[T3] Type 3s were made to be driven

Soren Jacobsen snj at pobox.com
Thu Aug 1 01:06:11 PDT 2013


...and not just short distances on paved city streets.

Here's a little success story that I thought list members might appreciate hearing.

Recently (well, a month ago, but catching up on things is taking quite some time), I returned from a 77 day solo road trip around the United States.  I drove all around the United States, "from Seattle to Seattle," as I often told people along the road.  All together, I drove my 1965 sunroof Variant 16,000 miles (OK, technically it was only 15,997) during those 77 days, going coast to coast to coast.  To name a few major points along the route: Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin TX, Key West, Maine.  For a little bit of background, I'd like to note that this car only became roadworthy again at the beginning of this year.  When I got the car, it had been neglected for well over 20 years, having many of its parts removed and sold along the way.  It had thrown a rod and that was apparently enough to make someone perma-park it.  Here's what I started with: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20110627-deliveryday.jpg  Unfortunately, that image doesn't show the three rat nests that were in the car, but you get the idea: it was gutted.

After many months of parts hunting and turning wrenches, the car is now a dependable driver, as evidenced by this little jaunt.  I carried a small, carefully curated toolkit and a few spare parts under the rear seat, and really, folks, that's all the safety net you should need.  Drive those cars, and drive them far!  The engine I've got in this car was cobbled together from unknown-history free parts.  I started with an engine from a 69 auto, put some old single port heads (unknown history -- saved from a relative's junk shed), and then transferred most everything else from the thrown-rod engine onto that long block.  To stick with the theme, I ran used spark plugs.

The only real car problem I encountered along the trip was a broken clutch cable (the clutch pedal hook wore through the eyelet), and beyond that, I just did basic maintenance on the road.  I'm cheating here and counting replacement of a near-death tie rod end as "basic maintenance," but hey, it's a wear item after all.  The clutch cable wasn't much of a big deal, as I had a spare on hand and was able to swap it out on the side of the road, as shown in a picture below.  Unfortunately, this happened in the middle of horrible Chicago rush hour traffic.  On the upside, being grumpy about having to replace a clutch cable on the side of the road makes the traffic easier to stomach once one gets back on the road.

Here are a few pictures of the car at various points along the way:
- Drive-through tree in Northern California: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130403-giantredwoodnorcal.jpg
- Grand Canyon: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130413-grandcanyon.jpg
- Petrified Forest, Arizona: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130413-petrifiedforest.jpg
- Wigwam Motel, Route 66: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130413-route66wigwam.jpg
- Key West, Florida: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130503-keywest.jpg
- Nowheresville, West Virginia: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130515-fayettevillewv.jpg
- Washed out road putting a kink in my plans, Vermont: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130526-vermont.jpg
- Broken clutch cable, Chicago: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130531-chicagoclutchcable.jpg
- Nebraska farm: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130607-nebraska.jpg
- Badlands: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130608-badlands.jpg
- Road going into Targhee National Forest: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130612-tetons.jpg
- Tetons: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130613-tetons.jpg
- 16% grade warning sign near Hells Canyon: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130616-hellscanyon.jpg
- Final day of the trip, out on old logging roads in Leavenworth, WA: http://blef.org/vw/t3/20130617-leavenworth.jpg

I encountered tons of smiling people who wanted to hear about my car.  Many, in the more remote areas, had never even seen a Squareback before.  Most people beyond the west coast, if they recognized the model, remarked that they hadn't seen one in many years.  At one point, I crossed paths with a Porsche 356 club cruise that had stopped for a break.  A guy in the parking lot walked by and, assuming me to be with them, told me that he liked my car best out of all the others in the group.  My car, as you can see in the above pictures, is not in good cosmetic shape (although it got slightly better the other day when I finally got a front hood trim piece installed).  We are too often overly critical of our own VWs.  Remember, not everyone else sees the flaws that you do.  Just having a 50ish year old car on the road is an achievement worthy of praise and adoration.   Driving slow up a mountain pass in your stock 1500/1600cc VW?  Experience tells me that most people behind downhill will simply be glad to see you on the road, rather than angry at being temporarily slowed down.

In closing: Do you love your T3?  Then stop making excuses and drive the hell out of it.

Soren


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