Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 13:37:48 -0500
Reply-To: wilden1@JUNO.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Subject: Re: sounds like a go-cart
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
No point in us getting off on the wrong foot.
Most list members know I'm sarcastic about the whole Vanagon concept of
needing to be on a special list to keep these things running.
I like my Westy ........... its a hobby.
I like my Crown Victoria ............. its transportation.
I like my Oldsmobile Station Wagon ........... I pull my boat with it.
Get an Air Cooled and I can supply some serious information on keeping it
running.
http://williamwareagency.com/forsale/stanvan/0003.htm
Stan
On Wed, 12 Jun 2002 11:25:48 -0700 (PDT) Tracy Bonin
<icculus22420@yahoo.com> writes:
ok , sorry ,
Tracy
Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM> wrote:
Tracy, it was not my intention to offend anybody.
I didn't venture an answer to your question because somebody already said
that it was a small exhaust leak that appeared under stress of higher
RPMs.
If you watch the list you'll very seldom see me reply to any Waser Boxer
post.
I'm an Air Cooled owner and I delete 95% of what comes at me from the
Vanagon list.
I was simply trying to relate that any VW Van, Bus, Westy, Vanagon or
Syncro was just going to forever chip away at you with a variety of
problems that seem to never end.
I have said many times, and I quote myself ; "You'll most likely spend as
much on maintenance and repairs within the first year of Vanagon
ownership as you paid for the Vanagon".
I acknowledge that if you can do the minor repairs yourself you're a lot
better off financially.
I relate having an extra Vanagon or Westy to my collection as the
introduction of a new child into the family that will need constant care
and demand financial feeding in parts and repairs.
If have long held the view that if you don't have a Westy or a Syncro
then you're driving a seven passenger parts car because you'll never
recover your investment.
The Lady Attorney's one owner 78 Westy has about 87,000 miles on it and
it appears to be a very nice vehicle when you walk up to it. It has
original Chrome Yellow paint, plaid OEM upholstery, A/C that works,
sleeping cushions by Flintstone (but look nice).
Just the few things she did so far, windshield, brakes, shocks, tires,
steering box, front end rebuild and my three cheesy little things of a
Pop-Top seal, Faucet and water pump have set her back about $2,000.00 UD
dollars. I suspect that she'll pay about $550.00 for the Pop-Top canvas
installed and the fiberglass top still needs to be repainted, there is a
nice 4" area of rust under the windshield that will be about $400.00 to
repair. From the looks of her exhaust system its going to require the
whole shooting match at about $700.00 or more if the heater boxes are as
bad as they appear.
She paid $2500.00 to a family friend for the van.
The other gruesome truth is that the PO has always added a quart of
Automatic Transmission Fluid to his 10-30 engine oil to silence the
lifters, so when this baby pops running 70 in this 100 degree Texas heat
she'll either spend another $2500.00 on it for a decent locally rebuilt
engine or I'll buy it for $500.00 with a dead engine.
An old Vanagon or Westy is a hobby in my book .............. not
transportation.
Stan Wilder
83 Westfalia Air Cooled
On Wed, 12 Jun 2002 09:19:22 -0700 Tracy Bonin
writes:
> If u didn't want to have "your door" darkened, then why did you even
> bother to awnser my post. (not that u did anyways considering that u
> didn't even awnser the question at hand, u just shot down my
> boyfriend whom u have never met) ( not to mention that if u read
> correctly it wasn't my boyfriend who told me about the plugs and
> rotors, it was his brother. )
> In any case, I'm alot more mechanic friendly than most chicks that
> you will come across, but again I just go on what I learn from all
> the other shitty cars that I owned. I have to say that I probably
> know more than my boyfriend about cars.It's just not his territory
> And I've probably fixed more things on my cars by myself than most
> chicks that you will meet.
> I on the other hand try to do the best with what I know, and enjoy
> working on cars. In fact I'm surprised at the knowledge that I do
> have considering that I've had no other expierence or training. In
> fact I've been thinking about taking auto shop some where so that I
> can fix my bus by myself. Considering that I've only had my bus on
> the road since Feb, and have never owned a VW, I think that asking
> questions is only fair, especially considering that isn't what this
> list is for.!!
> Summary......don't make sexist comments about a chick who is only
> asking fair questions, and isn't a mechanic, and is trying to fix
> something that she has only owned for a short while. If you don't
> want to awnser my questions, then don't come "darking my door" with
> your rude comments.
> *If I took your message the wrong way, then let me know, and I'm
> sorry, but thats how I percieved it when I read it.
> Tracy
> 85" GL "Ripple" soon becoming a camper version
>
>
>
> Stan Wilder wrote: One of my neighbors recently
> (6 months ago) bought a 1978 VW Westfalia.
> It is a very nice looking van and she (lady attorney) ask if I'd be
> available to assist her in maintaining it.
> I did a few very minor things like a new sink water pump, new sink
> faucet
> and a pop top seal.
> I got paid for my efforts but I sent her elsewhere for her brake
> job.
> She really loves her little Westy and has spent generously to have
> the
> front suspension rebuilt, the windshield replaced, a new set of
> tires.
> If this lady had been a school teacher I'd probably done other work
> for
> her but being an attorney I calculated that she could negotiate
> better
> than me and arrive at fair deals for her required services.
> With my Westy in the driveway and often another Westy under
> restoration I
> know how these damn Vans and Westies seem to always be chipping at
> you
> and thanks to seven years of 83 Westy ownership I'm pretty much
> chiseled
> down to a lump.
> Her next expenditure is going to be on a Pop-Top canvas and that is
> one
> job I'd only do for myself.
> Summary: If you're a lady with a VW Bus, Van, Vanagon, Westy,
> Syncro
> please don't darken my door with your shadow.
>
> Stan Wilder
> 83 Air Cooled Westfalia
>
> On Wed, 12 Jun 2002 08:01:58 -0600 "Blake C. Thornton"
> writes:
> > > had the o2 censor done a couple of mths ago. My boyfriends
> brother
> > > thought maybe it's the spark plugs and rotor. I had the plugs
> > > themselves done a few weeks ago. Any suggestions please.......
> >
> > I like Stan's idea to find a boyfriend that knows what he is
> doing.
> > I
> > suppose it would be alright if you found a girlfriend who knows
> she
> > is
> > doing as well.
> >
> > I'm voting on exhaust leak and I'm voting that whoever checked it
> > out
> > didn't know what they were looking for. Go-carts make the noise
> > they do
> > because of the exhaust and my van was making the same noise a few
> > weeks
> > ago until I plugged the holes in the exhaust system (bad
> gaskets).
> >
> > b
> >
>
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