Interesting topic.......

[neil68]

I don't post very much, but still check this site almost daily.  I appreciate the information that others are posting in their build threads, but don't always remember to thank them.

I have a thread in Da Werks section and will update my winter progress.  My goal is to try to make my 925 kg (2035 lb) Canadian street-strip Beetle run low 12's...and ultimately 11.99 seconds on the drag strip with IDA's.

[richie]

     hmmm, so YOUR the one who left that clunker in my garage.... it needs a tune-up!

Yep was me, garage was like your cooler, Empty  

I will bring my laptop over with me and give it a tune up then

cheers Richie

[Sarge]

     hmmm, so YOUR the one who left that clunker in my garage.... it needs a tune-up!

   Yep was me, garage was like your cooler, Empty  

    ...cooler empty???....NOOOOoooooooo!!!

[cedric]

i am busy with my feb 59 stock beetle,rebuild engine(nos parts),new rubbers,ect...i am 4 owner and pretty much is all original...1 respray in the early '90

[Jim Ratto]

I think it's, first of all, OK to admit the rampant interest in whatever "California Look" is, can come and go, for all of us. Don't feel bad or ashamed if you've (hopefully, temporarily) run out of steam. It probably is normal.
You need to be ok with the cyclical nature of interest in a hobby. I'd say the interest in nicely done cars, past and present, that look good and haul ass, has been going long enough to say this isn't just some fad. Personally, these cars mean more to me, and have since late 1980's than a lot of other things in my life since then. And I know there's guys out there that have been propelled by this hobby twice as long as myself. So don't worry, it's still going on, maybe not at the fevered pace we all want it to be, but it's not going away.
Look at Feb '16 Hot VW's, not only a nice feature on the 11-sec black '67, but also on two cars that defined The California Look (Rayburn and Rhoads '64's). I had to buy that issue.

I think maybe some more aesthetics that are more creative than the "norm" would give the hobby a nice kick in the ass. Not getting crazy, but maybe if most were more accepting of outside of the box thinking, instead of the typical "That's not Cal Look, they didn't do THAT in 1975!" response, guys would feel more comfortable bending the "rules" some. We have the internet now, not just car magazines and car shows. As soon as a guy proudly posts a pic of his project, he's subjected himself to world-wide opinions and criticism. Can you imagine how pissed and shitty it must be to reveal your hard work to your peers, only to be picked on?

I'm still busy with my car, driving, servicing, testing things, changing things that need to be changed. It's as much fun, no wait.... more fun now than 20-25 years ago.

Have fun, when you feel like it. 

Jim

[Dominick Luppino]

I agree on what Jim said, I personally don't post on any VW Forums any longer, if you want to see what I mean, go to the Samba, there are a few proclaimed geniuses that irritate the crap out of me, so I just chose to not post anything!

[vwhelmot]

Very well said Jim. Spot on.

[Martin S.]

I like posting some wacky stuff like my drilled finned heads, 30 thou tight deck where the piston kisses the head, and too-tight coil bind radical lift valves where people say 'you can't do that!' haha so many opinions, so many experts, and love to drive people nuts with things like that! 

[Jim Ratto]

When it comes to the technical aspect, it's a little easier to accept other's "feedback"- hopefully they're sharing advice because they're comfortable giving it, and they've proven to themselves it's sound advice. With that said, there's a lot posted (not so much here) that I would refer to as bad advice. Or not well thought out. The answer that always makes me discount what the author is posting is "I've run _______ for years and have no issues". Yeah, ok, but can quantify how often your car is subjected to the kind of use that would trigger a problem? And are you really sure whatever situation part "X" is involved in, is the best? To say one runs "X" jetting and emulsion tubes "for years" and it "runs good, no problems" but then to be chasing beat to death heads, torn up plugs, etc... I guess we would have to agree on the definition of "problem" then.
In the case of running 0.030 deck and super tight spring heights, yeah it can be done, but not sure I'd tell somebody just getting started in this hobby it can be, as there's a real learning curve to pushing the envelope. I hate to see guys get started in this, fly too close to the sun and then get pissed and bad mouth hot rod VW's. If you know how to set up "what can't be done", then you need to know what to watch for in case there's going to be a problem. That's all.
I don't post what I do so people will get pissed and want to argue. The last thing I need is practice arguing... 

