hey now,

Rumba finally runs! started up on the first try after the rebuild. my thanks
go out to sean fraiser for his patience and work. just a few things to work
out...valve cover gasket is leaking a tiny bit...will fix at 300 miles when
the valves are checked and the engine pulled to retourqe the heads. also there
is a slight heater box leak that will need to be fixed. she runs and purrs and
has power like she never did before though. the engine was rebuilt and the
front end has new ball joints, tie rods and just had an alignment. new shocks
all the way around.

things still to do:

1) have new battery tray welded in (it helps that my fiancee's father is a
welder!)
2) install lourvre windows and ice box
3) get thermostat and install
4) install guages...ie hook up to wires and install bracket

tomorrow i'll be washing and waxing her. she has sat for 3 months and you can
tell she needs it bad. also will be getting rid of all the spider webs that
have accumulated. one thing i hate worse then dropped valve seats are spiders
and their webs.

i'll post a breakdown of what was involved in the rebuild of rumba if anyone is
interested. also, does anyone know how to install the under the dash guage
holder from Bus Boys? do you have to drill all the way to the metal and use
really long screws? that's the only way i can figure out how to do it.

it feels really good driving my van after 3 months driving the taurus. i'm
broke now but at least i have a van that runs excellently now.

okay, another question...it's my understanding that the engine will run
hotter for awhile when it's breaking in. is this true? the previous engine
ran so cool you could drive it for 6 hours and then put your hand on the
engine block and hardly feel the heat. i tried this today after about half
an hour of driving and it was HOT! i'm told this is okay, it's normal for a
newly rebuilt engine. any comments?

happy vw'ing,

jonathan