Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

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vwbuff
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by vwbuff » Thu Sep 17, 2015 3:33 am

I had same problem with my 77 FI bus and believe it or not the points condenser was the culprit. Supprised me.,
Nova Scotia
77 Riviera 2.0L FI Boston Bob
71 Ghia

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:42 am

hippiewannabe wrote:How old is the gas in these poor cars?
2003 to 2015, errrrrrr, twelve years.
Added a couple of gallons per year depending on how much driving I get in. This is tragic to read, not to mention, write.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hippiewannabe
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by hippiewannabe » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:20 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
hippiewannabe wrote:How old is the gas in these poor cars?
2003 to 2015, errrrrrr, twelve years.
Added a couple of gallons per year depending on how much driving I get in. This is tragic to read, not to mention, write.
Colin
And two of them actually started? Impressive.
I've never had a problem with one year, two if you use Sta-bil and have the tank full to minimize condensation.
But, um, yeah.
Truth is like poetry.
And most people fucking hate poetry.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by Lanval » Mon Sep 21, 2015 7:46 am

"Got lost with fears of crossing up the spark plug wires, then thought I had botched the locations of the wires in the cap. This is exactly what the novice mechanic does when he gets lost..."


It turns out, you can actually start and run the engine with that exact scenario. It doesn't run well or long though. Guess how I know...

:geek:

TrollFromDownBelow
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Tue Sep 22, 2015 1:56 pm

Well...did you get the Squareback running? :happy1:
1976 VW Bus aka tripod
FI ...not leaky, and not so noisy...and she runs awesome!
hambone wrote: There are those out there with no other aim but to bunch panties. It's like arguing with a pretzel.
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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Sep 27, 2015 6:46 pm

TrollFromDownBelow wrote:Well...did you get the Squareback running? :happy1:
Eventually . . . like this post.

In that state of fluttering aimlessness, "COlin, you're the mechanic here ... come ONNN," I half-heartedly pulled at some wires, checked some hoses, and mostly entreated it to just start. I had this loyal battery that had held a charge for an entire year, I did not want to run it down stupidly. I wanted to be . . . methodical. Like many of us, I reliably went to the last reason this car did not start, the breaker points. Cleaned them, checked the gap, opened and closed the points with a screwdriver and saw a nice spark coming from the coil wire a good 5/16" from ground. Cranked it over. Totally dead. Thought about mouse pee smell on the engine and considered a scenario of mouse-chewed fuel injection wiring behind the left cargo panel. So, I got out the gasoline from Chloe and poured a teaspoon of gas into the manifold sensor hose. If the engine coughed, I could guess that I had a problem in the fuel injection. The engine coughed and ran for a second. Pulled the distributor to clean the dual injector trigger point assembly. Hopefulness once again hoped. Nope. Deaderndead. Tried the gasoline again.
"See, if it runs with a shot of gas for a second, that will fix it, see, and then you won't have to fix it."
Ah no.
Deaderndeadagen. Pulled the spark plugs. They're wet! Yay.
"See, I inadvertently flooded it, see, dry those plugs, then we can drive!"
Ah no. Now I have dark thoughts. I am Florence Nightingale with sick Volkswagens only if I can actually heal them. If I can't, I become psycho-disinterested, and I thought of reasons why it might be best to push the car back in the bay and wait until some year hence. Then a little fury welled up. This car doesn't like sitting. It needs to run. It NEEDS to run. Now the battery is just not spinning that engine over the way D-Jet needs. Got the Mercedes over and docked the batteries. Have some serious German Alternator, says the Mercedes. And that little Squareback sure did start. And I drove it like an idiot, a happy idiot. Mouse pee aroma off the engine, brake pad stink off the front brakes, musty barn moisture off the exhaust system, and we hit 60 mph just before the hairpin curve onto Lakeshore Drive, and 60 mph after, too:

Image


Some VWs like to play hard. This Squareback did when it drove it across the country in December 2007, and I remember how much it liked to pull to 55 in 3rd gear as I merged onto the interstates, and this once a year stuff is just not doing it for the Squareback. Drove fine back to the barn with a hot clutch, hot brakes, hot exhaust system, and generator brushes that sure last longer than Chloe's. I need to come up with a road trip for the Squareback:

Image
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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glasseye
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by glasseye » Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:46 pm

OMFG what a sweetie she is.
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Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Mon Sep 28, 2015 5:07 pm

kinda reminds me of this weekend....went to visit my uncle who is a successful doctor. His first 'toy' car is a mid 80's Alfa Romeo Spider. When he bought it back in the early 2000's I went with him to pick it up in PA (he didn't know how to drive a stick). That car is a BLAST to drive! The red line is more of a suggestion ... you know how some cars start to get thrashy at the red line? not this one. She just screams like an Italian mistress; beat me! beat me! beat me!

So I have somewhat of an emotional attachment to this car.....fast forward to this weekend, he mentions he hasn't had it out in OVER A YEAR! Of course, I have to go outside that night and jump start it. In the morning he lets Shannon and I drive it to breakfast, was a little concerned when the battery was again deader than a door nail...whoop, whoop, whoop, click,click,click,click, clickkkkkk. Jumped her again, and after driving her for about 10 miles she smoothed right out. When it was my wife's turn to drive I told her " pretend it's a sports bike - all the usable power is above 4500 rpm"...she got it. Would love to own one ... but need to finish the other projects i have in the garage...
1976 VW Bus aka tripod
FI ...not leaky, and not so noisy...and she runs awesome!
hambone wrote: There are those out there with no other aim but to bunch panties. It's like arguing with a pretzel.
::troll2::

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asiab3
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by asiab3 » Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:10 pm

Amskeptic wrote:Some VWs like to play hard. This Squareback did when it drove it across the country in December 2007, and I remember how much it liked to pull to 55 in 3rd gear as I merged onto the interstates…
TrollFromDownBelow wrote:…you know how some cars start to get thrashy at the red line? not this one. She just…
I hear you guys. Mom piddles her bug around town all month until I get there and exercise the rev-limiter. 55mph onto the interstates sure is nice, but 63 happens occasionally too, until I feel the hiccup and reluctantly shift… There is so much beauty in doing this with a 1600 single port that just isn't found with some giant bore X stroke monster engine from a catalog. Pardon me while I go for a drive now………

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Bleyseng
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From New York

Post by Bleyseng » Tue Oct 06, 2015 5:11 am

I finally drove the 914 which has been sitting all summer so a friend from the Czech Republic could ride in it. I always forget how this car begs for red line driving so onto the freeway to go hitting 6000 in 2nd, 3rd and then into 5th cuz we are going to fast. Suddenly we were surrounded by SUV's and huge trucks plodding along at 60 mph and it scared both of us. Off the freeway and back to the house on the backroads..and that is why it was parked for the summer and is back in it's garage for winter.

The Ghia is back up and running with its little 1600SP. It's such a fun car around town and easy to park too. I could use a tach but I just drive it like I had one but it doesn't like too much thrashing like the 914. It has some zip but the brakes are small and it feels heavy say compared to the nimble 914 with huge 911 brakes and wide tires.
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Geoff
77 Sage Green Westy- CS 2.0L-160,000 miles
70 Ghia vert, black, stock 1600SP,- 139,000 miles,
76 914 2.1L-Nepal Orange- 160,000+ miles
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