to tell
her that we were dead in the water.  Theresa (sister, 7 months pregnant) got
into the Blazer (brand new, Chevy, VW Bus nemesis) and drove to Atascadero to
meet us at an as-of-yet-undetermined-location.  John then had the low battery
light signal from his cell phone.... ~20 seconds of roadside phone usage left.

John then called AAA and was connected with a recorded message.... so much for 
roadside emergency help.  He immediately hung-up to save batteries.  He called
911 and managed to squeeze in a general location by the time the phone cut out
twice and died for good.  I wish Bob Hoover was there that night.  He could
of engineered a quick fix to get us into town... or at least been able to 
describe the situation a hell of a lot more eloquently than I.  

After 45 minutes of waiting John and I decided to split up. His paper covered
my rock; or was it his rock smashed my scissors.... I can't remember which, I
just remember that I had to hoof it to find a phone to call AAA again. Luckily
we never got the chance to split up.  As I was walking away, this car (T-Bird
I think) pulls over.... it had no license plates and all of the windows were
pitch black.  I stop as this creepy looking character steps out of the car.
This dude sees both of us beginning to walk toward him (John has a flashlight 
he is flashing at the dude).  The guy shouts, "Only one please!"   John and I
stop... John says, "Uh, Um, we just called a towing service."  The dude jumped
back into his car a drove away.

"John, why did you do that?  We could of used his cigarette lighter jack to 
power the phone!" exclaims I.

"No way!  His car didn't have any plates.  THAT GUY WAS LOOKING FOR HEAD!"
says John.  

I apologize now for anyone offended by this diatribe but it was to become a 
great source of amusement for John and I later on and it is part of the story.

Fifteen minutes later a CHiPs showed up and calls AAA for us.  Fifteen minutes
after that, the Sheriff from the original 911 call showed up.  Fortyfive minutes
after that, the tow truck finally showed!  Irritation Factor was now at 95.  
Jeff's name was now being used in several curses that I will certainly not 
repeat here.  The truck towed us about two miles up the road to a Motel 6,
which thankfully was walking distance from an auto parts store.  We got a hold
of my sister and she would later arrive at Motel 6 at 1:00 am.  

Sister and brother-in-law left (he had to be on a plane the next afternoon).
I stayed in Atascadero in hopes of getting a fan belt the next day.  Worry and
stress kept me up all night.  The next morning I showered a put on the dirty
clothes from the night before.  I walked down to the auto parts store.  Low
and Behold!  There was a VW repair shop in Atascadero on my way to the parts
store.  Horst's VW Repair Shop.  Ol' Rudy the mechanic there set me up with
some belts and told me to bring the Bus in when I got one on.  Cool guy.

The belt wouldn't go on right.  I'd get them on, have the quarter inch of play,
but after I started up the Bus the belt would start twisting and rolling over.
I limped the Bus back to Horst's.  Rudy saw the problem right away.  I had
a 12 volt pully on the generator (Insert large sinking feeling in pit of 
stomach).  My spirits rose slightly and some internal warning lights extinguish-ed when Rudy acknowledged the rest of the engine as stock. (read with German
accent) "You should keep this stock, this jewel is worth some money..."

Rudy let me use the shop phone to call Ryder.  Truck and dolly one-way cost
me $420.  About the only other good thing to happen in Atascadero was the 
cute blonde girl that came into Horst's shop.  Apparently her problem was that
she somehow got a king sized mattress stuck in the back of her Jetta.  The
problem was compounded by the bizarre fact that only one door latch (driver's)
worked on the 4-door car.  She said she really liked the Bus too... who said
VW can't be babe-magnets (no political incorrectness intended).

Towing the Bus another 180 miles was uneventful.  However it was the only time
she's probably got up to 65 mph! (Albeit backwards with rear wheels off the
ground).

So lately I have been moving into another house... one which is requiring a 
lot of work to get ready (you see my roommated and I got a large break on
moving in if we remodled ourselves).  I have yet to pull the motor and really
check it over and work all the bugs out.  Advice about what sort of things
to check out with the motor out would be much appreciated.  I look forward
to communicating with all about my future project.  Maybe one day I can get
it out to a show.....

More when the engine is pulled.

David Baker                                       '56 "Jump-thru" Panel
dabaker@nas.nasa.gov