Category: 9 WESTY

January 28, 2007

oldest and highest mileage VW diesels sought

http://www.vwvortex.com/artman/publish/volkswagen_news/article_1907.shtml

SWEET! I can't wait to see the winners. I know 9Westy isn't a contender, she only has 120k and is a 1982. I am sure they'll find something from the first model year sold here, 1977, and diesels are famous for going 300k plus miles on a single engine.

From my experience on the VW diesel message boards, i'm not sure the typical VW diesel aficianado, especially one who drives a 30 year old vehicle, is really going to enjoy driving a Toe-Rag, but hey. The recognition will be great.

Posted by spacegrrl at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

July 27, 2006

westeeeeeey!

another evening's work done. found lots of body filler on the sliding door, so most of my work was with the Big Guns, the belt sander and wire brush, which are more physically taxing to use. i ran out of steam after just over an hour.


I'M GOIN' IN!

Posted by spacegrrl at 09:34 PM | Comments (1)

Category: BPAL

July 26, 2006

cake is better than metal

"Captain, we are being probed."

i've been watching a lot of star trek: the next generation re-runs lately. it's somehow comforting and satisfying at the same time.

this morning, my hands smelled like metal. it occured to me that despite having showered twice and washed my hands numerous times and washed dishes since i was last covered in the powdered exterior of my van, there might be some lingering metallic particles in my skin.

the scent faded through the day but even so tonight i was inspired to mix up a batch of lotion scented with Midway, a perfume oil that smells like funnel cake.

CAAAAKE!

i took a break from westy sanding tonight, mainly because my evening schedule was pushed back very late due to stuff out of my control, plus the fact that i decided to cook a large, proper dinner, and that took a long time.

for those interested, i grilled a steak and made a spinach casserole; for starters i picked bitter greens from my garden and dressed them with dressing i made with buttermilk, sour cream, garlic powder, sea salt, pepper, and basil.

Posted by spacegrrl at 10:00 PM | Comments (2)

Category: 9 WESTY

February 22, 2006

fun with fonts






Posted by spacegrrl at 12:54 PM | Comments (1)

Category: 9 WESTY

September 12, 2005

she lives!

jason! came over this evening and we successfully jump-started the westy. i got to drive her around the neighborhood! yay!! i love driving her.

so, now i know i need a proper charger (turns out my charger doesn't actually charge-- and isn't strong enough to jump the westy), some jumper cables, and i might need to fiddle with or replace a wire.

anyway. yay! and once i get her charged back up again, i promise to leave her unplugged and drive her regularly. because she roooolz.

Posted by spacegrrl at 09:40 PM | Comments (1)

Category: 9 WESTY

July 07, 2005

i like long walks in the rain....

so long as they result in the van getting sanded.

i figured, you know, a little rain never hurt anyone. and indeed i was not hurt. and that door looks good.

next time i gotta remember some more dust rags, and a stepstool so i can start reaching the high up places. so very anxious to be able to say that i completed one side.

hands feel kinda funny, gotta stop typing now...

Posted by spacegrrl at 09:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

June 08, 2005

happyhappyjoyjoy

sanding = joy

decent progress; informed landlady that i'd like to continue renting and she seemed pretty happy about that. so 9westy won't be losing her home while she's all nekkid and stuff.

thumb felt a little sore during and after, but now it feels good. my test is lifting a full glass; it causes me no pain right now. i worked only with the sander and not the drill. the areas i'm uncovering will need cleanup with drill tools, but i have to say that the 40 grit sandpaper i'm using now really tears the paint off, much better than anything else. it even blew right through the racing stripe.

nice thing about it is coming home, showering, and feeling very justified in sitting down with a bowl of ice cream to watch back episodes of 'alias', my current guilty pleasure.

exceptional style in vans in 'alias' continues with a really hott old school vw bus that looked like it could be bare metal.

Posted by spacegrrl at 11:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

June 06, 2005

wicker

i was looking at photos of this year's big houston art car parade, mostly looking for ideas. i have some vague ideas of what i'd like to do with the top of 9westy-- a sort of openwork sculpture along the lines of these incredible wrought-iron beetles, but wrought iron isn't a practical material for me to work in for about a million reasons. so i had this thought last night that maybe i could use wicker. i could collect old junked wicker furniture pieces, extract the bits i like, and coat them with epoxy or fiberglass resin to make them sturdy and weatherproof, then construct a shape out of them.

anyway, i wanted to write that down so i don't forget.

