Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: "Mellow Yellow (The Electrical Banana)"
KG6RCR

On 4/30/2005 7:12 AM Mike Collum wrote:

> First ... Are you absolutely sure it's a head leak and not (for example)
> that little hose between the waterpump and the head?
>
>
99 and 44/100th percent sure. The gasket seam is all goopy and that's
where the little blue-green drops of coolant are hanging from like bats
in a cave.

- Rocky

>
> Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
>
>> Last night my wife and I decided to hop into Mellow Yellow, our 84
>> Westy, and have a sunset dinner at the beach. We drove a few miles south
>> on Highway 1 parked on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ate
>> while watching the sunset. We had pelicans, we had surfers, I had a nice
>> bottle of Porter ale from the Stone Brewing Company.
>>
>> We talked about how much we love camping in Mellow Yellow. We talked
>> about the disappointing fact that the the engine has developed the
>> famous coolant leak at the head. And we decided that our choices were to
>> get rid of her or fix the problem. We want to fix the problem.
>>
>> Though I have replaced my 71 bus's engine myself, I just don't feel like
>> tackling the considerably harder job of pulling the engine to do the JB
>> Weld fix on the heads, or anything like that. I've got a full-time job,
>> I'm a student and a father, yada yada yada, and the bottom line is that
>> I just don't have the inclination to do the work myself.
>>
>> I can take it to Brad's Foreign Auto, in Encinitas (California), nearby.
>> A list member recommended them, and they did some brake work on my 71
>> bus -- they do seem to know what they are doing.
>>
>> But I need a plan before I give them Mellow Yellow. Find a good rebuilt
>> 1.9l WBX? Are there such things? Hand them a printout of how the JB Weld
>> the cracks and ask them to do it? Find a Subaru Legacy engine, buy a
>> conversion kit and say, "Here, do this"?
>>
>> Though I'd like them to do the work, I just don't know what work I want
>> them to do.
>>
>> Folks - what's the reasonably-priced approach here that won't make a
>> shop crazy?
>>
>> --
>> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
>> 84 Westfalia: "Mellow Yellow (The Electrical Banana)"
>> KG6RCR
>>
>