Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 15:31:08 -0500
Reply-To: Darren Lastfogel <dlastfogel@PLYFORMS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Darren Lastfogel <dlastfogel@PLYFORMS.COM>
Subject: Re: Gypsy is gone...
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I volenteer to be the chair person to lead the (replace your fuel line
cause)lets unite.
-----Original Message-----
From: Detroit Bus [mailto:detroit.bus@GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 2:23 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Gypsy is gone...
Perhaps the "best" possible response to Deb's sad misfortune would be
the upgrading and replacement of fuel lines on old VWs all over the
world during the next several weeks. We could make this a joint effort
of sorts. Obviously there are other factors that cause vehicle fires
but as Ben convincingly states fuel line problems are the primary
instigator. (Can't wait to visit your shop next time I drive up to
Montreal, looks fun!)
Last month I bought several meters of the correct high-pressure fuel
line and FI clamps from one of the list's vendor members, and have
been planning to retrofit my new Vanagon right after New Year's after
all the holiday obligations have ended, and while I have access to a
garage in Michigan (assuming I make the 700 mile journey from NYC to
Detroit without event!) In the past the *very* first thing I did to
any of my air-cooleds was to replace the fuel lines and clamps, even
before changing the oil. As no doubt hundreds of people on this list
will attest, there is scarcely a more miserable experience than
watching an engine fire devour months or years of work and care. My
brother once lost a fine Beetle convertible like this, just an hour
before he was supposed to finalize its sale for several thousand
dollars--in fact he was driving it to the new owner's house! The next
day he sold it to a junkyard for $50 (this was a while back...).
Anyway, if anyone else has been planning to re-do the fuel lines on
their VW, perhaps we could all do this at the same time, say the
weekend of Jan 1-2, after you sleep off that hangover? That way if
anyone has questions or problems (I myself have never done this on a
Vanagon engine) there will be a lot of combined activity concentrated
on the same job simultaneously; as they say two heads (or fifty) are
better than one. For instance, I'm sorry to say that my fuel line
clamps look like little crusty brown barnacles so I'm already
anticipating some issues with removal, it would be great if I could
talk to someone who had encountered the same problem just minutes
before while every little detail is fresh in their head. Maybe we
could even spread this effort to other VW lists (vintage buses,
beetles, etc.) and make it a one weekend fuel line mass effort?
This also gives anyone who wants to participate a week or two to order
and receive the correct hoses and parts (don't just use cheapo hose
clamps!!). If we get even ten or twenty classic VW's outfitted with
new fuel lines that weekend, it will be a great tribute to Deb's lost
Vanagon, and almost surely prevent a disaster somewhere.
Any interest? I'll post again in January when I am in a dry garage
looking down at that first fuel injector...
--
Garrick in Queens, NY
'87 GL Weekender
*****
With fond remembrances of:
'77 Beetle
'67 Bus
'59 Pickup sn# 460440
'67 Beetle
'76 Camper Bus