Posted by spacegrrl at 09:07 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

May 30, 2005

grindgrindgrindgrindgrind

there's a meditative quality to sanding a very large object, and something deeply satisfying about seeing a fine powder fly from the sanding wheel. one forgets about the vast job ahead and focuses on the moment.

nevertheless, it is strangely physically taxing.

i look at the van every time i go to the garage and think, "this is going to take forever." i'm pretty patient, though.

Posted by spacegrrl at 10:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

May 27, 2005

i'm not the only noisy one

so after a three week hiatus, i'm back in the sanding saddle and the paint is coming off.

my landlady's kids and their friends have set up a computer in the other part of the garage, and it's the hangout now. the noise would bug me if i weren't making so much damn noise myself. between the sound of the sander and the earplugs i wear to protect myself from it, i can't hear anything but myself swallowing.

i did stop the sander briefly last night to hear one of the kids yelling, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUTUP!!" he probably didn't mean me. hope not. that's the one thing i can't do, much though i hate creating a racket.

i tried the wee small brush for the first time last night (having used the larger "cup" brush before). it's easier to handle than the bigger brush, because less surface area is meeting the van's surface, but wow is it a wicked little thing. it removes paint/rust/the racing strip very quickly but it also left some scratches in the metal.

:|:

a couple of days ago, MFM called me at work.

he likes to quiz me.

"do you know who this is?" (like i wouldn't recognize that voice.) "yes!"
"do you know what this weekend is?" "BUGOUT!"

he and his wife invited me to come to bugout in Manassas, VA with them this weekend. he said i could even ride with them if i didn't want to take the van or the bug. they go up every year on memorial day weekend, and her family has a reunion.

bugout, for those not in the know, is a large VW show that occurs on memorial day and labor day weekends. it's probably the biggest vw show on the east coast barring waterfest, but as far as i'm concerned, waterfest doesn't count since it's presumably watercooled only. what the hell do i want to see a buncha riced out golfs for? it's the old ones that i want to see.

anyway, i knew i wasn't going to go this year. besides the fact that i need to sit on my $$ and stay home and do useful stuff like sand my van, i feel like i'm taking a break from all vw stuff this year, and i'm liking it. obviously, i've met some dear friends through vw events, but there are some aspects of vw culture that bother me. watercooled drivers have a general tendency to want to spend money on their cars in a way that strikes me as being basically about bling. a lot of people are into "performance tuning", which is basically a euphemism for "i'll show you what a big man i am even though i feel small inside". the 20-something guys who will spend an hour telling you in elaborate detail all of the grand things they're going to do to their car are the most boring.

anyway. so i'm not going to bugout, but it was really, really nice of M & J to invite me. but i'm betting i'll be going next year with a verrrry unique entry into the watercooled van & camper category.

Posted by spacegrrl at 08:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

April 21, 2005

secret option #7: both

well, i did take a little nap. sometimes i think the nicest way to appreciate a beautiful day is with a light nap in a bright, airy room with open windows. then i headed over to the garage to try out some new paint removal strategies.

finally some good progress tonight! i used my little orbital sander and 120 grit sanding discs. i discovered something that i'd started to suspect-- the sandblasting wasn't actually reaching bare metal. there's three layers: brown paint, white primer and dark gray primer. i guess they are primers or one primer that separates into two layers. i was only getting down to the dark gray primer and it looked similar to metal, plus it is more difficult to remove than the first two layers.

anyway, it's incredibly gratifying to see the bright, silvery bare metal! it's exactly what i had hoped for, all light and sparkly. with a coat of high gloss clear epoxy it's going to be incredibly eye-catching. i'm getting excited.

my hands feel funny and my ears are ringing a little-- i should bring some ear protection next time.

Posted by spacegrrl at 10:29 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

April 16, 2005

fuk yea

just home from a hard evening's sandblasting and i was about to give up on my persuit of 21 jump street, but i've hit paydirt this time. it's an episode about punks, they dress johnny depp up as a punk which is so hot and they've got agent orange playing the live band. and jason priestly as a little babyfaced punk who lives in a squat.

the unfortunate thing is that in the second part of season one, the show went from being character driven to being issue driven, self-consciously moving from one Important Issue to the next. and the focus is less on depp, which is a total mistake. i mean, duh.

anyway, the sandblasting is going slow but it's going. i feel bad every time i fire up the compressor, because my landlady is usually out working in her yard and it's all idyllic and the compressor is damned loud. but she seems to be pretty tolerant of it. the compressor has trouble maintaining the pressure needed to blast effectively, but being slow about refilling the sand hopper gives it a chance to recover. after about an hour it stops recovering quickly and starts to sound funny so i shut it off at that point.

leaving the garage door definitely solves the ventilation problem and i'm not unusually tired like i was the first time.

