Ducky, a VW Bus

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Just make sure you put that micro bus in behind that suicide jockey? He's hauling dynamite and he needs all the help he can get!

Haha, love these old vans. So happy when I see people out there keeping them on the roads. One thing I don't think I would enjoy is the working on that rear engine. Access looks terrible. Now that's my opinion, but I have never worked on them before. I'd also imagine them to be as fast as you could toss a brick, but that's every vehicle I've owned, so all the better, no speeding tickets. Keep up the good work!

 

[sneaks]

Well, it's been a hot minute since I've updated this. Winter has finally passed up here in Maine. Had to move due to a dry well for the winter, back in the place we've been for the last 8 years (but not much longer, a move is coming). Winter stuck around longer than I would have liked, then of course nothing goes as planned - a quick fix ends up being a weekend project . 

Added some air circulation, hopefully it will help.



Japanese futons fit pretty well, we a queen-size in the house and love them.



Ended up chasing down a no-charge problem that required running a new B+ from alt to starter, that was fun. Rearranged the rack for better space utilization.



Repurposed an old iPhone for speedo and dash cam, another is tunes and monitor for a 3rd old phone out back as rear camera.





And finally, LEGAL!



Of course, 300' from pulling back into the driveway it crapped out. Looks like the fuel pump decided its not happy so had to order another. Nothing is easy or fast, especially with 42yo rigs, but I'm still having fun

 

[highdesertranger]

Is that a Kenwood 2 knob stereo? I want it.

On subject. Looking good.

Highdesertranger

 

[sneaks]

I wish Unfortunately it's an old Audiovox, radio works, the deck doesn't (probably the belt turned petrified about the same time Windows 95 came out). Though to be honest, between the MT tires and the big rack on the roof, "listening to music" is a rather loose term. The tires will stay, I might have to think about either putting a dam on the front of the rack or only putting it on when really need it. Or learn to live with it and just enjoy rolling down the road. Will see what the voices in my head tell me

 

[sneaks]

Update: got the fuel system back up and running. Ended up replacing more than the fuel pump (tank, a hidden hard line, vents) but it is all good. More done in the driveway (hopefully) means less done in the middle of nowhere . Rebuilt the distributor, started getting some timing scatter. There's a fiber washer that went MIA at some point. Though I could replace it without complete disassembly, since I had the whole kit it was a good time to clean up the plates, replace 42 yo felts, shims, springs, and washers. Nice and stable across the range now. Yeh, it's not supposed to move like that...

Buddy from NH stopped over to help with the fuel system and to break in his new motor, good to have people willing to help. Saved a lot of time. 

Pulled the rack off, too much noise. I'll put it on when I needed. Relocated the lights to the bumpers. [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yesterday I finally got a few hours to do some work. Between mom’s failing health, trying to house hunt in the worst market ever, and year two of a drought has made things a little hectic. I’ve had some valve cover gaskets for a few months on the shelf. Last time I ran Duckster, I was getting smoke off the HEs after a few minutes of running so finally hit the bullet and got them swapped out. The old ones were solid as rawhide. Oops. Cleaned up the VCs and bales, new gaskets, correct orientation (!!!!) easy as pie and no leaks (so far). [/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I got a cheap Chinese tach for free so figured “why nor?” Took a bit to figure out the install since the instructions in the box are for oil pressure gauge, not RPM. Made it work. Eventually I’ll move it to the dead spot to the right of the Speedo, this works for now. Checked it against my Sunpro and is within 100rpm or so.

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[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=small][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]So this morning I took it out for a little jaunt. Stopped for gas (gauge working well, yay). Got cornered by a bunch of ATVers with questions: is it 4x4? Does it have a Porsche engine? It has a sink??? Lol, good times [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]. Drove it down to the rescue station so I could do some paperwork, then decided I wasn’t ready to go back to work so headed over to the dam (yeh, this is a “dam” in Maine lol), put my toes in the water, had an iced coffee, and enjoyed watching the kingfishers feed. Still haven’t ventured offthe beaten patch yet, nor a long trip. Working up to it. Cruises at 55-60 (gps) around 3200rpm, 82F out, head temps didn’t break 340F pulling up a long grade, steady at 320F n the flats. I’m getting more confidence in him, more travels are on the horizon.[/font][/font][/size]

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[bullfrog]

Looking to buy a house in this market is not practical unless you can AirBnb it at twice the average mortgage payment. You will be very lucky( I don't know I would call anybody lucky!) to get a house at assessed value which means a lot of money out of your pocket. Market prices appear to stay steady or go up and seem they will for at least the next year. Large investment corporations have taken over single family homes just about. You might want to consider improving a small piece of land or looking for an failed homestead with utilities and building a tiny home but an existing house is difficult to find and get for anything near a reasonable price(average prices up around $284,000 last I looked) now it seems except in undesirable or underdeveloped areas, think poverty stricken and high crime areas.

