good news at last.  the snivelling is over.  fired up the
          rebuilt motor in the '66 kombi/camper last night at approx
          9pm.  it sounds great, doesn't vibrate, has a smooth power
          band and smells like the mixture of old pizza and musty
          t-shirt.  (dont ask me how i know).  here's how it went:

          father's day weeknd we were on the interstate when the
          clanking and clunking happened.  shut it down,,pulled over
          and inspected.  nothing visual, but motor won't hardly turn
          over, hmmm.  call AAA and tow to local dealer.  we had
          barely made it in range to get it towed back to hometown.
          this dealer has a mechanic who is the only one that works on
          older stuff and he's good.  but of course he has a boss who
          is interested in making a large dollar and doesn't really
          want to see the old stuff littering up his shop, scaring off
          the customers looking to by the new shit.  they used to
          offer a 10% discount for "vintage cars".  no more.  they
          don't even have grease guns anymore because the newer crap
          doesn't need it!  what's the pleasure in that??  anyway, the
          verdict is the mechanic says it's a rod problem, rebuild the
          motor.  the dealer says $2000 for a short block out of
          california.  i say tow it back to my house.

          a weekend later myself and two buds pull the motor in record
          time:6hours and several 6 packs.  15 minutes later the motor
          is completely disassembled on the bench in the shop.  sure
          enough the #4 rod bearing has spun.  further inspection
          leads me to the contusion that i will not rebuild this
          particular motor but buy a long block.  i investigate
          several places and settle on GEX.

          in the weeks that follow lea and i clean, sand & paint the
          engine compartment, bumpers, new cargo doors, repair
          headliner, rewire several components, do some small
          fiberglass work, repair/clean/lubricate crank out windows,
          fix a couple leaks, and generally knock ourselves out while
          constantly repeating "we are NOT restoring this vehicle".

          parts start to arrive and we begin assembly.  motor arrives
          and parts are attached.  new doghouse cooler, new carb, new
          intake manifold doesn't fit arrrgg, send back rear shocks.
          the woman at rmmw asked me why i was returning the shocks
          and i told her they were "wimpy".  she laughed and wrote it
          down, saying it was a first.  kby gr2's are on the way.  the
          intake manifold was a good inch short of being able to slide
          down over the tins.  it did not appear to be bent but just
          too short.  i used the old one even though the aluminum that
          wraps around the two pipes is cracked right along the
          length.

          this last saturday, several friends come over to witness the
          motor going in. included with this group is list member lisa
          mazak and her beau george with their trusty "frau", another
          '66 kombi standard.  and they bring beer, lots o' beer.  all
          day long it's assemble, adjust, why won't it fit properly,
          readjust, swear, drink another beer, eat pizza, harass the
          neighbors who don't like the commotion, wait for the police
          (who never come or we'd put them to work), etc, etc.  at 9pm
          it's almost dark and with just an hour more work to go we
          call it a day, sadly, feeling defeated, cheated that we
          don't get to hear it roar to life after all that work.

          sunday i wake feeling like someone has slugged me all over
          while i slept.  lea claims ignorance.  i slowly hook up
          wires and cables and fall asleep under the bus on the
          creeper.  lea sets up a beach chair for me on the screened
          back porch where the mosquitos won't eat me and let's me
          sleep a while.  i go back out and try all electrical
          systems, except charging of course, and all works except for
          the engine compartment light.  i probably painted the ground
          connection.  i call it a day.

          monday night (last night) steve comes over at 6:30 and we
          work together for 45 minutes and the moment comes when the
          key must be turned.  i crank and crank and not even a fart.
          then about 3 minutes later the float bowl finally fills or
          the gods smile and vroom it comes to life.  it's a little
          rough but as it warms up we tweak the carb and timing and
          it smooths out.  smells funky.  we go for a ride.  god it's
          smooth and quiet and sweet.  no lurching in the middle of
          the power band.  comes off the line smoothly (new throttle
          cable) and just feels great.  we clean up, put away tools,
          shake hands and call it a day.  i only wish lisa and george
          and brian and mostly lea were there to share it.  it was
          sort of anti-climatic.

          lea came home about 10pm and i dragged her out to the bus,
          with my best sour face and asked her to turn the key.  she's
          been listening to my snivelling for weeks so she asks
          "what's wrong?"  i reply, "you tell me what you think".
          well, she's figuring that it's messed up and she's getting
          stressed.  she turns the key and it starts so easily, so
          smoothly, so quietly that she's not even sure it's running
          for a couple of seconds.  then i smile, big.  we laugh and
          howl and she wants to go for a ride.  i dont want to drive
          it until the rear apron and seal is on so i hold her off.
          thursday morn bright and early we leave on the motorcycle
          for north carolina for a guzzi rally on the blue ridge and
          we'll finish up the bus when we get back a week later.
          we're hoping to hit some vw junkyards we 've heard about up
          there and to visit with neil pickett (neato rep) who lives
          near asheville.

          thanks to everyone who helped with info and encouragement
          and just calming me down, most notably, dave easterwood,
          kevin murray, the hoover, the infamous dr van bondo, and
          busboy jim.  i am completely honest when i tell you i
          wouldn't have had the courage to even try this without your
          help.  this is a great exchange.

          so big deal, now i can drop and install a vw motor.  if i
          attempted it along the road like kevin did, i'd have to
          reserve a motel with a pool for a week!!  all professional
          vw mechanics are safe from the likes of me.   ray