Posted by spacegrrl at 09:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

April 10, 2005

blast

finally decided this morning to stay home today and not go to the massive auto-fair in charlotte. i was pretty torn, but there's a lot to do at home.

got the westy into the garage and spent about an hour sandblasting. it's going to be a very slow job i think. anyone who is interested in trying sandblasting is welcome to come help. as renovation projects go, it's actually not that unpleasant, but it's also probably not as sexy as it sounds.

apparently it does help ya work up an appetite, though, because i'm starving now!

Posted by spacegrrl at 03:52 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

April 07, 2005

ride to lonnies

can anyone give me a ride to lonnie's from my house tomorrow (friday) after work (say around 5:30 or a little earlier)?

i think the westy will be ready provided MFM can dislodge various rusty brake components successfully. here's hoping.

Posted by spacegrrl at 10:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

April 06, 2005

another pink bus

lovely.

the shade of pink isn't my favorite (or maybe that's the lighting), but i love the neatly tied back pink curtains, the white interior, and the delicate white flower vine along the side.

Posted by spacegrrl at 09:02 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

April 05, 2005

blasting

i'm pretty hyped. i think i've got what i need to get started on sandblasting the westy this weekend. many thanks to jason! for showing me how to use my air compressor last night.

one of my co-workers was very interested in the project, and he talked to a friend who used to work in a body shop. the friend says the size of sandblaster that i have is similar to what they used in the shop and i should not have any trouble getting the paint off. here's hoping that's the case!

of course, time is a problem. on saturday, i've decided to sell things in the big duke park yard sale, rather than buy them, and that will take up a lot of the day. on sunday, i want to visit sarah at the big car show in charlotte. hopefully i can work in some westy time around those things.

Posted by spacegrrl at 08:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

March 07, 2005

the paintless look

this is what a bus looks like with no paint. this particular bus hasn't been lacquered, but the owner has been treating it with something to inhibit rust. it's apparently not working particularly well.

i plan to do this to 9 westy. luckily, the artcarz mailing list recently had a thread about clearcoating and tim, who owns the plaidmobile, has found a really good option that is durable and will bond to bare metal.

the inspiration for this look is a microcar called the Voisin Biscooter. i guess i might not get that level of shiny-ness :)

Posted by spacegrrl at 09:52 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

December 22, 2004

AND I HAVE A CAMPER!

according to rob breszny:

"The planetary omens for 2005 are unambiguous: You've got to spend more time in nature."

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Category: 9 WESTY

December 09, 2004

what a modern-day westy could look like

brilliant.

vw has designed a concept version of a new microbus and i think there are plans to put it into production, although i don't know if there's a definite date.

this design firm has created a concept of what a westfalia camper conversion on the new microbus could look like and it's pretty fucking brilliant.

even if you're not into vw's or campers, if you have any interest in design, have a look-- it's waaayyy cool.

i have spotted one possible flaw-- i'm not sure if the roof rolls back, you need that to have enough headroom for indoor cooking and moving around comfortably. but otherwise it looks pretty great.

Posted by spacegrrl at 07:47 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

October 25, 2004

trip to luray caverns for nbeast

[ photos ]

started out friday, october 22, 2004

left durham 10:10am (could not get tank full - b20 biodiesel from Exxon) ar luray, va, 5pm. approx 260 miles, mainly route 15. filled up tank during trip, use about a tank and a quarter, maybe less, for the trip up.

during trip ran fridge on 12 volt while engine was on. began having difficulty shifting into low gears about 3/4 way into trip extreme difficulty by end of trip.

did not want to start a couple of times while warm, jiggling key eventually got it to start

oil light came on after steep curve, about 10 miles from campground. stopped, oil 1/2 way down dipstick. topped off, oil light stayed off for rest of trip up mountain.

strange staying in jellystone campground, have only ever stayed at state parks before.

reasonably rustic site w/ water/electric, in with the tents, not in with the r/v's which are packed in, no trees.. like a trailer park.

