Date:         Wed, 12 Jul 1995 11:31:53 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wabbott@townshend.Corp.Megatest.COM (William Abbott)
Subject:      Bob's rap on JM, David's 74 Thing tranny, battery compartment fix, Fords

	Bob,
	Thanks for the nice essay on Muir. Agree on every point. For my
$0.02, Muir's real contribution was making the Rabbit book possible- I
find nothing to disagree with, its easier to use, and the drawings are
even better. The tradition of understanding and doing that he engendered
is more valuable than any specific thing he did, said, or personally fixed.

	David,	
	Your 74 Thing might have a bus tranny or some other VW tranny-
by 74, everything, Beetles included, had Independent Rear Suspension
(IRS) which means 4 CVs. See if you can find a flat place where the
serial number is stamped into the case. Sorry,. no clue where that might
be unless its a bus case! The 2 letter code or some such in the serial
will probably help identify what you actually have.

	Jonathan, 
	I wish I had done my battery compartment the way you describe.
I might use stainless steel fasteners with nylon-insert nuts instead of
pop-rivets, and a rust-converter or conventional primer and paint over
shiny metal on the remains of the body steel, but that's mostly aesthetics. 

	When you say "aluminium sealer" is this a specific product for 
sealing aluminum or a 'liquid solder' metal-loaded hydrocarbon product?

	Sergio,
	As a matter of fact, my sweetie and I got a new Mustang on a recent
trip- with 7 miles on it! Its very powerful, but the rental car version
rolled displeasingly and the interior is terrible. The drivers seat didn't
go back far enough, the headroom front and back is lousy, view out
the windows is poor (non-existant for back seat passengers) and the
wheel is mounted too high. In short, its got little squinty windows
and a cheap interior. It does go like *)*#$ and has a nice big trunk. 
A fast-back would have been a much better car, but they don't do that
anymore. Having now driven a new Corvette and a new Mustang, I'm happier
than ever with my Corrado, a far better car. A year ago I drove an
Chevy Astrovan and there's no comparison with the EuroVan- the VW is
a FAR better product.

 
	Bill Abbott
	wabbott@megatest.com
	
	VWs: 70 Single Cab Pickup, 93 Corrado
	Cats: Moustache and Georgyi Felinovich Zhukov
	Best Fish Recipe: Pan Blackened Catfish
	Favorite Flannel Pattern: McNab (natch!)
					
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