Fiamma 45s

Picked up my Fiamma 45s awning last night. Indeed, another story in and of itself, but I got up this morning to assemble and install the thing on Zeno.

First impressions, the GW brackets I bought to mount it to my van don’t work out of the box with the high top. There is a cleat that sits in the gutter to hold the bracket to the van. It’s designed to fit a standard sized gutter (which those of us with hightops no longer have). After sitting in the slider doorway of my van for a good long while this morning I realized that the cheapest part to replace (should I botch modifications) was the bracket cleat itself. Back to the shop cleat in hand I marked off the approximate thickness of the high top from the end of the cleat and a 4” grinder with a flapper wheel to knock it down to size.

The first bracket is mounted.

Using Cozi to Organize for the Trip

Cozi List

I started this process like I always do with a pad of paper and a pencil. And as I built the manifest for the trip there were scratches and then I lost a sheet of paper somewhere along the way and Tess wanted to contribute, but I had the list. The paper list is dead and my pencil has a broken tip. It’s a great low-tech solution, but seriously we’re hip, contemporary, technologically savvy, über-apes who own devices that have “smart” right in their names.

This time around I’m trying to organize the van and by extension our lives for the next month or so in an application called Cozi. The list making is pretty simple, however, we can share each and every list across multiple devices. Additionally, I can clone lists, which means that once I’ve gotten one done I can use it as a template for another.

Last night I spent some time fleshing out a manifest of van items that would need to be packed. Tess has access to this, I might even add the location of the item in the van so she knows were to look.

The Route Out

The Route Out

Tess, Aral and I will depart sometime later this week and this is the route we will probably follow to Western Colorado.

On The Way

New tires (BF Goodrich – All-Terrain T/A KO Size: LT215/75R15/6), new black 15″ SA steel rims and the awning are all on their way and should arrive tomorrow.

Fuel Leak

Just found the friggin fuel leak. Talk about needle in a hay stack.

Road Trip/Mechanic School/Road Trip

What a freakin awesome weekend! If you didn’t get out last weekend you missed out. First, weekend of summer and everything went super well. Ok, I take that back … but it was an adventure.

So the plan was laid out something like this:

1. Friday afternoon drive to Phoenix, OR. Camp along the way, enjoy self.
2. Arrive in TurboVans somewhere around 11:00 Saturday.
3. Work on Zeno with Scott Foss’ guidance and generous use of tools.
4. Tune Zeno, repair outstanding problems.
5. Drive back to central Washington on Sunday or thereabouts. Camp along the way, enjoy self.

The drive down there was very easy. I took Hwy 97 down the interior of Washington and Oregon and ended up camping out north of Bend in the sage. Slept like a rock once I stopped looking at the stars and woke up well rested and ready to roll. I brought some food with me, but for some reason I cleaned out the van of all the kitchen ware and forgot to put it back in. I kind of munched on things until I found a café and stopped in for some eggs and coffee. Which brings up a very important question, why aren’t there coffee shops or even drive-throughs in central Oregon? Seriously, if you don’t bring it with do you know how difficult it is to find a cup of Joe?

I arrived at TurboVans at about 11:00 on Saturday morning. Scott and I started by assessing systems on Zeno and looking for problems we could address. I knew that there was an issue with #3 injector in the head and that I was having break problems. I took all four injectors out and tested their spray pattern. Sure enough #3 was all over the place and the seat where the heat shield is supposed to sit was eroded. Eek! We spent some time monkeying around with this and got everything installed so that it should run for a while longer without too much worry, but eventually I will have to replace the cylinder head.

Zeno’s breaks were a mess!

• Replaced Break Master Cylinder
• Replaced Clutch Master Cylinder
• Replaced Break Boost
• Replaced Glow Plug Relay
• Opened and Inspected fuel injectors in cylinder head
• Replaced LF Caliper
• Replaced too short lug nuts front end
• Bleed Clutch
• Bleed Breaks
• Tweaked Fuel Injection Pump
• Replaced #3 Fuel Injector
• Replaced Fuel Injector Spray guards

Like Scott reminded me, if its starting hard there is a problem.

