Things my VW taught me

[tacochris]

"Always tighten things to correct specs,theres a reason that spec is in place"
"If you know about a hidden VW "find" chances are another VW guy does too, be on your game"
"Never under estimate the value of a small meaningless part, chances are other people have done the same and in doing so have made that part rare and hard to find"
"Keep everything...parts wise"
"Once you love an ACVW, its for life"
"The world outside of ACVWs doesnt know crap about them....."
"The ladies love em......wives, not so much...Lol"
"Your ACVW will run, perform and function equal to the amount of love and attention to detail you put into building it, if you cobble together a rattly peace of crap, you will drive and learn to hate that rattly piece of crap"
"repop will NEVER feel as good as the real thing"
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1957 Lowlight
1962 walk-thru Kombi

"Nothing will ever be as nice as original paint, no matter how much is or isnt left"

"Those that confuse hoodride with the OG paint movement definitely have their wires crossed. Its all about preservation, pulling out its true potential while hoodride is about purposely making something look like a piece of shit." -SKIM

[sleepywiesel]

true.... true....
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'59 beetle
'60 beetle

[mystery fang]

prepare to learn
prepare your wallet
prepare for fun
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Slow & Low that is the tempo!

[bandi]

[tacochris]

[carcass]

Close to 100% of the people you talk to who "used to have a Bug", wish they still did.

( I knew that's what would happen,so I just kept mine)
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Bug-unrestored 62 Ragtop/Anthracite/My Driver for 22 years
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Bus-Restored 67 Deluxe Walk Thru/29 years in the family

[Endicott jb]

If it's not running and you have air, fuel, and spark you have a lot bigger problems.
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Josh

OORAH!!
1965 vw beetle(Mayble)
1968 vw beetle(Caroline)
1974 VW Panel Bus
2003 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins(Katey)

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(0\_!_/0)
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Don't drink and post
http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg353/endicott_jb/IMG_20110113_085237.jpg
When life throws you curveballs switch to boomerangs.

[far rider]

There's beauty in simplicity.
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67 zenith blue sunroof

Contentment; when what you have is what you want.

[Jon65]

'65 bugs cannot drive over railroad tracks as fast a 2011 Altima can.

[uncapj]

1 enjoy life both good and bad
2 its not leaking its marking it teritory
3 just because the back seat folds down doesn't mean you can sleep back there
4 just because the back seat folds down doesnt mean you can do that back there
5 your girlfriend will always like your car till the day you marry her
6 always prepair for the unexpected
7 your friends will never let you sell your volksie
8 you can judge how good your friends are by how hard they help push your volksie
9 the unexpected is always expensive
10 street stingers are good for getting stepped on
11 take time to enjoy the scenery and explore
12 let me borrow this "just because it started doent mean it'll get you there"
13 shit happens in sets of 3
14 everybody has a story and most of them start like this " I had 1 just like that but it was a different year and different color
15 don't take advise from somebody that says "I know a lot about volkswagens I "used" to own one"
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I lack the tools that I have come to learn are imperative to work on a Volkswagen a compression gauge and a timing light.

they say money doesn't buy happiness but it buys car parts and those make me happy

Cars are like the perfect girl always ready and never say no

Current 74 Std Beetle (class 11ish)
Past 67 Baja

[bugger101]

it leaves you with

no girlfriend

no cash

no spare time


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75 west deluxe http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5270450#5270450

2010 ford focus

[subwayaz]

How to pick up Women with my personality not my ride

Also pay attention which direction the screws are facing on Hose Clamps so I can remove them with ease.

But the lessons came in that order of importance

[zombiebug]

My VW has taught me to never give up. Take this afternoon for example, My bug has a "thing" against this one spot on the highway. Every time I am in this lane of this stretch of the highway something goes wrong with my fuel pump. Think i would learn? Nope Originally the pump died completely. Well this time the little pin popped out. Once I figured out what was wrong I tried to put it back in. Pin did not want to go back at all. I had friends out looking for a replacement pump while I was messing with it on the side of the highway. A state trooper pulled up to ensure I was ok. I told him the issue and that I had friends coming to help. He just looked at me and asked "Son do you know how to fix this?" I looked at him and smiled and replied "Yes sir, if I can get a new pump I will be gone shortly" He smirked and said "Good luck" before returning to his cruiser to drive off. Very professional. Anyway after some time of messing with this pin it drove me crazy. I remembered seeing a photo of the dipstick in place of the fuel pump. So I put my dipstick in there and the bug fired right up. Drove it three miles until the crank decided it wanted to try and eat the dipstick. Luckily it didn't but I wasn't going to risk that again. if I had dual carbs I could have wired that dipstick in and drove it home.

