Share your lucky story here...

[0to60in6min]

Please share your lucky story or discovery here for the benefit of all of us...

here's mine...

I was working on my son's 88 GL WBX 2.1 engine, fixing a broken connector on the power steering pump. Since the space is tight I moved the alternator a bit to the driver side to have more room for my hands... and I found this...

a closeup pic...

this is the fuel hose going from the T-connector to the #2 cylinder, behind and under the alternator. Last year on a trip the alternator died and was replaced by a shop 1K miles away from home. The bottom thin bolt on the alternator pinched and chaffed the fuel hose slowly and started a small fire... when? we don't know and not even smell the fuel leak... So I replaced the hose using one a bit longer and zip-tied it away from the alternator...

we guess that when they replaced the alternator they didn't move the hose far enough and let the thin bolt sit on the hose and the vibration did the rest.

so check that hose folks... and all other too...

all we can say that we were lucky...

[shagginwagon83]

I feel like I was lucky to have an awesome grandma to give me an 83.5 Westy with 114k miles.

As far as working on the van - I felt lucky that none of my rear trailing arm bolts were seized.
_________________
Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[dobryan]

Too many to count. But I'll put the 'ran myself over with my bus, all the way across my stomach from right to left' and had no serious injuries at the top....
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[shagginwagon83]

[MsTaboo]

Ours was coming back from a late fall/early winter trip to Chaco Canyon/Mesa Verde. Coming back we drove for a couple days through a bad winter storm, arriving home late at night.
The next morning I went out to move the Syncro into the garage and started the engine. Went inside for a few minutes to keep warm, came out to find all the oil on the ground.

Blew the oil seal at the oil cooler/block junction. This could have happened at some remote campsite. So lucky instead it waited to blow after we got home!
Later that day I ordered our Bostig kit.
_________________
Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
Help the fight against Truth Decay.
Defend democracy, support Ukraine.

[E1]

I feel lucky that after a year of searching and finally giving up just 65 days from living on the road in a Jetta, I decided to look up a favorite link just for grins… and discovered the exact bus we were looking for just 12 miles away, even in the color we wanted.

Bought it the very next day. Lived in it for 59 months since.
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[RainierSyncro]

Picked up my Syncro from the guy that painted my van. I was driving through Seattle on hwy 99 in cold rainy weather when the motor started cutting out. It then died and I coasted to the shoulder. This was actually good because if I drove another mile further, I would have been stuck on the tight Aurora bridge or further down in the Battery street tunnel or on the waterfront viaduct where I would be really blocking during rush hour Seattle traffic. The business I ended up in front of was having a after hour customer appreciation night. I got to wait for the tow truck inside a warm building and partake in a buffet dinner. I think that would be considered lucky as opposed to freezing in my van waiting for the tow truck.