Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:06:56 -0800
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Friday Philosophy: On the nature of Repair
In-Reply-To: <01a601cdf5b5$0c553990$24ffacb0$@gmail.com>
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I'm guessing we only have a few more years of being "Vanagon Fixers"
before they become too valuable as collector's vehicles to be used and
broken, then repaired....except by the Silver Spoon set. Oh, there will
be the odd 'deal' vanagon left around, but they'll probably become valuable
and too "good" to drive everyday. Or, they'll be legislated off the road
somehow...
I certainly do follow the fix it with my own hands mind set. There
are so many excellent old things that with just a bit of work often
surpass, in function and in style, the newest and best 'whatever'..and at a
very small fraction of the cost of the newer 'whatever'
I'm guessing this 'can-do' attitude might be considered 'old guy
thinking' by many of the younger folk, who seem to have bought into the
'modular' marketing scheme....Don't repair stuff, replace it....Only old
people bother to fix stuff...why would you? Head to Wal Mart and get
another, easier and cheaper and you can get back to your Facebook...
Friday that last part.. Don Hanson
On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 11:50 AM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>wrote:
> Great stuff! Essential philosophy for the old car hobby.
>
> If you haven't read "Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of
> Work" by Matthew B. Crawford you should. It's a timely philosophical
> discussion about working with your hands instead of sitting on your butt in
> front of a computer. He left an academic career to go into the business of
> restoring classic motorcycles.
>
> And, of course, reading or re-reading Persig's "Zen and the Art of
> Motorcycle Maintenance" is always worth your time.
>
> Stuart
> '85 Westy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Jarrett Anthony Kupcinski
> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 9:01 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Friday Philosophy: On the nature of Repair
>
> I came across this blog post which I thought might be of interest to some
> in
> our Vanagon community:
>
> http://goo.gl/v6KUA
>
> It doesn't deal with Vanagons or VWs per se, but it does deal with creative
> (and beautiful) attempts to keep useful (but broken) things useful (and
> unbroken). It seems to me this repair-minded philosophy is the core around
> which communities like the Vanagon list are built.
>
> Some folks do this by doing what they can to "Keep It Stock." Nothing wrong
> with that, but it gets difficult when stock becomes no longer available.
> What interests me more nowadays are the repairs that folks do that go
> beyond
> Bentley. How do you keep the functionality of a thing true when it can no
> longer be what it was? We have to go beyond what VW's engineers designed
> without sacrificing their intent. I'm not talking about mods or additions
> here, although I admit the line is blurry and those are awesome, too. It's
> the things we do, large and small, to keep our vans on the road when parts
> can't be bought or found. That's a real challenge.
>
> By the way, for those of you who have posted your repairs (as well as mods,
> and hacks), I've appreciated reading your stories and seeing pictures of
> your rigs. They inspire me to do similar daring things to my own van. Thank
> you.
>
> Jarrett K
> Olly, 89 Westy powered by Bostig=
>
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