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On 23 Jun 2006 at 14:57, Annika Kentopp wrote: > Iâm lookingfor suggestions from all of you out there who are more > experienced with Type 3âs than me. Just bought last month a â73 > Fastback with 36K miles. It was the proverbial little old ladyâs > car, andit wassitting (with occasional starts) for about 3 years > now. She drove home to DC from north Jersey okay, and Iâm about to > start working on the problems I know about (right rear brake locks up > pretty quickly, steering is way loose, some lights are shorted out), > but I thought Iâd see if there were any suggestions of things I > either should check or replace right off the bat. Iâm inclined to > replace any flex lines or hoses, since itâll be easier to fix them > now than when they fail on the side of a road somewhere, but maybe I > shouldnât worry till they do fail? As others have said, these cars almost always need brake work. I generally go thru every brake part on every type 3 that I see for the first time, master cylinder, calipers and rear wheel cylinders. I replace flex hoses only when they are bad, but bad ones are easy to detect. Brake fluid should drip freely out of a bleed valve when you open it. If it does not, remove it and clean it out. If fluid still doesn't run out freely, replace the flex line leading to that wheel. Replace any fuel hose that doesn't appear to be new. Check the "overflow" hose under the RF fender, right behind the fuel filler pipe. It is almost certainly cracked and will spill gas on left turns and admit water when driven in the rain. You will have to cobble something up, or buy a hard to find part at an extreme price. Check the tires, ball joints, and tie rod ends, but these are not common trouble points. Get a Bentley manual. This is the one you want. Volkswagen Official Service Manual Type 3 Fastback and Squareback 1968-1973 published by Robert Bentley, Cambridge, Mass, 1974 ISBN 0-8376-0057-X / LPV 997 383 / VSQU (excellent book, complete and well written) These are still in print ~$40) with B&W wiring diagrams. I have a few older used copies with color wiring diagrams. Prices vary with condition. -- ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~