Re: [T3] Newbie w. a couple of questions

[Aaron Clow <lists1@gloomychicken.com>]

mackenzie wrote:
> Hi, 
> I'm a newbie T3 owner ('71 square) that I absolutely love, but am not yet at the stage of fixing my own car (with luck 
> and a good basic class I'll be on my way later this year) but in the meantime I've been told by my mechanic that I need 
> to look into rebuilding my engine (something about bolts that cant be tightened anymore, causing me to get horrible 
> horrible gas mileage and less than stellar power in 1st & 2nd). This leads me to a couple of questions.... 1. Does anyone 
> know of a good resource in the LA area for rebuilt engines? And what should I be looking for on places like Craigs List 
> and Ebay? 2. Does anyone know of a good mechanic in the same area that can help with the rebuilding of my engine? 
This might be less than helpful, but how about rebuilding it yourself? I
was pretty unfamiliar with automobile engines in general, and with the
help of the Bentley manual, this list, and I think it's called "How To
Rebuild Volkswagen Engines" or something like that I did a top end
rebuild to fix a broken compression ring. Engine was still running well
with plenty of power when I sold the car. It was a bit scary at points,
but I documented the whole thing with my notebook and a cheap digital
camera, and when I needed help, I asked here.

The added benefit was that I knew more about my car than I ever would've
known letting someone else rebuilt it, and I didn't have to worry that
the rebuilder forgot something or didn't do something correctly because
I did it myself. It cost a whole lot less too -- pretty much just the
price for new cylinders/pistons and new FI heads and a couple tools I
didn't previously have.

If you take it one step at a time, it's definitely possible...

Aaron

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