"Don White" wrote in
:

My brother was a big VW fan. He had numerous 'bugs', an orange
'squareback', a 68 bus and even the 'Thing'.
I bought a '72 Super Beetle brand new and kept it 5 years. That was
enough for me.


Did any of you guys own an automatic stick shift beetle? I had one of
those. The clutch was a button in the top of the stick shift.

Larry
--
http://www.spp.gov/
The end of the USA and its Constitution....RIP

"Larry" wrote in message
...

Did any of you guys own an automatic stick shift beetle? I had one of
those. The clutch was a button in the top of the stick shift.

Larry


No way....I believe those things were only 2 speed..
I enjoyed the 4 on the floor standard transmission.

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:42:29 +0000, Larry wrote:

"Don White" wrote in
:

My brother was a big VW fan. He had numerous 'bugs', an orange
'squareback', a 68 bus and even the 'Thing'.
I bought a '72 Super Beetle brand new and kept it 5 years. That was
enough for me.


Did any of you guys own an automatic stick shift beetle? I had one of
those. The clutch was a button in the top of the stick shift.

No, mine were manuals. Pretty long-lived. Since you had to pull the
engine to change the clutch out, a good thing.

--Vic

Vic Smith wrote in
:

Since you had to pull the
engine to change the clutch out, a good thing.



That wasn't much of a big deal IF you had the proper engine stand to put
under it on the lift. The dealers pulled them out for the simplest of
reasons.

I was in the Volkswagen Analog Computer Repair Business for a while when
I owned the 411 wagon. My 411 just stopped for no reason in the middle
of traffic. The towtruck took it back to its dealer, with me in a bad
mood. "It's the computer.", the service manager said flatly. He never
even looked at it. He already knew what the problem was. So, I got a
new "computer", an analog device that squirted fuel into its gullet
electrically. It wasn't much of a "computer", nothing digital, just hard
parts! I commandeered my old computer from him before he threw it into a
large pile of computers in a big box in the parts department. LOTS of
computers were tits up, it seemed. No schematic available, of course, I
took it back to my office and pulled it apart and drew my own. I tested
the simple transistors with my Radio Shack in-circuit transistor tester
and found one open, base to collector. I replaced the transistor with a
garden variety 2N2222 that was, in quantity, about 8c in those days. I
swapped it out under the driver's seat and my 411 wagon cranked right up.
I ran it on my home-repaired box, keeping the OEM box as a spare in the
car, just in case. I never had any more trouble with it.

Next time I had it serviced, I told the service manager about my repair,
carefully NOT telling him I knew what was wrong with, at least, my
computer box. "Would you like to repair some more?", he asked. "Sure.",
I replied. I took home about 200 dead boxes from his collection. I went
straight to that one transistor and they were all blown. I replaced a
bunch with 2N2222 generic NPNs and tested them in my 411, all good.

We came to an agreement at $50/unit to repair them. 2 other dealers sent
me their "collections". Anyone trying to pry information about my
repairs got nothing. I'm not shooting my foot. It was easy to open the
box and look at the transistor I replaced. In the next couple of years,
I made a tidy sum out of the repairs from the 3 dealers in just spare
time. I hired some of my tech school students to work on them on
weekends as they backed up. As the model ended, repairs slowed down and
I moved to a better job on the road with Navy contractors so the shop
closed. Every unit but about 3 had all the same blown part....too much
Ic for the little German transistor they were using, melted its
collector. 2N2222 worked great...(c;

Larry
--
http://www.spp.gov/
The end of the USA and its Constitution....RIP

On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 01:17:35 +0000, Larry wrote:

Vic Smith wrote in
:

Since you had to pull the
engine to change the clutch out, a good thing.

That wasn't much of a big deal IF you had the proper engine stand to put
under it on the lift. The dealers pulled them out for the simplest of
reasons.

I had no trouble using just a wheeled floor jack. Once the transaxle
splines are clear of the pressure plate you just lower the engine then
push it off the jack and onto the floor. Then jack up the car's rear
end enough to drag the engine clear. All light duty stuff, no lift
required. Maybe 1/2 an hour after you've done it once.
It's a PITA if the jack is in sand though, which situation I let
myself get into once.

