You guys with modern cars are pansies...

[djmcmath]

Alternate Title #1 Fellow Pelican saves the day

Alternate Title #2 When was the last time you had to replace a throwout bearing with a socket set, some duct tape, and a single floor jack?

Alternate Title #3 Volkswagen For Sale, Real Cheap, new throwout bearing and fuel lines.

I'm in the middle of another Navy move, and last weekend was the drive to VA from CT. Halfway down (not quite), the TO bearing died on my '70 VW. Not only does the average rest station not carry VW parts, the tools on hand are hardly adequate for this level of repair....

So I made a phone call to a fellow Pelican that I had planned on meeting for lunch -- "sorry dude, broken car, not going to make it" ... and he responded by offering to come get me with his flatbed! He then drove 3 and a half hours up the coast to pull my a$$ out of the fire, and of course 3 and a half hours back down.

The next day was The Big Adventure, Part Two. Still no tools except what I hauled in the back of the Bug (hmm ... socket set, some wrenches, a floor-jack). It took me about 6 hours, total working time, but this is what I found inside:


At least I know for sure what the problem was, right?

[id10t]

The one I pulled out of my 356 was in worse shape... did a new clutch, TOB, pressure plate. Wish I had done the starter bushing and #3 sparkplug while the engine was out....

Heck, you probably even have the luxury of 12v electrics! I really need to upgrade to 12v when I do the restore...

[FrayAdjacent911]

Can't drive a bug without a clutch??

[djmcmath]

Shee-it, mudderfugger, I can drive that sucker all day long with no clutch. It's just getting started that's hard. When I ran out of gas, I knew it was over.

[FrayAdjacent911]

hahaha


yeah, being out of gas can be a detriment.

[widebody911]

You had a jack - luxury!!

I had to drop a bug engine once without a jack. I scrounged some scrap lumber, and stacked pieces of 2x4's to make a platform for the engine to 'fall' onto, removed the fan shroud, intake, and oil cooler so I could slide it out from under the bug, and then used the same wood scraps to get the engine back in, lifting one side, pushing a block under it, lift the other side, put a block under it, until I was within an inch or so, whereby I deadlifted it the rest of the way.

I was thinking of my previous experiences, and your recent one, today when I had my single cab on the lift to replace the clutch, generator, and misc other crap, with the engine on my modified HF trans jack, in my climate-controlled shop it's own bathroom and a fridge stocked with beer.

And if you tell that to kids today, they won't believe you.

[genrex]

Bravo, Thom!

Excellent play off an excellent Monty Python skit..

[djmcmath]

Thom, you're my hero.