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
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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