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Boy. You are going to be *inundated!* T3's are lots and lots of fun. That is said from the knowledge of driving T1's (mostly Beetles) for about 8 years. I drove from bone-stock 72 SunBeetle (with those ugly pressed-steel rims that Jim A talked about; the odd, hexagonal stainless steel centercaps were really tough to find) to a '68 sleeper (read: hot-rod; 1776cc dual port w/twin dellorto 40mm carbs, cam, blah-blah) that was really hard on tires, and most in-between. Sad to say, I've loved VW's all my life (I was brought home from the hospital in a nice little green '64 Beetle); and it's only ever gotten worse. I'd been away from VW for about three years after I wrecked my last, a nice little Orange '73 Beetle. I'd originally bought it as a parts car for the hot '68, and after the '68 got wrecked by a DUI (it was parked) I pressed the '73 into service. One fateful day I slid in the rain, right under a diamond-plate steel bumper on a pickup. I was crushed (emotionally only; the poor little beetle was ruined, but I'd been wearing my seatbelt so I was fine); I'd poured 100's of hours into this thing. It'd been a wreck, and I'd hung a new nose and steering gear on it, rebuilt the motor twice, on and on. So I gave up, in light of A/C. Then one day a lady at work came up to me and said, 'Somebody told me you like VW's; I've got one that I want to get rid of, I just hate it anymore.' That being said, how could I resist? I went hopeful of finding a nice little Beetle that was stock (hell, it was a girl, right?) and just not worked on by VW people. I pulled up to see a beautiful little Squareback. I was stunned! It was one of those ugly little station wagons that my mom's friend used to own when I was a kid! It was really clean; no rust, nice and shiny. Poor thing had a flat, and the girl said it wouldn't start (my girlfriend later said that she knew it was over as soon as she saw the look in my eye when we pulled up). I quickly changed the flat, jumped in, pumped the gas like mad (I'll get to that later), and started cranking it. In very little time, it fired up, ran roughly for about 3 minutes (she said it hadn't been running in over a year), levelled out, and has been my little champ (a couple of hiccups) since. The girl was pissed! She couldn't believe it would run for anybody, let alone a stranger! She said it must like me, and I suppose it does. She sold it to me for $500; by far the best automotive investment I've made in 10 years. You may well be better off having no knowledge of automechanics to start with. I came to finally work on VW's after several years of working on big, Detroit iron; and there's some fundamental differences that make the learning curve a little steep. T3's are different that T1's. Parts are almost all different; harder to find, but not impossible; more expensive, but nothing compared to other eurojobs; but there are some real, tangible benefits. A lot of T3's have EFI; this might not be the only reason, but I've only owned one T3, so I don't have empirical data to draw from. My bone-stock 71 Square (now) runs 70-75 all day long, and has plenty of passing power. To get the same level of performance from a T1, you'd have to invest at least *some* money on custom engine work. At least the later ones (maybe all, again, I'm lacking empirical data) have disc brakes, taking 50% of your braking worry away (T1's have four non-self-adjusting drums, which usually keep you hopping, just to keep the car stopping straight and level). In general, they're more expensive that beetles, but then so is just about every other Euro car out there. In initial cost, upkeep, and parts they're more expensive. But it's sort of the difference between barbecue and a wok; everything's a little more challenging; takes a little more work, but boy, does it taste better! Yes, I'm a sick-o, and none of you really wanted the littany, but from one neophyte to another, it's a mania that should be cherished, they're great cars. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Too much? Digest! mailto:type3-d-request@vwtype3.org Subj=subscribe