Overdue Update

Introduction

So spring is more or less over and summer is certainly on its way. Yep, I’ve been remiss in my updates. So to remedy my negligence (and who can blame me, it’s tough to update your blog after you spend all your time off working to fix your van up) I am composing the super-mega-ultra-mondo-massive-update. Notice the sections, you can read only what you’re interested in and pass over the segments that don’t really concern you.

Interior Work

Window/Vent Installation

February saw the installation of Zeno’s brand new TimberTech High Top. We overcame some immediate issues with the installation (round about Hood River) and then I drove it back to *eBurg where, because of weather and use, the finish work languished for a couple of months. Also, I was exceptionally concerned about the window/vent installation work that was laid out before me. I mean, what if I FUBARed a cut? Then I’d have a gaping hole in my brand new high-top and no real ability to repair it. Suffice it to say that I put these tasks off for as long as I could in the hope that I could continue to enjoy the extra space without having to ignore some blunder of my own creation.

Last weekend my courage levels must have been higher than normal or something. I made templates for the vent and the windows and cut two big holes in my high top. Just like that my fears were ablated and all in the world was well. Ok, actually, because there are no magic wands in this story, I made mistakes but always on the side of caution and ended up with two holes that worked. To anyone else who has yet to complete this task I would say the following. First, get yourself a pile of brand spankin’ new fine metal jig saw blades before you start. I tried fine-toothed blades intended for wood – they did not work much more than about 3 inches. The glass and resin matrix just wears off the teeth way too fast. The blades intended for cutting metal are hard enough that the teeth stick around for a while and they are fine enough that if you crack the gel-coat it won’t leave a hole in the resin you’ll see. Still you’ll need a few of them, I used two blades per hole to ensure they stayed sharp and continued to cut well.

I started with the vent. First mistake was to cut the template for the vent hole from the side circumference of the inside cleat of the vent (it fits inside top of the vent). Ok, the first cut went really well, however, the hole in the top was about 1 cm shy of the 28 cm square needed to fit the top part of the vent into the roof. I took the vent down, thanking my lucky stars that at least I made the mistake by making the hole too small. The problem was obvious when I tried to fit the top part of the vent assembly into the hole. So I went back, measured around the outside of the widest part of the vent (no obvious to me) and then re-drew the hole gaining the missing cm. This meant that I had to make the cut twice to fit the vent in – this is not an easy cut to make because I ended up holding the jig saw above my head trying to get a nice straight line. I achieved the straight cuts and didn’t botch anything at the cost of pain to my back and shoulders. I’m still feeling it today.

The wind had picked up by the time I had the vent in and had played with it a few times. I was actually thinking it was time to celebrate with a well-mixed Cuba Libre and some self-congratulatory, father’s day sentiment in an easy chair (my back was screaming), but I was distracted with a call from my Dad and a big glass of water. We talked about the work I had just completed and also about our impending trip to Colorado. Being squarely located between these two, I finished the call with an impending sense of doom. “Poop”, I thought to myself after my call with my Dad, “this water and lime has refreshed me, and if I want windows in Zeno on this trip I better get moving.” Thus I found myself balanced on a ladder cutting the second hole in my van on Sunday evening.

This time the hole was perfect (so was the template) and once the cut was complete the window fit in perfectly. The challenge was that the inside clamp on the window didn’t fit as well as I’d hoped. I monkeyed with this for a while before I got it more or less right. It looks great from the outside, and it’s passible on the inside. I need to figure out something different on the ends of the clamp since there were no holes drilled into it they separate from the window. I’ve got some ideas however and since I didn’t seal this yet I can take them off and put them back on as I work out the kinks. Even without the RTV silicone on the inside of the window frame the clamp holds it tight enough that you can’t hear any wind leaking in while traveling down the road.

One more window to complete the install and I should be able to address it this evening as long as the weather holds (yeah for first day of summer). Late update, I just took my lunch hour to cut out the space for the second (LH) high top window. The spacer is currently drying to the inside of the top right now and I should be able to get the window in later this afternoon after work is over.

