Date:         Tue, 17 Jan 1995 19:19:53 -0500 (EST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joe Clark <joeclark@freenet.scri.fsu.edu>
Subject:      Cabriolets, fighting words, more Westy manual/curtains blather

Sorry for the form of this, but I get the list in digest format and 
replies are a PITA

> From: Eric Oster 
<ekoman@u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: vw dealers refuse (conspiracy)
> 
> first. :)) I ALWAYS stop to help all aircooled VW's, (still can't
> tell the difference between a jetta and cabriolet.)

No problem, Eric: if it has a soft top, it's a Cabriolet (Kabriolett).  
Those Rabbit convertible thingies :-) are mere second-genration Cabbies; VW 
didn't label the bug ones as such after the early-mid fifties.

[Pet Peeve: "ragtops"=cloth sunroofs, not 'verts.  A ragtop's a 'vert, man.]

> From: jgladu@bcm.tmc.edu (John Gladu)
> Subject: minivan opinions from HONDA-L

> >
> >Not exactly.  The steering wheel doesn't come straight up through your
> >knees on the Chrysler or the Honda; you don't have to hunch over to
> >shift gears; your arms aren't spread out wider than your chest when
> >you make a turn; you don't have to move the pedals at an arc opposite
> >the normal travel of your feet; the suspension has more travel than
> >the seat springs....
> >
> Are these fightin' words, or what?

What's the point?  All this guy is saying is that Chrysler and Honda 
screwed up a perfectly workable design. :-)  (Ever beaned the front seat 
passenger in the eye with your elbow while parallel parking?) 

> From: michael.heron@utoronto.ca (Michael Heron)
> Subject: Re: Junkyard adventures (was Re: Westy _curtain changes_,
> 
> Pat Walsh- 78' Westy manual
> Joe Clark- 68'-72' Westy Manual

mine's a parts catalog, not an owner's manual (choost being precise!)

> Michael Heron- 1967 Westy Manual (approx. 40 pages tres detailed)
> 
> could help but agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of original old VW
> curtains. Dig that checkered yellow and brown material. Right On!!!!!!
> That stuff is hard to find in good shape. The sun rotted most of those
> curtains out years ago!
> 
More than once I saw a nice looking set of checkered curtains from a 
distance that crumbled in my hands once I got to the hulk.  I finally 
scrounged a pretty complete set, but the only one I used was the 
windshield one for camping.  A previous owner had made a decent set of 
replacements (they were tan :-(.

joeclark@freenet.scri.fsu.edu                      Where there's no sense,
Tallahassee, Fla.                                      there's no feeling.
Florida info, original fiction, VW stuff, IVD & kids' links:
<a href="http://freenet3.scri.fsu.edu:81/users/joeclark/index.html">Me</a>