IT IS ALIVE

Well, good news, the bus is running. Bad news, it's not running well. The bus spent 2 weeks at a VW shop near Freeburg, MO. They did a few things; got it running, replaced the clutch cable so it would shift while driving, replaced all gas lines and the gas tank (the old one was rusty and someone had drilled a hole through the top of it, which could explain some of the smell). So I drove it the 45 minutes, back to Rolla (with Diane in close behind in the Jeep), and it seemed to be running great.

Pulling out of B&C to jump on 63!

What an experience! That was my first time ever driving the bus and US 63 isn't exactly a straight slow road for your first time. Eventually, of course, I had a line of cars behind me so on a straightaway I put the pedal down and got to almost 70, then decided better of that and returned to a safe slow 55.

But bad news, when we got home and shut him down, he didn't want to restart (we think it's a he, stubborn bastard). So I checked the battery voltage and the voltage was pretty low, then I remembered that while I was driving the generator light would flicker on and off, so I am currently testing the voltage regulator and alternator, more to come.

Voltage Regulator

Diane has been hard at work cleaning the interior, scrubbing it all with a toothbrush, it is pretty grimy in some places. She put contact paper on the cabinet shelves and lining the drawers. She is planning on sewing a curtain to cover the spare tire storage area, and then I will put shelves in (we are mounting the spare on the nose). She has also been working on resurfacing the cabinet doors and drawer faces and other synthetic wood face areas that are damaged. She has peeled them all, we just need to find the right formica.

Recently contact papered cabinets shelves.

All in all we are excited, I charge the battery (unhooking it completely) then start it and let it run for a while, it's good to hear it run.

Haulin Her In.

I got my first experience with The Bus over my Christmas trip back to MO. What had originally been planned as an inaugural short trip in the bus turned in to a trip to the VDubb shop with the green machine in tow.

Matt piloting the bus out of the garage and onto the trailer.

We hauled her to B & C auto repair, an Osage County classic that started out as a VW junk yard that eventually grew into a you-haul-it-here-we'll-get-er-working-again-just-don't-ask-too-many-questions type of place. After talking to THE Ozark Wood-Hippy who runs the place for a while, we left feeling somewhat comforted that Mike would treat us right. The news came New Years Eve, the bus once again was breathing life!

Now it's just all those nickel-and-dime issues that need to be addressed (inspection, insurance, licensing, cosmetic repairs, etc. etc.), but as far as getting the machine out of the garage, we are well on our way. Not saying that she'll actually make it to the desired destination every time or anything, but we're well on our way. First accessories to invest in: functioning fire extinguisher and a full set of emergency tools.

Oh let the posts of busly adventures come flying in (at 45 mph).

Wow, I have been really bad about this blogging. It could be that nothing has really changed. The bus is still not running. I have replaced a lot of components in the hunt for what is ultimately wrong. These include the starter, the fuel pump, a new coil and battery. Some of these probably didn't need to be replaced, but can it really hurt to have new ones? I have recently (as of yesterday) figured out that the problem is in the ignition switch. The engine does still turn over! We just have to hotwire it until I get a new ignition switch in.

Diane has started repairing the cabinets. She is currently stripping off the old formica which was cracked and warped. Lowe's doesn't carry any formica even close to the wood finish we currently have, so now we are hunting for new formica.

Trials and Tribulations

Just Getting Into Rolla

Front with Top Popped


Back Interior
Engine (Type II)

So, after thoroughly reading John Muir's book "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Guide for the Compleat Idiot". I began going through the step by step procedure for diagnosing why the bus won't start. After checking the battery, I began on the fuel system, where I discovered no flow of fuel. So, after trying to blow into the gas tank (with the hope of hearing bubbles) with no luck, I took the fuel line off but still had no flow out of the tank. So, I shoved a wire into the tank and twirled it around until gas started to pour out. Success!, but still no starting. Now I am down to diagnosing the ignition system. I think we have a bad starter. Also above are some pics of the bus.

The Story of Our Bus as We Understand It

So, Dave, Diane and I recently purchased a 1978 VW Bus Campmobile (Westfalia). It isn't exactly running as of now, but hopefully with a few adjustments and replacements it will be. Here's it's history: Some guy in California, won it in his divorce (even though it was his in-laws originally). He then eventually moved to Wisconsin. On a drive through Missouri at some point around 2005, he met these gas station owners (who we bought it from) while in Lebanon. Well his mother got cancer so he had to fly out to California immediately and put the bus in storage while he did this. He stayed quite a while in California (is actually still there) and couldn't afford to come back for the bus. So over telephone and email he sold it to the gas station owners (the only people he knew in the area). They were ecstatic and wanted to fix it up to take on a trip to Biloxi, Mississippi. Unfortunately they were not well funded, and the bus continued to sit for the next 3 years (out of storage and in the rain now). Then we saw it on Rollanet, and swooped in to save it.

It's not in as bad of shape as it could be. The rust is fairly superficial and will just take a little sandblasting and repainting to fix. When we first got it back to Rolla, we tried to start the engine (which was turning over) but with no luck. I'll post pictures soon.