[T3] Old Type IIIs

[Dave Hall]

In the UK we have a London to Brighton car run, for pre-1905 cars.  While
some of them won't make the 60 mile journey without breaking down, it still
happens.  None of the cars is a daily user.  Who cares?  It's an adventure
with a car that old - just as the caravans to the Invasions are.  It's not a
matter of will anyone get a problem, as one of lets all help to solve the
problems that arise.   There's no excitement any more if things become a
certainty.  However, most of the time I'm happy without too much excitement!

Dave.
UK VW Type 3&4 Club
===================

-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org
[mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org] On Behalf Of
Bobsnotch at aol.com
Sent: 25 February 2011 03:15
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] Old Type IIIs

 
In a message dated 2/23/2011 2:45:44 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
j_jonik at yahoo.com writes:

Isn't it  the case that all Manuals on how to take care of a Type III are
assuming that  New Parts are available, and assuming a certain age for
existing  parts?

None that I've seen talk about "Are your wires and connections  40 years 
old?"...and what to do about that.   What IS the life of a wire  or
connector 
or Control Box or the rest?

How to know which parts, incl  wires, connectors, other components, MUST be
replaced after X number of years  to be reliable?

Bottom Line:    How to make a 70's T-3 a "New  Car"...good for the next 40 
years....or next trip to Mexico or the boondocks  elsewhere....body problems
aside for now?

Fear is that T-3's will  become just Show Cars, trucked to Car Shows, 
unreliable for actual  use.   That would be a tragedy for one of the most 
practical cars  ever made.





I had to think about this for a little bit (while watching paint dry, before
shooting a coat of clear), so I had some time to ponder it. In 40 years,
I'll be 90 years old (almost, next month I turn 50), and my youngest (who's
a  t-3 aficionado, and HAS attended a T-3 Invasion with his own car) will be
almost  70 (turns 29 in June), will probably not be too concerned what the
car looks  like IF they can afford gas to actually drive it. In my links
below, are how I'm  trying to get another 20 to 25 years out of them, after
which, someone else will  have to deal with "the weird old man" stuff that
kept it around that  long. Most of what I'm doing, deals with what Jim
mentioned last night,  keeping the "shell" around, as rust never sleeps, and
will continue to eat away  the car itself. If you can slow the rust, then
the car will be around for  awhile (maybe another 40 years). The
mechanicals, that's not really a problem,  as our cars basically use a bug
engine, and they'll be around for awhile, as  there's still a thriving
industry keeping them in business. Transmissions are  rebuildable, and
there's a couple of places still doing that. Brakes, they've  been taken
care of by the aftermarket (for the most part), but switching to DOT  5 will
help you get more years out of the OE parts. ISP West and a few  others are
working on bushings that can replace the worn out obsolete stuff in  our
front ends (Delrin looks very promising). The rest, Keith has pretty  much
covered. Like I mentioned above, I'm mainly trying to get another 20 to 25
years out of the car, after that, it'll be someone else's problem, just like
it  was when you got yours (unless you bought it new). I mean, how long do
you  realistically plan to keep it?  

Bob 65 Notch  S with sunroof and IRS (Krusty)
71 Notch (Krunchy)
64 T-34 Ghia  (Wolfie)
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