The bus sat in the same spot for 8 years unused, let’s see if it moves.
I inflated the tires, cleaned the inside and outside of the windshield, which you could hardly see through. The windshield seal leaked at the bottom, which is common with the VW Buses when the seal is old and dry. Since the windshield seal leaked, the floor had gotten wet through the past 8 years. The gas pedal was very stiff with rust, multiple sprays and penetrating oil and moving the pedal a little at a time and it moved freely again.
I moved all the things propped against the bus and swept and raked all the trash and filled up a trash can. I moved the cars parked near it and crossed my fingers.
I turned the ignition key, it started right up and idled smoothly, phew. Now, let’s try to move it. Luckily, the parking brake was not used when it was last driven, and just left in gear. This was great because the parking brake shoes and cables could have gotten stuck and wouldn’t have been fun freeing up. I found reverse gear after moving the shifter. The shifter was very sloppy because the plastic shift rod bushings and shift rod coupler bushings deteriorated from age.
I pushed the gas pedal and let up on the clutch pedal, it moved, but I had to use the tip of my right shoe to lift up on the gas pedal as I rocked the bus forward and back from the rut it had made in the asphalt. I had to use my toe to lift up on the pedal as something was making the cable stiff to move somewhere between the front and back of the bus.
I was able to move the bus over enough from the broken minivan next to it that I could finally open the sliding door and get inside the back and start cleaning it up.
Just a sidenote, the bus was located 35 miles away from my house and I had to drive to it to repair it after work for an hour at a time, or on a Saturday when I could get a lot done.
Stay tuned for my next entry.
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