Keep your Volkswagen Alive
Tom Fritzky has owned 6 VWs over the years including a pop up camper, regular camper, standard van, two square backs and a Super Beetle. He says he now is getting too old to climb under them. He and his family moved to New Mexico nearly 30 years ago with their first van, and through the years, he wore out his first edition of John Muir's How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive.
His second issue is dated “1974 Edition, September 1974,"
and is available for any reasonable offer. It is in very good condition without the
usual grease smudges and notes. Tom believes it’s a bit of a COLLECTIBLE,
but he has no more need of it. INTERESTED?
Send him an e-mail with your offer and allow a few bucks for mailing.
Tom says he'll answer all mail even if the book gets sold right away.
TFritzky@aol.co Rio Rancho, NM

CANADIAN NEEDS HIPPY BUS.......an old Volkswagen van is wanted, and there's a few thousand $$ to pay for it. Send ideas ASAP to Toronto at xxx_treme_g@hotmail.com 
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SHAVE = 85' CAMPMOBILE.....Cassi bought her 1985 Westfalia from her step-dad. The cool thing is, he wanted this van real bad and her mother didn't. He can grow a full beard in like 3 days and her mom always hated his beard, so she told him if he shaved it off and kept it off, he could buy the van. He immediately shaved off the beard, ran to the dealer and bought the van. They kept it untill 1992, then sold it to Cassi, and then they purchased a 1992 Eurovan. She had never owned a Volkswagon before, but now eight years later, she feels she will never sell it. The Westfalia has everything that originally came with it including owner's manual, extra removable seat, both tables, rear full sized floor mat, all electrical hookup cables, and even the ice cube trays for the fridge! She and her now ex-husband lived in the van for 4 months and toured the country. She considers it a most comfortable traveling vehicle, says it still gets 20 mpg, and has 212,000 miles on the original un-rebuilt motor. While it is not a fast vehicle, she brags that there have been no speeding tickets in 6 years, she likes being slowed down to take in the scenery and not always be in a "rush" to get anywhere, and it's the most reliable vehicle she's ever owned. Repairs have included replacing the clutch twice, brakes, battery, generator, and cv joints. The van has been serviced religiously, kept in good condition, and has never left her "stranded" anywhere. Cassi made a pact with her step-dad that he gets first dibs on buying it back at the same price she paid. More stories about being on the road with her Westfalia might be forthcoming. But for now, she likes the purchase story best!
Requests for another story can be made to cassidah@intcon.net

CALGARY TO VANCOUVER......Kim MacKerricher was 19 and living in Calgary with her sister when her obsession with VW's flourished. After scouring through the buy and sell, she found and bought the “Peace Frog” (a ‘71 transporter) for $700 off a traveler going east and needing money. It was apparent that Frog needed a lot, but Kim loved her anyhow, and procured cheap labor for some of the first work done (a case of beer). It was probably too much to ask, but when she decided to move home to Vancouver, Peace Frog had to make the journey across Canada. Kim’s dad flew in and helped on the drive back, and what a trip!! Half an hour out of Calgary, Frog started jumping and coughing all over the road.....turned out there was a load of water in the gas tank. They stopped in Canmore, Alta, filled up with methyl hydrate, and went up and over the Rocky Mts. with a coughing van; but she made it helped by many loving words. Then, all the way home in 2 days, stopping in Kamloops BC for repairs, and storing up special memories such as how happy dad was driving the VW and getting peace signs from strangers. The VW died in their driveway, but she had made it. A few months later, a major accident turned the van into "Pieces of Frog." But happily this void has now been filled with a ‘74 Westfalia. “Ohh, she’s beautiful and runs so well,” Kim wrote, promising we'd hear again, after next year's cross-country trip. Messages go to vwsilvermoon@hotmail.com

GIFT VAN .......A dad wrote in about the gift of a 1981 air cooled Vanagon Westfalia to his family! A friend from California lived in the unfinshed upstairs of their house after returning East to go to college (RISD). The next summer after listening to their plans for a trip, he drove the van, unused for 3 years, from San Francsio to Massachusetts Turns out that the kids, and dad, love it, and mom is coming around. They all went to a VW camp out and had no complaints except that the van was slow, going up hills anyway. They decided it's wonderful for the beach, and hope to use it for greater trips next year.

