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Sat Jan 09, 2010 8:05 am

Got the green book, the Muir bible, and the Haynes.

I put on a master cylinder with my brother in law and showed him the rubber gasket that goes on it. Well we put the master cylinder on and bleed the hell out of the brakes. He went back home after the holidays a few states away and I looked in the box the Master came in and low and behold the gasket is sitting in the box. No leaks as of yet but I know something bad is bound to happen.

Sat Jan 09, 2010 8:58 am

Back in 1974 got my first job out of high school in the body shop of a VW dealership. When the "new watercooleds" came on the market in '75 I fell in love with the Scirocco and bought one of the first ones. (Ser # was about 4,000) Less than 10 days I took an off-ramp to fast and hit the guard rail three times while spinning. Nearly totaled with 478 miles on it. Ouch!
But that was not my biggest mistake. In 1977 I bought a new Camaro and hated it. Factory paint kept flaking off :shock: . I was told by a Fisher Body Insider that the problem was bad steel used around that time. Have been loyal to VW ever since. :D

Sat Jan 09, 2010 6:52 pm

Mosparx wrote: ...and we can't forget how many times we have driven around with the E-Brake on. :oops: i just did that like 5 mins ago

Sat Jan 09, 2010 8:29 pm

Stupid thing #1

When I got my first bus about 6 years ago, I got myself a Muir book along with it. I straightened out all the electrical issues and kept up the maintenance when I had to deploy to Iraq. After the bus sat for 6 months in the cali sun, I came back and didn't think to check through everything well... my gas lines had dried out and were leaking fuel and the poor bus caught on fire. The guy behind me actually had a fire extinguisher in his car and put it out most of the way.

Stupid thing #2 was not repairing it and letting it sit in a towing yard for a year before finally handing it off to somone that I *hope* fixed her up well.

Sat Jan 09, 2010 11:01 pm

silverside61 wrote: .......the bus had rolled from the wheel chocks kicking out, as the ice under them melted in the rising temperatures. not to mention, i had left the bus in neutral, from running it during the tune-up.

so how many lessons can i learn from this incident?

Well Ned was winning the contest, but I think Silverside just took the trophy. Wow, what a story! In an odd way and feeling slightly bad to laugh at someone else's misfortune, that cracked me up. ....but I'm sure there was no laughter coming from you at the time. Great story, thanks for sharing it. :D

Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:19 pm

ned wrote: I married a stripper.

theizzardking wrote: ned wrote: I married a stripper.

we have a winner! :lol:
(that was great dude.....)

ned wrote: Thank You very much. The truth is stranger than fiction.

TomWesty wrote: theizzardking wrote: ned wrote: I married a stripper.

we have a winner! :lol:

(that was great dude.....)

I'm wondering if they are still married.... :lol:

ned wrote: No. I do miss yhat @$lo job though.

ddwbeagles wrote: silverside61 wrote: .......the bus had rolled from the wheel chocks kicking out, as the ice under them melted in the rising temperatures. not to mention, i had left the bus in neutral, from running it during the tune-up.

so how many lessons can i learn from this incident?

Well Ned was winning the contest, but I think Silverside just took the trophy. Wow, what a story! In an odd way and feeling slightly bad to laugh at someone else's misfortune, that cracked me up. ....but I'm sure there was no laughter coming from you at the time. Great story, thanks for sharing it. :D

Hey guys,

I am really learning alot. Thanks Riomx for resurecting this thread! Its a good thing to learn from other mistakes. Like another fella said I have made too many to post here. Not so many on VW's but enough...

I am not sure who is winning here or what the trophy will look like? But I am surprised that no one typed those all to familair words in response to Ned's post. Or silversides post either. So.... I thought I would remind you all and if Ned and silversides are so inclined; it may just decide who gets the trophy afterall... So, here goes Ned and silversides.... If theres one thing I have learned on The Samba is....

***Pictures or it didn't happen!***

HEHEHE, TH

:twisted: PS: couldn't help myself, LOL!
Make em good Ned...HEHEHE :D

Mon Jan 11, 2010 12:32 am

You know the old saying"Youth is wasted on the young" and man I wasted tons of mine. Sorry no pics just a lot of memories.

Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:14 am

TreeHugger63 wrote: Thanks Riomx for resurrecting this thread!

lol i don't think he's posted in the last 4 pages or so....

i'm starting to feel like now my biggest mistake was painting it with rustolem...lol

Mon Jan 11, 2010 2:45 pm

Just yesterday installed a new battery.