I guess what I am trying to say is "No need to follow the rules. Try something different, and if it makes sense to you, be proud of what you do."

See ya

Jim

[Martin S.]

Part of the fun is breaking parts and having stuff wear out. If your car sits there, nothing happens, boring!
Here's one example...

[Hecker]

This topic is the one that everyone should respond to. I generally lurk and have lost interest in posting to most topics or threads.
The lounge was once very busy with lots of people posting and new and relevant threads, but now just kinda blah blah blah.

For me personally a little shot of my survivor '67 at Heroes was the first post i have made in a very long time. I know I need to
read more and post more just to stay on top of things. I think that will be a New Year Resolution I can keep !   

[Peter Shattock]

Well said Jim. A nice relaxed easy going attitude you have going on there!

Martin, I cant agree with breaking things being fun, or that these fragile things staying in one bit is boring. Taking a perfectly good car apart to try and make it better / faster though keeps it interesting enough for me to keep doing stuff and posting when I think in might be of interest.

Peter

 

[Jeff68]

Well said Jim, absolutely right, in my opinion anyway . Hotrod aircooled VW's will always be around as well as even stock VWs (which are just as cool). I agree about the latest Hot VW's mag...I was pleasantly surprised to see what was in it and reading it motivated me to get off my a$$ once again and get working on my car.  Everyone goes through phases of high and low motivation probably based on what's going on in their lives, or maybe they are just tired, or maybe low on money and time..My motto is -It's ok, just don't give up and when the time is right get back to it.

As far as deviating from the Cal-Look standards, we should accept new ideas and why not? I think you have to look at the thought and effort put in before you judge what someone has done and respect that. But constructive criticism can be a good thing when you're honestly trying to help someone.....

 The very beginning of Cal-Look was based on people doing something new wasn't it? We shouldn't be afraid to experiment with new ideas! For example...Look at the DBK cars, there are many new things being done at a very high level. Looking at the cars from this club and others definitely inspires me and keeps me interested in these cars and what can be done with them.

We are all stewards of this great hobby, just take it easy, and maybe even having a sense of humour would help sometimes..

[Jim Ratto]

Well said Jim. A nice relaxed easy going attitude you have going on there!

Martin, I cant agree with breaking things being fun, or that these fragile things staying in one bit is boring. Taking a perfectly good car apart to try and make it better / faster though keeps it interesting enough for me to keep doing stuff and posting when I think in might be of interest.

Peter

 

Thanks Peter. We all have jobs to keep us wound tight and make us lose sleep. This is supposed to be a fun segment.  I don't agree with parts failing as being fun or keeping things from becoming boring. There's nothing more heartbreaking in this hobby than to spend effort, time and money, in the best way one can afford, only to have stuff fly apart or grind itself to death. Back in 2014 I lost an SLR cam and lifter set, after doing everything I was told (not doing everything I normally do, and now do again) to do. It was not a fun experience.

And yes I agree, continual refinement to the recipe to make the car faster/safer/more fun to drive keeps me going too. I've revamped a number of things with my '67 pretty recently and the results have me enjoying being in and tuning the car, more than ever.

[Taylor]

Well after moving back to California in March and starting a new job, the majority of my car parts are sealed in the same boxes I moved them in and my car is sitting in my sisters barn.  I keep telling myself I'll get to it soon. 

[Nico86]

I'm not sure that cal-look attracts less people that in the past. That whole "patina/stanced/slammed" scene is around here since about 10+ years and I don't know, I feel it's just going the same. I just think people are not interested anymore in forums on the internet. Not just with the Lounge, it's something I've noticed on every other forums I used to check. Some are still active but with a lot less activity, some are just totally dead. And it's not only happening on VW forums. I have friends into RC/model cars/planes that told me the same, I'm sometimes checking a StarWars vintage toys collectibles forum, a few french classic car forums, and a few guitar/music forums... and it's been the same during the last 3 years everywhere. And if you look at all the VW skynetblogs, most of them are dead as well now. If I remember well, one of the first blog to close and have its content posted on facebook instead was the DAS blog.