Finish Work

The weekend before last I got see my older son (who has been in the Philippines for the past year). Previous to this I had been focused on fabrication efforts to replace the headliner. There are a bunch of butt joins around the access well that leads to the high top so I wanted to ensure that this work was in and looked passably good before I started working on the access well. With Justin’s help I was able to complete the headliner replacement on Saturday which left Sunday to work on the access well. I used 1 x 4″ Hemlock to trim the inside of the well. It’s not perfect, my scribing technique leaves some room for improvement, but its solid and it doesn’t rattle or squeak. Also, I’ve had enough time with it to be able to avoid knocking my head.

I need to spend some time on the bed extension this week. Also, I’m going to invest in a few more sheets of the 1″ reflective foam insulation and use this to complete the inside of the top. I’ve identified the carpet I’m going to use to finish the inside of the high top as well the interior of the van (headliner area included), but I’ve got measure out how much I’ll need and then budget for the purchase of the carpet. Finally, I want to figure out some way to keep gear stored above the forward cabin from falling off its shelf while underway. Right now I’m planning on mounting a net over the opening which will hold it all in, but I’ve got to monkey around with this. Maybe a bulkhead is actually a better idea? Not really sure yet.

Mechanical Work

Hard Starting

Next weekend I’m headed down to Phoenix, OR to spend some time with Scott Foss of Turbovans. Scott built Zeno’s engine the spring before last. It’s been holding up great, but it could use a tune-up and some tweaking and prior to the month-long trip we have planned in July I’m hoping to get a few things taken care of before we hit the road. Hard starting is the first item on my list of things to address. When I brought the van home from Scott it started up quick and easy. Now, it can take a bit of cranking to get going and if I don’t pull the cold start advance knob it smokes a bit (regardless of temperature). I’m pretty sure that there are some basic problems with the glow plug circuit and I want to get Scott’s expert opinion and eyes on the rest to see if we can get it running as well as when the engine was brand spankin’ new. Also, I’m going to spend as much time as I can looking over his shoulder or doing the work with his guidance so I can learn how to do it myself. This is a super offer from Scott which means I should be able to overcome my fear of stranding myself messing with the timing or otherwise tweaking the power plant.

Not Starting

Yesterday evening I took Tess and Aral on a trip down to the Gorge. We pulled off north of the State Park along the old road that used to bridge the river and parked in the shade beneath a convenient cliff. Tess fed the baby and took the dogs for a walk up the road. Baby was topped off and back in his seat when I turned the key and got … nothing. The starter didn’t even click. This is the second time this has happened. Just like the last time I started at the battery, it was charged full and tested to ground just fine. I took both leads off the posts and cleaned them (they were obviously dirty). Re-installed the cables and tried again, no luck. Checked fuses, nothing was burnt out. Still no luck. Monkeyed around with the negative post on the starter and wiggled the wiring on the starter, got really dirty, and then it started without a problem.

Ok, what I know is that there *is* an intermittent electrical problem which prevents me from starting the van about 1 out of 50 attempts. The first time it happened I called the tow truck and only avoided the use of the track after he arrived by turning the engine over with the guy looking over my shoulder. I’ve been thinking about installing a button starter lead from the positive post to the starter in the engine bay to avoid being stranded, but ultimately I’d rather sort out what is causing the fault and resolve the problem. If there’s time Scott and I will try and run this down otherwise I will continue to try and fix it on my own.

Tires and Wheels

Last weekend (Saturday) Aral and I took a trip down the Yakima River canyon while Tess was getting her hair cut. We stopped along the way and checked out rafters, the really long grass along the bank, and some birds. Sand was a winner, he kicked his bare toes in it and squealed with excitement. On the way back up to pick up Mommy we motored along some of the cliffs which border the Hwy 12 and happened to roll over a rock which had fallen down. By the time we got to the meeting place back in town the left rear tire had gone completely flat.

I’ve been running 225/60R16 winter tires on the CLR 16″ rims that came with the van. Its softer rubber which works better on forest roads and for the most part I’ve been happy with the performance of the tires I have on Zeno currently, but the guys at Les Schwab are right, that rubber is much softer than I’d get in an all season tire and that increases my risk. The rock poked right through the middle of the tire, but was still repairable.