I had taken the oil filler neck off to get it in there and all.. Anyway started fine after a little coaxing, and in my excitement I took off down the road to warm her up...

Pulled over because I was smelling oil.

Ha. Filler neck was long gone, oil a bit over some stuff in there.

I had forgotten to put the filler neck back on and close the engine compartment.

Luckily this was a short drive, so I backtracked to find the filler neck, I saw uit in the middle of a turning lane I was in... it had been ran over. I bent it back into shape and did some creative duct tape work to get the top part of the cap back on.

Guess what's in the mail for me?

Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:26 pm

ned wrote: You know the old saying"Youth is wasted on the young" and man I wasted tons of mine. Sorry no pics just a lot of memories.

I'll bet, had a few but, never married one. I was just funnin about the pics anyways but, it was worth a shot, LOL! I doubt theres a winner here or a trophy. Most of the (youthful)stupidest things I did were illegal and I ain't tellin. So, I guess I'm out of the running, LOL!

That one from silversides is sad. Pristine bus and BAM just like that its toast. All over some chocks and being out of gear. I would freakin cry..

TH

Fri Jan 15, 2010 1:07 am

im only 17, an i got a long list
#1forgot to tighten the calipers on the brakes on my dads jetta. ended up in south seattle with no brake goin about 30 and the ebrake fails at life because it was out of adjustment

#2 tryed wiring up a radio and lights and such to my 72 super. also tryed turning over the starter without the engine in the car......shorted out the car somewhere, ended up selling for 25 bucks after striping it for my 71

#3 forgot to tighten my fuel lines over the carb....lucky me dad noticed....

#4 forgot to tighten an axle bolt on the jetta, whole wheel was loose for weeks and we couldnt figure out the noise....

#5stipped out may a bolt, nut, stud and such. my origonal way of fixing this? A TIGHTER FITTING SCREW OR NUT!
#6 a hammer was my way of making things fit. i dont know how many things my dad has had to buy twice because i effed it up by pounding on it.
#7 didnt bother to fix the stripped stud on my freshly rebuilt 40hp engine. oil leak right off the bat bc it wasnt tight.
# 8 Here is the most bestest one yet. i was using bug me videos to time a bug, and i proceed to time to what he timed his car. my car was a different year. i couldnt figure out for over 2 years why i didnt have power. 3 carbs, 4 distributors, 2 sets of new wires, 2 sets of plugs, a new coil, new fuel lines, plentiful number of times trying to fix the points,multiple trys to get the carb tuned, and way to many trys on the timing. finally, one day while bored, i serched for something to read and found my (one of about 6 copies, kept just in case, you know, spares) idiot manual. i decided to look up the timing in my car, just for fun, for about the 100th time. i found out that one year can make a helluva lot of difference. i was timeing at 7.5 BTDC, it needed 5 ATDC! 13.5 degrees is alot to a car. now i car do reverse burnouts up my hill, with the empty car and no wieght, particularly when it rains. :)

needless to say i always double check my timing now

#9 the first time i watch the timeing video for the bug, i totally missunderstood it, and tryed to fix the misfire in my dads car by trying to turn his cap with a pipe wrech.... ^_^ oops.....

*lucky findings while bored*

#1 we got a 85 jetta with 17K origonal miles on it, and we thot it was a terribley powered car. i happened to check the plugs for fun, and found one loose.....must have gained about 60 hp....basically all of what it has anyways....lol

# 2 multiple fuel leaks on my bus, bug, and the 85 jetta. and the vaccum leak on the 97 jetta.....

#3, at least twenty times i have found almost all of our cars to have not enough oil or water, and saved them. but i can only do so much when the car is in OR and im in WA.... sister (19-20) drove the 85 jetta and proceeded to blow the engine (58 k ) still fixing it....

and so much more, all in three or four years total of car fixing....(aspiring mechanic)

Stuart

Fri Jan 15, 2010 7:51 am

***Pictures or it didn't happen!***

HEHEHE, TH

:twisted: PS: couldn't help myself, LOL!
Make em good Ned...HEHEHE :D[/quote]

Wow! instant fame! I dont know if i want to get famous this way.... lol

well, i have been searching a bit, I did take a few snapshots that night, but i can't find them at the moment. i think they were on film. it was dark though. mostly pics of yellow lights on the wrecker.