I guess people just grew tired of forums and of having to make the effort to participate and to be contributors. I think most people are going on facebook groups because it's the easiest way. Everything on a single website, the ability to "like" stuff and to "show/share" more stuff, and to pretend to be someone "important" too. I feel people with facebook have an easy way to feed their ego, easier than on a forum. Because in the end, that's what all of us are doing on the internet at some point. People used to find time to go on forums, now they still have the same free time but they spend it on facebook and stuff like that. Everything is just the same all in all.

But for me, it certainly doesn't seem like the VW or cal-look scene is getting weaker. As for cal-look, I don't feel people loosing interest in it. And don't tell me people are going away from cal-look because it's expensive! Have you checked how much money you'd need to buy a bus, even a tatty/crappy one? Then have you checked the prices of lowering systems, narrowed beams and stuff for buses/beetles if you want to "slam" it? Yf you need to have the inner fenders boxed? It cost as much and often more than building a fine and fun engine or a decent, proper, simple cal-look.

As for magazines, I don't know, I buy the french vw magazine every month and there are still vintage, old-school and cal-look cars in it every month.

As for me, facebook is not my thing. It's a bit because of the way people behave there, and it's mostly because of the layout, I don't like it. Everything is confused, messy. You can't have a proper talk. It's impossible to use it as a proper archive. There's too much "stuff", buttons, links, everywhere. Though at the same time it seems too empty to me. Maybe that's just me, but I like threads on a forum. I closed my facebook account more than 2 years ago and I don't feel the need or envy (or the point) to open it again.

Now about the Lounge, I've been away for about the last 3 years because of personal and health issues. I didn't play with my cars much either during that time. And when I did, I wasn't enjoying it and it was more a downer than a fun thing, and I didn't find anything really interesting to share. But I've been away from here as well, so I won't blame anyone for not being as active as before as I'm in the same position! I did came back from time to time though, and it's true thatwhat was noticeable was a lot of old members whether europeans, americans, members of huge cal-look VW clubs, or regular posters, are not around anymore. I've lost touch with a lot people from the VW/cal-look scene since I started coming less often on the Lounge and since I stopped using facebook. That's sad, but I guess that's how things are. Maybe one of these days things will go back as how they were a couple of years ago.

[gkeeton@zbzoom.net]

Facebook is the main reason all the forums are dying. IMO I the average Aircooled VW Enthusiast is between 40-65. Just about the age were some don't use Facebook, while others still don't know what it is. Anyone younger than 40 that is into all the modern forms of media has long since abandoned forums. I too had a friend with his own R/C forum for his track and just checking it last week, it had not had a post in over a year. I was researching some stuff for a fellow lounge member about a transaxle intermediate housing off of a sand rail forum, and it's last reply was in October of 2015. I feel the older crowd that refuse to use Facebook is the only reason forums like the Lounge are getting posts at all.

The pissing match, and issues with the older Cal-look forum, United Aircooled, and the latest Flat 4 site have turned a lot of people off from forums in the Aircooled Community. The Samba with its slightly stricter moderation seems to be the only forum that hasn't taken a huge hit, and even their post counts are down.

I'm a lurker as well. There's only so many times you can explain to someone how to set the timing with their 009, or how to adjust their valves. The Lounge is pretty advanced in that sense, but unless the topic is about something out of the ordinary that I have first hand knowledge about the solution, I usually don't reply also.

Getting back to the age group I mentioned, a lot can happen during that time period. Some have kids, others have young adults starting college, and some are taking care of kids 70, and older. I had to fight tooth, and nail for any info I needed on my cars before the Internet, so I try and help the new enthusiast as much as I can, but sometimes life is just more important.