Thus I’ve returned to the practice of looking at tires and replacement wheels. Based on the availability of 6-ply tires I think I’m going to also be looking for 15″ rim replacements. More shopping and comparison is probably in order.

1st on a 5-speed

Zeno has a 5-speed transaxle on which I will inform you dear reader that I almost never use 1st. Its way, way down there. I mean, it is helpful if you’ve got to start the van from a stop on a very steep hill, but in normal driving conditions I just never get a chance to use. It starts fine in second.

Today we took Zeno for a tour of central Washington. We’re trying to get Aral, our new baby boy, ready for the big trip we have planned this July. We started off by heading down to Yakima via the Yakima River Highway 12. This is a super nice drive and the wild flowers are blooming everywhere. Quick stop at a pet store to buy a fence to keep the girls safe in the rear of the van and then we toured back up the canyon.

We stopped along the way to feed and change Aral and I got to walk the dogs along the river just north of Roza for a bit. The sun was warm and the May hatch was causing fish to rise all over the river. The dogs wallowed around in the river water and splashed their energy away.

Back in Zeno and soon Aral was lulled to sleep by the drone of the diesel pushing us back up the rest of the canyon. By the time we made it back to Ellensburg he was still sound asleep and Tess and I were enjoying talking to one another. Knowing that we’d wake him as soon as we stopped we decided to make a loop north of town.

I drove Zeno out north of town to a place that I’ve been frequenting for trail running in the morning. There was a fair amount of Memorial Day traffic headed down from Lion’s Rock, but despite the fact that the melt is well-nigh over up that far I was impressed by the fact that the area wasn’t covered in cars.

About two weeks ago I drove up this way to the point where I couldn’t go any further in Zeno because of snow. I got out and ran down a new road NF-3517 which my map told me looped back around to town via a connection with a “private” way by the name of Wilson Creek Road. I know where Wilson spills out its traffic in town, so I figured as long as the road was open I’d complete the loop and see some new parts of this country.

The road is indeed open, although when you pass out of National Forest Service land there is a sign that says something to the effect of “Entering Private Land. Stay on road next 15 miles.” The road at this point is a little bumpy and rolls a lot, but given that less than a month ago Wilson Creek flooded out some serious parts of Ellensburg I was sort of expecting at least a bump or two.

I should have known that the first bog we came to wasn’t really a fluke. I looked at it, plotted my path, summoned some courage, and plowed into the mud. In first gear! We slowed, but other than a surprising rock mid-bog we made it through without much worry. I drove on, but shortly thereafter we encountered the next in a series of some seriously rutted, mudded out bogs which at this point made me thankful to the German engineer who thought to add a 1st gear way, way down there on ‘83½ diesel Vanagons. Whoever owns that land will probably never close the gates on either end of the easement, he doesn’t have to because the “road” for most of that way is little more than a series of obstacles.

The right front wheel has some serious mud collection on the inside of the rim which unbalanced the front end a tad, but I’ll wash that off and carry on. Zeno just proved he’s more than I deserve.

Follow Up

It’s been about a month since I outlined the big projects I given myself for the year. Better yet, despite the loads of to-dos I’ve had to deal with at work since the beginning of the year I’ve actually made some headway on a number of them. I’m actually making visible and regular headway on Zeno. Plenty of mistakes too, but I’m working those out as best as I can.

1. Coolant System Retrofit: I bought the replacement silicone coolant pipes from Grease Works and the coolant expansion tank. Currently the expansion tank is in and the system is no longer leaking. The pipes are stowed until I have more time to replace them or more drive to, the old ones are in great shape actually.
2. Truck Mirrors: Are on the van. They look great and work even better. The best part about them was how easy they were to install.
3. High Top Installation: Soon after writing the last post John Carlton of North American High Top/Canadian High Tops posted to the Samba that he had a shipment on its way from England and at least one extra that he purchased on spec hoping that someone might want one in the North West. That someone was me! Had to scrimp a little to get the thing bought, but it seemed like a good idea considering that John can only ship these once he has five headed to any particular region.

