yep ..me too.
There is not one job..almost anyway ...........that does not turn into
..besides the main repair ..
whoops ..gotta deal with this corrosion ..
oh .this area sure needs cleaning ....and on and on.

any two hour job turns into 5 hours for me usually.  I get a used
vanagon...it immediately needs 300 things servied , lubed, treated, or
somehow fixed and refurbished..
and that is not even things like upholstery or paint or glass...
...mainly just mechanical/electrical and addressing corrosion and rust.

Even expensive vanagons need this since there are countless things that
shops and most owners will never attend to.
I often the first person since the factor to lube something ..
say ..the parking brake pivot at the base of the handle and the ratchet
and pawl.
About 60 of those on any vanagon.

I do the vast majority of my restoration and refurbishment just
cleaning, adjusting, swapping on better but not new parts....treating,
painting ...lots and lots of just good care..
I own like 60 different products for restoring and treating things..
I use new parts sometimes..sure ...and,  I get a LOT of stuff pefectly
working again without lots of new parts.

On 2/5/2014 5:28 PM, J Stewart wrote:
> Thank you Scott. Yes attention to detail, and I am a fanatic on that which is why weekend projects turn into multi-weekend projects. Years ago I swapped out a rusted front axle beam on a '77 Westy (in otherwise great condition, but the beam was Swiss cheese) It took me 5 weekends because I kept finding more "Well as long as I've gone this far, I might as well replace this too" and every weekend I'd place another order with a vendor for more parts. I'm sure this job will be the same! Jeff Stewart ----- Original Message -----
>> ah ha...
>> the magnifying comment shows that if it's my comment on that you're
>> referring to ..at least you read it and comprehended.
>> I'm pretty sure I mentioned old tooth brush and spray carb cleaner..
>> on newspapers ..........as a low tech very effective cleaning method.
>> sure works for me ...perhaps a bit labor intenstive compared to some
>> other fancy method ..
>> I think good hard work is a good thing ..
>> so never bothered me to spent say half an hour cleaning a part like a
>> cylinder head by hand.
>> heads off in the van :
>> it's all about Patience..
>> and Attention to Detail...
>> and not busting rusted exhaust studs and bolts off..
>> and Patience..and Attention to Detail ...
>> and Patience..
>> and Attention to Detail ...
>> and Patience..
>> and Attention to Detail ...
>> and Patience..
>> and Attention to Detail ...
>> and Patience..
>> and Attention to Detail ...
>> and Patience..
>> and Attention to Detail ...
>> and Patience..
>> and Attention to Detail ...
>> etc.