Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 12:05:19 -0800
Reply-To: Robert Keezer <warmerwagen@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Robert Keezer <warmerwagen@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Which Type 2 to recommend?
In-Reply-To: <C20714C5.159BF%steeles@horizonview.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Steve,
Tell him to :
1. Buy the boy a good metric toolbox.
2. Several good books on auto mechanics and VW
shop manual for vehicle .
3. Send him off to the local VW shop when he
needs service and pay the bill.
First evaluate if the boy has a mechanical
aptitude by having him remove and clean and
regrease the bearings in his bicycle!
I'd get him an '80's early '90s Golf or Jetta,
not a type 2 bus. They are cheap to buy, popular
with youth, and reliable.New parts are available.
If the boy is really adept then go for the one
that grabs you.
I went for the busses back in the '80's because I
could'nt afford the Vanagons.
I knew a VW shop owner that had one blown
air-cooled engine after another in his shop, bus
and vanagon.
When I was shopping for a vanagon, I considered
the leaking head gasket of the water boxer versus
the sunken valve seats of the air-cooled gutless
wonder.
I settled on the Vanagon Diesel and put a Jetta
gas motor in it's place. The most recent motor
put in was in 1999, and it's still going strong
with over 200,000 miles on it.
In my 27 years of VW ownership, this 2.0 liter
Jetta motor from a 1995 Jetta has been the best.
None of my air-cooled's ever went seven years and
counting.
No, most of them burned up after less than 50,000
miles.
And I read every Idiot book, did all the regular
maintenance, changed oil often, etc.
I think the air-cooled engine is OK in a Beetle.
In the heavy bus, you are headed to rod city.
In just 5 years between 1990-1995, I went thru
three engines, all new rebuilt .
You have been forewarned.
Sure my experience is stepping on the toes of the
air-cooled religious.
They must all have the ZEN.
I must not have the ZEN.
All I know is tht with this four-banger Jetta
engine in my Westfalia, I have asked more if it I
thought possible, like towing Vanagons.
I don't tow them anymore, I want to baby the
engine now over 200,000.
And someone told me recently that VW's have the
higher maintenance than all cars on the market
today.
Really? Is that a bad or a good thing?
I would think that the rest low-maintenance -no
maintenance vehicles all end up geting crushed
someday because they are maintained.
That's especially true of the older ones.
Older VW's are still around because maintenance
made it happen.
One the pre-80's you have to grease fittings,
adjust brakes , adjust valves (except
hydraulic), and adjust your attitude.
I sold my old bus to someone and they resold it
after 1 month. The lady begged me to sell it to
her against my advice that it was slow.
She told me she wanted her money back, that she
could not keep up with commuting traffic.
If you live where you don't have to get into
heavy trafic- fine- they are great to putt around
in.
But for long distance trips, you can pretty much
plan the number of trips or years you can travel
before it's overhaul time.
Everyone touts the Subaru conversion. fine.
there are however some good VW engine choices.
My plug here is for the inline four- these are
the best engines VW built and they typically
outlast the car.
SUre , you can beef up the aircooled with a lot
of money. If money is no object, go for it.
I have alwyas been my own mechanic because my
service is affordable.
Teach the young man mechanics and he's doomed to
a life of fixing his own cars.
Don't and he's doomed t paying someone else lots
of money to do it.
At least VW's were designed to last and to work
on.
Vanagons have better brakes and suspension than
the Type 2, and the wiring diagrams ae easier to
read. Having work on busses and vanagons,
Vanagons ae easier .
I have aquired a 1970 Aircooled Bug recently. if
you are going to get a young person started on a
VW, this is a good place to start. I converted my
1962 Bug into a camper and drove across the US .
The Bug is a fun car. That was one of my best
adventures. I took out the passenger seat and
made that side a bed.
The bug makes a cheap camper, and,
they are easier to push.
Robert
1982 Westfalia 2.0 Jetta Powered
--- Stephen Steele <steeles@HORIZONVIEW.NET>
wrote:
> Friday, while I was at my buddies' shop
> prepping for my dive into my parts
> Vanagon for removing the cruise control in
> order to switch it over to my '89
> Westy (unnamed, as of yet), a fellow boomer
> appeared on the scene. He was
> ingenuous and inquisitive; obviously attracted
> by my '91 Caravelle, my son's
> '84 Westy and my '73 Sportsmobile, all of which
> are sitting outside,
> awaiting various work when my time permits.
> There were lots of questions about Type2 and
> T1, T2 and T3.
> Seems his raison d'être of his curiosity is a
> step son who has 'lots of
> money' and wanted to do a post high school,
> pre-college trip "West" in a
> Westy. Having never owned a VW, he had lots of
> concerns. What was the best
> purchase for this novice teen with no
> mechanical ability? What should he
> buy? What to look for? Where to find the best
> deals? etc...etc.
>
> Like Westy sightings, this may be a daily
> occurrence to you folks in the
> "more advanced" States of these United, but
> out here in the hinterlands of
> Southern Ohio (where it is NOT so flat that
> you can watch your dog run way
> for two weeks) we seldom get these kind of
> encounters of the Type 2 kind.
> Following a quick recitation on the VW Type2
> Splittie to Eurovan pedigree, I
> mentioned thesamba classifieds and forums, and
> this List regarding working
> resources within the Type 2 community. I
> headed him toward the VList's
> buying guide should he decide on a T3.
>
> The dad is a tent camper, somewhat mechanically
> adept, and is trying to
> insure his step-son a "summer of discovery" and
> I applaud him for that. He
> is concerned that the purchased vehicle be safe
> and sound and not be a money
> pit for a short term owner. I explained my
> personal bias toward the later
> model w/c vans. Even though the entry price
> will be higher, the overall
> costs might be lower, especially considering
> resale values.
> I also invited him to attend one of our
> scheduled camping events that will
> be fairly near his hometown of Fairfield (OH).
> By doing that he could better
> evaluate the various Type 2's and talk to their
> owners about their
> experiences. He had lots of questions about
> the VW community and I ensured
> him that there are as many different types of
> people driving and camping in
> these VWs as there are in any given group...
> even if we do tend to be a
> little out of the mainstream when it comes to
> our vehicular proclivities.
>
> Anyway, I was just wondering about the List's
> input on this subject and how
> some of you would answer his questions and
> address his concerns... any
> ideas?
> --
> Stephen
> Chillicothe OH
>
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