many elaborate campsite decorations. one woman said "we come here every year for halloween, it's a tradition." many kids. sullen teenagers hanging out by the bath house at 11pm.

tried the a/c 120v power in the westy for the first time, worked! nice ambient glow of pumpkin lights, instead of harsh white light. also, set up glowing eyeballs on stakes outside the camper. i'd like to get novelty lights specifically for westy and find a way to string them so they're not in the way-- they give the perfect light.

first night sleeping in the westy, the new bed is good, definitely needed sleeping bag and both wool blankets. cold but not extreme cold; would want more warm gear for winter camping.

rethinking rug inside; maybe a piece of bound carpet to fit in the living area floor would be nice-- something still removeable so it can be cleaned, replaced.

a/c powered space heater would be nice too.

spare battery not much use-- not sure what's up with that.

took westy to the car show to serve as office/shelter. it was quite cold in the morning. lots of attention to the westy throughout the day! many folks complimenting her, telling stories of their old bus. the distinctive shape drew people in.

i judged the stock category in the show, which i have to admit, i really enjoyed. i judge beetles all the time in my mind-- looking them over for dirt, paint scrapes, little flaws. the advantage of the stock class is that i can use the knowlege i have of the different models, but don't need to worry about understanding and comparing performance and other mods i might not be familiar with.

van started just fine throughout the day which lends credence to the notion that it's an issue when the wiring is hot, as mark had suggested. maybe trouble shifting and trouble starting means... time to give 'er a bit of a rest.

after the car show we went through the luray caverns. i'd never been in a cavern before. i love the strange, moist, organic rock formations. i was quite exhausted so that sapped a little of my enjoyment from the experience but still it was fun.

i also checked out the antique car museum on the grounds. wow.

hard to be with people all day nonstop. after the caves, i was a little rude to an overenthusiastic japanese woman who practically sat in my lap on a crowded park bench. nice though to see the stephs. good to meet steph. surprisingly, we are sort of free joking back and forth about butchness. interesting moment for me when i said to her, "i wondered what it means that i share so many interests with stephanie's new girlfriend" (meaning.. why am i straight yet so butch?) and she said, "it doesn't mean anything", which is the best answer anyone has ever given me to that question.

rain started before dawn on sunday. awoke early, checked for forming puddles or other potential rain related problems with flashlight; everything looked good so i went back to sleep.

steve came by in the morning and i opened my little sliding glass window to talk. he said, "i feel like i should be placing an order or getting money from an ATM." he told me that he didn't want to do the skyline drive cruise in the rain. i decided i wanted to go to dinosaurland anyway, and figured i would have no trouble recruiting some others to go along.

we had a merry group of john in cleo, the stephs (i rode with them on the way up), britt in his snap orange, and les. the rain stopped but it was quite cold. the gift shop was almost as silly as the big, fake dinosaurs, and oddly out of place king cobra, preying mantis, and king kong statue. i didn't take many pictures since i had taken quite a few on my first visit there.

john was nice enough to give me a ride back. we stopped for lunch at a fantastic old place in front royal, the royal creamery restaurant. it looked as if not much had changed since it opened... probably in the 50's or before. it was nicely kept up, but still reeked of authenticity, and the food was fantastic. crisp, hot fries and a very tasty patty melt. we decided to get ice cream, too... i got mint chocolate chip with sprinkles, my favorite from when i was a kid.

being rather burnt out on conversation, john was the perfect person to ride back with-- he's ok with some silence-- and i told him at lunch that i appreciated that about him. i figure that being quiet and shy is so rarely an advantage, it's nice to let someone know that sometimes, it's really a good thing.

i bought a space heater because i knew i'd be spending some time hanging out in the van on my own. when i got back to the campground, it was practically empty, after being completely filled over the weekend. it was delicious to nap in the westy, hiding just below the un-curtained windows. when it got chilly i fired up the space heater and it works great. i probably won't run it while i'm asleep, but while i'm awake and doing stuff in the van, it's nice to be warm.

the fridge has been a champ through the whole trip, everything has stayed quite cold. i look forward to trying to get it to run off propane so i can run it anywhere. i think i will not run it off the 12 volt system while i'm driving home-- if i'm correct and the wiring is heating up and causing problems starting, it would be better not to strain the electrical system.

:|:

trip home fairly uneventful. stopped at out of the way state park for a one hour break, to let her cool down and because i needed a nap myself. seems to have helped.

scored another cool old diner for brunch in culpeper.

tired now.

