Hi Geza,

Something can always be done if it has to be done.

Adam's roadside rebuild parts for his 38-year-old bus were brought in
from 300 miles from where he broke down. And it wasn't comfortable
spring weather, either... When he did most of the work it was pouring
rain at only about 10F  degrees above freezing, and it was close to
freezing at night.  When Adam's bus broke down he got on the phone
and started calling around for advice and there was some action on
the AIRS and FMBC lists. That soon lead to a  good samaritan jumping
into his car and driving 300 miles to help out with spare parts and
labour. It was no picnic, but the story did have a happy ending.

Note that a roadside repair doesn't have to last 100,000 miles. It
just has to get you to somewhere safe, so it can be repaired properly.

Getting out of bed in the morning comes with risks. Driving a
vanagon, or an aircooled bus means getting in tune with risk
management. Unfortunately vanagons are complex systems, and NO-ONE
can predict with 100% accuracy when an engine/brake/suspension
component will fail. Preventative maintenance is absolutely critical
to long-term reliability. It is ALWAYS cheaper to replace a part
before it fails than to wait for it to break.

I always take a well-stocked toolbox and some spare parts on a trip,
and a copy of the AiRS list should I need it. I also have a cell
phone, a cb radio, and survival equipment appropriate to the weather
and region I'm travelling in. But on my first 900-mile EveryBus
excursion I was still whiteknuckled for the first two days of the trip.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
1973/74/77/79 Westfakia "Bob The Tomato
www.pottsfamily.ca

On 23-Jan-07, at 3:22 PM, Geza Polony wrote:

> "(ie, roadside rebuild)"
>
> That's what I don't get. How are you going to replace a piston at
> 8,000 ft
> in the mountains in the middle of nowhere? I mean, there's some
> stuff that
> can be done, but a roadside rebuild? Perhaps a parts helicopter
> would come
> in handy.