Normally I start my ‘82 Vanagon (otherwise know affectionately as BlueBird) once or twice in the winter but this year it was particularly cold through  Jan and Feb (often -15 C / 5 F) so I didn’t bother.  So it finally warmed up to a balmy 5C (14F) and started her up.  Just like any other year ole Blue faithfully started within seconds and burbled to life with the typical chorus of valve ”Clatter” that is common on air cooled VWs.  This is the sounds of a dry engine before the oil squirts around to all the various metal bits. 

In a few minutes all the clatter  is gone, and she is running happily  just like she always does. But wait. What’s that I am hearing? “Tock Tock Tock ” hmm that is strange I am thinking to myself -  I am not familiar with THAT sound.  It continues.  Tock Tock Tock. The best way to describe it is that It sounds metalish not super loud, but very distinct  –  perhaps the sound that the end of a screw driver handle would have on the metal engine block.  I let the bus run because I’ve read that sometimes cures a sticky lifter.  After 15 minutes its still the same.  Hmm not good.  After reading my John Muir books its one of 2 things. A sticky hydraulic valve (bad but not too bad) or the dreaded ‘rod knock’ (very bad, rebuild time).

Luckily for me there are people with alot of experience who are willing to out in a lot of effort to share thier experiences – like Richard Atwell – of www.ratwell.com he has amassed a ton of valuable info for campers such as myself. He even has a recordings of a aircooled Volkswagen engine sounds.  Bammo!  Airbound lifters.  That’s it!! That is the EXACT sound I thought to myself.  A few days later  I went back out to the garage started her up and let her run for 20 minutes. Same nasty  “Tock Tock Tock “  in the center of the engine.  I went in to make a sandwich and when I came out about 20 minutes later it was GONE.   Nothing just Bluebird and her typical healthy VW sound.  it turns out that these valves can stick sometimes if they have been sitting for long. Once the oi had warmed up it was able to free itself up. Nice!

What a great bus I think to myself. I have to hand it to the German engineers for creating such a simple and reliable peice of machinery. And perhaps a little credit to Blue for her self-healing capabilities.   At home she is treated like a family member, the more I think of it she might just be alive after all.

Estimados,
hoy nos vamos cerquita para daros los minutos musicales.

Os presento a Aaron Thomas, cantante y compositor Australiano que empezo a escribir y tocar musica hace unos nueve años. Ha realizado giras por Australia, España y Los Angeles. Residente en la actualidad en Madrid, acaba de completar la grabación de su primer album titulado “Follow the Elephants” que esta listo para publicarse en todo el mundo en febrero. Algunas de sus influencias son Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, The Beatles o Camille. Con batería, contrabajo, guitarra, piano y coros, su musica es cruda y orgánica, con una voz y letras potentes. Las comparaciones salen de forma innata.

Os dejo las fechas que estará por nuestro pais presentando su disco:

15 Febrero – Fnac – Donosti
16 Febrero – Fnac – Bilbao
22 Febrero – Fnac – Barcelona
23 Febrero – Fnac – Zaragoza
29 Febrero – Fnac Callao – Madrid
5 Marzo – Moby Dick – Madrid
29 Marzo – Fnac Leganes – Madrid
19 Abril – El Sol – Madrid

Grupo: Aaron Thomas
Disco: Follow The Elephants
Año: 2008
Web oficial: http://www.myspace.com/aaronthomasband
Canción: Descending, Clattering, Wasted Or Crazy y Thinking is Unproductive