December 29, 2006
Back-to-back blizzards in CO!

The Guacamole Bus got dumped on this year! The first storm, on 12/20 & 12/21, dumped several feet of snow on the bus:

Digging that out was oh so much fun.

Then on the 28th we got another blizzard. This one isn't dumping snow quite as fast, but it's gonna last several days, possibly through the 31st!

That shot above was after I got to work about 7:30am. The parking lot at work was nicely plowed, as were most of the roads. However, even plowed, the roads had 1-2" of packed snow ON TOP OF a sheet of ice. It was interesting getting here, to say the least...

Notice how well the windshield is defrosted? Because of the design of VW's heating system, the snow and moisture go straight through the heat exchangers and into the cabin when the heater is on. That means unless the temps inside the bus can be kept up above freezing you get a sheet of ice on every surface in the bus. And you can see the frost inside all the windows. But the heat is enough to keep the windshield clear, thankfully. Just keep the revs up and the Guac can keep the windshield clear.

I am, however, planning an upgrade to the heat on the Guac. Watch here for more details...

December 19, 2006
I've picked up a new advertiser... tshirthell.com. The shirts and the site in general are very NSFW. But it is seriously rude and funny stuff. If you can stomach it, go check it out. And if you want to get their advertising, click here.

November 24, 2006
Replacing the Fuel Pressure Regulator

October 31, 2006
Installed new pedal pads on the Guac:

Write-up here.

October 3, 2006
I finally got around to installing the electric washer pump. The pics I took didn't come out, so nothing to show. But aside from putting the pump itself in a better place, and the switch in the driver's seat pedestal instead of the dash, the info is the same as my installation on the Great White Bus here: Writeup on The Samba

I also put screw covers on the screws holding the kick panels. The covers are black plastic and cost about a buck for two from Lowe's:

September 15, 2006
I found a pic of the Great White Bus next to the Guacamole bus!

September 13, 2006
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA SUCKS!

I had started putting some stuff on CafePress to hopefully make a few pennies to put into the Guac. Here's what I had up there:

I hadn't really done anything with it yet, but then CafePress locked the images and sent me the following letter:

Dear Shopkeeper,

Thank you for using CafePress.com!

In accordance with our Intellectual Property Rights Policy, Gregory D. Phillips, on behalf of Volkswagen of America, Inc. provided us with a notice stating that your use of images bearing the distinctive shape of the Classic and New Volkswagen vehicles, the VW Emblem and/or other VW trademarks and trade dress infringes upon their intellectual property rights (trademark/copyright). Please click here for more information about intellectual property.

Accordingly, we have set the content that is alleged to infringe the rights of the third party to “pending status” which disables said content from being displayed in your shop or purchased by the public. You may review the content set to pending status by logging into your CafePress.com account and clicking on the “Media Basket” link. The content set to pending status will be highlighted red.

If you believe that you hold the rights to the content alleged to infringe the rights of the third party, we encourage you to contact the alleged rights holder directly for a resolution to this matter. Below please find the contact information for the party alleging infringement.

We realize that you are a dedicated fan and are expressing such through your art work, as only a true fan could. That being said, feel free to contact Volkswagen of America directly to voice your concerns about not being able to express you true love for the automobile. You are, after all, part of the fan base and, more importantly, part of the purchasing public and have assisted in creating greater sales of the automobiles, and have helped elevate the VW properties to their current cult status. Please find the contact information for Volkswagen of America and their representative below if you want to share your concerns.

Law offices of Howard, Phillips & Andersen
Gregory Phillips
560 East 200 South, Suite 300
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
801.366.7471
gdp@hpalaw.com

We apologize for any inconvenience that our actions may cause you. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Lindsay Estes
Content Usage Associate
(650) 655-3047 (O)
(650) 240-0260 (F)

And this is why I will never buy a new or even recently made VW. That and the fact that there are way too many reports of poor quality floating around the net about newer VWs and Audis.

September 4, 2006
I worked on the shifter today. Check the mechanicals section for pics and writeups.

September 3, 2006 - Update
Ok, I got the kick panels, door panels, and seat belts in the Interior section. Enjoy!

September 3, 2006
I apologize for not updating. I've actually done quite a bit with the Guac, but haven't really had a chance to sit down and put it all together.

I've got more pics from the CA road trip I need to sort and put up, I've added the Guac's nose emblem, I've upholstered my kick panels and door panels, I've installed retractable seatbelts and extended the receivers by welding the old receivers onto the new ones, etc...

Yeah, lots to post about. I'll get it up soon, I promise.

July 21, 2006
The movie "Little Miss Sunshine", starring a yellow and white bay window bus will be opening on Wed, July 26.

See the trailer on IMDB.

If you're in SoCal, Fox and KROQ are sponsoring a prescreening of the movie. Busses that get there before 7pm get goodies! Since I'm in SoCal right now anyway, I'll be there.

Flyer to event (PDF)

It's at:
Vineland Drive-In
443 North Vineland Avenue
City of Industry

July 18, 2006
Added my trip report for another CO to CA drive here:

Colorado to California

July 10, 2006
Added a Coil Autopsy to the Technical section.

The situation was an intermittent misfire that was increasing in frequency. After my experience in California with the fuel filter, that was the first thing I tried. But the issue persisted. Then someone on the Type 2 list suggested it was the coil. So I put the original Bosch coil back on and the problems went away.

