Date:         Wed, 27 Dec 1995 11:10:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@PO2.GI.COM>
Subject:      Re: coil over springs / V6anagon chronicles


On 27 Dec 1995, David Schwarze forwarded and wrote:

>> So where did you find them and how much did they go for? Steve Maher told
>> me he couldn't find them anywhere.
>
>I got lucky.  They came on Schneiter's 72 Westy.  :)


Damn. Any manufacturers' markings on them? Part numbers? Etc.?
Might they even be modified "ordinary" shocks? If so, can you tell what
mods were made?

Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com

P.S. The V6anagon is going great guns-- drove it to San Jose and back
for Xmas. Did 65 mph over the grapevine in a snowstorm with VERY gusty
winds, and stayed pleasantly warm all the way. It's a lot quieter than
my '71, too-- quietest VW I've ever owned, in fact. That Honda muffler
helped a lot (well, so did removing the old exhaust with the big rip in
one pipe). If you're really serious about wanting more power, David, you
could do a lot worse than this.

I still haven't got the throttle linkage quite right. Had it working quite
smoothly, but then it heat-formed itself into a strange and unusual shape,
and is now pretty stiff again. For my next trick, I will install all steel
pushrods and a torque-rod/bellcrank affair. Can you say "Rube Goldberg"?
But it will be virtually frictionless, heat-proof, and sturdy enough for
an elephant to stomp on it. Which pretty well describes me as I drive
it around nowadays.  :^)

All this is caused by the fact that the throttle arm on this Holley carb
moves right to left and sits way up high, instead of fore and aft and sits
in line with the original throttle-wire tube as the original Vanagon
throttle arm did. The motion has to change direction three times going
from your foot to the carb, instead of once as the original did (little
bellcrank under the gas pedal).

I fabricated a woven-steel flexible cable in a nylon-tube housing, to
go from above the left rear axle up to the carb. But I forgot what happens
to the nylon tube when heated and stressed simultaneously-- it now looks
like Teddy Kennedy's path from the party to the Chappaquiddick bridge, and
it won't uncurl. Great design, Steve-- one for the archives.   :(

Back to the drawing board...