Work done so far includes the removal of the motor, and rebuilding it in the basement listening almost exclusively to Janis Joplin CD's! Also re-done were the brakes (lines, calipers, cylinders), replacement of the fuel lines and the fitment of proper new tires. Continuing work includes dropping the gas tank to replace ALL the fuel lines, and replacing the gas tank sender. Work ahead will be to replace the pop top canvas, and to think about a better van color. Dreams concern getting a 90's VW van and replacing the engine with a 150HP turbo golf motor. If you have done a similar or other engine conversion then send info & encouragement to kayakjr@juno.com

NOW.....John Reynolds wrote in to say Happy Trails, and to give a
2002 UPDATE PROGRESS REPORT
The gas tank was dropped and ALL the fuel lines and vent lines have been replaced, along with the fuel gauge sender. The dash is now a later (87) model with a tach, and there are dash lights along with a working speedo and gas gauge.

Later model seats have been added, they were free! A van was at their mechanic’s on its way to the junk yard so the seats with adjustable arm rests, middle bench, were available for nothing, as were the turn signals and tail lights!

The family took their VW to Vermont on vacation last year for a week - s-l-o-w-l-y going up all those hills. Was great cooking lunch in the parking lots of museums, giving the kids a rest and then going back in for round 2! It’s also turned out to be an interesting guest house for company.

Future plans include doing the canvas soon, and using the van to go to the WoodenBoat show in Maine, spend a week on Cape Cod, along with a couple of local (MA) trips with their kayak club!

A recent trip to Acadia Park (Maine) found the Reynolds camping in a tent, next door to their van, which had been borrowed by a friend and his family. It seemed a little strange, but this was the friend who originally gave them the van. The loan turned out to be perfect for this outing, and often there were 6-7 kids inside the VW using it as a theatre, watchng Mickey Mouse DVD’s on a portable computer.

John is still thinking about the engine conversion - not this year, but some day!
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TURBO DIESEL CONVERSION SYSTEM
BRUCE SEXAUER WONDERS IF SCOTT FOSS IS STILL HARD AT WORK
PROMOTING HIS CONVERSION SYSTEM FOR VANAGON
SEND ANY NEWS TO bruce@sexauerluthier.com
(who used to have a woodworking shop near Scott in Sausalito CA back in 1998).

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How 'bout those college boys driving a VW Camper (turbo-diesel conversion) around the country with cooking oil as fuel are back home in New England Check out their experimental adventures with Skip and Justin on www.greasecar.com
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News from Friday Harbor WA: Frank's 1961 VW double-cab is visiting in Errington BC for some beauty work. 
         Sounds as if Dave (cvolks@home.com) at Country Volks is THE Volks van & bug authority in that part of the world.

His VW's name is "Lily von Schtupp" after the character in Blazing
Saddles. At last word, she has had her doors fixed, and a little bit of cosmetic body work....and is now in primer grey waiting for Dave's new paint dryer to become operational pending a dress-up of Sealing Wax Red...see more at Frank's web page
www.interisland.net/reevescsj (click on Who's Who?)
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Mitch McClain says he had a good laugh reading the “Why would you ever leave FLorida” ending on one of our pages. He and his wife shipped their 1969 Westy to Los Angeles, and then traveled all over the southwest and the south. After working for a new engine in Arkansas (and loving beautiful Hot Springs), they continued down to Florida then north to Maine. From Maine, west to Portland Oregon, where they decided to settle down for awhile. They lived in their VW for about 8 months....Anyhow, wherever they happened to be, someone always was asking them, “Why’d you ever leave Hawaii?” So their advice to all those thinking about traveling: It’s a big, beautiful world, just see it!.....although he admits that it never hurts to carry a million pounds in spare parts, tools, manuals and a little know how. Mitch still drives the bus, although it is showing its miles. These days their fun-to-drive time is with a 2000 Newbie.