There's a time for everything, and there's a time for auto body

After the Blue Goose was towed over and situated, I had to wait a while before I could start the process of restoration and making the bus safe for the road.
Money is always a factor and the goal is a reliable daily driver.
It was decided that the body should tackled first. The Goose was stored in a garage but now is stored outside. Being exposed to the elements allows rust to be formed at an exponential rate.
So the current priority is to secure the body from rust and get it ready for paint. The engine has good compression and I'm confident it will be fine. Besides, the engine will be pulled in order to clean and re torque and take care of the engine compartment and to preserve the area. It's easier to work on it out. I really want to inspect it, from every angle.
Back to the body.......
I went to work on the bus and, as I no longer have the tools I used to , I've had to accumulate them. I started with a palm sander and sand paper.
I also enlisted the help of my daughters and my niece.
My oldest is the photographer, my youngest and my niece are the auto body workers.

Safety is always a concern.
We all have safety gear- using it correctly is important and a slight learning curve had to be over come.

Wrong........ Right...

Wrong.................


Right........................
Right........... Now they're ready.........

Once we were ready- we started.

I sanded-

















My niece sanded...........................





















My Daughter sanded...................

















Sanding is long and arduous and I'm still not done...

Overall it was a good day.
My workers worked hard, occasionally stopping every 10 minutes or so for a cold soda break.
We sanded, a little made very little, progress and had a good time..


We nearly had a mishap though,
I almost slipped on an old banana.
Ha.

All projects start somewhere, some, with towing,,,

I picked up the Blue Goose on Sat.
What should have been a joyous time was not so joyous. I spent most of Sat. camped out on the couch with could only be described as a strong variant of the eboli-coli disease.
I was feeling rough.
I felt shitty. You can take that any way you wish. As I had been planning for this day, things were in motion and the task had to be completed. I powered through...
The bus had to be towed it's present location and that in itself is a simple task. Even so- I checked the Samba.com for valuable insight. Sure enough- lots people have towed and there were various ways to tow and a multitude of opinions on various towing techniques and various opinions on other people's opinions. Information good or bad- is good or bad. I decided to do what makes the most amount of sense and rent a UHAUL tow dolly, enlist the help of my father in law (he's got a nice new truck- with a nice new UHAUL installed hitch-I like the color of his truck) a photographer (my daughter) and the previous owner Marc -Good guy.
When towing a bus- the consensus is front wheels in the dolly, transmission in neutral and strapped and chained to ensure maximum stayonthetowdollyness.
As everything went according to plan- I've decide to include some pictures.
Here you go-

Going to get the Bus-
Light at the end of the Midtown Tunnel.















Here's the Blue Goose-ready to fly (in about 8 weeks) What you can't see by this picture- which was taken from Marc's driveway, was the slope of the driveway. While not very steep, there was a nice grade to it. Once the bus was clear of the garage-Marc and I stopped pushing and let gravity do it's thing. My father in law Jake was piloting the bus. I don't think it occurred to me or Marc or Jake for that matter- that the bus would go as fast as it did. The plan was for the bus to be in the location as it is this picture. Not part of the plan- was flying down the driveway, off the curb, narrowly missing the street sign- backwards! (You know things may be going wrong, or may be about to go horribly wrong when people in the immediate vicinity start going, "WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!") In retrospect I don't think Jake wanted to be the bus pilot. That was decided when Marc and I started to position ourselves in the front of the bus in the "I'll push," position.


Here's the tow dolly being expertly positioned. Jake's driving his truck.
He's got some skill at towing. I've seen him tow some weird stuff when he was driving a rollback wrecker.

At the end of the tow dolly, by the bus are the built in ramps. Just slide the ramps out and your nearly done.







Sliding the ramps out. Once the ramps are out you can push the bus up the ramps or use a come along. The come along makes it easy.



I like this picture- I'm looking inside the bus and my daughter is in the reflection along with the house and street sign. It's a neat effect.
I'm looking at you-she's taking a picture of you and you're looking at us. What you don't see all that well is the street sign which is Mallard Crescent. (sign) confused? read the previous post.






I would like to say I'm supervising the placement of the bus in relation to the tow dolly.

I'm not- I felt rough- I was there, that's about it. Marc and Jake did all the work. Thanks guys.












When towing, make the sure the wheels that are on the ground are round, have air and will stay that way for the trip. The tires are worn but with no obvious problems. No leaks, cracks or splits. Good enough for towing 18 miles. Longer distance would require better tires or at least frequent checks. Safety is good.









Jake and Marc are attaching the come along, to ratchet or winch the bus up the ramps.
Once in place- you have to secure the front wheels using the tire straps. They ratchet as well. The UHAUL tow dolly is set up perfect for this. Ratchet everything tight, attach some chains
(your strapping points may vary) and off you go.


