Vanagon EuroVan
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Date:         Sun, 8 Dec 2002 11:09:30 -0600
Reply-To:     Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Wasserboxer Reputation  . long
Comments: To: lamont@MINDSPRING.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I think it all boils down to the fact that we are all trying to do the best we can with what we have and are trying to stay out everyone elses way. ---------------------------- About eight years ago I decided to shop around for a camping vehicle. Anything with a big engine and parking problems was out of the question. I'd had a Cabana, Superior and a big low end Cordoba motor home in the past. My criteria was inexpensive and simple. There weren't may options since VW Vans were the only vehicle out there that qualified as inexpensive and simple. In viewing simple I have to just say that I was looking for something with the bare necessity to get me there with an engine, transmission and four wheels. My search led me around in useless efforts for almost a year. That year was very educational because I found that Silicone Automotive sealer comes in about six colors, people sell VW Vans without engines, with blown engines and huge piles of receipts and just once in a while I found one that was rust free and still running. I found VW vans of various years in a wide range of prices and conditions. Along with the wide variety of Vans I found a even broader group of sellers. One seller had a Champagne edition Bus up on blocks under a car cover that he apparently thought was worth its weight in gold. The Vanagon he was selling was a rotted out old dog with a carburetor instead of the FI and of course an A/C that 'just needed freon'. Another seller had a 72 Westy with a blown engine sitting beside his new EuroVan. His 72 wasn't a bad deal for 900$ even if it had rotted out through the roof under the luggage carrier. At the time I was thinking that this guy is nuts. Ultimately I found the Westy that I bought on the spot after a short drive. The seller was about the tenth person to warn me about the expense of keeping a Waser Boxer on the road. I suppose that this initial indoctrination towards Waser Boxer has stuck with me throughout the years. I never denied that I was "VW Stupid" the first year I ran my Westy on 10/30 oil and blew a piston trying to go 85 mph against a head wind. I was content with almost everything about my Westy and had fine tuned my camping gear to the available space along with installing a decent stereo. The Michelin tires I was running were going bad every ten thousand miles and I kept returning for another free set under warranty. Since the cost of a new set was about 40$ under warranty I thought I had hit on a pretty good scam. Ultimately I got four Agilis 61 tires and haven't had any problems since. My attitude about the Air Cooled engine started to cement itself in my mind as I tore down my engine for the first time. If I had known the price of parts before the teardown I'd probably have dumped the Westy and moved on to another Westy. With a cash outlay of about $1200 for parts only, I quickly developed more respect for the limitations of the little air cooled power plant and started to drive accordingly. My attitude about Waser Boxers continued to build negatively as I visited various Auto Wrecking yards seeking obscure parts like visor clips, seat belt retractors, wiper motors and the such. I felt very fortunate that there were Waser Boxers because they would yield an abundance of generic body, trim and electrical parts that were common to both the Air Cooled and Water Cooled VW Vanagons. After visiting with some of the wrecking yard owners they disclosed that 'first money' back from a salvage car was the engine going to a rebuilder or into the storage rack to be sold. I was beginning to see the light since all of the Water Cooled vans I was getting parts from still had the engines in the bay or in the back seat. The supply of Air Cooled vans was to say the least, almost non existents in Texas wrecking yards and when I happened upon one the engines were never in the vans and none in the racks for sale. Often I found portions of the sheet metal but never any critical engine parts. The one thing I found to be the most disappointing was that many of the water cooled vans had really clean bodies and interiors, so much so that as I approached the van I often wondered if I might just get in it and drive off. This certainly wasn't ever an option. Closer inspection disclosed a rod sticking out of the block or a pair of heads laying in the back seat. All of these events happened before I sign onto the Vanagon list, I was still on Type2 list and watching the Syncro Sightings with great interest. This interest quickly faded as I learned that all syncro were water cooled. After I got onto the Vanagon list I watched the list for Air Cooled content and found very few postings. I was indeed lost in a desert full of Water Coolers with problems that related to parts that weren't even on my Air Cooled Westy. The more I read the more fortunate I felt that I had by chance bought an Air Cooled and had worked through most of my problems to make it a dependable vehicle. Besides that I was UpSideDown in the expense of bringing it back from the near dead, near crusher meat after I blew the piston several years before. Yes guys I copped an attitude!

Stan Wilder

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