The olestationbus Runs Great!

At last! A blog with photos!

the jeep junkie, the Kid and I spent a few hours on Saturday working on the oldstationbus. the jeep junkie and the Kid dropped by around 2:30 on Saturday afternoon to work on replacing some gaskets on that baby. We replaced the valve cover gasket in the parking lot of the Taj Mahal and then discussed the positives and negatives of replacing the oil pan gasket there also.

I mentioned to him I would prefer not to do it here, as I always try to stay under the radar of the condo commandos. He said, 'let's head to the Kid's house', and we did. I was in the olestationbus following the Kid, driving, with the jeep junkie, as the navigator, in the old cj5.

Now, remember the exploits of this adventure , this one and this one.

No less than 5 blocks from the Taj Mahal, the olestationbus started hiccuping, missing, and generally pissing off that dude behind me in that spanking new, huge, Toyota SUV. I pulled off the side of Halifax and tried to get it going again. the Kid and the jeep junkie whipped a Ueee and came on back. She never did really get going again and we towed her back to the parking lot of the Taj Mahal. the jeep junkie tinkered around a bit while I went to get some fresh gasoline. Upon my return, the jeep junkie had disconnected that new fuel pump and had blown through it back toward the tank. Basically cleared out the line.

Well, it worked. He blew all the crap back into the tank. the Kid and I set off for his house while the jeep junkie headed back to the Taj Mahal to make sure he closed the front door after going to have a Lite chat with his friend, Bud.

We got to the Kid's house quite a few minutes prior to thejeepjunkie and had that driver's side front wheel off and ready to install that replacement brake line. Forgot about that in all the excitement of the fuel pump, didn't ya?

the jeep junkie arrived and he and the Kid set about trying to find a key to the Kid's house, as Mom was out and Taylor was at a sleep over. No luck, so the jeep junkie broke in the garage service door while the Kid and I were looking for an unlocked window. the jeep junkie shouts out he got in and we headed back around the house.

So, while the jeep junkie replaced that brake line and the Kid went in to clean up some mess he had made earlier this day, before Mom found it, I knew this old unemployed, yes still!, construction worker was going to fix that door jamb, as perfect, so Cheryl would not know this whole experience had transpired.

And I did, the jeep junkie did, and the Kid did.

the jeep junkie sent me on a test drive of the new, now well bled, brakes and, for the first time since the olestationbus came into my possession, I could breath while driving her.

the Kid and I returned and the jeep junkie ushered us into his garage to remove that oil pan and that, now, obsolete part and reinstall that oil pan. I continually asked the jeep junkie if he needed help and always got the 'I'm doing okay' response. I did, at one time, ask if we were having fun.

the jeep junkie got that oil pan removed and we cleaned it up and got ready for the reinstall.

Meanwhile, Cheryl had prepared an excellent meat loaf, mashed potato, green bean and corn dinner that would put many to shame. She called us in and we inbibed in it and, I loved it. the jeep junkie mentioned that any meal I didn't prepare was good. I objected. Not necessarily and Cheryl concurred. It was down home good eatin'. Thanks Cheryl.

So the jeep junkie reinstalled the oil pan and the olestationbus doesn't leak a drop of oil.

After an extensive clean up of arms and hands, cleaning 45 years of West Texas dirt, grease and oil, the jeep junkie, the Kid, and I sat around a bit talking about our experience.

the jeep junkie mentioned that, in retrospect, the underlying factor in this whole experience was the quality of fuel in the olestationbus's fuel tank.

And he was right. The fuel tank was so contaminated that it affected everything else. That electric fuel pump, most likely, burned out from lack of fuel through that line.

So yesterday, I went over to that storage facility, where I am still paying $110 per month to store stuff I really don't need and removed that, near empty, fuel tank and clean it out.

The gasoline, of which you can see the rust covered stain on the parking lot at the Taj Majal, was the color of that red plastic gas tank I had in the back of the olestationbus. Plus more particulates that you can count. One of which looked like an oak tree leaf. Anyway, got it all cleaned out, removed some rust from the filler line and replaced the fuel filter.

From the cockpit of this olestationbus, it is now a blast to drive. Not concerned about stopping, has tons of fuel availability and has survived a 20 mile trip around the Birthplace of Speed on this Monday.

Hot Damn. The olestationbus has now become my daily driver.