Hello & Welcome.
I'm excited you found ShopTalkForums. I'm totally into VW newcomers.
I remember what it was like when driving my first VW home. It had a funky sound... people were swerving all over the road to look back at my unusual car.. it ran horrid.. then OOOPS. My macho men friends were laughing at it, my mechanic had no clue about where to start and quickly learned that zillions of things were different on our bug compared to the manual. I was stumped and stuck.
Hours were spent trying to learn the basics. Wasted hours net surfing trying to figure out exactly what was wrong. I'd ask questions like "what's the funky cannister thingbop on the round metal thing with plastic on top going to the spark plugs." Instead of ignoring my post, about 1/3 of people would reply "buy a book and use the search key." Time was wasted at the wrong forum and internet sites.
Before owning VWs, I had motorcycles and hotrods that were all totally road worthy -- not projects. I didn't have any real friends into cars. I was out there on my own.
THEN one magical day, I ran into a guy named SPEEDY JIM. I didn't know it, Speedy's an "Aircooled" legend. He sent a warm note with a suggested reading list. I was then directed to this ShopTalkForums for newbies and his site for electrical.
I quickly learned some of the cool facts about aircooled (what we call classic vw engines)
- -They can be insured for about $30 per year
-Nothing tows easier than a VW
-VWs are the most economical
-They're great investments
-You can modify just about anything you like on them (speed, longevity, durability, racing)
-Complete brake systems take an evening and cost about $150
-There were a 21,500,000 (yes 21-1/2 million) made ceasing production in 2004
-Complete power trains can be swapped in an afternoon with $50 worth of tools
-Hitler and Porsche engineered the car so you can afford it and fix it.
-1/10 the cars in Brazil are White Transporter Vans (or T2).. Much of Latin America still runs on Bugs.
-You can store 4 VWs in a 2 car garage
-Aircooled folks are the coolest in the car world
Since meeting Speedy and STF, I've owned countless Dubs (slang for VW). Your benefit from this is I've made just about every possible blunder and wasted tons of money going the wrong directions. It’s my commitment that you don't have to repeat my proven mistakes.
We're truely blessed that Doc (STF Owner) self-funds this forum for you. AdminSteve ensures the technical internet wheels keep turning. A team of moderators keep it on track. The members create the content. This is all done to insure you’re successful.
Please let me know how I can serve you.
Tim
P.S. Please make the commitment to post often and make STF your VW and Internet home.
