From: BARANSKI@veamf1.nusc.navy.mil (Jim Baranski)
Subject: Car Collections
Organization: Lanman Hill, Norwich CT
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 93 16:43:36 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.20

I gather form various people's posts that some people have quite a collection
of VW's...

I'm getting rather interested in having a few Vw's, but I'm having some
problems 'justifying' having a collection...

First off, I'm definitely not a car fanatic, or a motor-head.  I have a lot of
other interests that I'd like to have time for as well...

I used to pretty much feel that a car was an appliance; buy a cheap car, drive
it till it dropped, and junk it.  Although I worked on cars a bit as a
teenager, I've felt that it's pointless to learn a lot about working on cars
because there are so many and everything keeps changing, and you're just as
likely to have a different car in a couple of years as not, and then you'll
have to learn another set of idiosincrasies.  And... work that you do on a car
is very rarely permanent.  And... Cars are getting more complicated all the
time...

Then came that fatefull moment...  I got layed off and lost my company car; my
Spice's son crashed my Horizon; and his Father crashed her Cavillier wagon; we
bought a farm; and bought a F150 supercab to haul stuff and for her to drive.  

I needed another car, and we were talking about so and so's old bug, and
talking about the microbus Charlotte had had, the Bug her daughter had had, 
the squareback my father had which was the first car I drove regularly (untill
my sister started driving it and drove it for a month without checking the
oil), and my brother's super beetle which he regularly played mix and match
with the body, the frame and the motor...

And I tought, 'Hey... why don't I get a Bug for my next car?!!!'

Seeing as we had a REAL truck to carry stuff, and up to six people
semi-comfortably, I thought that a small inexpensive efficient bug would fit in
real well... and everyone thought it was a great idea...

So I went down to the bottom of Lanman Hill, where there's a independent Bug
shop called Grillo's.  I asked him if he had a decent bug for an inexpensive
car to drive.  ...With Heat, recalling several stories about the scarity of bug
heat...  Yes, he had a nice blue one for $800...  he just had to adjust the
brakes on it....

So I bought the bug I've been driving it around for about a year and a half,
getting used to it.  Figuring out how to get various things to work, like the
heat, without gassing myself...  And for the most part it's been dependable,
except that the heat never reaches the windshield, this summer it had some
problem with vapor lock, or the fuel filter or a missing clamp on the fuel
line, which was the real problem.  

The big money was spent getting the clutch and motor mounts replaced by a
tranmission mechanic who ended up being a bozo; trying to get the heat working
without exhaust fumes; and trying to fix the floor pan and broken front frame.

Sounds like a wreck, right?  Well, I've sort of become attached to it.  I like
driving it.  The body and the engine seem to be in good shape.  I thought I had
a problem with it burning oil; but now I think that the problem was that I was
checking the oil while the engine was hot, and I was putting too much oil in
it.  It doesn't pass emmisions, but the compression tests are all over 100 lb.

Meanwhile, I've started thinking...  VW's are sure a *lot* simpler then modern
cars...  and different models have a lot in common, and they're easy to work on
and figure out (with some help for the un-VW-initiated).  And I could get a
bug, a squareback, and a bus, and take care of the whole family transportation
needs, and really not have to learn much more then one car.  And they've been
around a *long* time and they are still kicking.  With relitively available
parts, you can keep the same car kicking for a long time...  And if it breaks
down totally, keep the parts for the other cars...  switch engines if you need
to...

However, the floor pan on my bug has finally given up the ghost...  And I'm
becoming more and more dissatified with the not quite right front end of the
frame.  I'm ready to replace the whole floor pan with a new one, but it seems
like throwing good money after bad to put a good floor on a lousy frame.  I'm
having problems finding a replacment frame, or someone who I trust to do the
switch within my budget.  My brother did it, way back when, but he's in MI, and
I'm in CT.  

Of course, I'm sure that once I take it apart, I'll find that there's a *lot*
more that needs to be done...

I *hate* having cars just sit around undrivable.  And my dream of having a bug,
and square and a bus...  Charlotte just bought an Accord, so I'm driving the
F150, and I wouldn't trust her son...  If I had this collection, it would cost
a lot to keep, and they wouldn't have anyone to drive them...  Cars are meant
to be driven, you know?

Anyway, sorry to ramble on like that, I hope it was entertaining, but how you
do justify your collection of VWs?

Jim Baranski
Newsgroups: rec.autos.vw