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At 22:47 8.12.1997, Patty and Bob Couse-Baker wrote: * The story of a project gone sour [...] Ouch. This sounds very painful. I did like the part about lighting it on fire and rolling it off a cliff. That would probably give you some momentary satisfaction ... but don't do it. I/we can probably all feel for you. Many times, things seem to really work against you and your wallet. Hang tough though. Just to cheer you up - and myself after reading this - I will share a short (humorous) story with you which ocurred yesterday to a fellow listee that we call, "Mike", from Turku, Finland (he will kill me for this, but oh well - he needs me for rides all over town). Mike is the proud owner of a very original 1971 1600 TL (the "A" version, you know, no side chrome, no passenger side mirror, no clock, no reverse lights, reduced quality interior etc ...) named Lothar. I found this gem for him in September and he has been happily driving around with it since. At least until yesterday that is. The Fastback failed its annual vehicle inspection in October due to excessive upper ball joint wear on the driver's side. Through our parts department (VWauhtipiste), I ordered new ball joints and some other parts from T3D in the UK. With only a few weeks left to get the front suspension and a few other small problem areas fixed for the inspection police, Monday was the day and Mike brought the car in. I took the owner to his place of work and then came back to the garage to do some paperwork. After an hour, problems surfaced. The inspectors were wrong about the location of the wear. It was both lower ball joints. Further inspection revealed that both upper torsion arms were history, and both SKF needle roller bearings as well. The OE steering dampner would also have to be replaced. A check through the parts inventory showed that we had one upper torsion arm and the dampner. Naturally, we did what anyone would in this situation: we went to lunch. With our stomachs full, it was back to the task at hand. I ordered the required parts from T3D and joked around with Paul Medhurst about trading all of our NOS T3 parts for his latest 1500S Squareback. No deal, however, the parts would be on the way and here by Wednesday. I called the Fastback owner and gave him the less than positive news. While on the phone with him, our Chief Mechanic, Esa, yelled from under the car something about the smell of gasoline. I asked Mike, "Notice any gas smell when you drive or after the car has been sitting?" He said no. I had a look and could see a small amount of gas dripping. Using a compressed air gun, Esa sprayed the bottom of the gas tank to clean off the junk build-up. This turned out to be a very bad idea. Gasoline began spraying everywhere. Still on the phone, I asked, "How much gas is in the tank?" He replied, "Just filled it up yesterday, why?" I hung up. With the mig welder and other sparking equipment around, it could have been dangerous. But honestly in the end, I have never seen a Volkswagen gas tank removed so quickily in my life. The hole in the bottom of the tank was only the size of a raisin, but the flow of gas out of it was of Exxon Valdez quantity. A couple of calls later we had a spare, late model T3 gas tank, complete with sender on the way from central Finland. I explained to Mike that without the parts, there was little more to do. He reminded me of the water leak he had from under the dash. "We'll check it out." It had been raining hard the previous night and Mike's car is parked outside, but even he was surprised when I told him that there was no less than one liter of water under the floor mats. "Oh yeah." he said. We removed the seats and mats and had a look. Eventually after running a garden hose into the fresh air boxes, we found the culprit. Water was sitting in the box and then dripping through a seam up and under the dash, down onto the floor. The air box was rusted out, as was some sheet metal around the back side of the dash. I asked Esa about the repair possibilities. "Ten hours of labor, some new metal and a lot of undercoating if he wants it done right." Mike was getting nervous, and now calling me about every five minutes. I suggested that he come to the shop as soon as possible to discuss the financing of the repairs and he agreed. He also mentioned a noise that he had heard on occassion when driving at speeds. "A sort of clunking sound." I promised to have Esa check this if there was nothing else to do after our coffee break. A look at the passenger side CV joint showed that both carriers were worn and would have to be replaced. Under normal circumstances, this is not a problem. However, for three weeks we have been waiting for a 60' container full of Volkswagen parts to arrive from the U.S. - perhaps they are lost? More international calls were made, and deliveries promised. Mike arrived at about 1530 hours, and I noticed that dispite a mild +15C indoors, he was sweating slightly and he looked a little pale after entering the garage and seeing his car. Trying to soften the mood, I said, "Hard to believe that you actually drove this car here today, isn't it?!" After he complained of mild indigestion and a metalic taste in his mouth (which I believe is associated with fear), we went over the damage and looked at the costs. He was not impressed. The value of his Fastback would be increasing by about 26% after all of the parts and repairs were completed. I gave him a ride home and tried to explain that this is all part of owning and driving an old, aircooled Volkswagen. "Strength through Joy", you know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . I haven't been to the shop today, but I cannot imagine what else could have gone wrong during the night. Hopefully nothing and Mike's Fastback will be back on the road soon. There you have it. Patrick P a t r i c k J o e l M o r t o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . patmor@utu.fi Rauhankatu 28 as 27 FIN - 20100 TURKU Suomi Finland GSM: +358 40 502 2654 Home: +358 2 469 8535 1963 Volkswagen Beetle 1967 Volkswagen Variant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .