90% of people can take something entirely apart.

[markswagen]

two in particular l remember, both from watching gowesty tutorials, one was a guy who did their AUX battery installation, l was happy to do the job for him, unfortunatly for him, one of the red wires he cut out, was the main feed wire for the radiator fan, 1984 water cooled, all was good, until he got stuck on the freeway, his fan didn't cut in, his engine overheated and blew head gaskets and ruined his engine.
the other was a different guy, he'd also gotten the GW aux battery kit, his problem was the crimp tool he had, that left crimp terminals loose, which ultimately caused a fire under the drivers seat of his van.
neither guy touches their westy at all with any intention of trying to fix something, they are both cured.

[Abscate]

[Dusty1]

[Cusser]

Somehow I misplaced my SD photo card reader that plugs into my laptop USB port. So I ordered a new one from Amazon for $5, highly rated.

Dell Latitude E5450 with Windows 10. Computer would not recognize the reader whether card was inserted or not; the light did come on. I tried to "add new hardware" and that didn't help. I left in the USB port and restarted computer, didn't help. I don't know enough about computers if replacement reader of same type would work. So I'm returning it; Magna cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and can't get simple device to work....
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[Xevin]

Some people struggle to post pictures, gifs, YouTube vids, and even search on The Samba. Not to call the kettle names but i’m not the best mechanic either but slowly I keep learning.
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Keep on Busin'

[Jon Schmid]

[chrisflstf]

I worked on large scale commercial ink jet printers made by Epson. Makes unbelievable prints, but servicing them was a nightmare. I told my manager at the time, if epson ever made a car, you would have to pull the motor and trans to replace a taillight!

Some of their printers had all the sensors in the carriage, but all were only accessible from the underside with only about 8 inches of room. Epsons answer to make them easier to service? They put a polished stainless steel pan under the carriage so you could look at the reflection, upside down to get at the very small sensors, screw and paper thin flex cables. It was a nightmare

[Dusty1]

Around 40 years ago... back when most people couldn't tell the difference between New Wave and Punk much less the difference between ska and reggae... there was a band called Devo. Although they themselves were smart young fellers and they continue to be so, they promoted the concept of de- evolution, reverse Darwinism as it were. Being as humans seem to be the one species immune to actual Darwinism, Devo may have been on to something.

.
.

[Xevin]

[KTPhil]

Corollary:

"It is easier to get into something than to get out of it."
- Donald Rumsfeld
_________________
Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback

[Xevin]

[Shonandb]

I was the youngest of 6 kids growing up in the 70s and 80s. My father was a maintenance machinist, 2 brothers were machinists, 1 was an electrician, and 1 was a welder. My sister was an office worker so she didn't influence me much.

My dad always repaired everything himself and my brothers built backyard hotrods so being the wrench/whipping boy, I learned to do everything mechanical and electrical. I started fixing bicycles when I was 5 and then mini bikes, dirtbikes, and then cars.

In parallel, we were always fixing pumps, piping, walls, tearing down and building rooms, repairing roofs, rewiring rooms, and finishing interiors including painting.

In high school I chose to be Refrigeration Tech so I learned that and electrical up to 600v. Later I had an interest in electronics and studied embedded systems and can test circuits down to the PCB levels. I then found programming logical and picked up everything computer related and built my own PCs.

I enjoy taking things apart fixing them and putting them back together as well as building things. For me, I've never hesitated to take something apart and never had an issue putting it back together again.
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*******************************
76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image

[Abscate]

[Cusser]

[Dusty1]

[heimlich]

Everything is being made out of computer chips and boards these days. The next generation is using microscopes and tweezers to do repairs now.
_________________
www.vwnos.com [email protected]
Classic Brands. Classic Quality.
Not all parts are made the same. NOS OE/OEM parts made mainly in West Germany, Early Germany, and Early Brazil are where VW produced the best quality parts and best fitting products.
5% Off your order with coupon code: 5%OFF
Restored Distributors Available (<--Click here)

[mukluk]

[Glenn]

My son's electric over switched to broil by itself and could not be turned off, we had to pop the breaker to turn it off.

We diagnosed the problem to a failed relay on the mother board. The relay had a part number but after searching we couldn't find it. But we were able to replace the entire motherboard with controls for $75.

Two days later it was fixed.

A month before the electric dryer broke and he found the heating coil broke. There was a part number on it and it was fixed a few days later.

Some people have a natural ability and others don't. My son just needs a little advice and a youtube search and he can fix most things. My son-in-law, on the other hand can't fix anything so i told him to find a good handyman and have him on speed dial.

New York has a college saving plan that is tax exempt. You can use it for trade school along with college. The world needs electricians and plumbers. Don't underestimate the value of a trade.


Link

_________________
Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

[heimlich]

[drluvbug]

Thought I’d chime in, and while I can take something apart, I can usually retrace my steps to put whatever said item is back together.

The biggest pain I find, is dropping screws.. especially tiny ones, or nuts. There’s a rule, I feel like it’s universal.. anything you drop will automatically roll to the least accessible spot in your work space and 99 percent of the time said escapee is completely essential to the job at hand.

Leaving you to get on your hands and knees, get a flashlight and attempt to look for it.. rather like Indiana Jones looking for the lost grail.
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“They make ten thousand cars, they make them exactly the same way, and one or two of 'em turn out to be something special. Nobody knows why.“