The Cal-look Lounge

Well, I think all of us could answer yes to that since we've owned vw's....well yesterday I left
SF late in the day and not looking forward to my normal 130+ comute drive home...other than being in my
trusty 63 sedan.....traveling in stop and go traffic I notice a 21 bus on the shoulder up ahead....I merged over to the shoulder and
pulled up in front of it...young kid walks up and tells me it "just died"......well I asked some questions regarding
if it has spark....no....not sure....I walk back to where the bus is and see an open manual and it appears he was looking up his problem.....ok we were all young at one time.....for me reading a automotive manual was easier than some text books......
I pull the cap off and my hunch was correct...points closed....I was getting ready to get my feedler guage or a match book cover and noticed the points contact material to the distributor shaft was missing(typical lately of the replacement parts)....ok no big deal, I have a spare set ....I go and get them
and my tools and change them....the kid is being nice....and asking all sort of questions....I try not to be rude but I keep telling him
watch my back and cars speeding by....It figures I pull off and the traffic picks up.....He trys to start it and the battery is weak....I fine a loose ground cable, but that doesn't help so I tell him to jump start it....he's not sure about it....we are on a slope backwards....I jump in it fires and tell him to reajust the points later.......He's nice an gives me 10 bucks for the points....I fine out he's from santa cruz and heading up to san pablo to one of the better tranny builders in the vw industry....old ron.....
anyway......I just thought I share my good vw deed of the week..............
It was good to see some younger kids still interested in vw's......

Been dead a few times, but never in my aicooled cars!  Only the water-pumpers...and the last few have been truly dead.  Two blowed up 16v motors in my Jetta...

Been dead once with a beetle when my alti broke on the freeway and the battery wouldnt charge ;D

Great to hear such stories of lending a hand to other less fortunate VW drivers in need of help.... Now, here is a quiz.... What would YOU do if?:

1. Broke a clutch cable on the road?

2. Broke a throttle cable on the road?

You pull the necessary spare out, which should be in the trunk at all times ;D

If it's the throttle cable and I am unable to put a spare one in....I found they break at the end, or under the car I take another barrel nut....like used on throttle cable or heater and spice another cable on...it's tricky at the shroud but I just get enough throttle movement to get the car going and then at a safe spot replace it  or set the choke or idle up enough to get the car moving off the freeway

clutch situation....put it gear and start it and have someone push you to help get it moving
 then it's all amatter of rpm's and timing the shift.good luck

I could write a book on all the times Wray`s old bay died & left us stranded ;D
Favourite was when we went off the speedo `keeping up` with a bmw & snapped a rod...
It almost started on 2 cylinders & half a case too!

I once broke the throttle cable while down at the beach. Only place nearby was a 7-11/bait & tackle type place. My first thought was to use some steel fishing line but they didn't have any. They did however have some spools of electrical wire in different guages. Picked a gauge that looked heavy enough and ran that through tunnel from the pedal to the the carb. It broke a couple of times on the hour and a half drive home so we would just pull over and run a new piece through the tunnel and be on our way.  :D

--louis

I had a throttle cable break on my '66 on the way to my brother-in-laws home.  He lived about 35 miles away and I was about halfway there on the freeway.  I folded up a piece of cardboard and stuck it in the Berg linkage to hold the throttle open.  It was revving about 5500 rpm with no load.  I had to slip the clutch to get it going because of the rpm.  I did manage to get all the way over there at about 50mph.  I'd rather break a clutch cable.  When I got to his house I was able to fix it with an old cotter pin.

I've got a few more.  My wife had flown out of town to go to her brother's wedding and I was suppose to pick her up at the airport.  The freeway is about one mile from my house and the airport is about 18 miles.  As I was turning on the freeway I clutched it to downshift and  the clutch cable broke.  I drove all the way to the airport and parked it in the parking garage.  I ended up picking up my wife and driving all the way home without a clutch.  I had to turn the engine off at the stop lights and put it in first and take off on the starter.  I have actually done that a few times since then.  When I travel I always carry a spare these days.

Okay last one.  My wife and I were returning home to AZ from the classic 1998 I think.  It was the first trip to California for my 2007.   At the time I was running a mechanical fuel pump.  Everything was going well until we stopped just inside the AZ border to get gas.  When I started the car and drove off I only got a few miles down the road then vapor lock set in and the engine died.  I cooled it down a couple of times, but it would stall again a few miles down the road.  I was starting to loose it!  I had to do something because it was over 100F and we were 150 miles from home.  I normally carry a 12V compressor for fixing flat tires and it had a bunch of attachments for inflating other things.  I ran the power cord from my glove box (where I have the 12V socket) to under the hood where the pump was.  I connected the pump to the vent hose on the gas tank with one of the tapered fittings that came with the pump.  When I plugged in the pump it would pressurize the tank and force fuel to carbs Vapor lock or not.  I had a functioning Hal meter at the time and whenever it would go very lean I would reach over and plug in the pump power cord.  It got me home with no further problems, but the tank had blown up like a balloon.  I put pressure on the tank and it popped back like an oil can.  I now run an electric fuel pump and have since rerouted some of my fuel lines.  That problem no longer exists.  Sure glad I took the portable compressor with me.  It is very small but sure worked that day.

