A nice little bus trip

It was my first “real” show of the summer, not because there haven’t been others, but life just kept getting in the way.  On Sunday June 26, in South Haven, MI our local V-Dub-Club held a fund raiser/car show.  The weather could not have been better.  It was in the mid 70’s, low humidity, and a beautiful sunny day with a gentle breeze blowing off the lake.  It just doesn’t get much better than that.

The ride down was made better by the fact that I finally got the stereo/CD player installed and working.  A bit of Jimmy Buffet to set the tone, a hot cup of coffee and a nice ride along the lake Michigan shore was a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning.

About 35 cars showed up this year, It seemed a bit lighter than in years past, but a nice group of folks to be sure.  We wandered around, looked at each others cars, and chatted for hours about VW’s, road trips to come, and adventures past, you know, the stuff that seems to happen at all car shows.

As is usually the case, each of these trips affords the opportunity to add several “to-do’s” to the list.  I have discovered that I would really like to lower the front of the bus a couple of inches to make it sit level.  I have a set of Avis adjusters for a link pin beetle, I am sure I can make those work, but it will be a pretty big job.  While I am under there, the ball joints really need to be replaced.  If I just order the ball joints, I bet that will motivate me enough to get going on this.

Show over, door prizes dispersed, things packed up, good-by’s said, and back on the road for home.  About half-way back, Saugatuck, MI, I am lured in by a fresh Michigan strawberries sign.  Strawberry season in Michigan lasts about three weeks,  I couldn’t help myself!  Like I said, A great day.

A nice ride on a nice Spring day!

Just got the itch to take the bus for a ride the other day.  I ended up down at the beach for a quick pic, and an ice cream on the way home.  It feels good to be driving the bus again.

First visit of the season

I got up to the storage garage the other day to visit the bus.  It's starting to get nice out once in a while and it is getting close to car show season.  I wanted to be sure it would start and everything looked good before move back home day.  All was well.  I couldn't resist installing the little piece of "Grill" I bought for the bus this past winter at a show!

New winter project!

As I mentioned a while back, it's time to park the bus for the cold and salty Michigan winter.  I decided it was time to start looking for a new winter project.  My first thought was a rat rod beetle, but I could not find a suitable donor.  I did, However, run across this nice little 67 Beetle that was just begging to be brought back to it's former glory.  I decided to start a new blog for the beetle project.  I will start posting back to the bus blog when I get it out in the Spring.  For now, it's Beetle time.  I hope you enjoy the project as much as I will.

Good times just driving the bus.

I have been having a great time driving the bus and just tinkering with the hundreds of little things that one must do when you own a 40 year old car.  There is always a little clip that needs to be replaced or a seal that needs to be removed and reinstalled, the list never ends.  I have been spending a bit of time working on a hard cover photo book of the bus project.  I found a site that makes this pretty easy to do.  It's called Blurb.  I haven't bought anything from them yet, so I can comment on their quality, or service, however, their software for making the book is pretty good and it's free.  I will be sure to let you know how it comes out.  I thought this would make a nice thing to have sitting in the bus when I take it to shows.
As a part of that project, I needed some pics of the bus in it's finished (current) state.  I headed out to the park and shot a few pics before the weather gets too cold.  Have a look.

Some plans for next summer include a new awning that is a bit more authentic looking than my Walmart pop-up, Maybe a roof rack, I have the front beam adjusters on order so I can lower the front to match the rear, a new stereo, and maybe a new air cleaner and some stainless push rod tubes.  Then it's on to some more shows.  My brother in law and I are talking about making it to Road America this coming June for the big show there.  Sounds like a good time.  Maybe I need a tow dolly or a trailer?

Window seals and a new stripe

It was raining a bit yesterday, so I thought I would see if I could make some headway installing the new door/window seals on the bus.  I started on the passengers side door and just dug in.  It all made pretty good sense as I went, it just seemed to take forever.  I was at it for a bit over 3 hours to do this door.  I didn't get to the door seal itself, just the window and vent seals.  It looks really nice, the only problem I am still having is the window goes up and down very stiff.  I am not sure why this is yet, I can only think it might be how hard the new seals are squeezing on the edges of the glass.  this might be a problem.  I will try putting a couple of wedges in the slot and prying the gap open a bit.  This might help a bit.

The next thing I decided to do was to add a 1/8 (3mm) black stripe to the two tone line between the turquoise lower and the white upper.  I saw this on a white over yellow bus at the show last week and it looked pretty nice.

Upon further inspection, I noticed that my seats also have a black piping on them; it's like it was just meant to be there.  What do you think?  Keep it, or lose it?

New Exhaust II

I finished up the new exhaust last night.  I am very happy with the look, and the sound.  I took it for a ride and it just seems to have a nice rumble now.  Almost cant tell a difference at highway speeds, but rollin' around town sounds much more authoritative, if a bus can be authoritative I guess :)  I considered this pipe when I completed the rebuild and didn't do it, big mistake.  In fact, I considered this pipe, no, lusted over this pipe back in the late 70's when I owned my old Beetle and just never could save up the cash. Again, another big mistake.  I love the sound.  Now I really want to drive the bus, but the weatherman says it's going to be a couple of days.
This is the Before Shot:  In essence, a small piece of water pipe.

Here are a couple of After Shots: