Date:         Fri, 03 May 1996 11:50:41 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Don Kane <dkane@mail.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject:      Volks Cafe tour

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Volks Cafe in Santa 
Cruz, CA to look at the 2.1 waterboxer engine and the 68 Ghia 
convertible they were selling, announced here on the list by 
Kyle(pengi@cruzio.com). I didn't get the Ghia or the engine, but Kyle 
was nice enough to give me an after-hours tour of the facility and I'd 
thought I'd share it with you all.
	Kyle took me through room after room of parts and repair areas, 
telling me how they started in one small area and slowly expanded, 
taking over space from neighboring business when they could. They have 
both new and used parts in well-organized areas for all models of vws, 
including a lot of vanagon stuff. This was a surprise, as used 
waterboxer parts are not too easy to find, In back of the shop is an 
old barn where they have another lift, and a ton of used body parts, 
wheels and tires, glass, etc. I didn't find out much about prices, but 
I did buy a good used stock muffler for a '67 bus for $40, including 
damper pipe and tail pipe. Higher than the junkyard, of course, but 
probably about the same as a swap meet.They seem to work on every 
thing from early vw's through vanagons, and there even a '91 Passat 
there.
	Kyle has been posting here recently, but he seems to be a bit 
hesitant about blowing his own horn or that of Volks Cafe. I was quite 
impressed with the friendly knowledgeable people and the clean, 
organized work space and parts areas. I don't think they are on the 
vanagon parts source list, but they should be.

disclaimer: no association with them except as a satisfied customer.
Don Kane
dkane@mail.arc.nasa.gov