CANYCA: California to New York (and back).....
13-Sept-06
Next: CANYCA#2
While not quite what you might have in mind for an article on a site called Backroadbus.com, this is actually a story in progress about...(wait for it!)...the road back bus. Yes, there is a bus involved, but the poor thing hasn't been on the road for well nigh eighteen years, although its storage partner, a rather mousy-smelling 57 ragtop beetle, has been parked on its German tires (totally flat, crusty bias-plies) for about thirty. Yes, I'm sure they are quite excited to be moved once again....now the roads in California will be graced by their presence, if only we can get them both out of the garage. The beetle will be trailered, and the bus will be driven....if all goes well, that is.
Having been flown to upstate New York, my ongoing mission (which I
gleefully chose to accept) is simple: Ascertain the possibility of making
a 1973 Westy roadworthy, make it so, and then drive it from its former
home of 33 years to the northern SF Bay Area in California for the people
who now own it. I feel bad calling it an "it". Bay-ness notwithstanding,
I've bonded a bit with this bus (a necessary function of sharing such an
adventure) and will now introduce you to it by name: "The Great Pumpkin".
If only Mr. Schultz were alive to see it roll into Sonoma County....Anyway, she was stored in a humid climate, but safe from the brunt of the weather inside a well-built garage, alongside the beetle. On blocks, with tires new enough to have those little poky rubber tabs, the worst of the decay was mostly in the engine compartment, where the ancestral home of the local mouse tribes seemed to have been centered in the air cleaner. There were mouse signs everywhere else, but they considerately refrained from eating the interior or other delicate parts. The five gallons of rotten gas were fun to drain, and the fuel lines and flexible brake lines were most ripe for the changing. All sorts of loose hoses and gunky components graced the engine compartment, and a considerable amount of hard black oil on the underside of the engine is suggestive of some leaks worth paying attention to, although until I get the thing running, I'll not even know what the real condition of the engine is. I did manage to get it to run a bit with fresh fuel poured into the carbs, and it sounded pretty good, so hopes are high.
The brakes felt great (like new), and were not frozen, and the suspension
is in absolutely perfect shape. This bus was a "vacation-trip-only"
vehicle, which has gone to Alaska, Maine, various other camping, and also
to Florida (about 10-12 times). Having been purchased new in Germany,
there are 86,077 miles on the odometer, and it was a lot of fun (yes, even
for a '73) to find the original purchase documents, import and duty
paperwork, VW brochures, service records, etc. in the glove compartment!There have been some holdups in the "putting-it-all-back-together" phase, but we'll see who is at fault. Hopefully no-one. More on that later. I have had time to modify/extend the vacuum line for the brake servo so that it doesn't leak vacuum, plug several vacuum leaks that would have been hard to miss, inspect the front bearings (perfect), clean the interior and engine compartment, and various other busy-work things. There's lots of lubrication going on around here! The plan is to set out on the trek across the country on Saturday...we'll see what happens. Sure would be nice to be able to adhere to that schedule.
At least you all know what is going on now, and I'll do my best to keep
you updated, informed, and, hopefully, interested as the story unfolds.
I've been somewhat lackadaisical in the photographic department, so I'll
do what I can to rectify the lack of cool pictures. It will probably get
better once we get out on the road. For those of you who have not seen
upstate New York, it is really a surprising treat. I'm currently existing
at the northern edge of the verdant foothills of the Catskills, in a
decidedly rural setting, and the sense of history is quite strong. The
air is crisp and clean, the critters are abundant and happy, and the
overwhelming green against the ever-changing skies is just beginning to
give way to fall colors.....I hope to catch some of those colors
first-hand by the time we leave, but I fear I will miss it this trip. Ah
well....
Until later, Gene
13-Sept-06