I did go out today and snap some new ones, it still shows where the damage was, i have pretty much parked it for the last 4 years.

this is the bluff it went down. that big tree is the maple that scraped the driverside all the way down, knocking off the mirror, folding the door at the vent wing, busting up all the camper outlets, folding the opposite hinge cover panel, and denting the air grille on the back

this is after I found a new bumper. being its a late bus, it has that "wart" behind the bumper, that the bumper mounts to. i never did find a replacement source for them, so I had to sawzall off the whole assembly from a donor bus, and start welding it on. Thanks Beetle Shop!

[/img]http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2710/001em.jpg

this is a pic of the whole bus as it sits. the white door is to replace the kinked old one.

the front has had the dent pulled, where the spare tire was, I really dont know how the windshield did not break. everything that was in the back went flying up to the front in the impact. other damage involved was from retrieving the vehicle. the only way out was back from where it came, so the winch cables were at first hooked to a trailer hitch that was a heavy steel hitch, frame mounted, and bumper mounted. after getting the bus about half way up, the hitch snapped in half, bending up the bumper, destroying that as well.

I think the saving grace of this mishap was probably the frozen ice in the creek below. I think it worked as a "crumple zone" itself, absorbing a lot of the impact. it doesn't look that bad today, but if this didn't happen, I would have been driving it the last 4 years.

I do have the cut off front pieces, but as you can see, everything is buried under lots of snow til spring. I have, since this mishap, strategically placed woodpiles, and things around the perimeter of the property, to prevent a runaway vehicle in the future.

Fri Jan 15, 2010 7:53 am

fail on last pic here it is

Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:08 am

Stuartzickefoose wrote: (aspiring mechanic)

Stuart

Give up now while you're still alive! ;)

Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:15 am

Marv [UK] wrote: Stuartzickefoose wrote: (aspiring mechanic)

Stuart

Give up now while you're still alive! ;)

Now, now, Marv, I'll bet he double checks the caliper bolts every time he does anything with the brakes and makes sure the wheels are tight. Sometimes the best way to learn the right way to do it is to F it up the first time. :shock:

Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:53 am

busdaddy wrote: Marv [UK] wrote: Stuartzickefoose wrote: (aspiring mechanic)

Stuart

Give up now while you're still alive! ;)

Now, now, Marv, I'll bet he double checks the caliper bolts every time he does anything with the brakes and makes sure the wheels are tight. Sometimes the best way to learn the right way to do it is to F it up the first time. :shock:

hehe, yeah, I bet he does. I've F'd up a few things in my time for sure, but then, I do tend to double check my double checking of everything

A little paranoia goes a long way

Besides, It was in jest, hence the wink :D

Mon Jan 18, 2010 4:28 pm

Marv [UK] wrote: busdaddy wrote: Marv [UK] wrote: Stuartzickefoose wrote: (aspiring mechanic)

Stuart

Give up now while you're still alive! ;)

Now, now, Marv, I'll bet he double checks the caliper bolts every time he does anything with the brakes and makes sure the wheels are tight. Sometimes the best way to learn the right way to do it is to F it up the first time. :shock:

hehe, yeah, I bet he does. I've F'd up a few things in my time for sure, but then, I do tend to double check my double checking of everything

A little paranoia goes a long way

Besides, It was in jest, hence the wink :D

I actually forgot to tighten the bolts on tons of things on my car in auto for the suspension lab. luckily, the teacher checks all the bolts, and also the car i was using is a test car that never sees the road. :oops: :oops: :oops:

Its definately a reason that i am a better mechanic now than i origonally was (two tools......vice grips and duct tape).

hopefully my brake jobs that i plan to do on my bus and bug will go over very well now that i have learned my lesson.
:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:18 pm

busdaddy wrote: Sometimes the best way to learn the right way to do it is to F it up the first time. :shock:

Or you could just do it right the first time... Being 16 and an "aspiring mechanic", I wouldn't start out doing brakes on a daily driver.

Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:22 pm

maximan1 wrote: busdaddy wrote: Sometimes the best way to learn the right way to do it is to F it up the first time. :shock:

Or you could just do it right the first time... Being 16 and an "aspiring mechanic", I wouldn't start out doing brakes on a daily driver.

wuss..... that was my first job ever on a car.... you can tell right away if it's good or no good and just keep at it till it's right.

Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:46 pm

Yeah, when you don't hit the car in front of you, you've done a good job. :roll: