Home away from Home, on wheels.

[Glenn]

[quote="ObnoxiousBlue]for those mid-night runs to water the bushes.[/quote]
you might have an enlarged prostate. you shop get it checked.

[ObnoxiousBlue]

Can I borrow your finger?

[ObnoxiousBlue]

Transplant from Raj's thread... Sorry dude, not sure how I pulled that off...

Bus felt sluggish on the way to and from Flanders this weekend.
I KNOW it hasn't gotten new plugs in at least three years, and my air filter is black.
Ordered some tune up stuff today, and would like to adjust the valves and check the timing/dwell before I take the buss off to Salem on 10/11
My stuff will be here on Tuesday from Bus Depot. Though, none of it is particularly related to my doing the plugs wires and filters.
Is anyone versed in timing/valves and dwell that would be able or interested in coming by Sunday, or any time after work for that matter to talk me through it?
I'd rather not have to pay someone to do it if I can try myself... But I have to build up some confidence before my bug Salem trip.

[Big_kid]

Makes more sense here. I'm in the same boat- I've never adjusted valves or timing on a VW either.

[ObnoxiousBlue]

Timing I've done before, and Glenn has shown me a couple times (after I messed mine up on Reise back a few years ago!)
Valves though, scare me... lol

[Glenn]

your engine has hydrolic lifters and they should not need adjust I g.

[ObnoxiousBlue]

I know it doesn't need to be done as often Glenn, but I read on TS that it should be done annually (or so)
You recall how sluggish the bus felt on those hills going to Flanders?
It felt just as sluggish on the flat highway coming home.
Some of the more "reputable" guys in the bay forum over on TS suggested checking dwell and valves first, as well as for vaccum leaks, a bad TS2 and poor spark.
I'm starting off with the basic tune up stuff. The points, cap, and rotor were just put in back in July at West River Westies. But of course, it is possible that it wasn't dialed in as good as it could have been since we were sitting in the campground...

[Brown]

Mike, did anything get changed that coincided with the problems, if so start there!

[ObnoxiousBlue]

Nothing that I can pinpoint. The bus had been running great lately (and still sounds good)
I do notice when I start it from cold, It seems to be missing... I hear a gallop in the engine's pace.
My 009 failed back in July, and Dennis Haynes helped me install my correct distributor. The bus had been running great, and would have no issue getting to 70... I did notice that it didn't have the same "get up and go" as the 009, but it is a smoother run that the 009 was.
On my way to Flanders, the bus felt sluggish. I thought it was just hill after hill, and passed it off. Then, on the way home again I felt like it was sluggish, seeming to take much longer to get up to speed and keep with traffic on my way home.
Back to the gallop, when it's warmed and running it sounds pretty good. But cold it seems to miss, so I highs that was a good place to start.
I'll do the plugs and wires this week when they show up from Bus Depot...

Any other ideas?

[Tom]

Mike, Check the intake runner bolts to the heads and make sure they're tight, I checked mine before going to Flanders and on the passenger side 3 out of the 4 bolts were backed off. (alot)

[EDNCAROL]

So how's Peabody doing?

[Raj]

Might be worth doing a compression test on this motor while you are doing a tune up. I think its been a while, and god knows you have been racking up the miles. Shes an old girl, lets monitor her health.

[EDNCAROL]

Shes an old girl, lets monitor her health.

Raj wtf ! Peabody' s all male buddy.

[Raj]

Shes an old girl, lets monitor her health.

Raj wtf ! Peabody' s all male buddy.

lol

[ObnoxiousBlue]

Bus has been acting odd lately. Seems sluggish at low speed. In any case, rolling it upstate tomorrow for a wedding. That I was really hesitant to take on. But the pay is worth the risk.
Dropping the bus at GT on Sunday evening. Realllly hoping its a simple, and quick fix so I can take the bus to Salem next weekend. This might be the first year, in quite a few years that I miss my annual October Salem trip.

[AoT]

Realllly hoping its a simple, and quick fix so I can take the bus to Salem next weekend. This might be the first year, in quite a few years that I miss my annual October Salem trip.

Hope so too buddy! This ain't no trick or treat!!

[EDNCAROL]

Mike if you don't make the witch hunt there's always Zombie hunting on the Island.

