Oh Wow Dean, I had no idea the list went back that far. For the most of us, we didn't have internet access back then. You had to be involved with a college or military institution to have access to it. I remember being on a place called Cybernet or some such name that gave dialup access for free to the net back in 1991 over in Iowa. I called long distance and spent boatloads of money doing it. I never could figure out how people were getting 0 day warez and all that stuff with the Commodore 64 scene until I found out about this thing called "internet." :)
I was under the impression the list started in mid 90's so thanks for the correction. I think the first time I signed up would have been back in 1993/1994 when Geoff Melnychunk invited me to the list. Some friends of mine in town got me started with the VWs when they got one and then let me drive it. I was hooked at that point and wanted to do a high-performance engine. I still remember the general advice of, "DO NOT OVERCAM - DO NOT OVERCAM" and many years later I figured it all out. The VW engine seems to work best and reliably with modest valve ports and low-end cam. It works great in splitty buses as I found out too. It's amazing how the net changed the course of many lives. It changed mine. I would have probably ended up a Chevy V8 freak which is what everyone else was doing around here. When I took my love of aviation and coupled it with the VWs, I had a natural marriage - I could actually *drive* with a powerplant that an airplane uses. That was my drive all along - aviation. And I'm still not flying. LOL! I'll never drive anything else but VWs. Even this girl of mine in Brisbane asked me the other night if we could restore my 1963 and turn it into a Herbie with the idea of it being her car - her daily driver! Now how darn cool is that? She's willing to sell her brand new Toyota and drive a 1963 Beetle (which coincidentally is the same year of her folks' VW that got wrecked when she was in grade school.) I humbly thank everyone on the list, past and present, for helping me see just how great these little VWs are. Mine has done amazing things for me and the self-confidence it gives you is 2nd to none. I was describing to Enid (my girlfriend) of how if you have an engine blow up, if you can just get to a Walmart parking lot, you've got it made. Give Ronnie in Havasu a call or whoever and get a new longblock shipped to you. Then while you're waiting for it to arrive, you get started pulling out the old engine. If you need to, you buy some broomsticks and pound nails in the end. Get a tarp and use the broomsticks for tent poles. With a little twine and some bricks, you can anchor it down so you don't have to work in the sun. Once the long block shows up, you move everything over and put the engine back in. Walmart is there for all your cleaning needs and whatever else. You wrap up the old engine, strap it to the roof rack or put it in the trailer, and off you go. You just can't hardly do that with any other automobile on the road and you certainly won't do it for less money. She was just totally enamoured with the idea and said, "I think that would be really cool and lotsa fun!" So yet another VW lover in the fold. She wants to learn so I have another pupil to teach. I better teach her right because we have a lot of VWs to repair and restore. :) Erin _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
