On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:21:04 -0700, the infamous Gunner Asch
scrawled the following:

On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:46:59 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:


This book was invaluable to beetle owners who were even moderatly
handy:
http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Your-Volk.../dp/1562614800
With it and a few simple tools there wasn't much a rank amateur
couldn't fix. Tranny rebuilt wasn't on the menu but engine rebuild
was, and it could be done (and has been done) in parking lots and
campgrounds.

A recalled excerpt, paraphrased but I'll bet pretty close:

"Crawl under the car until the oil drain plug is right over your nose.
Now reach up with your 13 mm wrench and find a bolt that it fits. If
it doesn't fit, keep looking. When you find the bolt, turn your
head to the side so the crap falls into your ear instead of your eye
and yank on the wrench..."

Muir may not have said "crap".

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Volkswagen Repair

Another very good book.

Best time for swapping out VW engines was 42 minutes. I was rather good
at it at one time.

Y'know that little push-on hose between the fuel line and the carb? My
favorite view of that was from the road, driving by a burning VW where
that line had rotted and broken or just flat came off.

My 3 favorite views on the road: Rainbows, burning VWs (and there were
a whole lot of those), and upside-down BMW "sports cars" (2 so far.)

--
The blind are not good trailblazers.

-- federal judge Frank Easterbrook