Velvet Green 67 Westy

[travisyoung]

have you had a madien voyage?

[certdubtech]

Not yet.   it should happen today.  i kinda wanted the brake lights working first.  fixed my generator charging problem.  evidently rust doesn't make a good ground for a voltage regulator... 

[travisyoung]

da** vw grounds

[certdubtech]

da** vw grounds

Yup.

Brake lights are good... generator is charging...  getting closer... so is my deadline....

[certdubtech]

Driving.



 




 

[Ret.Bugtech]

YEA !!!!!!!

[travisyoung]

witnessed

[certdubtech]

Been tinkering with her... Got my brakes stopping much better.  Running great, need to get the front end aligned.  Snapped a couple of pics while i was out today at lunch.  

[certdubtech]

Oh, and just for perspective... I know she's a bit rough at the moment, but check out what she looked like just a few months ago...

The day my buddy went to pick her up...



You might say she's looking a bit better these days.   

[ASBug]

wow.
KC

[Ret.Bugtech]

Looking good there "Grasshopper"   You da man .

[certdubtech]

Drove around on the mountain for a bit today, snapping some fall pics at some key places..... I am kinda liking this whole "running vehicle" thing. 

Signal Point.... Site of a Union Signal Corps station during the battles for Chattanooga in 1863....



One of the trolley stations from the old lines that ran through the old part of town...



The original Signal Mountain Grammar School, built in the early 1900s, my old elementary school, now houses the Mountain Arts Community Center...



The Walden Civic League, home to the Mountain Opry...



Overall, a very nice day to be behind the wheel of a bus.   

[certdubtech]

This old gal has been receiving no good lovin' for a while... just some daytime drivin'.  (Her light switch died and i can't seem to remember to order one...  )

I did score an original dealer tag frame from a buddy from Gombert Volkswagen to match the little body tag i already had on it from the dealer.  Hope as soon as the bug is out of the garage and the two that i have now that aren't mine are gone, that i will start up on the rust hole fixin' in time for late spring/ early summer camping....   

[certdubtech]

It is true that the mechanic's car is often overlooked in favor of getting work done on customer rides.  This has been very true, especially as of late.  The bay window in my garage is getting nearer yet farther towards completion every time I am around it.  Rust... rust everywhere... but it's finally looking pretty good... I had been just driving the Westy, making a sort of mental checklist about what I need to do on it, but not actually fixing anything.... untill a few days ago when I was driving down Hwy 153 and heard a loud popping sound behind my head.  When I got home, I found half of one of the badly dry-rotted roof hold-downs laying in the rear facing seat.  Due to the fact that when I bought the bus, the roof wasn't actually attached, that meant that now three rough-looking hold-downs were all that were keeping the fiberglass roof hatch on top of the bus.     This was further cemented in my brain by the fact the left front corner was pulled up a bit, so I guess I am just happy that it decided not to come flying off while I was crusing down the interstate.  Anyway, pulled the top off, and ordered some new hold-downs and a pop-top seal from Wolfsburg West.  Canvas is gonna have to wait a bit.  Spent the last couple nights, and a lunch-break disassembling, straightening all the bent metal frame parts, repairing and re-attaching the wood frame to the fiberglass.  Now I just need to patch some cracks/ damage to the hatch, and that will be one less place the water can get in from now.   

[certdubtech]