I was in the Volkswagen Analog Computer Repair Business for a while when
I owned the 411 wagon. My 411 just stopped for no reason in the middle
of traffic. The towtruck took it back to its dealer, with me in a bad
mood. "It's the computer.", the service manager said flatly. He never
even looked at it. He already knew what the problem was. So, I got a
new "computer", an analog device that squirted fuel into its gullet
electrically. It wasn't much of a "computer", nothing digital, just hard
parts! I commandeered my old computer from him before he threw it into a
large pile of computers in a big box in the parts department. LOTS of
computers were tits up, it seemed. No schematic available, of course, I
took it back to my office and pulled it apart and drew my own. I tested
the simple transistors with my Radio Shack in-circuit transistor tester
and found one open, base to collector. I replaced the transistor with a
garden variety 2N2222 that was, in quantity, about 8c in those days. I
swapped it out under the driver's seat and my 411 wagon cranked right up.
I ran it on my home-repaired box, keeping the OEM box as a spare in the
car, just in case. I never had any more trouble with it.

Next time I had it serviced, I told the service manager about my repair,
carefully NOT telling him I knew what was wrong with, at least, my
computer box. "Would you like to repair some more?", he asked. "Sure.",
I replied. I took home about 200 dead boxes from his collection. I went
straight to that one transistor and they were all blown. I replaced a
bunch with 2N2222 generic NPNs and tested them in my 411, all good.

We came to an agreement at $50/unit to repair them. 2 other dealers sent
me their "collections". Anyone trying to pry information about my
repairs got nothing. I'm not shooting my foot. It was easy to open the
box and look at the transistor I replaced. In the next couple of years,
I made a tidy sum out of the repairs from the 3 dealers in just spare
time. I hired some of my tech school students to work on them on
weekends as they backed up. As the model ended, repairs slowed down and
I moved to a better job on the road with Navy contractors so the shop
closed. Every unit but about 3 had all the same blown part....too much
Ic for the little German transistor they were using, melted its
collector. 2N2222 worked great...(c;

Cool. Sometimes I wish I learned more about electronics, but my color
perception kept me on wrenches. I'll just refer to your posts when I
need electronics advice.

--Vic

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 01:17:35 +0000, Larry wrote:

Vic Smith wrote in
m:

Since you had to pull the
engine to change the clutch out, a good thing.

That wasn't much of a big deal IF you had the proper engine stand to put
under it on the lift. The dealers pulled them out for the simplest of
reasons.

I had no trouble using just a wheeled floor jack. Once the transaxle
splines are clear of the pressure plate you just lower the engine then
push it off the jack and onto the floor. Then jack up the car's rear
end enough to drag the engine clear. All light duty stuff, no lift
required. Maybe 1/2 an hour after you've done it once.
It's a PITA if the jack is in sand though, which situation I let
myself get into once.

I was in the Volkswagen Analog Computer Repair Business for a while when
I owned the 411 wagon. My 411 just stopped for no reason in the middle
of traffic. The towtruck took it back to its dealer, with me in a bad
mood. "It's the computer.", the service manager said flatly. He never
even looked at it. He already knew what the problem was. So, I got a
new "computer", an analog device that squirted fuel into its gullet
electrically. It wasn't much of a "computer", nothing digital, just hard
parts! I commandeered my old computer from him before he threw it into a
large pile of computers in a big box in the parts department. LOTS of
computers were tits up, it seemed. No schematic available, of course, I
took it back to my office and pulled it apart and drew my own. I tested
the simple transistors with my Radio Shack in-circuit transistor tester
and found one open, base to collector. I replaced the transistor with a
garden variety 2N2222 that was, in quantity, about 8c in those days. I
swapped it out under the driver's seat and my 411 wagon cranked right up.
I ran it on my home-repaired box, keeping the OEM box as a spare in the
car, just in case. I never had any more trouble with it.