I do see some older members coming out of the woodwork back to the forums. And another interesting thing is the age group of 65, and beyond. A local Dragstrip has started a weekend Nostalgia event at the track. Those in their 50's, 60's, and even 70's that were deep within the early development of today's modern drag racing are bringing out vehicles that haven't seen the light of day in decades. That age group most likely no longer has an older generation to care for, and any of their kids are well into adulthood on their own. They have retired, and most usually have some money to play with. This past years Nostalgia event was the biggest event in the history of the track, over 600 racers. The spectators ate the concession stand OUT of food. I see some cool things happening to the Aircooled Community within the next decade or so.

[Russell]

So its been almost 2 years since i started this thread, and I must apologise as while there was a rush of activity around the initial thread, i lost the desire to follow up, over the last week I've been looking a little more regularly on whats going on and I wondered what the feeling is now regards our hobby and whats going down, we are living in a rapidly changing world and unfortunately face book is still around.

Russell

[Richierich56]

Personally, I post on thesamba a fair amount and am on there most days. Though i have noticed on there recently its getting harder and harder to get decent replies if you ask advice as there seem to be a few who are itching to flame anybody the moment they get a chance. Facebook - personally, I am not on it and never will be. I honestly cannot remember the last time a day went by without me hearing the name - it must be one of the most commonly used words nowadays. I know people who ONLY communicate on Facebook - emailing or texting them is a waste of time. I find it quite bizarre.

The VW scene generally has gone to a somewhat odd place now it seems. The place where i store my Bug, there are a couple of Buses also stored there and on a couple of occasions as i have been up there working on my bug, the owners of those buses have been there and they literally do not know what my car is. The scene - particularly the bus aspect has brought a whole new type of people in whom it seems have little or no interest or knowledge of anything other than a 12" narrowed beam and air ride suspension. Not that theres anything wrong with that but it seems to be much more compartmented now - if thats the right word - people seem to have interest simply in their own niche and no further. As for the UK magazines - I bought every issue of Volksworld from about 1990 to the mid 2000's and always found it a really good quality read. I especially used to enjoy reading the columns from the likes of Peter Noad but nowadays i rarely buy a copy and even then it may only be for a particular feature. I find it all a bit 'samey' to be honest. Ultra VW i enjoy more but again i have to confess to rarely buying it.

I do know that through this particular forum i have subsequently met two other members in person at a show - simply from them recognising my car off here and coming over to say hi - both really good guys whom i hope to meet up with again for a beer at a future show so if i feel that even just for that point alone, forums like this are well worth participating in.

[Fiatdude]

There was a blow up over on Brian Watts forum the other day (OK, I was involved) but he has his nose up the o'rama promoters rear and he was screaming heresy because of a video on you tube saying that the Prado campout was on the same week as the Classic and was stealing patrons from the classic and was by far the better event........

I countered that the folks that were going to the Prado event were, while being VW folks, walk to a completely different drum than us, the "normal" VW crowd. And currently here in SoCal, they are by far the majority...... and they really don't believe they owe any allegiance to the old guard.... And like it or not they are the up and coming ACVW enthusiast... They generally run stock(ish) engines, patinaed, slammed bugs and they don't appreciate us about as much as we don't appreciate them LOL..........

And they live on FaceBook, Instagram and a few other hundred sites I've never heard of.........

[gkeeton@zbzoom.net]

It blows people's minds when the 30, and younger generation magically produce 300+ vehicle entries to a car show in its first year through social media. Especially when it took 20 years for that kind of a turn out for a show that started by dropping photocopied flyers on your passenger seat when you were at some other event. Not saying this new show had 300 entries, or the Classic was started in 96, but yeah, times are changing. Money plays a big part. The newest generation simply doesn't have $30k to drop on an early car to build with paint, and an IDA'd stroker. Most find an original Beetle, fab up the air ride in the back yard, and roll it with the 35+ year old engine that came in the car. It's not only in the VW scene either. The big fish that used to be in the small pond of yesteryear are now becoming the small, or nonexistent fish in the big pond. The largest local VW Event for me is this weekend. I can count on the fingers of both hands the people I'm interested in catching up with, or hanging out with. I worked at the hosting shop from 03-13. For the owner, I would like for him to have a great turn out, but it doesn't matter to me a whole lot what the younger crowd is involved with.

