Hours of Daylight – 14:31

It is with mixed feelings i report that my Westy is back in the shop. The clutch shudder, while much improved since the replacement of the master cylinder, is still too bad to ignore. There were a couple of moments on the Two Harbors trip where i was worried i might damage something the shudder was so bad.

While i don’t look forward to paying for yet another new clutch disc, and needle bearing, and throwout bearing, etc., etc., i do look forward to having this issue finally resolved, or at least “moved forward.” I also asked Mike the Mechanic to address the front-end “clunk” i get over sharp bumps in the road.

These two issues are the most annoying kind of vehicle problems. They are problems that do not render the vehicle un-drivable, but they sharply reduce the pleasure one gets driving the vehicle. I suppose, given the age of the vehicle, problems of this nature are part of the package. Yet i am of the belief mechanical problems should be addressed as quickly as time and money permit. I take pride in having a vehicle that, despite it’s age, remains “within factory tolerances.” I only wish i could do more of the work myself. I believe i could if i had a shop space… and was tooled up a bit better than i am.

Maybe when it comes time to leave here i could “apprentice” myself with Mike the Mechanic for a week or two. Could be a win-win. He gets free labor for period of time, i get to see just how to separate a VW transaxle from the engine with dropping it on your toes.