Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 11:11:44 -0400
Reply-To: Bill Knight <bill@NS.ESC.STATE.NC.US>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Bill Knight <bill@NS.ESC.STATE.NC.US>
Subject: Demographics
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This demographics thing is fun. Here is my bit:
I was born in 1955 in Burbank, CA and grew up primarily in Glendale nearby.
Got into dirt bikes as a teen and learned how to work on them as a hobby.
My dad bought our first VW when I was fourteen, it was a 1965 deluxe 21
window bus. When I turned sixteen and started to drive, the folks let me
use the bus to drive, and I eventually took it over and customized it inside
for myself, adding paneling, carpet, stereo, and all of the things a sixteen
year old of 1971 would like. I would sit in it for hours listening to tunes
like Jethro Tull, early Pink Floyd, and my forever favorite, John Mayall.
It was about then that our family moved out and up into the Santa Monica
mountains above Malibu (a short hike from Topanga). Thanks to the cool
neighbors, I learned how to meditate, which I did for several years. It
taught me patience and how to think for myself. I bought a copy of John
Muir's book, "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive" in order to maintain the
bus, and it became my bible. I still like to browse that book for fun
today. Using that book I rebuilt my neighbors bug engine. It was a fun
project and I was then hooked on working on VW's. Not long after that, my
bus engine blew and I rebuilt that one as well. I later sold the bus when I
found this great '66 Mustang GT for $400 bucks and had to have it. It
didn't take long to get enough testosterone and adrenaline pumped out with
the Mustang that I found that I missed the bus. I sold the Mustang and
bought a '65 Chevy Van, thinking that it must be better than the VW, but I
was wrong. Got rid of the Chevy van and bought a '67 VW Beetle. Fixed it
up nicely, added anti-roll bars, lowered it a bit, and built a hot 1776
engine, with the progressive two-barrel Weber setup. I did most of the work
on the kitchen table and floor of my apartment. What a mess! During this
time I was working as a control desk clerk for Computer Sciences Corp. and
was getting interested in computing. An opportunity to relocate to
Washington DC with the company was offered, along with a job in technical
support, so being single and adventurous, I took it. The biggest concession
that I asked of the company was to ship my '67 bug across the country rather
than have it driven. They agreed and after about a month of waiting, I
received it in Maryland, with only a few bumps and scratches from being
bounced around on the truck. The first winter there, I hit some black ice
and spun the bug into a telephone pole, totaling it but fortunately not
hurting me. Bought a new '78 Rabbit, which was my transportation for the
next few years. But I could not part with the old bug, even though it was
wrecked. For the next two years, I kept that dead bug around, not willing
to part with it. I finally sold it to a friend who needed a new engine in
their bug, who really appreciated that nice motor. I now was helping
friends fix their VW's on the side.
I got married in '79 and relocated to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I had
always wanted to live in a more rural area and we eventually found ten acres
just outside of town. I was now in need of a hauling vehicle, and found a
'73 VW Bus, which became quite a workhorse out at the land. I hauled logs,
gravel, building materials and more in that bus. After several years, I
decided I wanted one of those nice Vanagons. So, in 1990, I found a nice
'85 Vanagon GL which I purchased from the original owner. It has been a
great vehicle, and I still own it. It has 158K miles on it and I haven't
had to do much work on it.
Not long after that time, I hit midlife, had a terrible crisis, which ended
up in a divorce. It was just like you hear about... I even bought a red
Porsche. Man, am I glad I'm out of that phase now. I have remarried and we
have a three year old daughter. We live in a small subdivision in Raleigh
now on about an eighth of an acre of land! Do I ever miss being out in the
country where I didn't have to worry about what neighbors think about my
yard! I am a now civil servant, working in computing for the State of North
Carolina.
My current project is rebuilding this '84 Westfalia Wolfsburg. I bought it
as a basket case cheap. I've been working on it for about nine months and
it is nearly perfect now. It had a blown engine when I bought it and I have
been through much trouble getting a good rebuilt engine for it. But after
finally going through rebuilding the motor myself, I have a good running
bus. I have replaced or fixed just about everything and it is really
looking nice now. I even got in on the Propex group purchase and installed
one of them. I have installed a large marine deep-cycle battery under the
rear seat and rewired much of the van to run off that battery rather than
the regular one. In fact, I have the stereo set up so that when the engine
is off, only the rear speakers are powered on a low power amp, and when the
engine is running, the higher powered front amp kicks in and powers the
front speakers. I did this by wiring each amplifier to the different
battery circuits, with the dash unit being powered by the auxiliary battery.
It works great and minimizes the battery drain while parked. I also run the
fridge off the aux battery so that it will stay cold while I'm parked for
short visits to museums and such. I have found that the aux battery will
easily run the fridge for about four hours and will charge back up in about
a half-hour of driving.
Well, I hope to do much traveling in this van and hope to meet many of you
at various events. I guess I need to get one of those stickers or a list
hat to identify myself, but if you see a two-tone brown and beige Westfalia
being driven by a rusty red-headed guy, that is probably me.
Bill Knight
Raleigh, NC
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