Posted by spacegrrl at 09:42 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

home.

made it there and back ok. sorry for no word but there was no, i mean really no cell phone access on the mountain.

more soon!

Posted by spacegrrl at 07:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

October 21, 2004

ready, steady... GO!

things are looking good for this weekend!

i checked my map today, thinking i'd have to put a lot of time into planning a route on all secondary roads-- but it turns out the 15 goes straight up almost all the way to Luray-- and i think the mileage will actually be less than taking the interstate. so i am very hopeful that this will be an extremely pleasant journey.

last night i replaced the bit of rubber gasket that was starting to fall off the camper top, and which was probably responsible for at least some of the dampness problems inside the van. so i'm feeling like she's in rockin' good shape for this trip.

oh, and mr. metaphor dropped me a line today. yay!

Posted by spacegrrl at 01:39 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

October 18, 2004

making with the ready!

sunday, sarah came over and helped me sew the big curtain that covers the windshield and side windows in the front. it was complicated and i'd chosen a fabric that was very difficult to work with (though it should be quite practical in its final curtainy form), so it took us a long time to do that one-- but we did it! when it was done, we put it up in the van and just sat there for a while, looking at all of its frothy pink translucency. sarah kept saying, "wow."

that evening, i finished off the last of the curtains and installed all of them; then i finished the cover for the first of the three mattress pads. only two mattress pad covers left, and the sewing will be finished!

tonight, i finally scrubbed her down at a car wash. i was able to get the interior cleaner than i thought i would-- and i can actually see out of the windows, for a change. that's always nice.

sometimes i wonder how far i could take the current paint if i really worked at it-- but since i plan to sand it all off or paint over it, it's really not worth it. washing a vehicle that size is difficult enough, i don't need to be buffing the thing.

i should be able to take her into work tomorrow, maybe several days this week. she's running really nicely! i did have trouble starting her on sunday, but was able to roll her down a hill and pop the clutch to start her.

can't wait to install the new bed... i'd love to hack together some kind of seat covers for the front but i'm sure there won't be time. i'd also love to sew some simple covers for these two big pillows i have, out of the pink shoe print fabric-- but again, i doubt there's time and really, they serve no real practical purpose.

anyway, i'm feeling pretty good about things, but this week is crunch time. lots more to do to be ready.

Posted by spacegrrl at 11:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

October 14, 2004

i heart mark.

Mark called this morning to give me the run down on 9 Westy.

so that gets the really worrisome stuff out of the way, even if we couldn't get all of the coolant hoses replaced.

anyway, he told me he had an idea for decorating the van.... that i should pull the rear cabinet, part of which shows through a window in the back, and decorate the part that shows.

i just love that my mechanic has art ideas for the van. he's definitely on board with this whole project.

Posted by spacegrrl at 05:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

ride to lonnie's this evening?

would anyone be up for taking me to lonnie's this evening to pick up 9 Westy, or possibly tomorrow morning before work?

Posted by spacegrrl at 11:07 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

October 12, 2004

proceeding apace

In less than two weeks, I will be taking my rusty, 22-year-old camper up some back roads into the mountains of virginia, on our first road trip and camping trip together. Some 300 miles, one way.

I'm pretty nervous about this trip. On my list of things to do today: call AAA and be sure my membership is up to date.

I doubt seriously that I'll have the propane equipment (refrigerator and stove) working by the time I leave, but I may call a local RV center to see if there's any way i could get them to look it over before i go.

Posted by spacegrrl at 10:52 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

October 04, 2004

two weeks and three days

i'm freaked out that that's how long i have before 9 Westy and I try the long trek up into the Virginia mountains for NBeast.

there's reams of sewing... the next step in the mechanical overhaul... the camping equipment... route planning... contingency planning... hooboy. it's a lot.

i had hoped to tear through a bunch of sewing this weekend, but other things came first, and no sewing happened. it's something i should be doing at least a little of every night.

my motivation and energy are really low right now. i'm considering trying a 10am-6pm work schedule so i can sleep later in the mornings, because the insomnia is just killing me.