Smart Girl !!  when I worked at Auto Haus We had a Girl that come in to buy a  Throttle Cable she told us it broke when she was at the beach some 20 miles away we Wondered how she got there she said she Drove the Car?? we looked at each other Dumb Founded ??? ??? and said we have to see this, she had parked out back behind the store, she had a clean 63 VW Bug with a roof rack on it, when we went outside to see what she done to get the car going we were amazed that a Girl could have thought this up. What she Did was she had a roll of kite string in the car since she was flying a kite at the beach, First she tied the string around the Tee Handle on the deck lid and then tied it to the roof rack so the deck lid would stay up when driving, then she tied string  to the solex carb arm then back to the bumper over rider once around the tube then up to the back tube of the roof rack once around the tube then brought the string up to the middle tube of the roof rack once around that tube then left about a three foot long piece of string hanging from the middle of the roof rack and going into the drivers door window she said it was a little hard to know how much to pull it and it was a little hard taking off from a stop but it worked and it got her where she needed to go  its been 32 years since I worked at Auto Haus and I Remember the Girl like it was Yesterday.  I Dont Think I Would Have Thought of that Do You?   

Does running out of gas count?  :-[ My '71's gas gauge didn't work so I used the stick in tank method. (Put a paint stick in the tank too see how much gas is in there.) One night I was coming home about 1 am and I must have miscalculated because I ran out of gas. At the time I still lived at my mom's house which was out in the woods of North Florida in a town of about 2,500 people. The car ran out of gas I was about five miles from my house on the main highway. I pulled it over into the ditch and decided to walk home. Not wanting to walk down the main highway, (drunk drivers) I crossed over to a dirt road that ran parallel to the main road. Well in this area it is not uncommon for people to have a dog or three, and they are usually big and mean. (Especially at 1 am.) Its pitch black with no moon and here I am walking down this dirt road with nothing more than a big stick. Fortunately, I only had a run in with one big dog that was chained up outside someone's trailer. About three miles later the dirt road connected with the main road of the town I lived in. As I got on the paved road there was some drunk guy walking down the middle of the street, weaving back and forth and having a conversation with someone who was not there. Not wanting to have a run in with a drunk red neck I slowed my pace so I wouldn't catch up with him until I came to the road I lived on. He went on his merry way and I walked the last mile to my house, went inside and went to bed. Next day I had a friend run me over to my car and we put some gas in it and I drove it home.

--louis

How did you check the gas with a Paint stick? 71's have Gas Doors ?? I have done it plenty of times on a 67 and older car with the gas opening under the hood  but threw the side??

I once went to look at a 67 squareback that was for sale in my neighborhood for $150. I went to take it for a test drive and there was no gas pedal. The owner had broken the accelerator cable 2 years prior, removed the pedal and had the broken cable cable hooked up to a wooden handle, running between the 2 front seats, over the back seat and into the engine cover to the dual carb linkage. I guess he didn't know a person could buy a replacement cable for $3 or 4 bucks and had been driving it like this for 2 years.   

Last one for me. I think I have told the story here of how my '71 helped me get my first date with my wife. (She felt sorry for me because it was such a heap  :D )  Anyway, this car has one other story in our courtship. At the time we were dating she lived with her aunt and uncle while she was going to college here in the states. (We met while I was in grad school the first time) I was over at their house hanging out, it was about 12 at night and its time for me to head home. Go out to start the VW, put it in gear and pull forward when the tranny starts sounding like its about to come apart. Kill the engine, pop it out of gear, restart and it won't go back in gear. It would go into reverse but that is it. Cuss at it for a few minutes then go back inside. Her uncle's house was about forty five minutes from my house so I figured I would just sleep on the couch and call a friend to help me get it home the next day. But her aunt and uncle are a bit old fashioned and would not allow me to sleep as it wouldn't be proper. We "discussed" this for a few minutes then I had to call my mother to come get me to give me a ride home. By now it was almost 1 am and it took her another forty five minutes to get there, then the forty five minutes to drive back home. Needless to say she wasn't overly happy. Next day I pulled the bug home and the following weekend pulled the engine and tranny. That is as far as it got as not to long after I traded it to a friend. (Who still has it.)

--louis

Had an earlier tank in it. Was like that when I got it. Probably why the fuel gauge didn't work. lol

--louis

I've had both happed in my '67.

1. Crank the starter until the motor kicks off then clutchless shift up and down then stall at the traffic light and start all over again.

2. Crank the idle screws on the 48s down as far as they go and "idle" home"

True stories!  :D

COOL - there is ALWAYS around a problem ;) :)

Broke the throttle cable yesterday afternoon on the way home. At the time I was down town in bumper to bumper traffic. Pulled up to a stop light, waited for the light to turn red, then went to pull away and the accelerator pedal goes all the way to the floor. Fortunately I was in the outer lane so I was able to push the car up onto the sidewalk. Unfortunately, I was right in front of the state capitol building. Seems security there is a little leery of cars parked that close for some reason. After convincing them that the car was indeed just broken down and not a car bomb they let me leave it there while I tried to fix it. I ended up having to call the hook and have it towed to my house. Good thing for AAA. But the '67 may sit for a week or two as I am a bit tired of having to constantly work on it.

--louis

I broke a throttle cable years ago on the Freeway.  I had to pull over.  I found some cardboard and folded it many times to wedge it into behind the Berg linkage to hold the throttle open.  with no load it was at about 5k rpm however on the road it would only go about 50 mph.  I managed to make it to my brother-in-law's house and found that it was the S hook that broke.  I mad a fix out of a cotter pin that he had and was able to limp home with that.  Not fun.  I would much rather break a clutch cable than a throttle cable.