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Fracdog's 1971 Westy Page
Updated: July 7, 2005
A few VW photos from our trip to Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Il.
Here's my email if you have any questions or comments: y4s6wd5@swbell.net Also, if you haven't been to the Texas Coalition of Buses - TCB page, here's the link. http://www.freelists.org/list/tcb
I bought Sparky sight, unseen off the internet. The price was good and the one photo I had looked good. The deal was made and I had the bus shipped by DAS from San Diego to Houston. I checked the progress of the shipment daily and watched it travel from San Diego to LA, to Phoenix, to Dallas and finally to Houston. My wife Renae took me to south Houston, near the Astrodome to pick up my new bus. Now I have to admit, I've only driven one other bus before and didn't know what I was getting into. I signed the papers and fired it up. Yes, it did start. First stop was at a nearby gas station to check the oil and fill it up.
So the adventure begins. The Astrodome is about 50 miles from my house in The Woodlands and the only way to get there is straight up I-45 through the middle of downtown Houston in a bus I had just met and few minutes earlier. No blinkers, no brake lights, no horn, but 65 MPH all the way!
Here's a few shots from in front of my house that afternoon. The windows are painted black. Notice the California tags.
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The first order of business was getting an inspection and tags. The wiring was a mess and a challenge to undo 33 years of poor decisions. The bus was christened SPARKY due to the sparks flying every time I hooked the battery back up. Eventually, I gave up a disconnected everything and started over. So on February 23, 2004 with "91,974" miles on the odometer, Sparky was legal and ready to go cruising.
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After driving for around while, I started looking at why the engine ran so poorly. According to the previous owner (PO) the engine is a 1915. The stock PICT 34 carb and a mechanical advance 009 distributor had a major hesitation. I purchased a new set of dual Kadron carbs and new Bosch vacuum advance distributor from AJ Simms along with a set ceramic coated exhausts from ASK in Houston. AJ Simms & crew were very helpful and promptly answered my questions. Although the carbs were tough to get adjusted just right, they are running fine as of today - 12/27/04. After some initial heat problems, I added a 1 1/2 quart sump, external oil filter and cooler and can now cruise at 65 MPH all day long and never get above 180, regardless of the outside temperature.
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Sparky was running pretty good now and the show season was in high gear so we made a few spring shows. The Texas VW Classic, Eureka Springs and Transporters at the Point were the high points.
Sand...prime...putty...sand...prime...putty...sand...prime
