Date:         Tue, 9 Jul 1996 15:28:23 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wabbott@mtest.teradyne.com (William Abbott)
Subject:      re: Serious Plea for help

	Erik,
	There's nothing wrong with having an old car, especially old VW,
hobby, but be good to yourself and your hobby. THREE cars that don't work
isn't a hobby, its a job. Your heart may be bigger than your tool box.
You may not have time to keep three old cars working, AND make an income,
AND maintain the social relations you value. 

	Some people (you know who you are) can handle three, five,
twelve old cars in the garage no problem. Some people have skills, money,
friends, suppliers and even perhaps a job and family which supports
and enables them to devote hours every day to old cars.

	Some people, such as myself, and perhaps you, don't have these things.

	Whomever who suggested getting the Muir "Idiot" book, getting one
to work, etc. has their finger on it. Plan for success. Focus on a
specific goal. Get one car running, then drivable. Start with the
one where you have the highest probability of success. Don't fiddle
with the other ones. Stay focused on getting that car to start, run,
and be useful.

	Tell people here what you've tried and how it worked. Ask
friends to help. But above all, put a limit on it- DON'T spend every
waking moment of your life. Stop at 8:00 and have a shower, and a beer.
Watch TV. Make a phone call, read a book, visit a friend. BALANCE, yes?

	IT MAY TAKE A LONG TIME. A *surprisingly* long time. I thought
putting an engine in my 'glider' single-cab would take a month of
spare time. It took 14 months of spare time, and a lot more work
than I imagined. It cost twice what I expected. And you can believe
I'm happy I didn't have two more to do right after that!

	When you get one of your fleet running and driving daily,
then you are in a much better position to decide if you want to repeat
the process with the other two. You may want to. You may want to sell
them instead. There is no loss of honor in realizing a project is
beyond you. There will always be another old VW to work on.

	Take it one day at a time. Let us know how you're doing.

                                |@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
				|@@@ |||||||||  ||||||||| @@@|
	cheers!			|@@          _==_          @@|
	Bill Abbott		|@@         = \/ =         @@|
	'70 single cab		|@@  ...    =\/\/=    ...  @@|
	'93 corrado 		|@@ .   .    -__-    .   . @@|
	'97 baby?!?!?! :)