[Paul Bahnstormerz]

Funny though, we're all still here 😊


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gkeeton@zbzoom.net]

Funny though, we're all still here 😊

Sure, but what is "here"? The Lounge is a shell of the former CLF, and the Shoptalk forums sometimes go more than a week without a reply. Most activity is over on The Samba, and it's mostly posts of "just picked up my first VW, a 72 Superbeetle". It's great they are still getting involved in the hobby, but the days of comonly discussing IDA jetting on a 2332, or what gears gets you in the 13's are long gone. Very few with post counts into the hundreds.

[Trond Dahl]

Funny though, we're all still here 😊

Sure, but what is "here"? The Lounge is a shell of the former CLF, and the Shoptalk forums sometimes go more than a week without a reply. Most activity is over on The Samba, and it's mostly posts of "just picked up my first VW, a 72 Superbeetle". It's great they are still getting involved in the hobby, but the days of comonly discussing IDA jetting on a 2332, or what gears gets you in the 13's are long gone. Very few with post counts into the hundreds.

The Cal-look Lounge was started over 10 years ago as a Scandinavian/European(but not limited to) Cal-look and race forum, while the CLF was still alive. A lot of the content have also therefore been different. After the CLF was shut down many of the people that share the interest have naturally found there way to The Lounge, which we appreciate.
Indifferent of activity, The Lounge is a great please to find new and old stories and images. It is sad that the people beind the CLF did not want to preserve theirs online at least as a read only source. I offered to host it for free, but it was turned down.

[Russell]

Funny though, we're all still here 😊

Sure, but what is "here"? The Lounge is a shell of the former CLF, and the Shoptalk forums sometimes go more than a week without a reply. Most activity is over on The Samba, and it's mostly posts of "just picked up my first VW, a 72 Superbeetle". It's great they are still getting involved in the hobby, but the days of comonly discussing IDA jetting on a 2332, or what gears gets you in the 13's are long gone. Very few with post counts into the hundreds.

The Cal-look Lounge was started over 10 years ago as a Scandinavian/European(but not limited to) Cal-look and race forum, while the CLF was still alive. A lot of the content have also therefore been different. After the CLF was shut down many of the people that share the interest have naturally found there way to The Lounge, which we appreciate.
Indifferent of activity, The Lounge is a great please to find new and old stories and images. It is sad that the people beind the CLF did not want to preserve theirs online at least as a read only source. I offered to host it for free, but it was turned down.

TROND, I agree the lounge is a great place to be. Thanks for all you have done as its a great outlet even if slightly slower at the present time, but its still 100 times better than FB. IMHO

Thanks

Russell

[Rick Meredith]

The Lounge is still the place to be for Cal-Look.

FB is just too much of a time suck. I made a conscious decision to stop being active there at the end of 2015. I did pop on my birthday as my wife insisted that I respond to the well wishes.

The only time I miss it is when I miss invitations to events etc. I missed a VW event earlier this year. Only found out when my wife mentioned it the evening after.
"It was on Facebook." I would have gone if I knew about it.

I've been on a negative cycle on the scene for a while.
I've lost my passion and have seriously thought about selling my '67.
My wife has talked me out of it... at least for now.

The joy is gone.

Right now, The Lounge is my only Cal-Look connection.  

[Zach Gomulka]

Sorry to hear that Rick. My suggestion, don't go crazy with it and let it become a money and time black hole. Build it simple, get it on the road and start to enjoy it. You don't need a $$$$ 2332 to enjoy your car A driving work in progress is much more fun than a heap of cool parts in the garage.
I hope you get the "bug" back

The cal look niche of this hobby is expensive, and let's be honest, totally impractical I completely understand why patina buses are the popular thing these days, I like them too, but for me cal look will never die.

[RichardinNZ]

Every time my car is off the road I'm thinking that I want to do this to it and want to do that to it....but then its back on the road and I'm (almost) happy with the mildly tuned 36hp and the minor body work issues don't matter.

I think I posted before that I joined facebook, have no friends but am a member of a couple of VW groups and watch a lot of VW pages....however, still not as good as the help you get on here.

[gkeeton@zbzoom.net]

The Lounge is still the place to be for Cal-Look.....