   I’m currently scheduled to head down to the Portland/Vancouver area on the 18^th of this month. Myself and four other guys will cut holes in the top of our vans there and, soon thereafter, install our high-tops. This action has moved the time table on several other projects forward as well. Paint and requisite body work became a must do when I realized that the top was going to sit over the small spot that had been forming atop the left A-post. I ground it out, treated it, filled it back in, sanded it and shaped it so it looks like it was never a problem.

   Between now and February 18^th I’ve got to complete the preparation tasks for installing the high top which include:

• Scribing the 10′ runners and cross stingers that hold the top deck above the roof. The roof of a vanagon is a compound curve cut at a variable bias. If I want the deck I sleep on to be level I’ve got to scribe out the lumber that will support it and get it ready to fit. These will travel down to the work site with me in the van and be ready to fit as soon as the whole is cut.
• Complete my “rolling top installation” tool kit. Not having ever done this before there’s some mystery in this process. I don’t know what I’m going to need to complete the project and I’ll be about 240 miles away from home and the shop.

This repair work started off the painting project partly because I noticed surface pitting and partly because I have a compelling urge to take care of it on my own.

1. Paint Exterior: So the money I had been saving for completing the paint is now wrapped up in the high-top. That’s ok, because I’m doing Zeno up in Krylon for the time being. I’ve purchased the first round of Battleship Grey (RTA9206) and Flat Black (RTA9218) “rust tough” enamel and have already begun treating, filling, sanding and priming the van. In addition I also picked up a truck bed lining kit from NAPA and plan on coating the bottom and front of the bus. It’s probably not going to be “perfect”, but it’s a far cry better than what’s on there now and the cost is low enough that I can absorb it now rather than later (after any rust I’m dealing with now becomes cancerous).

Original Intent

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why I originally bought Zeno and started down this long and interesting path of diesel Volkswagen ownership. Knowing the origins of this decision might be helpful when I consider what, when, and how I’ll be working on the Vanagon moving forward.

Harken back to the winter of 2009, somewhere between October and November, my manager of three years gave me a telephone call. I had been happily and productively working for him at this time as a tele-worker from my home office in Central Washington. During these three years I accomplished more for my company than I feel I had over the previous seven years. Possibly the best part of this admittedly odd arrangement was that I had the opportunity to work while remaining close to my family and friends. Three years of what was, more or less, a kind of utopia first imagined by E.F Schumacher. The phone call from my manager tossed the monkey wrench right into the timing belt.

Things were going to change and rapidly. He told me that he was on his way out (to another team) and that they had hired a new manager to replace him. His replacement was due sometime after the end of November and there was ever possibility that said replacement manager would not be friendly to the prospect of the tele-workers already on his staff.

Living (and working) more or less 100 miles and a mountain pass away from my office I immediately switched into survival mode. Selling our house here in Central Washington wasn’t an option. The housing bubble had popped and we couldn’t afford the loss in value we’d have to eat even if we could find a buyer. Worse, moving back to Seattle was way down on our priority list. How to make this work?

Growing up my parents owned 1962 Samba (Sylvester) and then soon after I was born until I was about 12 they owned a 1973 Microbus (Gus). Since they sold Gus I’ve always wanted to replace that vehicle. I can still recall sleeping in the back of Gus on a return trip from Castle Valley in Utah and looking forward in the dark to see my parents holding hands in the lights of on-coming traffic. I don’t know why, but that memory is more like “home” to me than any house I’ve ever lived. I’ve always wanted a van to replace the “home” I lost in Gus.

More than that, now I needed a home on wheels. Once I found Zeno on eBay, picked him up in SoCal and drove him back up to Central Washington (ugh) I spent the rest of the winter and spring trying to make the van as mechanically reliable as I was able. Because of this I spent a great many nights sleeping in the back of my 4Runner last year rather than in Zeno. Phase one has always been to restore this vehicle to reliability which, as anyone who’s ever owned an old car can attest, is a real labor of love. It has to be, otherwise, it’d just be too difficult.

Last August I drove Zeno nearly 2000 miles to Burning Man and back again. After the front end work and CV assembly replacement I think we can judge the van within the safety zone of reliability (although I still need to install a non-leaking coolant expansion tank).