Posted by spacegrrl at 10:18 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

August 29, 2004

admirably productive

this morning i woke up in the midst of some dreams, but not too early (dreamed that crazy-guy-who-dissed-me threw a catered party at which we had to give up our keys and prove to the caterer that we weren't drunk before she'd give them back). had a nice breakfast on the back porch with kitty, then cleaned up a little in the back yard-- not everything i had cut down had been bagged and dragged to the curb.

went to ooh la latte and worked for a few hours. got the nbeast registration form done quicker than i thought i would, plus the nice hat-wearing guy who works there was playing all kinds of great music. (he complimented my shoes last week and even knew they were borns!)

came home and decided to work on curtains for the westy. actually, as it turned out-- curtain. one down, nine more to go! i think the rest will go a little faster. it's the first real little bit of creation i've done for the van... the rest has all been restoration, maintenance, and destruction. the new curtain is installed; it looks a little out of place but i think it's adorable anyway :) it's too dark to take a picture now, but i'll get some snaps maybe when a few more are completed.

for the record-- sewing black snaps onto black fabric with black thread is kind of a pain!

Posted by spacegrrl at 10:47 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

dark blue vanagon

someone on the diesel vanagon list posted pics from some incredible gathering of vw transporters in france (guessing from the url). (in europe, 'transporter' is what the 'vanagon' was called... and i think they had available many more variants than we did.)

anyway, here's on painted dark blue, which gives me an idea of what 9 Westy might look like once painted.

Posted by spacegrrl at 10:15 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Category: moses

August 23, 2004

moses presents: camper fabric fashions!

my cat is so cute!!

moses helps model fabrics that will be going into the westy. he's very good at it.

Posted by spacegrrl at 11:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Category: 9 WESTY

August 22, 2004

it's all about the westy

in case you haven't noticed, i blog about my westy a lot.

yesterday, sarah came over in the morning and helped me clear out many of the nasty parts of the westy's interior. the carpet felt like someone had sprayed wd-40 all over it-- not just moist, but kind of oily. i was happy to throw it away. moisture had gotten into the insulation in the driver's side footwell and had started some corrosion but it looks like i caught it in time.

i've given it some thought, and i've realized that if i want to repaint the metal inside the van-- which i do, that choclate brown just does not fit into my color scheme and it's got too many corroded places-- i'm going to have to pull out all of the cabinetry. which is scary and pretty major, and something that will have to wait until this winter.

in the meantime, i'm hoping i can use some dense foam sheets i have already on the floor-- though ugly, i think they will be highly practical, and rubbery enough that they will grip the floor without needing to be glued or bolted down. the main issue is that when i first got them a few years ago, they were outgassing really badly and made me ill. they've been in my basement a long time though and may be ok now.

i'll need to buy new foam pads for the bed (the foam is disgusting), measure what i'll need for the bed slipcovers and for the curtains, and get all of that sewn in time for nbeast at the end of october.

of course, pulling all of that nasty stuff out of the van resulted in my living and dining rooms being even more cluttered and out of control than before-- and they were bothering me a lot before. so for my mental health i probably need to put some serious time into those two rooms before putting more time into the westy. however, i really have to finish the nbeast registration form before i do anything else. sigh.

:|:

after helping sarah pick up some drywall for her house (the westy needs to start earning her keep!!), i came home and sort of napped for a while... i was pretty beat. then i went to the first newbug carolinas meeting in probaby a year. we had four cars meet up at ooh la latte, and i saw my friends heather and john for the first time in probably two years. it was really nice to see them again. then a couple of us headed out to the drive-in. given that this was organized with less than a week's notice, we did really well on attendance. we never used to get more than four cars, anyway, back in the day.

:|:

this morning i drove to jason's house and we changed the oil in the westy and in his hyundai. it's a super-simple job-- actually even easier on the westy than on the hyundai. jason seemed to appreciate the design of the drain bolt on the van, as it allows the oil out without having to actually take the bolt all the way out. now that i am using OEM oil filters, i may just get the wrench made specifically for them-- the hardest part was using a strap wrench to pull the filter. the OEM filters have a cool looking little flange on the bottom specifically made to fit a particular oil filter wrench.

i also filled her with mobil delvac-1, which is super good, super expensive oil designed for heavy duty use (think: mack truck). it may be overkill-- but then again, it may be just enough kill. i'm all about babying this engine.

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Category: 9 WESTY

August 20, 2004

i'm snotty about my van

i guess if i put this on the back of the van i'd have tahoes trying to run me over. but i felt the need to put it somewhere.

