I have an '81 air-cooled that I bought new in January '82. It was made in 5/81, so has a big birthday coming up! I have almost 140,000 miles on it, many on primitive roads in Colorado and Utah. I have replaced the upper control arm bushings, sway bar droplinks (several times....) and clutch master cylinders. Rebuilt engines, and that's about it. Oh, yes, a window crank(!) I put in a VW-rebuilt engine at 103,000 miles. It failed from overheating at 133,000. A Boston-Bob engine now. I am pretty sure the overheat was due to the engine-body seal; at 103,000, the original seal was turned over, but didn't seal very well. Hindsight is so clear! The rear deck was always very warm after a long drive; that was my signal and I didn't pick up on it. A new seal with the new engine now shows me how much cooler the rear deck ought to be. The fundamental rule of technical ownership: know the characteristics and note changes! It has been very reliable. If you take care of it, it takes care of you.... Richard A. Jones Boulder, Colorado |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.