info on my first love (my 1976 VW camper)...
i bought my van from a guy named jim in about 1992. I was just out of high school and driving a 1984 rabbit gti, when a friend of mine told me about the van for sale. i hadn't ever really given buses much thought before but for some reason i went to look at it and decided it was going to be mine. after a quick sale of the gti the bus was mine, and i've owned her ever since
after realizing that the local vw dealer (ryland ford vw) were a bunch of crooks, with either no desire or no skill to fix old vw's, i started buying tools and taught myself vw repair. i paid ryland over $400 to fix a leaky rear main seal, only to have it leak 10X worse after it came back. they said they'd pay for a new seal if i paid them for the labor again. i think i can trace all of my negative attitude to those pricks. so the next day i had the engine lying in the dirt in joe and shirleys driveway. it took a little work, and the help of jason to get it back together again, but it was the beginning of a new day for me, becuase i realized that i could do anything mechanical, because it is simply a matter of figuring out how things go together. and auto repair isn't a science
in may of 2000 we experienced an unfortunate engine fire whilist in the middle of florida. Just about to jump on the florida turnpike.
airflow box electrical connection, coil, and FI air manifold...
it cost a ton of money to bring the burnt shell of my bus back to minnesota, but it was like leaving a dead relative behind. simply something that i had to do. a little luck and a guy named ed made the trip happen. i think ed probably doen't ever want to see the van again, after some hairy tire blowing action somewhere in between. he described the voyage as like making sausage. some things are best left unsaid...
the fleet. maybe i'll get a better picture this summer... recently added an '86 Vanagon to the fleet.
Sad to say but the Vanagon has now been traded (spring 2002) And I have purchased my first AUDI, a 1992 100S sedan that is by far the nicest car I have ever owned.
vanagon exhaust project...
if you know of any donor type 76-79 vans for sale, let me know. click here for email
click to see my flash movie. complete with Benny Hill theme
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