 

[sneaks]

Don't we know it. We'd wait if we could. We are currently renting, been here 8 years, dug well went dry last September, didn't recover until April, and then wasn't fully recovered but enough to move back from the one room apartment we were in (landlord put us up attached to his house for the winter). Haven't had any appreciable rain since May 1, well down to 18". Cannot do that room again. Rentals are more than a mortgage at this point. Approved FHA but that really limits the purchase options and conventional kills the savings for a down payment and probably still isn't enough. We've thought of just hitting the road but with my job and data requirements, not an option. Fun times.

 

[nature lover]

It is a little known fact that you can beef up the rear end by installing slinky‘s over each shock. Just kidding I love the microbus. I’d still have mine if my wife wouldn’t have made me get rid of it because it was too darn cold to ride in. Mine was turquoise and white, oh what a beautiful thing. Speaking of “thing“ there’s another VW I’d like to have. Not to live in but it would make a great toad.

 

[bullfrog]

Many people out here haul water. We use a little Harbor Freight tilt trailer with barrel racks and 2 food grade 55 gallon white/clear drums on their sides. Freezing really isn't a problem here so we use a 12 volt pump to feed our trailer but you could bury a couple and tap into the well maybe. We use a Birkey filter for drinking water so water quality isn't much of an issue. Good Luck!

 

[txmnjim]

Speaking of fire...

A wire going from my VR into the main harness and up to the dash light melted down. Normally, inconvenient, but when the hot, melted insulation drops into a puddle of brake clean, things get a little toasty . Fortunately an extinguisher is always close so damage minor, was isolated to the wire, plug, and a few hoses underneath.

nice thread sneaks! i wish i still had my 87 Vanagon as it was a blast to drive and tinker with. i didn't know squat
about VWs except i liked them and was amazed that the Westy i found on CL was advertised so cheap...should have
known it would be a budget-buster as it had been advertised as a "fire engine must be towed" 

 

[sneaks]

Many people out here haul water. We use a little Harbor Freight tilt trailer with barrel racks and 2 food grade 55 gallon white/clear drums on their sides. Freezing really isn't a problem here so we use a 12 volt pump to feed our trailer but you could bury a couple and tap into the well maybe. We use a Birkey filter for drinking water so water quality isn't much of an issue. Good Luck!

That's kinda how we survived Sept-Dec last year: rechargeable USB shower, 50 2.5gal water containers (recycled from drinking water), and about every 4 days making a trip up to the fire\rescue station for water. Got so that I could fill 50 of them in about 15 minutes. Used the shower while up there and did laundry. First tried having my chief (who's also on the FD) come out with the water buffalo and dump 2500gal in the well. That worked for a few days before the earth sucked it all up. Our temps drop below freezing typically early Oct and run through mid-May. The landlord tried to get a drilled well done but they are booked out until next spring . Hate to move as the rent hasn't changed in 8 years and is very affordable, but it is what it is.

On a related note, the shower we got is an Iron Hammer (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FYB64BB), thing works very, very well. Used it for dishes and hygiene. Has two settings for flow, the lowest works well for showering, high is good for dishes or showering, charges in a few hours. Can get a few cleaning sessions out of a charge. 2.5gal (if pause flow while soaping up) will shower a person with long hair pretty safely. 

The New England Forest Rally is in a few weeks, think that will be my first overnight excursion in Ducky. I'm part of the medical team for the event, it's about an hour away from home, instead of commuting I think I'll use Ducky and crash there instead. Fingers crossed!

 

[bullfrog]

How big is your hand dug well? Since a new well is going in maybe you could drop some kind of storage in it or line it for now?

 

[sneaks]

18' deep, 3' dia, 50 or so years old, about 100' in the woods. If I can find a pump with sufficient head lift I could drop a line in the river about 50' beyond the well until the river freezes (if it recovers any, the 2.5 years of drought has really done a number on it  ), it's about 20' below the top of the well. A bladder down the well isn't a bad idea, I'm guessing that's where you are going with this?

 

[bullfrog]

Yes as anything a few feet down shouldn't freeze if the top was capped. You have some type of well pump and plumbing already right so even a 30" diameter tank 15' long would mean a long time between fillings and it shouldn't freeze. Being poor I probably would start looking for something to make a tank that was cheap like a large pipe I could cap or maybe cut and plastic weld four food grade 55 gallon drums end to end, lower them into the well, back fill with gravel and set the pump in them. Cap the top with a fill and vent. If the water table ever comes up you could always put some holes in the bottom but basically for now it would be a large weather proof storage tank. Maybe direct run off from the roof for water catchment.