Hello fellow =
Vanagoneers!
Now that I have been back for a week =
and I'm a
little more rested and caught up, I thought =
I would
let everyone know about my trip to Germany and my visit to the VW
Factory.
We went on a tour of the Hannover =
plant where
they manufacture the Transporters. The tour guide was kinda lame =
but I
have to give him some credit - he had to do the tour in Norwegian and
English. Fortunately, we were on the tour with my friend who used =
to work
in the factory. He filled in the gaps where the tour guide was
skimpy.
It was fun to see the way they put together the
"Eurovan." The best part is the "marriage" =
where the
drive train meets the body. The paint factory is also very =
cool.
Before going on the tour, I was a Vanagon =
(or T3)
purist with no interest in the Eurovan (T4). But after the tour I =
wouldn't
mind having a new T4 Multivan.
It was like a spiritual trip to
reach this Mecca of VW lovers! It was really cool to see =
the first
sketch of a Transporter. It was supposedly drawn on a napkin by a =
dealer
in Holland who was asking VW bigwigs to give him a car to transport
things. The sketch on the drawing looks just like a =
T1!
After the tour we got the chance to ask the big =
question -
what is VW's current position on Wasserleakers? They were of =
course
noncommittal to anything but they did say it was a known problem that =
they have
worked to resolve. My intuition told me that it is worth it to =
pursue
their financial help if you have a bad head gasket leak. I was =
also able
to talk to a VW mechanic who confirmed the problem. He said they =
don't
have the problem as much as the US because =
Germans
mostly buy the diesel. He also told me he has done and seen a lot =
of
conversions.
I also bought a couple of German VW magazines. =
There are
some really cool pictures of different VW's including a new Beetle with =
an Oval
window in back. When I get the chance =
I will
post some pics on my brothers web page so everyone can see.
Sorry this is so long. I had a great time in =
Germany and
wanted to share. However, I am still =
trying to
decide what to do with my head fried Wasserleaker. My sister is =
also
looking to convert her T3 in the near future so she is waiting to see =
what I
do. My current thinking is to stay with a VW engine and use the =
Eurospec,
the Fastforward, or the 5-cyl.
Has anyone done a conversion lately? I'd love =
any input
I can get. Before I left for my trip, I had a few people tell me =
their
conversion was in process. What is the status?
Anyway, it is nice to be back on the list and =
home. I
will keep you posted on what I decide to do. I have to finish it =
before
summer so we can go camping! With all the talk about the Alcan HWY =
I think
we'll have to head north!
Alan
'91 Carat
Sherwood, OR