Next time I had it serviced, I told the service manager about my repair,
carefully NOT telling him I knew what was wrong with, at least, my
computer box. "Would you like to repair some more?", he asked. "Sure.",
I replied. I took home about 200 dead boxes from his collection. I went
straight to that one transistor and they were all blown. I replaced a
bunch with 2N2222 generic NPNs and tested them in my 411, all good.

We came to an agreement at $50/unit to repair them. 2 other dealers sent
me their "collections". Anyone trying to pry information about my
repairs got nothing. I'm not shooting my foot. It was easy to open the
box and look at the transistor I replaced. In the next couple of years,
I made a tidy sum out of the repairs from the 3 dealers in just spare
time. I hired some of my tech school students to work on them on
weekends as they backed up. As the model ended, repairs slowed down and
I moved to a better job on the road with Navy contractors so the shop
closed. Every unit but about 3 had all the same blown part....too much
Ic for the little German transistor they were using, melted its
collector. 2N2222 worked great...(c;

Cool. Sometimes I wish I learned more about electronics, but my color
perception kept me on wrenches. I'll just refer to your posts when I
need electronics advice.

--Vic

Vic, bad boys rape all our young girls, but Violet gives willingly, get some
now.

"Capt. Lewry" wrote in message
t...

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 01:17:35 +0000, Larry wrote:

Vic Smith wrote in
:

Since you had to pull the
engine to change the clutch out, a good thing.

That wasn't much of a big deal IF you had the proper engine stand to put
under it on the lift. The dealers pulled them out for the simplest of
reasons.

I had no trouble using just a wheeled floor jack. Once the transaxle
splines are clear of the pressure plate you just lower the engine then
push it off the jack and onto the floor. Then jack up the car's rear
end enough to drag the engine clear. All light duty stuff, no lift
required. Maybe 1/2 an hour after you've done it once.
It's a PITA if the jack is in sand though, which situation I let
myself get into once.

I was in the Volkswagen Analog Computer Repair Business for a while when
I owned the 411 wagon. My 411 just stopped for no reason in the middle
of traffic. The towtruck took it back to its dealer, with me in a bad
mood. "It's the computer.", the service manager said flatly. He never
even looked at it. He already knew what the problem was. So, I got a
new "computer", an analog device that squirted fuel into its gullet
electrically. It wasn't much of a "computer", nothing digital, just hard
parts! I commandeered my old computer from him before he threw it into a
large pile of computers in a big box in the parts department. LOTS of
computers were tits up, it seemed. No schematic available, of course, I
took it back to my office and pulled it apart and drew my own. I tested
the simple transistors with my Radio Shack in-circuit transistor tester
and found one open, base to collector. I replaced the transistor with a
garden variety 2N2222 that was, in quantity, about 8c in those days. I
swapped it out under the driver's seat and my 411 wagon cranked right up.
I ran it on my home-repaired box, keeping the OEM box as a spare in the
car, just in case. I never had any more trouble with it.

Next time I had it serviced, I told the service manager about my repair,
carefully NOT telling him I knew what was wrong with, at least, my
computer box. "Would you like to repair some more?", he asked. "Sure.",
I replied. I took home about 200 dead boxes from his collection. I went
straight to that one transistor and they were all blown. I replaced a
bunch with 2N2222 generic NPNs and tested them in my 411, all good.

We came to an agreement at $50/unit to repair them. 2 other dealers sent
me their "collections". Anyone trying to pry information about my
repairs got nothing. I'm not shooting my foot. It was easy to open the
box and look at the transistor I replaced. In the next couple of years,
I made a tidy sum out of the repairs from the 3 dealers in just spare
time. I hired some of my tech school students to work on them on
weekends as they backed up. As the model ended, repairs slowed down and
I moved to a better job on the road with Navy contractors so the shop
closed. Every unit but about 3 had all the same blown part....too much
Ic for the little German transistor they were using, melted its
collector. 2N2222 worked great...(c;

Cool. Sometimes I wish I learned more about electronics, but my color
perception kept me on wrenches. I'll just refer to your posts when I
need electronics advice.