[ObnoxiousBlue]

Winter 2013 Repair List:

• Front door moisture barriers
• Front door cards
• Kick Panels
• New Retrosound Model 2
• New Front Speakers
• Relocate door speakers to rear of bus
• New Front Seats
• Recover bench seat
• Complete front end overhaul (to hell with the rattles)

Not as ambitious as last winters to do list...
But of course a few things may pop up.
The plan is to have the bus ready to go for a trip to Florida for No dough, and the South East Baywindow Rally the first weekend of April.

[ObnoxiousBlue]

Got the bus washed, clayed, polished, and waxed today. Found a bit over overspray I hadn't known of but left it alone for now.
Gotta get the cabinets all cleaned out and the "consumables" out for the winter months.
Started my list of parts and gear to be replaced...

[ObnoxiousBlue]

Got my Hagerty renewal today, took my bus from $15k to $25k in light of the bay-bus market trends lately. Realized, that God forbid something should happen, I couldn't replace my bus for the value of my policy.
Hagerty doesn't have any valuation tool for buses post 1963.
I gave new photographs of the bus, and provided a source for my pricing/valuation (TheSamba's classifieds)
Unfortunately, loss history in my house (namely my step-father's collision) still show up on "registered driver's MVR's for the household" so, I have a $500 deductible that will stay on until 2016. I'm not happy about it, but overall it's better than being under insured.

[EDNCAROL]

Your golden at 25k. I wouldn't sweat the five hundred bucks.

[MrBreeze]

Do you have to have a garage for Hagerty? I have mine still under Geico Classic

[Tom]

This is a wake up call, I really need to up my coverage. I'm only insured for 10K.

[Markus]

for Hagerty you need to have a daily driver also insured with them in order to have a classic covered? Does the dd need to have 4 wheels. In reality my dd is my 1986 BMW K100RS. Put waaaaaaay more miles on that than anything else.

Right now my bus is insured at a value of $5K with progressive RV insurance.

[ObnoxiousBlue]

Rob, Yes. You need to have a garage or storage for it. I had spoken with Hagerty, and explained to them that "sometimes the bus may be left out overnight" if I am doing something with another car, and they said that was absolutely fine. I just have to have a mechanism for getting the bus out of harms way and keeping the "asset" protected.

Tom, go look on TS. I paid $10k for Peabody back in late '09. If I wanted to buy it today, it would cost me easily $15, and that is lacking alot of repair work that I have invested into the bus. Not counting things like tires, brakes and other consumables my battery system alone was almost $600.

Markus, no you don't have to have a daily driver insured with Hagerty, though you do need to have a daily driver.
I don't know for sure if they will consider a bike as a daily, but if you call and explain that you live in a heavily populated metropolitan community where cars are devalued then it might work... lol
As for garage, yes. The vehicle needs to be stored in a garage, warehouse (commercial rental space) or a post shed (a car port)
Your bus may be a stated value of $5,000 with Progressive RV insurance, all that means is that the value of the policy is $5,000.
If you want to be protected with a classic auto, you really need to have stated value (also called agreed value) coverage.
Essentially, you and the carrier - in my case Hagerty, "shake hands" on what your vehicle is worth.
In the unfortunate circumstance of a "total event" where the vehicle is deemed a complete loss, the policy pays out on stated value. In my case, $25,000.
When you carry basic liability, collision or comprehensive (likely what your RV insurance is) you are actually signing with a carrier who will use "book value" for what a vehicle is worth.
If you were God forbid in a collision tomorrow and the bus suffered injury, Progressive will appraise the cost of the repair against the value of your bus.
On market, your bus is worth very, very little (it's ok, so is mine)
Because the cars are aged, with no ready part availability. The man hours to repair metal will quickly out cost the value of a $1000 (blue book) value bus and it will be readied for auction as you collect only a PARTIAL PAYOUT based on what the buses real value is. Read your policy, as you will likely only be paid the book value of the bus NOT the $5000 you think you are insured for.
THIS is the common confusion when it comes to insurance.
Also, as AoT will attest, don't try to trick the carrier if you don't have a garage they WILL Google Map the address to see if you are fibbing. Be smart, give the address of a friend or relative and say you rent the garage...