Date:         Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:34:55 +0000
Reply-To:     altowner@COMCAST.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Alex Towner <altowner@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      "Blue light" incidents..Vanagon content..

This isn't a blue light incident, but very well could have been.

Six years ago I bought my Vanagon from an Arizona seller. I drove a rental car from home in New Hampshire out west to collect the van. (Rental cars allow you to bring massive quantities of tools and spares;>)

The somewhat expected nightmare of getting the van to run properly involved some additional modifications. (This is what I do when I am frustrated with making meaningful repairs.) I wired up some stereo speakers, fixed the horn, and added a Mk2 Jetta tachometer that would properly match the inline-4 engine conversion. When the real repairs were complete and the van was running OK I managed a few days of sightseeing before driving east.

On the interstate blast home I did seem to be passing people with great frequency, especially for a Vanagon. I remember overtaking a couple of cars at an alarming rate. This despite cruising at a conservative 72-73mph with 4,600rpm on the tach. Not really a big deal for a Jetta engine. I also distinctly remember a few police looking a little too closely at me as I passed them in the opposite direction, particularly in the East. I got the feeling I might be busted if they were in a more favorable position to pull me over. In the northeast I slowed down a bit due to lower speed limits and the feeling that radar must be bouncing off my van quite well due to the close calls I appeared to be having with the law.

I arrived back in NH with no spooky incidents to report on the trip. I had a temperamental fuel pump relay and had to change a timing belt in a hotel parking lot. Unfortunately the 3rd-4th transmission slider problem cropped up as well. I took a break on Vanagon work for a while, but I did read through the transmission section of the Bentley manual, anticipating imminent repairs. Then I saw it - the manual transmission travels 18mph for every 1,000rpm. I know my tach was correct, I verified it with a digital timing light. I had driven a Vanagon cross-country at 81mph! Whoops!

I wish I could've seen the reactions of police and motorists alike as a Vanagon blew past at better than 80.

-Alex