Do you miss me, I miss you

[ftp2leta]

My web site is gone (benplace.com), I lost my shop due to Covid.

I had to get a job. Do you remember me? I was a guru here for so long.

I miss you, I miss the feeling... the craziness about going in road trip.

I gave you so much advice over 15 years. I miss the Westy way of thinking.

I fell sad...

145 stock engine rebuilt, over 135 Subaru engine conversions done. 39 vanagon fully restored. All that over 18 years period.

I hope you are all having a good life.

Benny
_________________
Working with rust, grease, dirt and dust is a sad truth.
------------------------------------------------------
FI part for sale: http://www.benplace.com/parts_sale1.htm
My site: http://www.benplace.com/vw2.htm
Subi conversion: http://www.benplace.com/vanaru_eng.htm
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/ftp2leta

[ragnarhairybreeks]

Yup,

You are missed.

Things will get better Ben.

Alistair
_________________
'86 7 passenger syncro, converted to westy pop top, project still in progress
'82 westy, diesel converted to gas in '94, now gone...
https://shufti.blog/
Old address still works...
http://shufti.wordpress.com

[Sodo]

Ben I hope you get back on track
Happy, healthy enjoying life again.

Tom
_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, NEW oil rings (!) 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[jimf909]

I agree with the above posts. You contributed a lot to this community. Please keep moving forward.

Jim
_________________
- Jim

[ALIKA T3]

Je me souviens

What do you do now?
_________________
Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[syncrodoka]

[Steve M.]

You are missed and you are not forgotten.
Your name and contributions to helping the community are brought up in regards to your website being so helpfull.
Hope all good things come your way. You deserve better.
_________________
This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them.

[djkeev]

Sorry to see you gone, but you were pretty hell bent on shedding it all.
Several members tried to point out the folly of parts of your decision.

Sadly, you went ahead, full speed ahead.
You did what you felt was right at the time.

You are well loved and overall respected here, you are always welcome here, Vanagon or no Vanagon....... you are one of the old wise masters of Vanagon lore.

Come on back, join in the posting, give us advice .........

Dave
_________________
Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[dobryan]

You are missed.

I hope you are in a better place in your life now.
_________________
Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) 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

[shadetreemech]

Ben,

Your website and your input on The Samba showed you to be one of the experts, a person with sufficient experience and brain power to be a go-to guy, someone that had solved most of the mechanical problems you were confronted with, and had the ability to explain methods and solutions. Then something happened outside your realm of experience.

Each of us gets our own set of challenges, some more than others. The whole point is to solve the problem at hand or deal with not solving it. Epictetus said, "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters". So, here you are.

Like most of the people that have benefited from your expertise in one way or another, I remember you. I also respect the body of work you created. Now, I'm waiting to see what you're going to do for an encore.

Get up.

Dan
_________________
'84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY"

[VicVan]

Hi Ben, I hope you found a good new place. You are missed, Also, as per syncrodoka's message and quote above, an apology would be nice.

Do you still own a van?

À bientôt
_________________
'90 Little Blue Truck, 2WD auto, FAS GenV 2.0 NA (AVH)

[Zeitgeist 13]

Hope you eventually get help for the demons which have haunted you.

[Honuak]

I sure miss you Ben. When I started my restoration project in 08 your site was super helpful.
Why not get another van and get back into the game, but this time just do it for you?
I get a lot of questions about my van and everytime I tell people that this community as well as all the resources now available make having one of these relics doable. And fun, all over the world there are people who for one reason or antoher love these vans, we are a community. Almost every day a new Vanagonught joins us, starts using the search, asking questions (dumb and otherwise) Those with knowlege to share really help those that need it. It matters. You are indeed missed.
SAMBA SIEMPRE

!

[SCM]

[Robw_z]

I think the love/hate thing many members have had with Ben totally resembles all our relationships with our Vanagons.

-Rob

[Zeitgeist 13]

[Jeffrey Lee]

[GoEverywhere]

[Sycolyst]

I hated my Vanagon (AKA Moneygone) just tonight. Time heals, the doctor takes the cash.

[Wildthings]

Thanks for letting us know your status. Your advice certainly missed. Maybe you and Everett could come up with an agreement on having a "Ben's Place" added to the technical section or just as a sticky. Either would certainly be a huge benefit to the community.