Once this happened I had enough. I pulled the dizzy out with the bracket to hold my timing. Then unbolted the fuel pump and held the arm in place while I hammered in the pin with my ratchet. I didn't have a hammer. After a while of hammering and checking the alignment of the lever and pin I got the pin in there correctly. I cut some JB weld and applied it to either side of the pin. By the time I was finished packing up my tools wiping my hands the JB weld was dry. I started it up and drove home triumphant. Came home checked my timing to ensure it was correct and checked my "patch" everything is good. I have ordered a new fuel pump for safety and will JB weld the pin in before I put it on.
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'74 Super

[deaaaanno.vw1966]

my VW taught me to always stop when a motorist(vw or non vw) is on the side of the road, maybe just check if everybody is alright or they need any help.

[cyclehobby]

My 67 Bug taught me:

To take my time. Why rush anywhere when driving an old ACVW?
Be patient. It may be simple to fix, but fixing it right (or wrong) still takes time and you may have to do it a couple times to get it done.
Technology is nice, but not necessary all the time. GPS? Power accessories? Keyless entry and start? All nice, but sometimes manual everything is OK.
Be prepared. A 50+ year old car will run great and be reliable - until it doesn't and isn't. Make sure you have tools and some extra parts on hand.
When I'm placing an order with one of the catalog/online resources, make sure to have my shopping list on hand so I don't forget that important, but cheap washer or part. Don't ask me how I know.

Valuable lessons, all.
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1967 Beetle
Northern NJ

[Ceckert64]

My 1964 beetle taught me:

1. If your bug won’t go over 52, it’s not just a slow old VW, it’s probably a bad spark plug
2. Even if your spark plugs have less than a 1,000 miles, they can still go bad.
3. Carry extra spark plugs
4. Full assemble the sunroof assemble before going on a test drive
5. If the front tranny mount doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t (it broke and P.O. rewelded it on I figured it out after I painted the chassis and the rubber mount broke ).
6. Never trust the P.O. work
7. Do it right the first time
8. Bake-a-lite is annoying and breaks easy
9. Take your time and be patient
10. The Samba is your friend
11. Shift rods do get bent too much sometimes
12. If your ACVW backfires every once in a while, check the choke adjustment
13. Aftermarket parts are usually crap! Especially sheet metal panels
14. Buy the highest quality sheet metal panels, not the cheap crap, the expensive cost less in the long run.
15. Gas heaters are awesome
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1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop
“Rome” 91 Syncro

[VWNate]

What a great thread .

#1 : patience .

#2 : humility

#3 : if you're actually going to drive the damn thing much, keep it stock(ish) as

it'll be far more reliable .

#4 : "those are extra parts, not important" means you have NO IDEA of what you're on about .

Plenty of good life lessons to be learned *if* you pay attention , few do .

I'm old and am still driving my battered old '59 #113 as far as I want to at the drop of a hat .

Yes, I'm in So. Cal. so no snow/ice and little rain .
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-Nate

One last Beetle : 1959 #113 DeLuxe survivor ~ 36HP & full synchro tranny, 6 volts etc.

[Shonandb]

2.5 years and 30,000 miles in a 1973 Bus right out of school taught me how to deal with people, stretch every $, and more importantly, deal with adversity.

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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

[y2kbaja]

I went for a buggy ride last night and only had on my Crocs but before I left the house I remembered this thread and put on a pair of better walking shoes. I didn't need them, but for longer buggy rides I'll be wearing comfy walking shoes.

[scottyrocks]

I've never been into fast cars, but my Beetle made me really appreciate a leisurely pace.
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“If you care for a thing long enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn't it? Mending old things, preserving them, looking after them – on some level there's no rational grounds for it.”
– D. Tartt, 'The Goldfinch'