--Vic

Vic, bad boys rape all our young girls, but Violet gives willingly, get
some now.

Larry, The way we taught it was Violet gives willingly for gold or silver.
Now don't ask about Oscar in the trig functions. Teaching was fun, but it
got old at
TCL ( Technical College of the Low Country). At NATTC, I had a captive
audience and
they had the incentive to learn the avionics stuff or end up as paint
chippers on some tin can.

Leanne

Leanne

On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 21:24:19 -0400, "Leanne" wrote:


"Capt. Lewry" wrote in message
et...

"Vic Smith" wrote in message


Cool. Sometimes I wish I learned more about electronics, but my color
perception kept me on wrenches. I'll just refer to your posts when I
need electronics advice.

--Vic

Vic, bad boys rape all our young girls, but Violet gives willingly, get
some now.

Larry, The way we taught it was Violet gives willingly for gold or silver.
Now don't ask about Oscar in the trig functions. Teaching was fun, but it
got old at
TCL ( Technical College of the Low Country). At NATTC, I had a captive
audience and
they had the incentive to learn the avionics stuff or end up as paint
chippers on some tin can.

Thanks for that follow-up Leanne. Not knowing Capt. Lewry I had first
assumed he was casting lewd remarks in my direction - nothing new, BTW
- but now understand that it was simply an electronics mnemonics aid.
Neat, and I have in fact read resistor codes while consulting a nearby
guide, this to solder in some kind of cheat modification to my son's
Sony playstation. Not having experience in circuit board soldering,
I melted the damn innards. That's ok, because I then insisted he play
games on a PC and he's never looked back, saving me (or him) lots
of money on future game boxes. He has PC emulators for those games.
To set you straight on tin cans, I spent 3 1/2 years gunkholing on one
in places that carriers could only dream of.
That more than compensated for a bit of paint chipping.
Carrier crews turned ports of call into tourist traps, increasing
liberty costs steeply, while even small ports easily absorbed our
crew. In keeping with the family values of the group, I won't outline
those costs.
It was always a disappointment to see a CV anchored at
a port. High prices. Too many drunks. And jarheads.

--Vic

"Leanne" wrote in :

Larry, The way we taught it was Violet gives willingly for gold or
silver. Now don't ask about Oscar in the trig functions. Teaching was
fun, but it got old at
TCL ( Technical College of the Low Country). At NATTC, I had a captive
audience and
they had the incentive to learn the avionics stuff or end up as paint
chippers on some tin can.

Leanne


I was Electronics Department Head at Sumter Area Technical College from
1970 to 1977. It was a basic electronics course to train communications
technicians for RF and phone companies. It was the best years of my
life, but I finally realized you couldn't live on $8000/year and eat once
my money ran out. SCTEC thinks you should be a retired military officer
looking for something to do for a pittance....while they're paying the
school president nearly what the US President makes....and telling you
they can't afford to raise instructor salaries. So, I went to Iran to
build the Shahanshah's air force its first electronic calibration
laboratory....where money didn't need to be discussed. I sat in my
living room in Tehran and watched Jimmy Carter give the country away to
the nuts that run it now, as the Iranian people starve in the name of
Allah. How awful....

Power corrupts. Absolute power is kinda neat...(c;

Larry
--
http://www.spp.gov/
The end of the USA and its Constitution....RIP

Vic Smith wrote in
:

Cool. Sometimes I wish I learned more about electronics, but my color
perception kept me on wrenches. I'll just refer to your posts when I
need electronics advice.

--Vic



I fail every depth perception test ever given to me. Charleston Naval
Shipyard nearly let me go the first time I failed the test, until my
bosses put a stop to it because of my troubleshooting abilities and the
fact that I came in 2nd in the microminiature soldering school...(c;

I don't know how I can solder a tiny wire the width of a hair with no
depth perception. I just don't have it.....???

Larry
--
http://www.spp.gov/
The end of the USA and its Constitution....RIP