Dark, rain, 48°F, 14mph winds, leaves

[Stig / Major Tom]

My wife, (her getting ready for work / me, "on a mission" for coffee) said something as I gave her a kiss & headed out the door at 5:30AM....probably, "have a nice day!"
But I had earplugs in.....











Liberty and the Angels performed flawlessly.
Leather sealant on my gauntlets is worthelss....the Oxford rain jacket kept me dry, and of course the crotch gets wet. (Froggtogg)

Well worth the effort! as always
Stig

very pretty young lady drives this nice VW

[Neil955i]

Another wet one eh Stig?  I think I'll face the same later when I scoot out for the dog's meds.  (At least I know the tyre pressures are accurate doh.)

Gotta take the rough with the smooth.

[randyo]

That coffee shop must have awesome coffee and pastries

sorry, imho, if it's not air cooled, it's not a VW

[Stig / Major Tom]

That coffee shop must have awesome coffee and pastries

sorry, imho, if it's not air cooled, it's not a VW

When the 3 of us go in for coffee - we get pastries - but first thing in the morning, alone, I'm just looking for a coffee and some light comradery before I head down to command the Group W bench.
I did a/c'd VW's for years, too. But they're dangerous and under-powered tins compared to modern vehicles.. Prefer that safety for my family.

Stig

[randyo]

When the 3 of us go in for coffee - we get pastries - but first thing in the morning, alone, I'm just looking for a coffee and some light comradery before I head down to command the Group W bench.
I did a/c'd VW's for years, too. But they're dangerous and under-powered tins compared to modern vehicles.. Prefer that safety for my family.

Stig

I never minded sticking my hand out with an ice scraper cleaning off the windshield as I drove, the power level actually suited me fine, it's all I use today if I try to accelerate faster, I spill my coffee, admittedly though, I liked the BMWs I've had better

[Stig / Major Tom]

I never minded sticking my hand out with an ice scraper cleaning off the windshield as I drove, the power level actually suited me fine, it's all I use today if I try to accelerate faster, I spill my coffee, admittedly though, I liked the BMWs I've had better

I did as the Germans do. Kept the heat exchangers, the duct work and door channels solid....and the heat in my Beetles would melt your sneakers. Toasty. Stay in 2nd gear in town for best defrosting.
Heat was never a complaint on my VW's in Mass and Ohio winters.
Stig

[randyo]

I had good exchangers, ducts, but stuck wide open, had to take the tubes out for summer, and most of time I had plenty of heat, but sometimes not enough coming out the defroster vents, the more I think of it, not as often, -30° and when I rebuilt it, I got the open/close flappers in the heat exchangers freed up so I could control the heat without crawling under the car. John Muir kept me going

my Vanagon had a gas heater, as warm as you want, at the expense of mpg

[Stig / Major Tom]

I had good exchangers, ducts, but stuck wide open, had to take the tubes out for summer, and most of time I had plenty of heat, but sometimes not enough coming out the defroster vents, the more I think of it, not as often, -30° and when I rebuilt it, I got the open/close flappers in the heat exchangers freed up so I could control the heat without crawling under the car. John Muir kept me going.

my Vanagon had a gas heater, as warm as you want, at the expense of mpg

Loved the drawings!
Do miss laying out there in the parking lot adjusting the valves, setting the timing, new plugs, points & condenser. Somewhere that Beetle is still rattling around because I dropped a copper Bosh in the tin when changing plugs!

Stig

[Neil955i]

Sheesh, youse VeeDub guys!

[randyo]

Loved the drawings!
Do miss laying out there in the parking lot adjusting the valves, setting the timing, new plugs, points & condenser. Somewhere that Beetle is still rattling around because I dropped a copper Bosh in the tin when changing plugs!

Stig

my older brother had a foreign car repair shop, primarily VW, but also British cars. Most of the time I was able to bring it inside, to make things easier, often, we'd pull the motor out to work on it. But, my crankshaft had excessive endplay and really needed line boring, the pounding of the crank would tear the main seal in cold weather,  I pulled the motor in a snowbank more than once to change the main seal, one  time in the dark without a flashlight, but good moonlight reflecting off the snow, I could do it myself in about 45 minutes, with my brothers help, in the shop, we did it in under 10 minutes, from when I turned the engine off to when we started it back up. (I had the motor out so much, I only bolted it in with the starter bolt, and the one diagonal on the bell housing) I finally saved enuf pennies to have the crankcase sent to a machine shop and get line bored.