Betty is sitting outside on jackstands with bare spindles pointing
angrily at me. But I'll be there.
A while back ... months, probably before BusFest ... a front wheel
cylinder failed. To stay on the road I "pinned" the line on that side
and adjusted my driving to expect the pull to the right.
About 3 weeks ago. Due to the heavy rains here, tiredness from a late
night, a slippery foot that came off the clutch while down shifting,
*and* probably not helped by the pull to the right, I put Betty in a
ditch. HARD. Luckily the dirt was soft because of the rain. I stopped
at a 30° tilt, almost flipping over, but I missed the big tree I would
have hit at about 20mph if I had just slid across the grass.
I was buried deep enough that while pulling her out we ripped off the
front bumper, including ripping at least one of the mounts in half.
So, I ordered 4 new wheel cylinders. Saturday I got them in and took
everything apart. Dropped the drums off and got them turned yesterday.
Just picked them up. He turned them, and installed the new bearing
races and dust seals that I provided for $20 per drum. He also
pre-greased all the bearings so all I'd have to do is slide them on.
Yesterday I cleaned up and painted the backing plates. I was going to
paint the drums but I forgot to tell the mechanic and at this point it
would require pulling the new seals to degrease them for paint adhesion.
I have all the little bits soaking in degreaser right now. The grease
caps, cylinder bolts, etc. Had to clean and re-use the bleeders also.
Can't find any short M10-1.0 bleeders locally.
I also think I popped a seal on my steering box. It's dripping. have to
look at that today and see if I can top it up and stop the leak.
So,
If anyone has photos that show which backing plate is left and which is
right for a '68-1/2 to '70 bus please post up. I'm going to have to
start guessing soon.
And, if anyone has a set of reasonably priced front bumper mounts for
an early Bay please bring them to the classic. I have a rusty but
straight bumper available.
I should have a set of working Jalousies available for sale. Send offers
approaching or over $200 for the set to me via email if you want to
"pre-buy" and have me hold them for you at the Classic. I'll include
handles if I can find another set.
Later,
G2
On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:14:06 -0500
"Denis" <coocoo@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I know that this news could ruin the Texas Classic for hundreds of
you, but I am not going to make it this year.
Murray lost 4th gear and I had his tranny rebuilt and when I was
installing it I found sooo much wear and tear and mystifying stuff
that I am taking my time and cleaning and replacing what needs
attention. The engine is still on the floor and a soon as I have it
back in I will move to cleaning and rebuilding the front wheels.
Too often in the past I have just slapped stuff together and gone,
but that is probably why I am finding all this stuff that needs to be
done correctly. I have more parts in one wheel that in the other. How
is that even possible?
Anyway y’all have big fun. I’ll see you in Eureka
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com
