Date:         Fri, 10 Nov 1995 10:22:53 -0600 (CST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Joseph F. Fournier II" <jfourni@comp.uark.edu>
Subject:      Friday Rambling: Ressurection, not Restoration

I'm one of those who haven't named my bus yet. I usually don't name
vehicles. But if I had to pick a name, it might be something possibly
offensive--sacreligious--to some others. I would have to, based on the
amount of work I've done so far and the amount of work still on my list to
do, choose a name that would reflect what's really going on with this bus.
It's not restoration; it's ressurection. 

I have only owned this bus since mid-summer, when I coerced my wife into
believing this would be a suitable replacement for the two-seater I was
trying to sell. "This will be the family fun-mobile, I told her. We can 
take it camping! Look it's got an auxiliary heater. We can tie the canoe 
on top!" She agreed, and I borrowed the money from my sister to make the 
purchase. 

So far I've repacked a CV joint, replaced brakes, rebuilt a carburator,
rebuilt an engine, cut and sanded out rust, primered spots, replaced dents
and holes with fiberglass and bondo, reshaped a smashed nose, pounded a
front bumper into shape, and pulled out mountains of rigged wiring from
the PO and pre-PO POs. 

Still on the list of things I need to do is a pilot bearing replacement,
an ignition switch replacement, more rust removal, a paint job (if I ever
get there), checking the auxiliary heater and subsequent repairs,
replacing cables to the aux. heater, replacement of a broken emergency
brake cable, and reconstruction of what is now a wooden battery tray. I
have another list of things I might as well do...like repack the other
CVs, replace their boots, service and check the whole shifter linkage
assembly, and replace all those broken lenses. 

By far, I've spent more time under and around the bus than in the bus. 
And the sad part is, when I'm all done, it still won't be anything to show
to anyone not knowing where I started. There is a spot where the floor is
rusted through...where the driver's feet would rest if he were sitting and
not driving. Underneath, there are small brown patches, attesting to the 
death that will come sometime. She has cancer. It will be terminal. 

I guess it's all in how you look at it though. I'm in it for the long
haul...I figure some day this bus will be dependable...at least until the
cancer starts eating the floor from under me. Then, with all her
reconstructed parts and the last bit of fortitude she can muster, I'll go
on a quest for a better body, a '71 campmobile, I hope, with minimal rust,
perhaps a blown engine or stripped spindle or even a cursed pilot bearing
that lies to the owner: "Your transmission is shot...sell me." 

By that time, I'll know every nook and cranny of my bus. I'll know her
stengths and weaknesses.  I may even know her name. 

Happy Friday! Joe

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Joseph F. Fournier II <jfourni@comp.uark.edu> 501.575.7353
<a href="http://comp.uark.edu/~jfourni/"> Joe Fournier</a>
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"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
                    --Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
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