17 February 2011

First decent day yet this year

Got to play a bit today.  Been dying to dig in, but the 20 degree weather has put a damper on things.

Put the Mercedes wheels I got up in Vermont on the Vanagon.  Needed to do a trial fit, in order to establish the length of wheel studs I will need.  They went right on.  Given that these are an Italian aftermarket version of the venerable 15 x 7 in. Mercedes 8 hole alloy, the holes were already a large enough for the Vanagons rear studs and front lug bolts.  Need to get others though, as the seats do not match given the Vanagons concave seat and the Mercedes conical seat.  Already contacted Chris at T3 Technique for the right ones.

Also had to replace the bulb bases for the front side marker lights.  The design flaw allows moisture to get in and then sits there and rots out the connectors.  Found a pair of aftermarket ones at Bus Depot and they arrived today.  Got them in, soldered in new connectors and replaced the lenses.  Thinking about drilling a very small hole in the bottom of the lens to allow drainage, but jury is still out.

Remainder of the lighting all works except brake lights.  Need to tackle that tomorrow.  Brake switch is located near master cylinder under instrument panel cover.  Just going to replace it regardless of what I find.  Its a pressure switch, unlike more recent cars having an electrical switch.  If the switch is original, its far too old and will require more pressure to activate than a new one.  Will start there tomorrow.

Need to get some pictures going.

Also topped off tank today.  Learned that the vapor release setup on top of tank is leaking.  Common enough issue.  But now that the tank is full, I will need to wait to drop the tank and fix it.

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