Date:         Tue, 11 May 2004 23:11:11 -0400
Reply-To:     tmiller <tmiller@VCMAILS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         tmiller <tmiller@VCMAILS.COM>
Subject:      Re: State Your Age / addicted to VW
In-Reply-To:  <4.3.2.7.2.20040511210905.023bc770@pop.princeton.oilfield.slb.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Geez!  First you want to know what kind of motorcycles I own, and now
you want even more personal information!  This isn't spyware is it?

I am 52, soon to be 53 in July.  Here are the vehicles I have owned, in
order:
First car was a 1959 Ford Fairlane Galaxy 500 with Cleveland 351 V8 and
Cruiseomatic Tranny
Next came a 1966 Buick Special with a small V8
Sold it to my brother and bought a 1973 Buick Apollo, 350 V8 with
Turbohydramatic tranny
Just as I was leaving the Navy in Spain, ordered a 78 Datsun 280Z
coup-still have it!  32K miles
Sold the 73 Buick to my sister.
Picked up my first VW day before Thanksgiving 1980 - 1981 Rabbit Diesel LS
Sold the Rabbit to my neighbor with 300K on the odometer.  He ended up
giving it to a guy who needed a car and had no money to buy one.  It is
still running today.  I see it once in a while.
I was hooked!  I bought a used 85 Jetta Diesel w/60K on it.  Drove it to
180K and swapped out the motor for a turbodiesel motor from Parts Place
in Auburn Hills, MI.  Drove it another 80K until the body repairs from a
previous owner's accident rusted through.  Stripped out the car and kept
the drive train and half shafts for a future project.
Bought an 88 Jetta Carat with severe front end damage.  Used parts from
85 Jetta body to fix it.  Drove it two years and sold it for what I had
in it!
Bought my 91 Jetta ECOdiesel and still have it.  Also bought a 92 Jetta
GL used and still drive it.  Both have well over 100K miles.
Bought a 96 Cabrio for my daughter off www.ep.com classifieds, flew down
to Raleigh-Durham to pick it up and drove it home.
Bought my 89 Westy from www.ep.com September 2002 , flew down to
Greenville, SC and drove it home.  In the spring of 2003 I swapped the
motor for Ken Morgan's 2.2L Vortex and immediately went on a 6400 drive
to San Francisco and back in 3 weeks.  Great trip.  From what I hear, my
motor won't last very long but I have 15K on it now which is 3 times
longer than what other people have experienced with the same motor.  If
gas keeps going up, I may opt for an Audi Diesel conversion.  For now,
the 2.2L runs well.  I need to get the idle control fixed up and
recharge the AC.
Thanks!
Tom Miller
Willoughby Hills, Ohio

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