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Category: 9 WESTY

August 18, 2004

westy goes to work

took the van to work today for the first time. my route was highway 55 to 54. the route worked very well, i was able to keep up with traffic the whole way. it took about an hour but i can see a few shortcuts to take the next time.

the westy performed very well, i'm very pleased!

i had prepared my tangerine ibook to bring with me so i could go to umstead and write at lunch, but forgot to bring it :( oh well, i'll be all ready to go the next time-- maybe tomorrow.

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Category: 9 WESTY

August 15, 2004

9 Westy goes to the drive-in!

9 Westy at the drive-in

yes, it's true, i drive a bed...

:|:

does look like there's a head gasket leak but it looks small. not enough to see a drop on the dipstick with around-town driving for three days. based on previous experience with a car that blew a head gasket, i think it's safe to drive it some... that car had been drinking oil regularly before it finally blew. of course back then i had no clue at all what was happening, i thought it was totally normal for a car to start drinking oil as it aged...

so, i may drive it to work tomorrow. or i may play it super safe, and not.

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Category: 9 WESTY

pictures for mr. pinky!!

Land Rover Land Rover

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Category: 9 WESTY

August 14, 2004

hmmm

as per usual, caught up in my own little world, i was barely aware of the storm supposedly bearing down upon us... i have to admit i have not taken in any of the news coverage about florida. however, getting a tree guy out to my place has just moved up to the very top of the priority list. should my large oak in the front of the house finally give way, because all the branches are now on the house side of the tree (thanks to the moronic power company), the tree will completely destroy my entire house. not good. i also need to find a way to make my basement somewhat livable during a storm, since mose-man and i would actually stand a chance if we were down there and that tree fell.

:|:

drove the westy a lot today, then had a look at the engine. man, there's oil all over the place in-- i believe-- the location where mark pointed to a possible head gasket leak. i'm going to clean it up and drive it again tomorrow just to be completely positive of what i'm seeing.

a previous owner also jerry-rigged a cap for the lower coolant expansion tank, the tank that you actually refill. it's just a piece of heavy plastic held in place by a rubber ring. anyway, it's leaking. i know there's pressure in the coolant system, i dunno how much but i'm thinking this is not a good thing and i should do something about it if i can. maybe just put a better piece of plastic on there.

sarah and i wound up going to the q shack in the westy for lunch... the whole trip she kept saying "This is so cool. This is so cool!" heh.

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Category: 9 WESTY

August 13, 2004

9 Westy to the drive-in!

I'm tentatively planning to take 9 Westy to the drive-in this weekend, it looks like alien vs. predator is showing, which is probably a great drive-in movie.

the weather, of course, is a bit of a factor. possibly sunday night since it looks like the weather should have cleared up by then.

anyone who would care to ride along, get in touch. the fridge won't be working yet, but it'll be a good time anyhow.

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Category: 9 WESTY

August 12, 2004

inability to use english rampant in vw world, and other interesting topics

this one's from the diesel vanagon list:

"I was told that when the diesel firers that it causes a precaution that move the coolant back from the cylinders walls. So it can not cool evenly. The diesel coolant is used to stop this & will maintain a better temp. It's all new to me."

sigh. i can interpret everything except that critical piece of information, "it causes a precaution." well, actually, the whole thing makes no damn sense. how can coolant be moved back from the cylinder walls? while it's true that there are many things i don't understand about a) the laws of physics and b) the exact ways they apply to diesel engines, i understand enough to suspect that there's something very wrong with that statement.

:|:

i changed out 9 westy's air filter today, checked her oil (which is almost certainly the wrong oil and i should change it... diesels require a special type of oil designed to isolate the soot that they always have floating around in the engine, and from what the PO said, he had no clue about this fact) and checked the coolant. the coolant is full but the oil is a little low-- not a surprise though really given that the engine was half taken apart and it had been leaking.

the air filter i got from bus depot is nicer than the one i replaced-- it's got a foam gasket around the edge that fits snugly into the top of the air box, creating a seal. not sure if this helps the engine, but it does help reduce noise.

:|:

finally paid the bill today (they hadn't had it ready for me). it was carefully itemized, and lonnie came around the counter and went through each line with me-- separate lines for each labor charge and each parts charge. i swear it was the clearest repair invoice i have ever seen! they barely charged me for all the extra stuff mark had done, so it came in just over the estimate i originally received. all in all, the best car repair experience i have ever had.

