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#1 Packers Fan
Samba Member
Joined: June 29, 2013
Posts: 4
Location: Austin, TX
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 Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:36 pm Post subject: Air cooled mechanics near Austin Texas |
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| I have a 1976 Camper and I had to have a new engine put in about 3 years ago because it threw a rod. Anyways I’m wanting to be able to travel the country in my camper but it has been giving me a lot of issues in the last month. It’s my only vehicle and I even have trouble driving through some of the hills that we have here in central Texas. I’m wondering if there’s something I should do, save for, like a conversion or not? Like I was saying I’d love to be able to have the hp and torque to be able to take road trips to the mountains or anywhere I want without having to worry about reliability. If anyone has any suggestions on somewhere near me I can go or opinions on how to make my wonderful camper able to do what I want which is travel. Thanks for any and all help! |
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airschooled
Air-Schooled
Joined: April 04, 2012
Posts: 12721
Location: on a bike ride somewhere
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| Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:47 pm Post subject: Re: Air cooled mechanics near Austin Texas |
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Austin VeeDub seems to come up here often, though I can't vouch for them personally.
Also, Kirk is generally pretty active in the air-cooled community in that part of Texas, so perhaps he could chime in if you send him a PM?
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/privmsg.php?mode=post&u=8449
Good luck,
Robbie
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#1 Packers Fan
Samba Member
Joined: June 29, 2013
Posts: 4
Location: Austin, TX
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| Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:51 pm Post subject: Re: Air cooled mechanics near Austin Texas |
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Vee Dub Nut
Samba Member
Joined: April 25, 2004
Posts: 1184
Location: Dallas, GA
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| Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:16 am Post subject: Re: Air cooled mechanics near Austin Texas |
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Although I'm not there any more, I lived south of Austin in San Antonio for the past 10 years.
To my knowledge, it seems like Austin VeeDub is getting more and more away from the air-cooled business. You'd have to call and ask to see what they can/will do.
Kirk is up in the Dallas area, but might have some suggestions. Being in Austin, I'd HIGHLY suggest registering on the Aircoolers forum. There is a big Austin contingency there that can point you in the right direction.
http://www.aircoolers.org/
Good luck!
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67 Beetle (TBD)
74 Transporter (EJ25 Swapped) - Build Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
See all my VW pics on Instagram @ vee_dub_nut |
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rogerbeetle
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2016
Posts: 14
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2018 10:13 am Post subject: Re: Air cooled mechanics near Austin Texas |
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I live in austin, and I've been trying out the various aircooled VW shops. I have some advice. PM me at: [email protected]
..... David |
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69BahamaYellow
Samba Member
Joined: April 22, 2011
Posts: 536
Location: Talbott, TN
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| Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:34 pm Post subject: Re: Air cooled mechanics near Austin Texas |
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| #1 Packers Fan wrote: |
| If anyone has any suggestions on somewhere near me I can go or opinions on how to make my wonderful camper able to do what I want which is travel. Thanks for any and all help! |
I have a 1978 Transporter, and it's pretty reliable and my daily driver. If you rebuild the engine right, make sure transmission is in good shape, replace the suspension, brakes, and axles with new stuff (and I mean with absolutely nothing made in China), then you can drive your bus cross country with no fear of breakdowns.
I would have recommended Austin Vee Dub also, but they've closed their salvage business, so that may also mean they can't pull off major restoration work that they could have done in the past. It's worth stopping by for your self to be sure, since they've always had a lot of knowledgeable and friendly folks. They are down near the airport. Jets fly right over their shop every day (really close).
I should also ask if you think you're capable of pulling the engine out yourself and tearing it down to at least a long block? If you don't know what a long block is, then disregard everything I'm about to tell you, and just stick with Austin Vee Dub. There's a place on Cameron Road in Austin called Precision Engine Service. Ask for a guy named Dennis. He runs the shop and is very knowledgeable about VW type 4 engines; he can do just about anything you can imagine. He has the tooling to weld cracked heads, install new seats, straighten warped parts and other type 4 weirdness, and an actual clean room for engine assembly; although, I'm not actually sure they would allow type 4 parts into their clean room  Nevertheless, they've got one, and that means details matter to these guys. Air cooled stuff is only a side thing for them, so it will take a very long time for them to complete the work for you, but if you have the patience, their work is top quality and reasonably priced. Don't even think about stopping by this place if you just want to drop off your bus and tell them to fix it. |
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Balmoral1958
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2011
Posts: 248
Location: Austin
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| Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:01 am Post subject: Re: Air cooled mechanics near Austin Texas |
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I have used Kenny Hill Autoworks for general repairs on my Ghia, Bus and Beetle - no problems. Not sure they do engine rebuilds but speak to Kenny as he maybe able to direct you to somebody local.
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69BahamaYellow
Samba Member
Joined: April 22, 2011
Posts: 536
Location: Talbott, TN
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| Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 3:10 pm Post subject: Re: Air cooled mechanics near Austin Texas |
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| Forgot to mention that you should also Google Austin air coolers. They meet every month in various locations around Austin. Lots of great resources for you there. I met a couple of the Austin V dub mechanics at one of their meetings also and got the impression that they may do work on aircooleds on the side |
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