Howdy Constant Reader! How ya been? Good? Great! So as you know, historically, Doodle and I have a love hate relationship. I love him, and he hates to run. Funny that. So hes been hanging out in my garage since my last blog entry where I attempted to take him camping and was plauged with the shudders. Remember that? No? I'll wait while you go back and read. Finished? Sweet! Now you know. Basically I've been fooling with it ever since and I couldn't figure out why he wont run, and why, when running he backfired and shuddered. No luck, so I summoned the heavy hitter. Colin aka Amaskeptic was going to be passing through town and I asked him if he would be able to help me out troubleshooting Doodle. His answer? Why hell yes I can. So away we go. Fast forward to the day (Sept 6th. I come home from an abbreivated work day and find....

The single nicest passenger bus I've ever seen. He bought it from the original owner. The plates? New York. And yes, he did drive it here from there. This thing is flawless!  Exhaust, interior, etc, like showroom fresh. Anywhoo, I digress. Just glad to have his expertise here to help out. Transporters at the Point is coming up, and I need Doodle to be top notch for that. This may be the last one, and I want to go. So after spending the first hour going over basics at my table, we push, yes push, as in, the bitch wont start, Doodle outside and get started.

Okay, first things first. Replace the condensor, and rotor, turn over, no start. Removed the points, filed and set AGAIN. Keep fiddling with it, find  the sweet spot, fires to life. Progress! Dwell is way off. Hmm. To be honest, I didnt even know what dwell was until he showed up. Apparently, whatever it is, is WAY off. Fiddled with that, got it dialed in at 44 degrees which I guess is where it is supposed to be. Okay. Now. Removed, repaired fresh air heater hoses. Gotta re-order those, they are bad! Got them quasi patched and working. Using carb cleaner, we found several vacuum leaks, the most significant on the passenger side at the head. Luckily Colin had a gasket. Replaced that. Swapped plug wires, wired in my sidemarkers, decided to go for a drive. Power is better, but still stumbling some. Colin showed me how to adjust the AFM, which I was terrified to touch. Adjusted the wiper and the gear by playing around with them both. Went for another drive. FANTASTIC. Runs 100% better. He complained some about my shifter bushing, so I made a mental note to get that done. ITs like Doodle lives all over again. Came back to the house, adjusted the steering box, fixed my hazard switch and now I have blinkers! I know. Simple, but makes me happy. Big time. Discussed rust prevention at length. This guy is a pro at it. I think Imma take his advice to make sure Doodle lasts. All in all a great day. So happy to have him back. I cant even tell you. I'm really hoping my luck holds for the beginning of October for Transporters at the Point. I mean I am so excited to go I can't even tell you. Funny thing is, its all stuff I wondered about, but wasn't smart enough to figure it out. Colin was a big help in just opening my eyes.

Constant Reader, I'm grinning ear to ear. Can you see? You can't? Take my word for it. All is well.