.......I've been on a negative cycle on the scene for a while.
I've lost my passion and have seriously thought about selling my '67.
My wife has talked me out of it... at least for now.

The joy is gone.

Right now, The Lounge is my only Cal-Look connection.  

I know exactly how you feel. Having been to events since the late 80's, it just seemed like a better time back then. To me now, it just seems to be a show of have, and have nots. Differences in vehicles didn't seem to be an issue back when. Now, the owner of the fully restored Cal-Look 21 window with the 2332 is on another planet in their lifestyle compared to the owner of the patina'd 72 Super with the og 1600 lowered on airbags parked beside them. Maybe that's why there seemed to be a fuss over the two shows conflicting above. The one group doesn't have the money for something really nice, so they drive what they have, and have found a following of like enthusiasts. I will never get rid of the 74 Super I have, simply because it was my first car in 89. I have picked numerous project vehicles along the way since then. With a simple stock Concours style restoration of the one of the least complicated ones in my stash most likely going to run $15k-$20k, the time when they will all get cut up/parted out is getting closer, and closer.

[Nico86]

The Lounge is still the place to be for Cal-Look.

FB is just too much of a time suck. I made a conscious decision to stop being active there at the end of 2015. I did pop on my birthday as my wife insisted that I respond to the well wishes.

The only time I miss it is when I miss invitations to events etc. I missed a VW event earlier this year. Only found out when my wife mentioned it the evening after.
"It was on Facebook." I would have gone if I knew about it.

I've been on a negative cycle on the scene for a while.
I've lost my passion and have seriously thought about selling my '67.
My wife has talked me out of it... at least for now.

The joy is gone.

Right now, The Lounge is my only Cal-Look connection.  

If you have no storage space issue or money issue, keep your '67 Rick! During the past 3 years I've been close to sell my cars and all of my VW stuff a few times, for no other particular reasons than not seeing the point in owning it, and just since the past few months realized it would have been a mistake.

About the VW scene, I think during the last 15 years since I own my first car, I must have gone to about only 9 or 10 stictly-VW events and meetings. And most of the time it was for the huge swap-meet we have here in winter because I needed some parts. The only place I'm going to regularly is the Hills Race in Italy, but there VWs are not the majority of cars. The Lounge and buying the french air-cooled magazine every month (that I do mostly out of habit since I have all of them, rather than real interest in its content) are the only strictly-VW connection I have since many years. And I don't think I am missing a lot of interesting things besides it, also I don't think I need much more than this to enjoy my cars (like Richard I've been thinking making an empty fb account just to follow a few pages and groups, but I still don't think I'm missing out interesting things for the moment). I love VWs and seeing them and talking about them, but I also find interesting seeing other cars and seeing different things. I've always been going to classic car meets and events like historic rallies and races and most of the time I'm the only one with an air-cooled VW. Still I don't think I would sell all my VWs to buy different cars because VWs are what I enjoy the most.
There's always been this stupid thing about the VW-scene, a lot of people think they are smartmouthes and they are "hype and trendy" because they hate every other classic cars and have fun thinking everything else than what they own is a piece of shit. Or the guys that will brag about late models and 1303s being crap, then when this was not enough some decided it was better to hate on post-64 Beetle, then others needed to feel even more special so they decided the only true VWs were made before 1960... when it's the same guys that after getting out of the scene after 3 years will take a mortgage to buy a brand new cars like everyone else. Then you have guys who do things on their cars not for themselves but just to "piss purist off" because they are still stuck in their teenage rebellious moment and need to be special snowflakes. It seems there are groups of people who are into the hobby only to be able to talk shit about other people, and no they are not a trendsetter or a smartmouthes for this, they are just cretins and that kind of behavior is maybe understandable when you are 14 and feel like a man because your first hair is growing, but grown up guys acting like this are just dumbasses. So rather than having to deal with that and with uninteresting people like this (that luckily we don't have here on The Lounge), I much prefer being the only guy with a VW when I meet other car-nuts or just taking my car out for a spin all alone, feeling more a "car fan" than a "VW fan".