:|:

left work early, hit lonnie's then the biodiesel station (the price has skyrocketed to $1.79/gal), then still wasn't hungry when i got home so i used my new edging tool to cut edges around the beds in the front yard. took a good long look at my windows and awnings, which are hugely in need of painting. i'm thinking about actually spraying the awnings, since i've got this crazy compressor...

then i was just dying to drive the westy so i did those little maintenance items, and took her for a good long drive. i got very hungry but didn't want to stop driving! she did really well, got up over 55 a couple of times, everything sounded nice and smooth. i just love driving that crazy thang. can't wait to drive it to work next week.

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Category: 9 WESTY

August 11, 2004

bootyfied ghetto queen

(seen in a personal ad under "what i am looking for". perhaps the most honest yet succinct response to that question i've ever seen. i've often been tempted to simply put "Lloyd Dobler", myself.)

somehow mark and i, in our many conversations, got on the subject of the gender of my cars. apparently, he had them backward.

"so spacepod is a he??"

"yeah!"

"no wonder i had problems with it, i kept calling it a she! now, the van is a girl?"

"yeah, the van is a she."

"so like this little scrawny guy got together and married this big fat bloated girl kinda?"

"ummm... kinda. i don't know, it's a machine, it doesn't have gender!"

i thought a lot today about the concept of rescue, of being rescued, allowing oneself to be rescued, of admitting defeat and asking for help (or hiring help). there's a whole sex & the city episode about this actually.

it's a tough subject for feminists. if you try to be totally independent all the time, you come up against the fact that all humans need help from other humans from time to time. that, and the fact that sometimes, to be rescued feels absolutely delicious. i'll admit it! mark rescued me (for money), i know he enjoys feeling like a hero and i enjoyed the rescue. maybe that's just what it's like to be a perpetually single woman with no dad; we get off on the rescue thing from time to time whether we think it's right or not.

anyway. i gotta get my bootyfied self to bed i think.

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Category: 9 WESTY

safe and sound

so now in my beautifully manicured front lawn sits my westy, purring like a kitten. it's all i can do not to take her to work today, but i'm oncall, and i fear i'll be paged while travelling slowly down highway 54, and be unable to get in to work quickly enough.

i did take her to the station last night for my show where leesh was appropriately excited by her presence in the parking lot. and i swear, more people-- guys mostly-- stare at me driving the van than do the bug. i kind of dig it. just imagine when she's a gorgeous dark blue and covered with shoes!

i feel very safe driving her-- i feel like she's not going to let me down, and like she's not going to have any self-damaging catastrophic failures. perhaps i've simply transferred responsibility in my mind from me to mark, which is... incorrect. in a car like this, the owner is definitely responsible for knowing just what is going on, i think.

i definitely expect to be driving her around town in the evenings and on the weekends now. and to work sometimes, starting next week. it would be great if i could prolong the time until spacepod needs his next timing belt change, which will be in 2k miles. that's a big service, and i want to put my car money into the westy for the next two months, probably.

they didn't have the bill ready for me yesterday, but they let me take her home anyway. which is one of the many cool things about a place like lonnie's. or, well, about lonnie. so i don't find out until today what the damage is. i'm a little nervous!

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Category: 9 WESTY

August 09, 2004

The crusty underbelly of 9 Westy

9 Westy up on the lift I stopped by Lonnie's this afternoon to have a look at 9 Westy underneath and also with parts of the engine taken apart.

lotsa pictures in the photolog

mark and i talked for a long time about all kinds of stuff, he gave me a good tour of the westy both underneath and in the engine compartment, which was great since he had stuff taken apart and i could see even better than usual.

it turns out that the estimate they gave me on replacing the coolant hoses included the big ones that run from front to back, which makes me lean very much toward getting them to do it, although springing a leak isn't catastrophic, so it's not as urgent as the timing belt turned out to be.

he gave me the timing belt to take home, a little souvenir :)

we talked to lonnie for a moment, and lonnie gave me this nice little speech about vanagons, "There's nothing special about these cars except that everyone who owns one loves it."

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Category: 9 WESTY

Tips from Mark

When replacing the fuel filter on a diesel, fill the filter with automatic transmission fluid. Flushes the fuel system right out and the car runs better.

Mark says the more he works on the van, the better he feels about it. I swear he's falling in love with the thing.

Turns out my paranoia about the timing belt paid off-- he said the tensioner was about to go.

He says he has a few things to finish up and then in the morning he'll take it over for inspection. BUT... if I go by after work it'll probably still be up on the lift and I can get a really good view of the underside!

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Category: 9 WESTY