What sort of cocktail of emotions did I feel when—as we were already running two days late for our adventure of a lifetime and I had a multi-hundred dollar repair—what sort of feelings did I have as the clutch petal slammed to the floor? Rage, I am sure what a large portion. Utter despair. TheContinue reading “Leaving Part 2: Norm, our man in the clutch”
Category Archives: renovation
Vintage VW tire cover!
I could open up two cubic feet of space inside the van if I were to mount the spare tire on the front of the bus like a reasonable person. But, truth be told, my vanity stands in the way. I can’t bring myself to cover up the coveted VW ornament on the front. SoContinue reading “Vintage VW tire cover!”
Leather Straps
Here’s an easy peasy one to make your life a little easier. When I installed my new seat belts, I had an issue with them falling on the floor. I didn’t want to install stiff belt holders for a few reasons (number one being that the passenger seat is on a rotator). But the bucklesContinue reading “Leather Straps”
Flatpack Camper console
Best Jerry Seinfeld impression: What is the deal with the UK? They have all the best VW interior products. Do they own the corner market on the bus? It’s like they have bus greed. ‘Yes, I’ll take a bus; make it a double decker.’ For real. When I started looking to install cabinets into myContinue reading “Flatpack Camper console”
Spice rack
Since the onset of fixing up the bus, I have been militant in my belief that every cubic inch should be utilized. After installing the Hakwood ceiling, I had this odd strip of space above where the sink/stove would go. Instantly I knew I wanted to make it into a spice rack. Using a carpenterContinue reading “Spice rack”
Steering
I knew I wanted to marry Miracle when she talked me out of selling the bus. “Talked me out of” isn’t the right turn of phrase. She never said, “Ryan, here’s my argument for why you should keep the bus.” In fact, she never actively tried to dissuade me. I had been talking about unloadingContinue reading “Steering”
Refiberglassed cargo carrier
This was way more complicated than it should have been. My fiberglass was brittle and had been patched (badly). Before I started throwing cargo in the bucket, I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t shatter. I also wanted to add the foam seal available from BusDepot to the edge. First I tried to find anotherContinue reading “Refiberglassed cargo carrier”
Original Westfalia cooktop + cabinets
Prior to my owning her, Adie had some homemade cabinets. I suppose they were functional and probably sufficed for the occasional weekend camping trip. (I did, in fact, take a long weekend in it’s previous configuration and it worked fine—but merely fine.) A longer trip would be problematic for a couple reasons: There was aContinue reading “Original Westfalia cooktop + cabinets”
Blazecut
Do you have the normal healthy human fear of fire? Do you think it would be tragic to lose your most prized possession in a conflagration? Would emulation be a terrible way for you to die? If so, then I have a product for you! It’s called Blazecut and it is (probably) totally worth it.*
Scat shifter
My mechanic, Norm, was pretty upset about this one. I bought Adie with the original shifter in it. (Though, hilariously enough, not the knob. The knob itself had the wrong shift pattern on it, which I called a theft deterrent.) Putting it lightly, the shifting was sloppy. Sometimes, in my less careful moments I wouldContinue reading “Scat shifter”
On the Road with Adie 