Hey Karl,

 

Thanks for the info and letting me know that there are people in DE = with interests.

It's funny U ask about Horst Fischer , because I was just telling a = friend of mine today about him. I worked at his shop on Old Capital Trail about 7 = or 8 years ago for about 3 months (i think) . I am very mechanically inclined = and I saw his ad in the News Journal for a mechanic or trainee. I kind of had = long hair, so I put a cap on, tied it back, and tucked it under my shirt. I went= in there, talked to his wife (who does the books), then talked to Horst. The = first words out of his mouth were, "So you want to turn wrenches....."  Classic.  Spoke with him for like 5 minutes and he hired me on the = spot.

 

 Anyway, I definitely have the skills to work on autos, but= didn't have any work related references or ASE. It was my first "real"= job in the automotive field. That guy IS the most knowledgeable person I = have every met when it comes to cars. Especially Volkswagen. 

 

He is a Volkswagon Master Mechanic from Volkswagon in = Germany. He use to race Beetles on a circle track circuit   ("run the circles" as he would say)   back in Germany when he was = younger. So, I was hired in with no experience as a "Trainee" and was pretty much = the grunt... oil changes... maybe brakes...more oil changes... gopher for sub-= jobs.. and so on. It took a while before he would trust me to do things on my own= (faster pace). He let me use his tools, taught me allot about the VW's. And= in a matter of 3 months, I quit.

 

He was hard to get along with because its his shop and I was = still cocky. (plus he's straight from the German old-school of mechanics.. they = teach them moral over everything." German products are superior...",

 which they are)

 

He was a really good teacher and the work environment was like a = family (because he was always yelling at me) lol.. He gave me hands the on = experience on the air cooled by engine removals and tear downs.( I filed a set of = heater boxes with a file by hand until it met Horst approval. about 3 hours)

 

 Don't get me wrong.. He's a good man and the best mechanic ( in = my opinion) around. So, I learned allot from him and the other guys at the = shop (there was a Jason and i forget the other guy name but he's probably still= there.. drove a mustang) ANYWAY, I got to work on Beetles , Vanagons, the = crappy Audi 5000's, A VW Thing.. karma's... I was in heaven.

 

Things turned sour when he gave me an Audi that was in for a coolant = leak in the radiator. He gave me the keys and I went out there, wrote the sheet = up , and popped the hood. No leaks under, no antifreeze markings on the rad = itself. So I drove it into the bay and told him there was nothing wrong with it. He= just started screaming at me... kinda dumping on me, saying stuff like " you = walk around like its a country club around here... " so i was pissed because i = knew that the car was fine and I kept telling him (as he yelled) ... <= /DIV>