After that I decided to cut open the craptastic Autozone coil and see what was inside...

May 10, 2006 (second update)
Ok, got the story up:
California, May 2006

May 10, 2006
I haven't had a chance to put the story of my trip up here yet, but here's the album of photos... My digicam finally bit the dust when I dropped it one too many times, so was shooting film.

If you're curious:

• Camera: Seagull 300 (Minolta x370 copy)
• Film: Fuji 100 print film
• Lenses: Minolta Celtic 50mm Macro, Tokina AT/X 70-250 zoom
• Processing: WalMart with a photo CD

April 28 2006
Due to a death in the family, I need to get to California. I get 5 days of bereavement from work, plus I have some vacation time saved up, so it works out either as a wash or slightly cheaper to drive than to fly.

So I'm taking the family in the Guac, leaving this afternoon.

I'm trying to get lots of prep done, but it's raining. I stocked up on spares and such, finally purchased AAA (heh), and am going to buy some tires. I have 2 of these already from the GWB:

I'm going this morning to get two more. They're Pathfinder Trail AP in the 27x8.5x14 size, C load rated, 6PR sidewalls. They did great on the GWB, and I'd rather not chew up the Nokian Hakkapeliitta CS snow tires that are on the Guac at the moment. Plus they're from Discount Tire, so if there are any issues, I can stop darn near anywhere to get 'em fixed.

I'll be taking I-70 from Denver, stopping one night in Grand Junction, and one night in Las Vegas (I hope).

I'm debating on the rack, however. Because it'll be raining much of the trip, I can't put much up there that I'm bringing. But the thing's so heavy, I don't want to waste the gas with it up there. But it's such a pain to get it off and on...

My digicam died finally. I dropped it one too many times I guess. So I will only be shooting film on the trip. No regular photo updates, unfortunately. Though I hope to still get some shots scanned after so I can create a gallery. We'll see.

April 19, 2006
Some bus silliness. I was watching Farscape and saw this:

Season 4, episode 7, "John Quixote". The bus is featured several times. Also note that this show is filmed in Australia, and so it's right hand drive.

April 18, 2006
Retrieved my good tires from the guy I gave the GWB to. They're nice Discount Tire Trail A/P tires, reinforced sidewalls, etc, and I don't want to give them up. Besides, the Nokian Hakkapeliita CS tires on there now are really winter tires and should be stored during the summer.

So before I put my summer tires on I decided to paint the disgusting wheels they're mounted on. These wheels have several layers of rattlecan paint in silver, red, and yellow. All in various stages of peeling.

A few minutes with a wire wheel to remove any loose paint and away I go. I used the Rustoleum "Professional" white primer and gloss white paint. 2 coats of each, 15 minutes apart. This isn't really for durability since my summer tires will eventually end up on my Carrol Shelby snowflake wheels. But I wanted to see how well I could mask with just tape and paper. And how they would look on The Guac.

As you can see they look pretty darn good!

I'm going to buy some white auto paint and do the wheels the Hakk's are on with my HVLP sprayer. A better job of prep will be done too.

April 10, 2006
Smogged the Guac today. First time through got the following numbers:

• HC PPM (Limits 400):
  Idle: 189
  2500rpm: 80
• CO% (Limits 3.00):
  Idle: 3.16
  2500rpm: 1.40
• CO2%: Unmeasured

• HC PPM:
  Idle: 125
  2500rpm: 59
• CO%:
  Idle: 1.01
  2500rpm: 0.34
• CO2%:
  Idle: 9.7985
  2500rpm: 11.5586

On April 8, 2006...
A 1978 VW Bus was delivered to my home.

Specifications:
1978 VW Type 2
2.0 Liter Fuel Injected Engine (GE Engine code)
Koni shocks
Nokian Hakkapeliitta Tires
Vanagon Front Bucket Seats
3 seat bench, 2 seat bench

Color is "Sage Green" and white. (Yes, it's avocado green. Stupid marketing departments...)

The top end was redone last year. I know, I helped the previous owner. New exhaust too including catalytic converter. This bus, using the official "Don's Seat-of-his-pants" highly technical measurment system, has way more power throughout the RPM range than the GWB. I'm thinking it's due to the fuel injection as well as the hydraulic cam and lifters. The cam profile for hydraulics is slightly different. Whatever the reason, the engine is less peaky with smooth power coming on early in the RPM range and staying until close to 5k where it starts to drop off. (These are just estimates since I don't have my tach installed yet...)

Projects
Here are some things I still have to do in the next couple weeks. These parts I pulled off the GWB and already have the stuff for. Just need time....

• Install chrome bumpers
• Install H4 lights
• Install front door panels with speakers
• Install stereo
• Grease up sliding door and all locks and windows
• Install tachometer
• Install Pertronix

• Apply Dynamat or something similar to all large body panels
• Make custom interior panels
• Get summer tires and install them on the alloy CS wheels setting in my garage
• Repair rust on roof and rain gutters caused by the rack
• Come up with a way for the rack to mount without damaging the roof
• Other minor rust repair, paint above the beltline (below the beltline appears to have been recently painted
• Get chrome emblem for nose
• Get the grille chromed
• Replace the aging Deluxe style window seals with non-deluxe ones

Watch this page for updates and such!