Phase two is where I get to address some of the issues that lead me to buy the van in the first place. To avoid selling my home in Central Washington and give me a workable (if temporary) base of operations in the greater Redmond area on a week-by-week basis Zeno will need to be transformed from its current “hacked camper” status into a comfortable alternative home on wheels. This means that it must be comfortable to drive and hang out in.

The above implies some work. I’m starting to break up this work into bite sized collections so that I can address each and come through the transformation with a minimum of rework. Each project will need to be addressed in serial fashion.

1. Finish Coolant System Retrofit: I recently ordered new silicone coolant pipes (blue) from Grease Works as well as a replacement coolant expansion tank and the equipment to mount it correctly inside the engine compartment. I’ve tried to replace the coolant expansion tank I have with a variety of used options, the problem is always that the tank I have is rare to say the least and there are no aftermarket replacements that I would be able to easily swap.
2. Front Heater Fan Replacement: Would be cool if I could find the time to do this before the winter is over. Actually no, it might be warmer. Requires that the dash be completely removed … ugh! While I’m in there I’m going to sort out some wiring and make sure the electrical BUS is in good working order and looks awesome.
3. Wheel Spacers: Zeno is currently running 16″ CLK Mercedes rims. The dPO just mounted them to the wheels without spacers or any modifications to the lugs. They work and the rims look ok, but I’d like to make them look good. I want to make sure that I’m getting some additional clearance on the front end and equalizing the spacing between the front and back end. I’ll probably go through a kit from Chris at T3Technique. It would be great to be able to put blank or die-cast center caps on these rims. And I’ll want to take the tires off and clean the rims up considerably.
4. Truck Mirrors: This is a vanity installation of mirrors on my van. I don’t “need” them, but I really want them. GoWesty just dropped their price and they are now saying they have a limited stock available. I may buy these sooner than later and get them on when the spring comes around and things dry up a little. Zeno is going to look very cool with the big mirrors. Something like 5 mm spacers up front and 8 mm in the rear.
5. Tire Upgrade: I’m pretty sure I’d like to run a much more beefy set of 215/65-16 on Zeno. It will most likely affect acceleration, but since torque is generally what I’m interested in I’m not too bothered. I really like the idea of running the Hankook RT03 Muds, 215/85/16 all the way around and the CLK rims should support this just fine.
6. High Top Installation: So here is the big’un. If I can get an Adventure Wagon top I’d gladly do what is necessary to put it on Zeno. These are few and far between so I’ll most likely settle for a high top from North American High Top/Canadian High Tops which is a reasonable substitute and comes with the added benefit of being recently manufactured. The price of this is much higher than most of the previous projects I intend for the van and is contingent on the availability of budget and time. If it doesn’t happen this year, well then, maybe next year.
7. Paint Exterior: The van needs to be sanded down, patched or treated where there is rust, and painted. Again the dPO did a job since I’m very certain the bus received a shaker can special of similar color before I paid. The problem with this is it didn’t last, there are patches of seem rust and a welt forming over the driver’s side of the windshield near the A-post on that side. Plus I want to completely seal the undercarriage to protect the metal. Again, another big ticket item and this really needs to be done after the high top is installed. I’m pretty sure I’m going to go with a flat-ish grey with the truck-bed liner bathtub effect.
8. Custom Cabinet Installation: Again, highly dependent on the high top installation. Some of the work can be done in advance, but depending on the layout of the cabinets I end up building I may need the space that is created with the high top. Right now I’m using Westy cabinets liberated from junked vans. They’re functional but it would be cool if I could move beyond that into comfortable and useable.
9. Camp Utility Installation: This includes installing a stove, sink, potable water reservoir, grey water reservoir, ice box, LED lighting, shore power hookup, WiFi, and possibly an instant hot water heater. Technically its part of the cabinet installation, but separated because while the cabinet design is dependent on this the utilities require integration that is separate.
10. Bumper replacement: Probably a set of RockyMountainWest‘s bumpers with the auxiliary jerry fuel tank mount and a hitch in the rear.

There are some potentially big trips in their infancy at the moment during the course of the next year. I’m mentioning these because they’ll ultimately impact my project schedule and budget for the van. Also, they represent a fun use of the vanagon in vivo. I’ll probably list these as a separate post later in the week.