hey now,

Guess what i drove to work today...yes, my '74 bus! yeah!! got the RIGHT parts
from PartsPlace yesterday, threw that axle assembly on, adjusted the clutch a
little, started her up, then beat it on down the line. drove around town for
about 2 hours to check out everything. put some air in the tires. checked
periodically to see if it was running hot...nada. could put my hand on the
engine compartment and not burn myself. cheked the oil, dipstick was barely
warm.

woke up this morning, smile on my face, jumped in the shower and went out to
warm up the old vw. drove to work.....not a problem. work is about 15 miles
away i reckon. mostly interstate....now i know what it's like to drive a vw on
the interstate. yucky...kinda windy and those 18 wheelers kinda blow you to
the side. but the van took it well and only a minor adjustment in steering was
needed. drove about 60 and got no complaints from the engine. even drove 70
with no complaints but knowing how vw's are i stayed mainly at 57-60. of course
this didn't make the rush hour folks too happy. for once, i was completely
and utterley happy to drive in the slow lane.

as far as waving...i've got waves back to all the waves i've given...3 vanagons
, 2 campers, 4 bugs.....pretty good for like 4 hours of driving! hehehehe

i've gotta get used to shifting in the vw...it's no where near like the mazda.
but i really like the laid back, no rush moving down the road. i could get to
love vw's. *smirk*

the ONLY thing that concerns me is that there is a noise that happens when i'm
at a higher speed in 3rd...it's coming from the stick it's self...kinda of a
vibration noise...all i do is put the stick up a little and it stops...doesn't
sound like it's from the transmission itself...and only happens every once in
a while.

happy happy,

jonathan