Greg
Joined: 12 Aug 2009 Posts: 490 Location: Jefferson, GA
1969 Volkswagen Beetle
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:56 am Post subject: Colin's recent visit to ga |
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it's long so get comfy.....
We recently had Colin from Itinerate air cooled in for a visit. If you are interested...he's an old school VW guy that travels around the country helping VW owners. He came highly recommended from the samba, his web site and his current and previous customers. (also, WELL worth it, great guy, VERY knowledgeable) If you ever get the chance, hire him for a day!
I decided that I wanted to maximize my time absorbing Colin’s wisdom so Jon graciously allowed me to sleep out on his front porch. (kidding, the spare bed was more than comfy)
A big thanks to Jon for hosting the whole weekend, allowing us to borrow tools, grinders, supplies etc. as needed. Also, he worked for weeks prior to get his shop in order for us.
So Colin gets there Sat morning. For those that don't know me, I'm not what you would call a morning person. My favorite thing about morning is that it ends at noon. Anyway, colin rolls in, gets his cup of coffee and immediately goes into drill sergeant mode, and not in a bad way, I respected how he wanted to get an organized list together to maximize our time and to make sure our requirements were meet.
He seemed intrigued with my issues initially so we took my bus out first. all 4 of us went, Colin driving, me riding shotgun and Jon and Kris in the back generally causing havoc. We drove down an abandoned cul de sac and Colin conducts an impromptu brake test as we head toward a ravine, (maybe not a ravine but it looked big enough to hurt luckily the brakes worked but not well enough for Colin (see list below) Then I had my turn behind the wheel. I thought I knew how to shift without thinking but having Colin beside me made me more nervous that I expected. It didn't help that the peanut gallery was in the back as well. I almost threatened to "turn this bus around" but didn't
As the day progressed he helped us work through our list. all the while trying to figure out the FI problem on Kris’ bus. It was running WAY rich and Colin tried everything he knew. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be fixed that day. Much to everyone surprise and disappointment
By the end of the second day, I had taken to calling him the bus whisperer. He could (almost) walk up to a bus/beetle/old tractor, lay hands on it and say" #2 intake is a little tight. I'm joking, of course, but he had a knack for 1. Finding the problem, and 2. Knowing what the solution is….except for Kris' bus, more on that later.
In the end, I was very pleased at how much we got accomplished, sorry Kris. (There were some things I never thought I’d get fixed and some things that I didn’t know were broken.) It was a very fun weekend and very informative as well.
Jon
adjusted carbs, discussed carb options, fixed headlight/turn signal problems (found a bad relay), cleaned up wiring in engine bay, adjusted door latches, discussed engine health and odd noise, lubed sliding door,
Greg
adjusted AFM (FI part), discussed how/when to adjust the AFM. adjusted front door latches, fixed rear door latch problem - thanks Jon for the new latch, adjusted AAR (FI part), adjusted rear brakes, thanks again Jon and Kris for helping:), discussed proper way to shift in a bus, I was having trouble finding 2nd, adjusted shift plate, adjusted drag link to center steering box, pulled spark plug and discussed how it looked, lubed sliding door
Kris
Attempted to adjust FI (afm, sensors, etc.) replaced windshield assembly, lubed sliding door,
The only downside to the whole weekend was the FI refused to be adjusted _________________ 1969 Beetle
1974 Westy FI Conversion |
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