Here' we have Jake by the truck- supervising. Marc's on the comealong and Me looking gigantic, holding the bus in place. I think it's the angle of the picture. I look like a giant, with no ass.












One 1977 VW bus ready for a ride.
The bus looks happy. Look at that proud stance..















A face only a mother could love.
I like it.
The bus has that D'OH!! look to it.















Jake's ready to go.


Arrgh!! Monsterr!
Man, that's funny, I don't care who you are...
Once you're on the road- you should stop at least once to check your chains and straps. Make sure your connections are tight. Check to make sure the bus is still in neutral. Check the tires.
Check the wheels to see if they are hot. (dragging brakes) Everything good. Good.





Here's the Blue Goose approaching it's new roost. AKA Scott and Amy's House. They have all sorts of pets, cats, dogs, turtles, freshwater fish, saltwater fish, a rabbit and now a Blue Goose.. they are letting the Blue Goose stay until it's ready to fly again.
Cheesy I know- it's cool though.




My youngest daughter is very excited about helping me work on it. She's helped me on my 74 SuperBeetle, 67 VW Bus, 71 SuperBeetle and now this one. I look forward to it. I hope she does too.


She's already asking if she can drive it. Funny- she asked me the same question when she was 3.
I think that's Cool. Scary but cool.
She might be able to drive it. If I get it fixed up. I got a little time..










What's a VW bus without Dead stickers?
There's some stickers on this one.
Filthy Hippies!
Here you go...token bus stickers.
The Blue Goose made it safe and sound. Time to get busy.

As far towing a 77 VW bus- here's the ordered list.

1. Rent a tow dolly
2. Tow front wheels up.
3. Transmission in neutral
6. Verify rear tires are up for the trip.
7. Use a comealong to help position the bus on the ramps.
8. Make sure your wheels are strapped tight.
9. Use chains to secure your bus.
10. Early into your trip- stop and check your tow set up.
11. Check chains
12. Check transmission (neutral)
    
13. Check Straps (tightness)
    
14. Check wheels for dragging brakes (heat)
    
15. Good? Good proceed.
16. Take pictures make blog.
17. Done.
    

I got a project...

The project- restore and make daily driver ready a 1977 VW Bus.
Ive owned many VW bugs- my favorite is the SuperBeetle. (I've had 3)
I've owned one bus- a 1967 Deluxe- which I restored in San Diego and drove across the country to North Carolina after I left the Navy. I sold it to a dude from Tennessee, mainly because we needed the money- sad day...
After I moved back to Virginia Beach, Va. I bought another 71 SuperBeetle and restored it. I drove it for a while and then with a new job, I needed a new car- so I sold it to a Preacher man. Fast forward 4 years and a divorce later- I decided after talking to my daughters- (who were my copilots on our cross country trip) last Sat, to think about getting a project.
I started kicking around the idea of having a Bay window bus. I haven't had one yet.
I'm not one to believe in signs- but the VW gods showed me some, I'll lay them out for you-
1. Talked about a bus- and low and behold, a nice bay window- California style, pulls up beside us. (My daughter's are still mad at me for selling mine.) Sign?
2. I figured on Sunday I would check Craig's List- 16 pages into it - I find a 77 Bay Window. Minor sign.
I called and he still had it. Sign?
3. I started checking out VW links on the Net. The samba.com is bad ass. I found I still know what I'm talking about. Not really a sign.
4. My brother in law Scott said I could work on it at his house. If I got one. - Excellent.
I look forward to tinkering on it with him. I would like to be able to something like this with my brother Will. His wife Amy said I have to let her put a Dead head Sticker on it. Filthy Hippy!! (not really) Fair trade..
5. The owner Mark and I decided today- is the day to meet. Scott and I took a ride.
On the way over- A beautiful green and tan bay window( 1970-2?) passed by us on the highway. Sign? Possibly.
6. We were talking about his new dog- a Great Dane. Nice pure breed, free range, farm breeder puppy. Blue Merlin Great Dane, I think...
7. We meet Mark- good guy, fire fighter. Good conversation. His intention (as is mine) is to see it back on the road. Nice bus. Looks solid, has a nice "feel," to it. Most all the hardware is there. The engine needs some tinkering. I can do that. It's needs paint- somebody else can do that.
Does need a second row seat- I can get that. I'm going to insulate and sound proof it. I'll also redo the interior.
8. Mark has 2 great danes. Sign..
9. The bus has dead head stickers on it. Sign..
10. The bus has a name- (named by a child- good luck)
11. He lets me pay half now, to hold it. He makes me promise to drive it and not part it out. (I would never part out a bus)
12. Today's high temp- 77 degrees - same year as the bus. Sign?
13. The Name of the Bus? The Blue Goose.
14. At my brother in laws house- and writing down the signs- a huge flock of loudly honking geese flew over his house.
Interesting.
Click the Blue Goose logo picture on the right for some pictures...