During a discussion about potential summer plans earlier this year, some how Randi and I stumbled across the notion of the All-American Road Trip. Seemed like a good idea... Josh & Zev are the right ages, we haven't really done an epic road trip as a family before, and the costs for travel overseas seem prohibitive. But that notion grew.. and grew.. and... well, we found ourselves in the market for a VW Vanagon. Of course the last year VW made the Vanagon was 1991, 17 years ago. No matter, after a short search, we managed to find such a Vanagon. The best part, well it was already restored... rebuilt engine, lots of new parts, etc.
Not long after our initial discussion I found myself on the way to San Bernardino, CA to pick up the new van. The dealer picks me up at the airport and announces that he's taking me to the garage to pick it up. Apparently it needed a quick check since it had trouble starting that morning. (That should have been my first clue.) Well a short while later I was on the road. And a short while after that I was stuck in Needles, CA. Yeah, I made all of 160 miles before the beautiful new van broke down. Now I tell you all of this because this silver, shiny, awesome van is a labor of love, love at first sight I suppose. Because the breakdown in Needles isn't the end. I left Needles without the van; the van some weeks later makes its way back to San Bernardino, albeit on the back of a auto transporter.
Well another rebuilt engine, many forced apologies, and a lot of hope later, the van is finally returned to us in Flagstaff by another auto transporter. And since getting it we've been having a great time. Its a fun ride; slow, but fun. The kids think its great, so far. We've only been driving it around Flagstaff, but the van and I are getting to know one another; and I'm certain like all relationships there are things we find we don't like. But it is cool, and I can live with its idiosyncracies. We've made plans for an auxiliary battery, sweet cupholders, bamboo mats for the passenger area, and an awesome tent/shelter type of thing for the side. But what we didn't count on was the fuel leak last weekend.
Just when all seemed perfect I notice a steady stream of fuel leaking onto the hot exhaust system, steam rising off the pipes. After my heart skipped a beat or two I managed to remember to turn off the ignition. A little research on my favorite vanagon listserve, thesamba.com, and I realized that one, this happens a lot to nearly 20-year-old cars, and two, that the fix was not all that difficult. OK, so I ordered the right parts and started to change out the fuel lines this weekend. It's going pretty smoothly. Turns out the fuel injectors need some service, but again, not a big deal.
Two weeks to go until our road trip.
Not long after our initial discussion I found myself on the way to San Bernardino, CA to pick up the new van. The dealer picks me up at the airport and announces that he's taking me to the garage to pick it up. Apparently it needed a quick check since it had trouble starting that morning. (That should have been my first clue.) Well a short while later I was on the road. And a short while after that I was stuck in Needles, CA. Yeah, I made all of 160 miles before the beautiful new van broke down. Now I tell you all of this because this silver, shiny, awesome van is a labor of love, love at first sight I suppose. Because the breakdown in Needles isn't the end. I left Needles without the van; the van some weeks later makes its way back to San Bernardino, albeit on the back of a auto transporter.
Well another rebuilt engine, many forced apologies, and a lot of hope later, the van is finally returned to us in Flagstaff by another auto transporter. And since getting it we've been having a great time. Its a fun ride; slow, but fun. The kids think its great, so far. We've only been driving it around Flagstaff, but the van and I are getting to know one another; and I'm certain like all relationships there are things we find we don't like. But it is cool, and I can live with its idiosyncracies. We've made plans for an auxiliary battery, sweet cupholders, bamboo mats for the passenger area, and an awesome tent/shelter type of thing for the side. But what we didn't count on was the fuel leak last weekend.
Just when all seemed perfect I notice a steady stream of fuel leaking onto the hot exhaust system, steam rising off the pipes. After my heart skipped a beat or two I managed to remember to turn off the ignition. A little research on my favorite vanagon listserve, thesamba.com, and I realized that one, this happens a lot to nearly 20-year-old cars, and two, that the fix was not all that difficult. OK, so I ordered the right parts and started to change out the fuel lines this weekend. It's going pretty smoothly. Turns out the fuel injectors need some service, but again, not a big deal.
Two weeks to go until our road trip.
